My twiddle Angel
My twiddle Angel
My twiddle Angel
Pepper guarding my dye books.
Porcupine quills and cats
Usually it's some errant thread hanging off of a piece of fabric I have to worry about, now it's the porky quills. I decided that all of those ice cream buckets, with lids, would make for excellent storage of my quills, and possibly save one very curious cat from a lot of pain. He's cute, quite the keeper, but a tad bit ornery and he gets into everything.
Life & Feet
Well I talked to my dad again tonight, I think after 40 years this is going to take awhile for him to recover from the shock of moms untimely death. He's been cleaning the house like crazy, to keep busy. So he and my SIL went through the hall closet and got rid of a lot of my mother's clothes.
An odd thing about my mother, she hated wearing shoes, I have the same affliction or at least I did until I discovered Naots and Chacos. So it seems rather peculiar that someone who disliked wearing shoes so much had so many of them. Dad said she had close to a hundred pairs of shoes, maybe more he gave up counting them, she also had impossibly tiny feet. So now the problem is how to get rid of shoes that have never been worn, in an incredibly tiny size. They finally took them to Salvation Army. I'm sure someone there will know what to do with them.
So I buy shoes, and drive my husband nuts doing so, then I go barefoot (all of the time). What can I say shoes bother my feet. Actually I go stocking foot, big chunky wool socks. Some I buy, some I knit.
Anyway, it's just an odd thought, or three.
An odd thing about my mother, she hated wearing shoes, I have the same affliction or at least I did until I discovered Naots and Chacos. So it seems rather peculiar that someone who disliked wearing shoes so much had so many of them. Dad said she had close to a hundred pairs of shoes, maybe more he gave up counting them, she also had impossibly tiny feet. So now the problem is how to get rid of shoes that have never been worn, in an incredibly tiny size. They finally took them to Salvation Army. I'm sure someone there will know what to do with them.
So I buy shoes, and drive my husband nuts doing so, then I go barefoot (all of the time). What can I say shoes bother my feet. Actually I go stocking foot, big chunky wool socks. Some I buy, some I knit.
Anyway, it's just an odd thought, or three.
Porcupine Quills dyed in Instant Indigo.
My feet.
Porcupine Quills and Life
Above is a pic of porcupine quills I dyed using indigo. I think it was about 6 dips to get this blue. I could have done 6 more but was afraid I would ruin the quills by keeping them wet too long. I have since found out that this is not true.
Here's a pic of my feet as well, this seems to be a trend on blogs recently.
Here's a pic of my feet as well, this seems to be a trend on blogs recently.
Life is good. A sunbeam and a comfy spot, what more could you need?!
Fermenting Eucalyptus Bath. It looks black but when I put a spoon in the pot and pull up water it's the richest amber red you have ever seen. It stays covered as well, Euc really reeks when it's fermenting. It's been in this pot since October of 2004.
Fermented Osage Orange Bath, it's been in this bucket for two years now, living outside. Occassionally I have to add water, I keep it sealed to keep the gunk out.
Fermentation Dyeing
I forgot where I was at, I either have the flu or a bad case of food poisoning. All I know is I don't feel well at all and I'm supposed to be in Kansas City tonight, not good, not good at all.
I have a book I wrote on the methods of Fermentation Dyeing, it's available on my webstore. It's called Compost Dyeing and Other Fermentation Techniques. It's only available on CD ROM right now, but I may have found a printer in Minnesota so we can get it into book form. Anyway I discuss 14 different methods of fermenting and/or composting with natural items to get color onto your fabrics. If you'd like a copy of the book, on CD, check the link at http://www.prairiefibers.com
I fermented and/or composted all of the pieces in my series Prairie Remnant. I really need to get them photographed and placed onto my art web. The fabric for my three quilts Sandstone I-III were composted. I love the naturalness of the fabric, it's like working with bark or leaves. I made these peices in 2001 I do believe, and have had two solo shows with them. You can view the quilts at http://www.kbaxterpackwood.com Click on the quilts link and then either Sandstone or Prairie Remnant. I'd copy and past the link but I haven't figured out how to do that in Blogspot.com yet.
I need to get busy filling orders, I'll post more pics later, I have a feeling we won't be going to KC tonight, not with the way I"m feeling right now.
I have a book I wrote on the methods of Fermentation Dyeing, it's available on my webstore. It's called Compost Dyeing and Other Fermentation Techniques. It's only available on CD ROM right now, but I may have found a printer in Minnesota so we can get it into book form. Anyway I discuss 14 different methods of fermenting and/or composting with natural items to get color onto your fabrics. If you'd like a copy of the book, on CD, check the link at http://www.prairiefibers.com
I fermented and/or composted all of the pieces in my series Prairie Remnant. I really need to get them photographed and placed onto my art web. The fabric for my three quilts Sandstone I-III were composted. I love the naturalness of the fabric, it's like working with bark or leaves. I made these peices in 2001 I do believe, and have had two solo shows with them. You can view the quilts at http://www.kbaxterpackwood.com Click on the quilts link and then either Sandstone or Prairie Remnant. I'd copy and past the link but I haven't figured out how to do that in Blogspot.com yet.
I need to get busy filling orders, I'll post more pics later, I have a feeling we won't be going to KC tonight, not with the way I"m feeling right now.
Fermenting Dye Baths
Some dyes are excellent for fermenting, others are not. Those that are not suitable are flowers, fruity/vegetable type materials. If you want to ferment Cochineal Bugs or Madder Root, it needs to be heated every day or so to keep the mold at bay.
Things that lend themselves to fermentation are barks and tree roots. If you ferment any portioin of the Walnut or Butternut tree you will get purplish tones in you dyebaths. The longer you ferment the better. A friend of mine she's also a way excellent basket maker, Judy Dominic, fermented her walnut hulls in old glass Coke bottles for 10 years, excellent dye color. Her Osage Orange had been fermenting for 3+ years, a very old gold color was yeilded.
Osage Orange, Oaks, Maples (I got teal with my rotting maple, it was a silver maple) , Willows, Birch's, and other trees yeild their best colors only after the barks, heartwoods and root barks have fermented for 3-4 weeks or longer. If you don't introduce any contaminants mold will NOT be a problem. The tannin content is high enough to kill mold. It's the contaminants that cause mold problems, therefore I keep my dyebaths sealed while fermenting. The exception is Osage Orange and I keep it out of harms way. Sealing the dyebaths also keeps the odor down to a dull roar.
Gotta run be back in a bit with more info.
Things that lend themselves to fermentation are barks and tree roots. If you ferment any portioin of the Walnut or Butternut tree you will get purplish tones in you dyebaths. The longer you ferment the better. A friend of mine she's also a way excellent basket maker, Judy Dominic, fermented her walnut hulls in old glass Coke bottles for 10 years, excellent dye color. Her Osage Orange had been fermenting for 3+ years, a very old gold color was yeilded.
Osage Orange, Oaks, Maples (I got teal with my rotting maple, it was a silver maple) , Willows, Birch's, and other trees yeild their best colors only after the barks, heartwoods and root barks have fermented for 3-4 weeks or longer. If you don't introduce any contaminants mold will NOT be a problem. The tannin content is high enough to kill mold. It's the contaminants that cause mold problems, therefore I keep my dyebaths sealed while fermenting. The exception is Osage Orange and I keep it out of harms way. Sealing the dyebaths also keeps the odor down to a dull roar.
Gotta run be back in a bit with more info.
My neighbors old fashioned Crap Apple. I love spring, however it bugs my allergies. I took this with my digital camera. The pics are far superior with my Nikon F100!
Creeping Charlie and Fermenting Dye Baths
Well somewhere above or below this post are pics of what we call Creeping Charlie in Iowa. It was imported, fable has it, as a substitute for hops, which are used in beer making. It didn't go over well and now we are run amuck with this plant. I"m alleregic, or so it would seem, pulling it out of the yard and flower gardens makes my sinus' seize up and big time, oh and I itch as well.
I will post some pics of my fermenting dyebaths, I can't wait to use my Osage Bath, it's been sitting outside for almost two years now.
I will post some pics of my fermenting dyebaths, I can't wait to use my Osage Bath, it's been sitting outside for almost two years now.
A better pic of the Creeping Charlie.
Creeping Charlie, or at least this is what we call it in Iowa.
Dyeing with Berries
Tis the season for novice dyers everywhere to be surfing the web and coming up with some pretty lousy dyeing information. This forever turns them off from dyeing.
A note on dyeing with berries, with the exception of pokeberries, and this requires a special technique, all berries are fugative dyestuffs! Fugative means the color flees, it does NOT stay on your fibers, no matter the mordants, chemicals and spells you chant over the dyepot. Sorry but it isn't gonna happen. So save your berries for pie or making jam.
Now with that said, you can take the green shoots of the blackberry brambles and cook them up for a lovely green color. Just don't leave them to soak in a rusty wheelbarrow for a week like I did. Many of the berries that are out there have vines, canes or roots that will actually give a color that will last. But the color will not be the same color as the berries, usually it's yellow or some variant thereof.
NOTE: Strawberries fall into the same category as other berries. Oh and while I'm at it I know that purple mulberries will stain your favorite white shirt/blouse/suit/car purple, but you need to apply Murhpy's Law of dyeing here. If you want the dye color to stay, it won't, if you don't it will. Tomatoes suffer from the same phenomenom, as does catsup and mustard.
On my website I have charts of colors you can expect, lightfast and washfast charts, scourning instructions, etc. Check it out at: http://www.prairiefibers.com I will be teaching at the Iowa Wool and Sheep Festival, in June, in Adel, Iowa if your interested in learning more.
A note on dyeing with berries, with the exception of pokeberries, and this requires a special technique, all berries are fugative dyestuffs! Fugative means the color flees, it does NOT stay on your fibers, no matter the mordants, chemicals and spells you chant over the dyepot. Sorry but it isn't gonna happen. So save your berries for pie or making jam.
Now with that said, you can take the green shoots of the blackberry brambles and cook them up for a lovely green color. Just don't leave them to soak in a rusty wheelbarrow for a week like I did. Many of the berries that are out there have vines, canes or roots that will actually give a color that will last. But the color will not be the same color as the berries, usually it's yellow or some variant thereof.
NOTE: Strawberries fall into the same category as other berries. Oh and while I'm at it I know that purple mulberries will stain your favorite white shirt/blouse/suit/car purple, but you need to apply Murhpy's Law of dyeing here. If you want the dye color to stay, it won't, if you don't it will. Tomatoes suffer from the same phenomenom, as does catsup and mustard.
On my website I have charts of colors you can expect, lightfast and washfast charts, scourning instructions, etc. Check it out at: http://www.prairiefibers.com I will be teaching at the Iowa Wool and Sheep Festival, in June, in Adel, Iowa if your interested in learning more.
Last years Bee Balm.
Clouds above my house last year.
It's Monday Again!
Yep it's Monday again! I don't care for Monday, as I suspect most of the world doesn't care for it either. Monday is fraught with paperwork, ordering inventory, and getting all of those orders out the door that came in late last Friday.
What I really really want to do is work in my herb garden before the sky opens up and pours another 1 to 3 inches of rain on us. It looks like my Bee Balm made it through the winter, I'm really happy about that because it is very pretty. I bought some Verbena last weekend, smells wonderful, but can't plant it because it's too cold outside (at night).
If I couldn't be in my garden I'd be in my studio dyeing fibers.
Above is a pic that is fits todays mood.
What I really really want to do is work in my herb garden before the sky opens up and pours another 1 to 3 inches of rain on us. It looks like my Bee Balm made it through the winter, I'm really happy about that because it is very pretty. I bought some Verbena last weekend, smells wonderful, but can't plant it because it's too cold outside (at night).
If I couldn't be in my garden I'd be in my studio dyeing fibers.
Above is a pic that is fits todays mood.