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Look What Washed Ashore!

on May 28, 2014

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Photo: James Emler

Video coming soon.

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Shifu! Shifu! Shifu!

I have long been intrigued by shifu, the Japanese paper thread. It seems to be all the rage right now - for a look at what's possible see Heather Sauer's experiments (including a miniature knitted lace dress) and Lizz Aston's incredibly smooth, fine yarns. Velma Bolyard has posted about an awesome looking class on shifu she taught last month. There was an article in the Spring 2011 Spin Off about spinning pattern tissue paper that made it seem quite possible. But it was the weaving of Jean Betts that finally pushed me over the edge into the realm of "must try". So, having (typically) misplaced the Spin Off article, I barged ahead, working with my vague recollections. I tried cutting strips from the folded pattern tissue of a free store find - first with an X-Acto and ruler (PITA) and then with a rotary cutter (much better). I didn't dampen them, as the current humidity is so high that moss could grow indoors. Spinning was surprisingly pleasant and easy - I

Making Our Bed

We Make Our Bed , 2023. Machine pieced, hand and machine quilted, found fabric, 60"x60" This piece may look vaguely familiar to you. It was part of my show, The Wild Braid , a few years back. It was an example of using arbitrary constraints - in this case, making a quilt using only a stack of well-used pillowcases donated to a thrift store but deemed too shabby to sell. They were headed for the bin, but a couple of the vintage patterns appealed to me (one was even a faux patchwork!) and I set myself an assignment. Using an improv approach of random cut strips of cloth, I built up a log cabin structure, always starting with a piece of the orange print, and trying to use a piece each of all the fabrics in each square. I lightly machine quilted it, and thought I was done. I called it "Not Forsaken". It went into storage after the show, and re-emerged a few weeks ago when I was asked to participate in a local exhibition of textile artists. I agreed, and was then informe

Lichen Dyeing

Actual size of this piece of lichen is about 10 inches across. Let me introduce you to Lobaria pulmonaria , the Queen of Lichens. This distinctive beauty can often be found on the ground at this time of year, blown down from her home high up in the maples. The bright lime green of the underside stands out amongst the rusts, oranges and golds of the fallen leaves. Lobaria pulmonaria was traditionally used by the Coast Salish people as a dye for wool. I was first told about this excellent dyestuff by Katherine Tye , an amazing Fraser Valley woman who was involved in the revitalization of spinning, weaving and natural dyeing amongst the First Nations communities in that region, back in the early 1970's. I met Katherine as part of my research into dyeing with native plants that I was doing for a high school science project. (She now has an ecological reserve named after her.) Lobaria pulmonaria does not require any mordants to give up a lovely, fast, orange-y tan colour on

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Look What Washed Ashore!

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