Marion remembered

My sister-in-law Molly emailed me last night to say that 'Marion' had arrived in the mail, so now I will show you this piece which I made in honor of Marion West, Molly's Mom.  I only had the privilege of spending a short time with her, but I felt an unbelievable closeness to Mrs. West while constructing this hanging.  You may recall that the fabric I used was from her Damask dinner napkins.  I dyed them using the Shibori method of pole wrapping (learned in the wonderful class I took with Jan Myers Newbury), in hues that I hoped would coordinate in Molly's home.  Then I chose the peach/tangerine as a complement.  Molly furnished me with several of her Mom's favorite quotes, and many wonderful pictures....it was difficult to choose a favorite!  I finally decided that one photograph taken on her wedding day was the one!  I printed it on silk crepe de chine, with much thanks for the encouragement and hints from Connie Rose.  I screened on some swirly designs and an oval background for the photograph, using freezer paper templates and textile paints, thanks to a technique I learned from Jane Dunnewold's new silk screening dvd, and then I couched down some hand dyed perle cotton.  The edges were finished using Terry Grant's edge finishing technique.  So you see: it does take a village!    
Here's a detail shot:

One of the things I like best about this piece is how light still captures the wonderful Damask weave.  This will probably be one of the last heavily quilted pieces that I will do for a while, but that's ok as it gave me hours of challenges and enjoyment.  I'm on to more complex cloth.


The color wheel du jour:

a mix of textile paints to reach blue violet, and then graduated from white to blue violet

The white fabric that it has been painted on appears pale green on my monitor.  If it does on yours too, it's because of the chartreuse fabric underneath.

and, of course, the monoprint of the day:

more blue violet tints

I have a new friend in the studio:

What a fabulous iron!  It really does give off a lot of steam, and it holds its heat long enough to accomplish all that I desire!  The tank is detachable for easy filling, and it uses tap water.  Best of all, it doesn't dribble like my old and mighty expensive Rowenta!  With a retractable cord, this little baby comes with a handy carrying case, which is not heat sensitive, so I can move it from my sewing room to my studio without burning myself.  I got mine on Amazon, in case you're interested!


and one last shot.........this one of my best boy:

it was blistering hot the other evening when I snapped this picture, and he had just run through one of the golf course sprinklers....that's why he's wearing that smile!

PEACE