Studio Series: Shake-n-make Collaboration

Hexagons panels © Karen Thiessen, 2016

The Shake-n-Make Collective, composed of Liss Platt and Claudia Manley, is mounting an exhibition called The Hand of Craft in May 2017 at the Cotton Factory and they are enlisting help. (I last wrote about them here). On exhibit will be a massive quilt top (approximately 16 feet by 6 feet), which will spell out "Labour" in shades of taupe against a purple background. The textile will be entirely pieced by hand using the English paper piecing technique. Liss and Claudia are piecing the letters, and volunteers are invited to piece the purple panels that are 3 hexagons wide by ten hexagons long (7.5" X 29").

To facilitate this collaboration, Liss and Claudia have been hosting English Paper piecing events where they teach the technique. They provide the hexagon templates printed on freezer paper, fabric strips, and thread. Volunteers are welcome to incorporate their own purple fabrics.

When Claudia asked if I would contribute to the quilt top, naturally I said yes. This summer high heat and humidity zapped my energy. English paper piecing was one studio activity that worked best in my "Zombie" state. It worked so well that I've pieced nine panels so far. It's addictive. In the process of fleshing out my own stash of purple fabrics, I learned that compared to other colours, few fabrics are available in purple colourways. The next time you are in a quilt shop, take a look –– you'll be surprised. I know I was, especially since purple is one of my favourite colours.

Sandra Brownlee + string-making *updated 24/08/16*

Sandra Brownlee teaches how to make string; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2016

In July, Sandra Brownlee taught Susie Brandt and me how to make string, a technique that Sandra learned from India Flint, who learned it from Australian visual artist Nalda Searles. Earlier that week, Susie Brandt taught me how to make rope (more about that in a future post). 

Sandra Brownlee's string ball for Warren Seelig; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2016

Sandra is making this ball of string for Warren Seelig. He wants it to be B I G.

Once home from Nova Scotia, I practiced making string while standing at my kitchen counter. I cut up several tea bags and got to work, making a fine string. It took a few tries before I found my rhythm. While cleaning out my studio, I found fabric strips leftover from a rug-hooking project that I undertook while I was a Sheridan student. The results are similar weight to that of the above ball. I am grateful to Nalda, India, and Sandra for passing on this skill.

Studio Series: ink spots

Ink spots © Karen Thiessen, 2016

When I last saw Dorothy Caldwell at the opening of her travelling exhibition Silent Ice/Deep Patience at the IdeaExchange in Cambridge, Ontario, I asked her about the washes on her newer quilts. Dorothy told me that she had grown tired of drawing the designs, waiting for her silkscreens to be exposed with her designs, be shipped back to her, and then her finally printing the fabric. Too much time elapsed between the initial mark-making on paper and the final result on fabric. She decided to work more directly by brushing washes of India ink onto the fabric. 

Dorothy's use of a non-traditional colorant inspired me to play with India ink on fabric in my own way. I used Dr. Ph. Martin's Hi-Carb India ink in black. I discovered this brand a few years ago from Keri Smith's blog: it's her favourite ink. It's mine now too.

Studio Series: Naturally Dyed Hexagons WIP

Naturally dyed, hand-quilted hexagons WIP © Karen Thiessen, 2016

Hand-quilting my solids hexagons pillow cover gave me a "next step" for this naturally dyed hexagons textile. I pieced it about a year-and-a-half ago but didn't know what the textile needed next. The above textile is still a work-in-progress and I'm curious to know when another "next step" will announce itself and how the textile will evolve. This is one of my slow-to-resolve textiles, but once finished they are often worth the long incubation period (Here's an example of a problem child that was well worth the wait).

Studio Series: Solids hexagons pillow

Solids hexagon pillow © Karen Thiessen, 2016 

I finally finished this sucker and it looks fantastic (if I do say so myself)!

Solids hexagon pillow detail © Karen Thiessen, 2016

Each hexagon took about an hour to hand quilt.

Solids hexagon pillow verso © Karen Thiessen, 2016

I appliquéd a patch of my screen printed fabric onto the back. Soon I'll write a post about a work-in-progress inspired by this hand-quilted hexagons pillow.

Woad!

Woad plant; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2016

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of touring textile artist and natural dye expert Thea Haines' natural dye garden. She grows all manner of colour-yielding plants. Of particular interest to me was this large clump of woad. The leaves yield an indigo blue dye.

Woad seeds; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2016

Thea has already collected the seeds for future woad crops. I look forward to seeing what depth of blue her plants yield.

In addition to natural dye plants, she is also growing a test plot of flax for an Upper Canada Fibreshed initiative. The goal is that the flax will be processed into fibre, and the UC Fibreshed is still working out the details of how to do this as there are no processing plants here in Canada. A few years ago, one of Sandra Brownlee's NSCAD textiles students grew a plot of flax in Sandra's Dartmouth garden. Naturally, Sandra crafted a beautiful low wattle fence to encircle it. I believe that the test plot was for the same initiative that Thea is involved in.

Studio Series: Work in Progress

Hexagons pillow WIP © Karen Thiessen, 2016

In January, I machine quilted three hexagons projects (two table runners and a pillow top) and they are now complete. For this pillow top that I hand-pieced last year, I decided to slowly hand quilt it with DMC floss. In a few weeks I should have another completed pillow. The slow hand quilting is giving me ideas for other work. One of my favourite teachers once told me that I have too many ideas. She was right.

Studio Series: Finished Objects!

Flowering Snowball pillow © Karen Thiessen, 2016

The last few months have been busy with professional writing, bookkeeping, income tax, three classes over six weeks at my indie fabric shop, and my printmaking classes. Class number two was a Flowering Snowball class with Johanna Masko. I'm pleased with the results. I used fabrics that I had dyed and screen printed, along with commercial quilting cottons. Learning how to install a zipper with ease was a highlight.

Red Yellow Blue Hexagons pillow front © Karen Thiessen, 2016

This year I am motivated to finish old projects. I had pieced this red, yellow, and blue pillow top a few years ago. In January I machine quilted it but I was unsure how to add the back. On the day that I completed the Flowering Snowball project, I finished this hexagons pillow.

Red Yellow Blue Hexagons pillow back © Karen Thiessen, 2016

I am especially excited about the back of the hexagons pillow! Note the very sexy zipper. It feels good to finish old projects –– it makes room for new energy in the studio.

Studio Series: Dress Work in Progress

Darling Ranges dress WIP © Karen Thiessen, 2016

My mom was my primary sewing teacher. She studied tailoring at night school and I loved poring over her binder of samples. In a four generations family photo of my great Oma, my grandpa, my mom and a four-year old me, mom and I are wearing matching dresses that she sewed. Mom was an excellent teacher but because we were broke, there was no room for mistakes, so she was often tense when we sewed clothes together. I internalized this and carried it forward, so I stopped sewing my own clothes after I left home to attend university. 

My indie fabric shop recently offered a Megan Nielsen's Darling Ranges dress class. Determined to overcome this mental block, I took the class, using old fabric that was not precious. I was mindful of when I tensed up: sewing bust darts and buttonholes. To get around the darts issue, I hand-stitched them before machine-sewing them as I find hand-sewing to be soothing. The button holes are unfinished. The weather is warming up and I need clothes, so I'm either going to overcome my button hole block, or, for ten dollars my local alterationist will do them for me. In my excitement of sewing clothes again, I cut out two more dresses, so I have not one, but three unfinished dress projects on my hands. If I learn how to make my own button holes, I'll save thirty dollars, money that I can spend on more sewing tools (like an ironing ham and a button hole chisel) and fabric. 

On another note, I did take the Megan Nielsen's Virginia leggings class and learned how to sew knits, how to sew with a twin needle, and how to use a serger. They are finished and look great!

Of Note: Truitt, Manley, and Masko

Here's what tickles my fancy this week:

1. Anne Truitt, Working documentary by Jem Cohen. It was extra on the DVD for his film Museum Hours and it is only 13 minutes long, so I watched it twice. Truitt's descriptions of colour and her work are what make the documentary. The documentary was made in two parts: an interview in black-and-white film with Truitt at Yaddo on November 10, 1999 and a colour film of her Washington, D.C. studio in January 2005, just after her death in 2004. I found the filming to be very frustrating. In the Yaddo interview, Truitt is mixing colour and is describing various colours and their functions of either sick, dead, or lifting colours, BUT Cohen filmed this riveting interview in black-and-white. Also, I really wanted to see footage (in colour) of Truitt's sculptures in gallery and museum settings. The more I read her Daybook: The Journal of an Artist, the more of her work I want to see and learn about. 

2. A Little Sole-Searching? The Story of a Pair of Boots by Claudia Manley, of the blog Proper Tension. It's a well-crafted essay about boots and relationships and it has stayed with me the almost six weeks since I read it. I hope she writes more of these.

3. A Flowering Snowball class, taught by Johanna Masko. Masko is a friendly, patient teacher who explains each step clearly and has developed several hacks and techniques that make piecing curves and installing zippers easy. This week I  made my first stress-free zipper installation. I was apprehensive about the class because I had heard about her rigorous safety stance on rotary cutters. Once you get past that, she's really worth learning from.

Of Note

Here are a few things on my radar right now:

1. Is Mending the New Shopping? via Surface Design Association eNews

2. Angela Holland's collages!

3. Design Matters Podcast with illustrator extraordinaire Maira Kalman.

4. I just finished reading Ray Bradbury's semi-autobiographical novel Dandelion Wine (because of Sandra Brownlee's textile that I photographed in May 2014). It's a book about twelve-year old Douglas Spaulding's summer of 1928 when he woke up to the world around him. Basically, it's a book about wonder, awareness, and taking notice.

Studio Series: Zwieback screen prints

Zwieback screen prints a © Karen Thiessen, 2016

Early this year I set up my ironing table to be a print table. It's only five feet long, so I can only print small runs of textiles. Of my designs that I've printed so far, the Zwieback pattern is my favourite. It's looser and more open than my usual designs. Layering the prints in various colours has been fun. I'm printing on cotton fabrics that I dyed using plant stuffs: black walnut, avocado pits and skins, and honey locust bean pods.

Zwieback screen prints b © Karen Thiessen, 2016

Above is a printed textile in progress. I'm printing with Speedball fabric inks on cotton that was dyed with honey locust bean pods. On its own, the honey locust colour colour is rather bland, but is a nice backdrop to colours like off-white, mocha, and rust. I'm curious to see how the Zwieback prints change once I stitch them into tags or piece them into larger textiles.

Studio Series: material explorations

Pop tab sample © Karen Thiessen, 2016

On my long list of things to do in the studio this year is to make time for material explorations. As a textiles student at Sheridan College, I was expected to create all manner of samples: dye, print, stitch, and more. I made the pop tab sample for my Material Explorations class while I was a student. The textile pattern is my thumb print enlarged. I dyed the blue fabric and then screen printed my thumb print pattern with pigments. The stitched pop tabs followed. At the moment I'm in UFO (UnFinished Object) completion mode and I hope that I balance that with at least some material exploration–– I finished three textile projects since my last post!

completion and new messes

UFO hexagons textiles © Karen Thiessen, 2016

January and February are my favourite months of the year. It is a time of cold weather and new beginnings. It is a time to dream, write, make lists, assess, think about the big picture, review, and build momentum for the year ahead. There's lots to do. My lists are taking shape and one list is dedicated to unfinished projects. It's a long list of personal and studio projects and I am determined to complete most of them in 2016. Completing UFO's frees up my energy and builds momentum. It's a form of tidying up so that I have mental space to make new messes. Since I learned English paper piecing in 2013, I've made piles of pieced textiles and, until recently, I'd only finished one. 2016 is the year of completion and new messes.

Video: Meryn Cadell, "The Sweater"

A video for Claudia and all my textile-loving friends. 

Studio Series: still life

Still life; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2015

While I was overcoming resistance, I channelled my inner Camilla Engman and played with photographing a few vignettes. Camilla makes it look so easy. It's not.

Studio Series: natural dye pots

Copper boiler; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2015

My parents are down-sizing and my studio is the beneficiary of two of my mom's pots. I don't remember the copper boiler every being used when my parents had it, but now it holds five pounds of black walnuts, water, and fabric. It straddles two burners when I'm heating the dye liquor. The copper pot acts as a mordant. Note to self: unless it's empty, it's too heavy for me to lift on my own. But of course I lifted it anyway.

Iron pot; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2015

I have a vague recollection of mom buying the iron pot and a stand at an antique shop many moons ago. I think she planted red geraniums in it and it adorned our front lawn for a time. To my surprise, it's not as heavy as I previously believed. Like the copper boiler, it now holds five pounds of black walnuts, fabric, and water and the pot acts as a mordant. Apparently iron saddens and copper gladdens. A kind neighbour saved the black walnuts from her backyard tree and now I have about 40 pounds to play with. 

Studio Series: work in progress

Mennonite material culture series in progress © Karen Thiessen, 2015

While I've been moving my Poetic Memory series forward (well over 200 tags are complete!), another series has been almost making itself. Yup, Mennonite elves toil away in the studio when I'm not looking. Well, it seems that way. 

Each body of work that I make has its own rhythm and personality. Some are neat and tidy and emerge on schedule, like a small miracle. One was stubborn and had its own sense of time (the Shadow series). I started playing with making a Mennonite series about fifteen years ago. It wasn't ready. While I was working long hours for my 2013 solo show Unit(y), naturally the Menno series started elbowing its way into my awareness. It's a sneaky beast. 

Above is a random selection of 41 of the Mennonite material culture tags that I've made so far. They aren't optimally arranged or installed. The series needs a better title and I need to triple the amount of work before I have a sense of what it wants to be and where it wants to go. With this series it seems that as long as I'm working on something else, it gets made. 

Judy Martin: Mended World @ Homer Watson House & Gallery 3

Judy Martin Layers of Time, 2013; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2015

Judy Martin's Mended World: an exhibition of the Manitoulin Community Circle Project at Homer Watson House and Gallery in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada has come and gone but its memory still burns bright. I've followed Martin's documentation of the Circle project on her blog for several years. One textile that I especially wanted to see in person was Layers of Time. 

Judy Martin Layers of Time, 2013 detail; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2015

When I saw this central panel of dense eyelet stitches (a.k.a. buttonhole wheels, according to The Embroidery Stitch Bible) I gasped audibly. Just this section alone is a considerable investment of time and care. In our world of instantaneity and diminished attention spans, the lavish stitching in Layers of Time defies modern logic.

Judy Martin Layers of Time, 2013 detail; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2015

Do you see what I mean? I wonder how long each eyelet took to make. There appear to be several hundred. Layers of Time is the last of the four liturgical panels that were made by Martin with assistance from the volunteers with the Manitoulin Circle Project.

Judy Martin Layers of Time, 2013 detail; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2015

I was intrigued to see layers of lace doilies repurposed. Their colouration is as they were donated: yellowed with time and not over-dyed. Here is an element of "anonymous time": the women who crocheted the donated doilies, many likely long dead, unknowingly contributed to this quilt too. The quilt is mostly monochromatic, with the exception of a hint of blue outlining the inner circle. 

Judy Martin Layers of Time, 2013 detail; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2015

Background squares of wool blanket contrast with the central circle motifs.

The five liturgical panels in the Mended World exhibition are prominently displayed in the sanctuary of the Little Current United Church when they are not travelling. At this point, the final exhibition of the liturgical panels is set for June 2016 in North Bay, Ontario. This month they head to a Newfoundland fibre conference for a meditation panel workshop that Martin is teaching. 

Judy Martin Layers of Time: vintage wool blankets & lace doilies, recycled linen damask, silk, beads, cotton threads, hand pieced, layered, embroidered, and quilted, made with community assistance. 92" X 92" (228.6 X 228.6 cm) Collection of Little Current United Church, Manitoulin Island, Ontario, Canada.

Judy Martin Mended World: an exhibition of the Manitoulin Community Circle Project 
at Homer Watson House and Gallery, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada 
May 9 to June 14, 2015

All photographs were taken with permission from the artist.

Judy Martin: Mended World @ Homer Watson House & Gallery 2

Judy Martin, Mended World, 2012; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2015

My photo of the Mended World liturgical panel does not do the textile justice. Along with Trinity, Mended World is of the quieter of the five large liturgical panels: all circles within squares. Mended World is one of the four textiles that Judy Martin designed and then made with assistance from over 100 volunteers, all part of the Manitoulin Circle Project (hereafter MCP). The MCP ran from 2009 to 2013. Every Thursday, Martin and a random assortment of community members, usually a dozen or so, would gather at the Little Current United Church from 10 am to 6 pm. The volunteers came with a range of sewing experience. They gathered even when Martin was away due to travel commitments or otherwise.

Judy Martin, Mended World, 2012 detail; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2015

What happens when community members work together toward a common goal for four years? The MCP participants were a circle of people meeting in what was most likely a square or rectangular building and they made liturgical textiles of circles within squares: the gatherings mirrored the textile designs. While working together on textiles, heads are down and hands are busy, allowing conversation interspersed with moments of silence; this is a great way for introverts and extroverts to work together.

Judy Martin, Mended World, 2012 detail; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2015

Had a sociologist been present during the four years of the MCP, he/she may have witnessed the gradual building of deeper social cohesion, especially among community members who would not normally connect. Did the Manitoulin Circle Project bind the community together and create an open and fluid circle of belonging and welcome?

Mended World is strip-pieced. Note the flecks of blue within the central circle and the shimmer of the repurposed table linens. It is a quiet, elegant liturgical panel.

Mended World completed in 2012 was hand and machine stitched, and made of recycled linen and cotton damask, and silk. The size is 243.8 X 243.8 cm.

Judy Martin, Precious Water, 2013; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2015

Precious Water is a double circle with a horizon line bisecting the textile. The design and colours echo Earth Ark. It is hand-stitched and made with recycled linen and cotton damask, silk, and linen. The dimensions are 218.4 X 218.4 cm. I'm gobsmacked that the entire liturgical textile was pieced without the assistance of a sewing machine. The double-circle reads as a protective zone surrounding an island and its sky.

Judy Martin, Precious Water, 2013 detail; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2015

The lower section of the textile is composed of circles within squares, reinforcing the theme. The ruched blue section was made with a special backing fabric that shrinks when exposed to heat. Once the grid of blues and off-whites were stitched to the backing, a heat gun shrunk the backing fabric. The colours are harmonious, but I am not convinced by the ruched texture. It feels gimmicky in relation to the rest of the liturgical panel.

Judy Martin, Precious Water 2013 detail; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2015

The dots were expertly formed using the satin stitch.

Judy Martin, Precious Water 2013 detail; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2015

The circles within squares of the lower section were created with reverse appliqué, a time-consuming process that requires skill and practice. Martin and the Manitoulin Circle Project volunteers poured a high level of care, detail, and time into Precious Water. 

Judy Martin Mended World: an exhibition of the Manitoulin Community Circle Project 
at Homer Watson House and Gallery, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada 
May 9 to June 14, 2015

All photographs were taken with permission from the artist.