Quilting fiddle head ferns

After setting a couple of weeks in a jar with cochineal, Osage orange and annanetto I opened the jar and added a couple teaspoons of washing soda (to bring out more orange color), heated it gently for an hour and let it stand over night. This morning I washed out the wool. This is the dramatic colors I achieved for the Sun/Moon quilt.

I love all the mottled colors.
The fabric is wet so it will dry a little lighter.

At night I'm still working on my wool quilt. This past week it's been the fiddle head ferns brought to life with hand-quilting. They are so cute they look like little soldiers in a line.

A few more to quilt.

Full Valentine Moon

This side of Lake Michigan most of our winter nights and days are cloudy, it was so nice to see the full moon on Valentines night.  I can't remember the last time I saw a full moon. After photographing it I made my own.

I couldn't resist making my moon heart shape. With a little bit of natural dyed wool I appliqued on the heart, layer it with batting and hand-quilted with iridescent thread.

Someday to be sewed with my Earth/Moon blocks.

The next day I lit a fire in the studio and went to work on dyeing some wool with indigo. I began by crushing up the indigo.

Mixed it in the solution and kept it warm on my stove.

My husband hung a clothes line near the studio so I wouldn't have to tromp through the 20 some inches of snow we have. I began by dyeing pieces for my Sun/Moon quilt.

Next I pulled out all my yellow and not so great pieces I had previously dyed and over dyed them all.

Everything froze a couple minutes after it was hung up.

I only had a few hours to spend in the studio this past weekend, (too many interruptions), but I did start on dyeing the fabrics for my Sun/Moon quilt. I began by layering my wool with Osage orange bark and annatto.

My little helper came out and crushed up cochineal

and added it to the mix.  I poured boiling water over and sealed it.

Now I'll let it sit awhile and let the dyes perform their magic. In the past when I've done this I'd leave it out in the hot sun to solar dye and watch it carefully for mold, but now after reading India's prophet-of-bloom.blogspot.com new book "stuff, steep @ store"  I sealed the lids so hopefully the fabric doesn't mold as fast. When I open one of the jars I'll add a spoonful  of washing soda. The annatto in it will turn the fabric a bright orange. Hopefully with the cochineal, and Osage orange bark the fabric will be a nice mix of colors.

I also attend a local fashion show this weekend, entitled "Words To Wear". It started with 6 artists creating wearable fashion using only newspapers, scissors, tape, glue sticks and string. They all had the same amount and if you ran out of anything too bad! 

They had 6 hours to create.

A dress from last year,

And another one. So the glue sticks and tape held.

At the end of the day there was a fashion show with the model and designer walking. 

This design was inspired by the 40's.

This design included a corseted belt, mask, paper feathers

and a flirty ruffle in back.

A strap dress with bows.

and a kick pleat at the bottom.

Cute young girl with a "Flapper" dress.

And a hippie from the 70's or just dreaming of Spring and flowers.

This was a cute dress, with pleats,

a bow on the back and a purse.  

At the same time the fashion show was going on it was the end of another show called "Bling Thing Sale". It was a fund raiser for our library. People donated their old jewelry to the sale. There was a lot of vintage jewelry.  The prices were great and on the last day they were half price. I bought this old necklace with Czechoslovakian crystals intending to cut it up and use in the sky on the Sun quilt but after trying it on it is too beautiful to part out (not that I have any place to wear it).
I think I paid $10.00 for this piece. (half price day)

This set of vintage earrings and pin was $7.00.

Vintage earrings $2.50.

I bought other necklaces to cut up to sew onto the Sun quilt but I was interrupted and didn't get back to photographing them.

This weekend I'll try again in the studio working with indigo.

Sunday afternoon I finally had a few hours to myself.  I've been wanting to design a wall hanging featuring the Sun and the Moon and now I had the time and was inspired to go. After all my designs were vetoed for not being accurate, hubby saying  "the moon is not behind the sun".  But hubby I say, "I love the look of a crescent moon" with the Sun".

Finally, after many designs and much erasing I come up with this accurate, approved design of the Full Moon passing over the Sun. The piece will be approx. 26"x34".

This coming weekend I'm keeping a whole day for myself in the studio dyeing wool for the project.
Indigo for the sky. Lots of oranges, reds and yellows for the Sun.
  I will be purchasing  silk for a iridescent Moon.
I am so excited to start working on it.

(So here it is Peggy my Moon/Sun quilt for 2014)

I saw these cute little rabbit tracks in our back yard, they come in from the woods, under the fence and to the middle of our back yard,

Then abruptly end! I don't know if that's too good.