I signed up for Jude’s class titled “Cloth to Cloth” and am having the best time! It is just what I needed to get me going again. Sunday I decided to dedicate my afternoon to creating something so I would be able to learn this technique. I washed all the fabrics, cut them into strips, chose an old tablecloth for the backing and then just started weaving.
For this piece I chose all vintage Japanese cottons and added a couple of old homespun blue and whites plus a German floral from the 1930′s. This is such a liberating technique and Jude’s way of conducting a class is so filled with inspiration and different ways of approaching a process. This is one of the many remarkable qualities about her. She loves people to explore other possibilities and re-define approaches. If you ever get a chance to take one of her online workshops I highly recommend it. The other fun part is being able to see how everyone else creates within this open framework of experimentation.
And of course just as I was a third of the way done with my weaving, Willie decided he wanted to be in the middle of my playtime too. I accepted his help.
Now back to my work….the lampshades.
This is lovely weaving, I love your colors and choices of fabrics. I am also taking Jude’s class and your work is so inspiring. I am totally engaged with this process, but am not at my home right now – cat sitting in Redmond, WA. I find the enthusiam for her workshop wonderful and uplifting.
I completely agree about your thoughts on Jude’s workshop. Suddenly, I was lifted up and feeling very energetic and creative. Her method of teaching is so encouraging and full of possibility all the time. She amazes me on a regular basis. So if you are cat sitting, does this mean you are away from all your fabrics and supplies or did you bring enough with you to keep working? It will be fun to get to know you going forward. What fun this is and will be!
Hey Buddy-I loved the piece you are weaving! Please, though, tell me more. Are the fabric strip edges raw or folded/sewn so they are not? Did you sew short strips together so that the red (for example) ends up in some rows, some not? The piece really speaks to me. It is casual, comfortable, slower-paced-living, but my eye continues to travel ’round and ’round it looking at all the wonderful fabric images. Then, is it tacked onto, sewn down to the tablecloth like a machine quilted piece? My inquiring mind needs to know!
Fondly, Nancy
Hey Nancy,
Glad you stopped by to see if I was still tuned in. I missed the presence and the friends and the stimulation. I needed a rest/ break but mostly from the other trivia in my life, not this!
So this is what I did in the matter of an afternoon (about 4-5 hours). First I had to wash, dry, and iron all the fabric. I am only telling you this so you will know this was part of the total time. Then I cut out 2-3 strips of each fabric in widths of 1 1/2″. I think I chose about twelve different fabrics. I will count tomorrow and put this on my post. I selected a tablecloth for the backing because of the Japanese design, but you can use anything, including piecing fabric for the size that you want. Then I started by laying horizontal strips filling the space on top of the backing (tablecloth). Next I started in the middle and started weaving vertical strips over half. I turned the cloth around and wove the other half until it was finished.
The fabric strips are not folded or sewn but raw-edged. It all “sticks” together because the weaving naturally secures it. And the best part, and you will love this, the drape feels like an antique quilt! No kidding! Also I did not sew any short strips together to form a long one in order to get a particular color in place. All strips were woven randomly without any intent.
Yes, it is definitely a slower-paced project, very healing. I am loving it. The quilting aspect I think will be the best part as it is done with lots of stitching and not the typical “so many stitches to the inch.” This process was just the first part of it. I want to keep adding on, but am not altogether sure how this will be done. I am guessing but that is not good enough to give solid answers. Thank you for your appreciation and interest. That means a lot coming from one of the experts in the field of quilt making!
What beautiful fabrics you have chosen. I love all the prints!
I love the idea of using vintage Japanese fabrics…I like to imagine where the fabric was and who it might have belonged to. Same with any vintage fabric for that matter. Once I had a Victorian beaded bag and I tried to imagine what dress was worn with this beautiful delicate handbag and the person who might have owned it….
Your lampshade is fabulous. I love the splash of fuchsia with
the green. : )
I hope you are doing well. I cannot believe you took the time to visit considering all you have on your plate right now.
There is something so remarkably memorable about vintage pieces. I am always doing the same thing too, wondering where things come from, who wore them, and what was the occasion. The lampshades are in the experimental stages. I am trying to do some more contemporary shades so I will be more well-rounded with my product. I could spend my live in floral chintzes and toiles!
Oh I like this! Hazel leaped into the middle of my last project. What a mess!
When this happens I never get upset because I would never want to discourage their visits to my room. I always run and get my camera, and more often than not, they have escaped the photo opportunity by the time I have returned!
This is exquisite! And such a wonderful advertisement for Jude’s class, too!! I love the colors and patterns that you chose for this cloth weaving. You have the perfect mixture of patterns, stripes, plaids, and even some polka-dots. The whole piece looks so perfectly vintage, perfect for a Bloomsbury picnic. All it needs is a loaf of bread, a jug of wine, a book of poetry. And I love how Willie comes to help, and how you let him. His sweet spirit will be forever woven into this cloth, too, an invisible warp or weft, or maybe more of a halo around the whole! xo Kari
You have woven such a nice story for my piece! Yes, it would make a great Bohemian-style cloth for a picnic and then I could relish a V. Woolf book and read into the afternoon under a shady tree in a beautiful nearby park. This, alone, gives me incentive to finish. I love your stories. It is so easy to arrive to where you are once you paint the picture with a story, Kari.
Order and beauty among diversity. Splendid.
What a great compliment that is, few words but perfect pitch. Thank you.
so good to lift your mood! a gift for me to see you so engaged!
It truly is changing my whole thinking about patchwork and making quilts and cloth. Thank you for making this class available.
I just love that Willie decided that you needed a little more inspiration. That is what I say to my “babies” when they decide to help. Like right now Chester jumped up and crossed the keyboard. I think he just wants me to tell you “Hi” to Willie. He knows a good looking guy when he sees one.
I like what you are doing but have always hesitated with raw edges. I think it is something my grandmother harangued me about and my training kicks in. I will keep watching to see how you handle it.
Actually, just yesterday I confronted that situation and decided to “turn under”. Threads, strings etc. just make me nervous. What is with me? Oh, well.
I miss you and your posts. It seems like I am not alone in enjoying your thoughts and adventures.
I think you are not alone in this feeling of unease about raw edges. Others have voiced this same feeling. I think it is because, as you said, of the training from when we all started sewing, to leave all the edges smooth and no stitches showing. This is why I find Jude’s class so amazingly liberating. She is turning all the rules upside down and making it fun all the way through. I actually see a crossover here to other aspects of my life and thinking (I always do…too serious sometimes), and I truly suspect it will flow into a more creative and less confining space for me. Well we will see…
Thank you for your last words. Very thoughtful. I have missed all the camaraderie too. It has become such an essential part of my days and life. I just need to learn to let all the other stuff of life not interfere or weigh me down. It is that “duty” thing, you know?
I can now see using this technique with some sari fabric that was once worn for a celebration and then given to a local charity shop. I love the provenance.
It will be fun using the silken material with like fabric and then with a more sturdy background, maybe still silk but of a different texture.
I appreciate the nspiration.
Jude who is teaching the class uses almost exclusively fabric that she is re-purposing. I think this is why her pieces always have this immediate charm. One is drawn in by the familiarity and the sense that it is comforting and true, not contrived. That is why your idea of using this sari is such a perfect way to honor what came before. Now it will be given another creative and beautiful life by your own hands and thoughts.
What a great way to use your fabulous fabric collections…lampshades! What about lampshades and coordinated throw pillows? Will your shop be an e-store, or a real shop on a street in your city? I love that you are doing this!
I have a shop on etsy, but have not promoted it. I am going to do a mailing for some select shops in Portland and then update and promote my etsy shop. My husband is helping me with marketing ideas because he is so good at that. A real shop in the city? only if I am lucky or successful, but who knows. The way the global economy is nothing seems certain anymore.