Marsbarn Designs...

Marbling fabric, take one

I blame iced coffee for the desire to marble things.
There's that deep brown canvas in a clear, tall glass,
and then you pour in the  milk, and watch the magic
happen as the milk curls around the floating islands
of ice.  Ahhh... so lovely.

It took me a while to gather all of the supplies.  For 
some reason, finding a blender for mixing the floating
solution was a real stumbling block.  The thought of a 
craft blender seemed... extreme.  Sure, I already have
an arsenal of pots and pans devoted to batiking, but..
a lovely friend came to my rescue and gave me a used
blender.

And the marbling is fun.  And addictive.

These are all from our first run at marbling fabric.
Next time, I need to take the time to iron the alum
impregnated fabric.

The laying down of the fabric is still a bit hit and miss.

See that band of color at the bottom, where the tones
are deeper?  That's something about how I put the
fabric on the floating dye.

I think this one is my favorite. I like those huge feathers.

Big E made this one. Those white voids are bubbles.
Yes, even Big E thought this was fun.  All four of us
played with the dyes.

I'm waiting for more Kona White to arrive for our next
round of marbling.  I used a variety a fabrics for this
first attempt, different colors and weights.  I liked the
white best. 

 

A fortnight of many things

I was going to say it's been a busy week, but in truth,
it's been a crazy-busy fortnight. 

There have been ginger molasses cookies (both soft
and crispy, because I forgot one tray in the oven) and
banana bread that's been and gone. I picked strawberries
and made my first batch of jam for the year.  

G wore a Wash inspired Cosplay outfit to school for 
character day.  "This land.. we shall call it ... This Land"

We celebrated Auntie O's birthday with homemade
pizza (white sauce, dates, walnuts, prosciutto, YUM!),
listened to a mandolin and guitar concert organized by
Auntie O, and listened to a local author, Brian Doyle,
whose book (Mink River) G and I devoured last summer.

Sweet G, Little e and I participated in a Taekwon Do
demonstration, after which G and I sprinted to the 
studio so we could test for our next belt level.  We're
now Brown Stripes (which makes Big E giggle like a
boy when he hears it.) 

And in the midst of all these things, and so many more,
(Such a BUSY pair of weeks) alchemist has finished
her yearly bloom, but Little Lucy (our aggressive 
wee pink rose) is getting ready for her turn to display.
The small, hot, dry bed on the west side of our house 
has been weeded, and new bearded irises have been
planted for next year.

And then there was the sewing. So much sewing. 40+ bags
were sewn for a shop update, plus a pile of special orders.
A good portion of those bags have been packaged and 
sent out to lovely customers.  

But, what stands out most brightly, in this period of 
intense activity as the school year winds down, was 
the quilt presentation.  Oh, the tangled webs one 
spins when organizing a year long, school wide secret.
I'm thrilled beyond words that it was successful, and
that I have been forgiven for all of my mistruths. No
one is holding a grudge for my misdirection, which I
must admit, became a small concern of mine toward
the end.  While indulging my inner 12 year old
improvisational "story" spinner has been fun, my adult
self is the tiniest bit squeamish about carrying so many
lies, white though they may be.  This must be another
sign of adulthood that no one warns you about.

This project really was a joy to pull together.  After most
big projects (although I've never had a project quite
this large), I have a temporary aversion to the project.
After auction quilt projects, I don't want to quilt again
for at least a half year.  After the book making
projects, I don't want to be in the classroom for a while.
But, with this project, I'm not feeling that same need
for distance.  I'm tired.  Yes, I am tired. But, I am 
really looking forward to making another quilt, or
perhaps even (hold your breath here) finishing  a 
WIP (work in progress) quilt that's been sitting on the
shelf for years now.  What a lovely way to end the
school year.  Now, to survive the last five days of 
early mornings.

Secret Retirement quilts, fin.

(As always, click on the photo to enlarge it!)

The quilts are done, done, done, done, and gone 
to their rightful homes.   

This is the front of our Principal's retirement quilt.

And this is the back.  Each of those islands is one
classroom of children.  4 kindergartens, 4 first grades,
4 second grades, 4 third grades, 3 fourth grades, 3
fifth grades, and a special needs classroom.  I made a
map for the quilt that identifies which block is which
classroom. With the teacher-made squares, there were
625 blocks in total. 

This quilt, which one of the 4th grade boys in the school
said was "the biggest blanket in the WORLD!" is our
school secretary's.   She also received a map identifying
which column is which classroom.  

And this lovely quilt (which was assembled by another
mom, who did a fantastic job!) is for a kindergarten
teacher who has taught at our school for 29 years,  
although only 26 of those years were spent in
kindergarten. She and our school secretary came to our
school at the same time, so it is fitting that they are
leaving together as well.  This quilt contains blocks  
made by each child in the school who was taught by
this teacher, as well as all the teachers at the school.
There were 145 blocks in total. 

We also made little booklets of "Signature Cards"
which were made up of 3x5" index cards signed
by each participant. They were bound together
by classroom. Some contain messages, some art,
and some just the artist's name. 

The presentation went very well. The students kept 
their secrets, and all of the recipients were surprised
by their gifts, even our school secretary.  Yay!