Potluck and Show & Tell - Our annual end of the year gathering!

 We always have a great time sharing food and projects.

Left click on an image to enlarge.

Judy showed us two very creative pieces with lots of techniques in each.

Nancy did some coiling over a piece of cactus

Jane's embroidery piece is incredible.  I wish I could have taken better pictures.

Wendy made this collaged raven, just because she loves ravens.

Wendy also made this windmill which is a challenge project for
the Lighthouse Quilt Guild.  It needed to be 20" square and include
a dresden plate design.

Ann had lots of fun making all these trees out of all kinds of
scraps and treasures.

Lin dyed these threads and scarves.

Jennifer experimented with polyester organza.

Julie made this great quilt with quilt as you go technique.

Coleen wove this beautiful rug and experimented weaving on a branch.

Sue showed us this jacket that she had a lot fun stitching, 
but took a lot of time.

Sue C. made this top out of a shibori piece of fabric
she dyed.

Priscilla, has been having a great time weaving and crocheting.
She dyes her own yarn and used a bound weaving technique
with some pick and pick.

Who thought you could make lots of crochet coral and sea creatures.
And make a jellyfish out of glow in the dark yarn.

This book had a lot to do with geometry and crochet.

This book has lots of great pictures which Priscilla
used for inspiration.

“Kayla Powers - Interwoven: The Art of FLOURISHING Together”

 

Textile artist, Kayla Powers, talked about the themes, ideas, and inspiration of her current exhibition, Flourish, at the Saugatuck Center for the Arts. She shared photos and videos of the process of foraging for plants, crafting natural dyes, and hand sewing the various pieces in this show. Kayla  highlighted the individual works including Sowing Seeds, A Galaxy of Wildflowers, and A Long Walk Through the North End. We had lots of questions and she was very gracious in answering them.

Sowing Seeds

Many of us participated in her collaborative community-created seed sewing-sowing project.  Kayla was hoping for about 400 seed pods, she received over 1700, many from other countries and states. We all got to take a seed home with us. 

Flourish

Kayla explained how the flowers in this exhibit are all local wildflowers this region in Michigan. From her handout: "It's a series I made to showcase some of the biodiversity here in this beautiful region of the world.  I started by researching the flowers. Then I would sketch them, paying close attention to the shapes of the petals and any other unique characteristics of the flowers.  Then I would dye fabric and yarn to match the colors as closely as possible.  It was almost like a puzzle, to create the shapes and fit them together. The flowers are like little quilts with backing fabric, cotton batting in between and then the dyed fabric on top.  They are primarily hand stitched.  I see them almost as portraits."

She took a photograph and then had that printed onto fabric.
She used the company Contrado.  Spoonflower also does it.

We had a lot of fun examing this piece and asking Kayla
how she made several of the blocks.