Wow! It's been way too long since my last post. Things have been a little hectic around here lately. We have had a few new additions to the household. This ones' name is Blue. Winks' Blue Boy to be exact. He is about 10 weeks old now. Hopefully I can get him to look at the camera next time so you can see his miss matched eyes. Very pretty, one blue one brown.
We call this one baby. He's about 350# in this picture. I would guess he has put on another 150# or so. He is a Brahma bull calf. The one next to him is one of four we picked up to keep the pasture under control. Cute little guy, isn't he?
This is a piece of sateen I am playing with. I think I would like a long duster style coat with this design on the back. I've since over-dyed it with Cayman Island Green. Haven't had much time to design anything lately, so will have to check back to see if it ever gets made.
This is the only picture I took of the surface design class I gave in May. The following are a few pieces they did using Seta Color, masks and salt. I had 15 ladies, so it was kind of hectic most of the time. We covered Soy Wax, breakdown printing, rusting, sun painting, flour resist, shibori and one other technique that slips my mind.
The month of June wasn't much calmer. I spent a week in California visiting a close friend of the family. She was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer this winter. She has to be one of the strongest people I know. At 63 she managed to go thru 8 rounds of chemo and 5 solid weeks of radiation. When we pulled into the driveway she greeted us with the same large smile and warm hugs as if nothing had happened. Her Dr. believes they got it all. If anyone deserves it she does.
Well time to get back to the dye pots and pressing table. I have a couple of large orders that I am sure my ladies think I have lost. No so, as a matter of fact I am about 3/4 thru them. Have a few colors that are fighting me, but that just goes with the territory. I always seem to get it right eventually. I suppose I could make it easier on myself by writing down the recipes, but that would take all the fun out of it. I enjoy the challenge of color matching by eye. It also results in much richer looking fabrics because I "stack" the colors to achieve the desired hue.
These are our mop up rags. The full size fabrics are still hanging in the garage. I want to make sure they cure a little before heat setting them.
Works in progress. Beautiful workshop huh? I really can't complain too much, hubby gave up his side so I could have the extra space.
