A new challenge has been on my mind and it is pure coincidence that I am posting about it on Earth Day.
This is what I am starting with: 50 projects that use up what would be commonly considered "waste," weeds or salvaged materials. Depending on how long it takes me to get to 50, I may keep going. I've already got ideas to start with such as making a rag rug, making paper with paper scraps, pieced clothing, baskets and...
Dandelion wine!
It will be a small batch as I really don't know whether I like it or not. Two cups of petals are now soaking in water for the next week.
This could qualify as a project although it feels a bit like cheating. All I did was gather some vines and put them in the tins. Mom was the one that tended the fire. The top piece of charcoal is from Mom and Dad's fireplace.
Along with some other things, my aunt sent me this beautiful table runner that has tears in it.
So many possibilities!
This isn't a daily challenge, I am just going to take my time and see what I can do.
I shouldn't have been surprised to find out that a basket making technique called looping is the same stitch used to weave crab pots and fish nets.
This is the first time I've tried to do this at such a small gauge and I was using fairly rough twine so I had trouble keeping things a standard size. There is a second stitch that I was practicing as well that has a twist.
I want to keep practicing this... I am imagining bags and baskets for hanging plants. I think it might work for mending chair seats.
A way to keep things useful.
I also want to keep knitting...one of my favorite kinds of making.
Basket making is something I've wanted to explore for a long time. When I stumbled on Fiber Arts Take Two and Harriet Goodall's class I decided to take the leap and I am so glad that I did!
This basket was made from birch that had to be pruned off the house for the painting. It's random weaving which is lots of fun!
It's not the best time to harvest branches for baskets but they were there to play with. It also may shrink as I wove it without drying and re-hydrating the branches. I am always willing to experiment though so it was worth a try...
The rocks are possibilities for pigments.
And this is the latest batch of paper (still wet). It has quite a bit of color to it as the paper I used for pulp had some color. It also has lichen in it.
I am thinking of both the basket and the paper as "field note projects" as they both contain materials that are local and are about place.
And the cat-a-log, as an update:
It was early in the morning and the house was still cool. They are sleeping on top of the fieldnote blanket which is still in progress.
In front of the fan is a coveted spot for all of us right now...
Adding thread to the paper I've been making has been on the to-do list. I tried it this evening.
One strand, as an experiment.
Little ends.
This is mostly what I want to do...as a way to use them.
I tried it two ways. First laying the threads on the wet pulp while it was still on the screen and before flipping it on to the towel and then for the second attempt, just pressing the threads into the wet paper.
This is some of this batch of pulp as dry paper. The indigo rinse water has made a nice soft blue.
I'll share my results tomorrow.
My long term goal is to set up one corner of the covered porch as an outdoor studio...for dyeing, pigment making and paper making. Oh...and basket making. I've signed up for a class on basket making, something I've wanted to do for a long time. There are so many possible basket making materials in my garden. It's another way of connecting to what is local, to place. A kind of field note.
Other things...
Sour cherries at Mom and Dads. I have enough to make jam and plan to do so tomorrow.
A wee little box.
Playing with filters.
The boys are working on their scynchronized head turning.
"And the space you held as a singer is all about the gaps you leave, because that’s the orchestration, that’s the arrangement, that’s where the listener can enter in. That’s the invitation. And learning from those old singers, you know, I really learned a lot in that art, and here was the nightingale doing exactly the same thing, even better, with such grace. And the timing that he leaves between expressions was formidably brave. And in that space, so much is happening. Although it’s silence, you know, it’s a very rich and fertile place for the imagination, for listening deeper into the places that one never knew they could hear, inside and outside."
A lot of yesterday was spent in the garden and scraping paint off the house to prepare for painting. I really like how this bed turned out...dahlias and bachelor buttons for dyeing, calendula for salve (and maybe some dyeing), mint (also a possible dye), borage for the bees and because I like their twinkly blue star flowers. Borage is good for other things too.
There are peas to pick...some of them I will freeze. Also blueberries, the earliest of them.
I will be out in the garden soon.
It rained overnight so I started today with sewing.
Some of the indigo fabric is being used to make a tunic. I didn't have enough fabric for even a short top with any of the fabric so I pieced fabric together so that there was enough. My plan is to add some embroidery around the neckline and where I pieced the fabric together. There is no pattern for this, just two squares with a neckline cut out.
I fell in love with this fabric several years ago and made a top and a skirt. Neither was worn much as the neckline on the top ended up being bigger than I liked and the skirt never felt right. The fabric is a double gauze. My thoughts are that while double gauze is recommended as a skirt fabric, it's not a good skirt fabric for me.
This morning I cut everything apart and tried again.
This is the One Yarn Minimalist Top pattern. The skirt makes up the body of the top and the shoulder pieces are made with fabric from the top. I also cut fabric for sleeves but decided that I like it better without sleeves.
So much better!
And then there has been pound cake (made to use up the eggs), berries and cherries, and yogurt. The raspberries are from the garden and the rest of the fruit from the farmer's market. So good...
Timber likes someone to snuggle with. First he tried me but I don't stay put enough. Then he tried Widget. Widget thinks he still smells funny from a trip to the vet (teeth cleaning) and wants nothing to do with him. Luckily Gibson was in the mood for company and made room.
The paper boxes have dried well. The one on the right needs a little trimming along the top or a layer of paper over the edge.
This morning Jude has me thinking about things we store in boxes. About open boxes or boxes with lids. Pandora's box...and stories. The thing about a box is that there always is a way out, always the hope of a way out. A cube...well that would be a different story. A cube would have to be carved or smashed.
Another paper project. I am mending a paper lantern rescued from the "go away" pile at work with pieces of the paper I've been making. The plan is to cover the whole exterior with handmade paper.
And another "waste not" project. A shirt made from what was leftover after making a summer skirt. The shoulder pieces are scraps from another project. The pattern is the One Yard Minimalist Top. I need to make the neckline just a smidge smaller on the next one. This pattern has so much potential....
I have the next nine days off of work and am hoping to do so many things. Someday it will include a new floor.
Much cooler today but the indigo vat is still happy.
More dyeing.
The only piece of fabric that had a white base is the blue in the middle, the rest had a yellow base. The yellow is either marigold or buddleia from last year.
For comparison.
Waste not:
I've been adding the indigo rinse water to the paper pulp I've been making (on the left). Some of the pulp has been used for paper sheets and some as "paper clay."
The square on the left has a paper basket as a base and the one on the right has a plastic container as a mold. They both seem to be drying well. I added flour to the paper pulp to make it clay like.
I was inspired by an Instagram post (Sibster) but it's something that has long interested me...
I bought this book which has instructions on paper making and paper mache, along with other paper projects, over thirty years ago.
I feel like I lost a week and am not sure quite where it went. Maybe it's just that the grass pollen is high...the garden is amazing though.
(cucumbers and celery...trying celery for the first time.)
It's been raining so a lot of time yesterday was spent cleaning and organizing. I am not sure it looks much better than it did before but two big bags full of things left the house so something must have changed.
There was also a lovely surprise visit from Hazel (the second in two weeks!)...just when I needed a break.
I also made a new indigo vat with some dates that were way past "best by." This is dip number one; the fabric (dipped today) will go back in for another dip tomorrow and/or the next day.
Today I used some shredded junk mail for paper pulp and added some of the pansy ink the water.
Just for a moment it was purple and then it was blue.
This is some of the pulp flipped out onto watercolor paper. It doesn't matter if it sticks...I have an idea!
Some of the pansy ink was saved in some tiny bottles that I've had forever and found while sorting. Maybe this is something I kept for just the right amount of time? But it's the "it will be useful someday" that gets me into trouble.
There also has been some stitching; trying a technique that Jude shared in the Forever Zone. The fabric is some that I dyed using a clay resist for the circles. It will make a nice pillow once all the circles are stitched
The last couple days have been spent mostly indoors...it's been raining.
I did get out today for awhile to appreciate the last of the apple blossoms, pull a few weeds and transplant some lettuce and spinach. And to check on an experiment...
Mom gave me some Ollas (pots used for watering plants) for Christmas. The whole idea fascinated me and I did some research.
This is one way of making one...bury a clay planter, with the hole stopped up by something (I went with a cork for now) and then place a saucer on top for a lid. The lids are off right now to collect rainwater.
I am also going to try these for the squash and cucumbers (that's where the ones Mom gave me are going).
As for being inside...the sewing machine is set up again and I am starting to work through some fabrics that I had stashed away. The first project was making pillow cases with the indigo dyed velvet.
Once this was a shirt-jacket kind of thing, made about 20 years ago. One of the sleeves tore. I cut deeper arm holes and added pockets. Now it's a vest kind of thing. The fabric is hemp and has soften through the years. It's also shrunk and become a tighter weave.
The assistant:
Timber had his own ideas about arrangement.
The window:
I was intrigued by the window while looking at the photos. This is unaltered, I just cropped this section of the photo from the one with Timber.
The altered version:
Grateful this morning for shelter and running water (which I don't have but will again sooner or later).