Remember those experiments in rust dyeing the FFA group did?  Here is what one of them ended up being.

The Fast Friday Fabric Challenge for this month was fungus. I remember the days of dampening ironing to wait for pressing. If you forgot it too long, it ended up looking like this light teal linen napkin. So it ended up as the focal point for my piece.

The black areas were the result of experimenting with additions to the rusted fabric. I got some pretty interesting designs, some intentional, some accidental. I started with embroidering areas of rust to separate them and contain them into form. I was careful to keep the eye moving through the piece. next I free motion quilted the least rusted forms. 

It was okay but needed more. Then I thought of the really moldy food you get either in the back of the fridge that looks like science experiments gone wrong, or that sock that was left inside your child’s wet boot since it rained last month…..I knew it needed some chunky pieces of mold and dimension so beading was added. That one took me an entire week.

I don’t usually frame my work with borders but this seemed to need it. With fabric and some rust dyed vintage trim I created my idea of a fancy gold frame. Sort of a tongue in cheek that this beauty in nature needed to be presented as fine art.

I love to be able to see what I have to work with, but I keep muslin drapes over my shelves to avoid dust and sun fading. I tried plastic bins but found I wasn’t really organized enough to use them. Even if bins are clear, they seem to need to be labeled. They also have to “fit” into a space and the bits inside them have to fit so the lid goes on. I discovered the clear zipper bags that linens, draperies, bedspreads and such come in. They are wonderful since they come in all sizes they can hold a single project or a whole stack of yardage or bits and pieces with no home. Since they are flexible and scrunch up they can be put in odd spaces that a rigid box can’t fit into. Here is one with bits and pieces and a couple of unfinished projects zipped into it.

Ask all your friends to pass along these little treasures when they purchase something new. They usually end up in the trash so it is a win win situation.

Have you ever watched TLC station’s show “The Hoarders, Buried Alive”? The other day the show was about a woman who’s hoarding passion was fabric. She had mountains and mountains of it. It was everywhere. And she used it. She sewed every day but there was just so much she couldn’t possibly use it up. And every other kind of housework and activity took a back seat to the FABRIC. Her fabric fondling sure went to new heights. Sometimes I worry that might be what others see me like. I couldn’t possible use up all the fabrics on my shelves.

How about you….what does your stash and your work area [studio if you are lucky enough to have one] look like? Is it completely organized so that anyone could come in, pull colors and start stitching? Or is it like mine, I know where the organized mess will lead me, I have a general idea of color locations, threads, beads and where the textile paints, watercolors and inks are located. But, I might have to move stuff to find a surface to work on.
That’s sort of where I’m at today. I wish it was clean, neat and organized all the time….really!! I’m just happy that there are doors that can be closed if someone knocks on the door.

So tell…..what kind of organizer are you?

Ron was my driver yesterday for yard sales and treasure hunts. It had been a pretty good day in my estimation since I bought a split oak hand made basket at the Humane Society thrift store for 75 cents. We found books and drafting tools at the Lutheran church’s sale but the treasure for me is shown in the picture.

As we were on our way home I saw a last sale sign and asked him to stop. OMG. There was a stack of 13 boxes of Huepoint tubes of threads. Each box is a season color forecast from the Huepoint service. They are used by retailers and manufacturers in the clothing and home decoration industries. A few of the boxes I bought have cotton fabric squares in them, too. Most of these glass tubes contain cotton ropes that can be seperated into heavy threads for embroidery stitches but some of them are the yarn samples that can be used for felting or whatnot. I already own 3 boxes of these and have parcelled them out very sparingly when working on a project. I feel terribly rich to now be the proud owner of a total of 16 boxes. Projects are swirling in my head!

Sometime down the road I may wind the threads onto cards so I have the empty glass tubes. They have a cork stopper with a hole in the top. I’m thinking that they would make perfect bead holders that I could just shake out a few beads at a time. Sometimes it’s difficult for me to get ahold of beads if my hands are acting up like they are today. So, it’s time to rest and enjoy the Saturday morning fabric art shows on PBS.