IN PLACE

During Covid,

  I posted about an Online Workshop I'm taking with Textile/Dye Artist 

India Flint.

I've really enjoyed the daily exercises

 and if you are still interested know that the class is still open and going on.

One of my favorite projects was making this pincushion that India calls a Biscornu.

We were encouraged to use an endless variety of fabrics.

I chose to take apart a favorite family quilt of ours that had worn out years ago 

from so much laundering.

I did a few small repairs on some of the holes 

and used a special dyed embroidery floss from Fiber Artist Deb Lacativa

to sew the front and back pieces together with.

Sadly it didn't photograph well and isn't very noticeable.

Sorry Deb!

I'm pretty sure this antique button was a gift from another Textile Artist 

Morna Crites-Moore,

and the button on the backside was a small ceramic mouse that I've had for years,

waiting for the perfect spot to use it.

My son's beautiful wife Nicole is being taught to quilt and use a sewing machine 

by her dear mother Mary.

When I was there last I didn't notice a pincushion so I gifted her this one recently.

By the way,

those of you who have been keeping in touch about Nicole's mother and her cancer treatments,

she is currently in remission,

her 4th one.

Mary is my hero!!

ANOTHER ARTIST TREAT IN THE MAIL

One of my favorite textile artists,

Morna Crites-Moore,

sells some of her art and supplies every so often,

so I try to check in every now and then to see what she's got up.

This time she was selling bits and pieces of had to find vintage wool sweaters that she has already felted down.

And it's always delightful to see how different artist's package their goods to send thru the mail.

So lets take a look.

The kitty taped package.

The unveil.

The linen wrap around.

An extra gift.

Her business card with a beautiful image of one her art quilts a top

the most wonderful vintage piece of her mother's picnic quilt made into a pin cushion.

Another lovely gift that she put in.

So sorry the front side above is a little out of focus.

Another lovely gift she threw in,

antique buttons that she incorporates into many of her creations.

And now what I actually ordered from her,

the felted wool pieces.

But Morna also put in wool yarns to compliment each piece.

Am I a lucky girl or what?

Your generosity and kind heart are very rare Morna.

Thank you for sharing these very special gifts!

Laughter

Saw this great piece of rug hooking on my friend Morna Crites-Moore blogsite, The Wicked Waif.  

To see more give her a visit.  

She is one of my all time favorite fiber artists, I even own 3 of her amazing works.

This piece was hooked by June Myles of Redding CT.

Love her color choices and asymmetrical design with the text.

It's also very cool how she did the beard/mustache hair.

Wish I could see it in person!

Morna Crites-Moore's "Nostalgia"

A close-up of  "Nostalgia"

I wanted to show off my gorgeous new piece of fiber art by one of my favorite artists, Morna Crites-Moore.  She calls this piece "Nostalgia" and she made it by ripping thin strips of old fabrics then weaving them back together again.  Afterwards, she goes in and does her magic with needle and thread and adds thousands of tiny stitches over top the whole piece.  It is an incredible work of art and I'm so proud to hang it in my home.

I bought a shadow box to display it in.  If you'd like to see more of Morna's work, I featured her a few weeks back on my blog, so scroll down, or go to the right under "Artists I Follow" and find her name.

Professional Fiber Artist MORNA CRITES-MOORE

I am so excited to showcase one of my very favorite fiber artists, Morna Crites-Moore, here on my blog.  I discovered her work last school year in an issue of Quilting Arts, and it was love at first sight!  So I immediately went onto her website to see all that she creates.  In fact, I enjoyed her work so much that I required my Beginning 3-D students to visit her site as homework when they were learning how to sew and embellish.  I am especially inspired by her hand stitching, all her tiny decorative stitches, and by the fact that she likes to work with recycled wool sweaters.  Below is a statement of her work that I copied from her website http://www.mornacrites-moore.com/ 

"I learned to knit and sew when I was a young girl - and that was when I fell in love with textiles. I am especially fond of old textiles - their soft hand and faded palette, the occasional mended patch. I like to make new things from old things, including a wonderful felted wool which I make from old wool sweaters. I often wonder about the life that was led by the abandoned articles of clothing I use in my work. Does this little pair of mittens have memories of building a snowman? Does that cardigan sweater remember its freshman year at college?

Recently I have been exploring jewelry design and the art of the metal smith. I have learned how to saw, forge, solder and braze shining sterling silver and other metals. It is a learning process which continues, as I discover the joy of working with pearls, crystals, precious stones, and found objects.

There is quite a challenge involved in trying to serve two loves; nowadays my fiber muse and my jewelry muse have little power struggles over who gets to be in charge of my studio, my head, my hands, my heart.

Among the many aphorisms I heard as a child, the one that stays with me best is waste not, want not.I think that's a clue to why I save pretty much everything.

To visit my studio is to be surrounded by collections of all sorts. I try to keep my fabric in order, but the wool, linen, and silk overflow their spaces, wandering into the den next door. And the den is filled with items to sell in my vintage shop. My daughter's room is home to an entire wall of gorgeous wool tapestry threads. Boxes overflowing with sweaters sit in a corner of my bedroom. Back in the studio, dolls and their tea sets share shelves with piles of velvet and lace, cups filled with markers and paint brushes, and jar upon jar of antique buttons. Baskets hold tea bags and their tags, wool roving, projects in progress, wool scraps waiting to be strung as garlands, and bundles of old letters. There is a large drawer devoted to dryer lint and hundreds of teeny containers, each holding a different type or color of bead, pearl, clasp, sit stacked one upon another, at the jewelry table." 

I also follow her blog at http://www.mornacrites-moore.blogspot.com/

Thank you Morna for allowing me to share you and your work.