Dye Me To The Moon

I’ve been struggling with this new format for my blog for almost 2 years now, and I’ve decided to go back to my old blogspot address:

www.dyemetothemoon.blogspot.com

I’m in the process of transferring my postings back over to that site, but it is up and running. See you there!

Two days away from home, hosted in a lovely setting on Quadra Island, with the focus being FABRIC…what more could I ask for? I left my family behind and my day-to-day chores to join my two friends, Terry (our hostess) and Ellen, for what we called our mini-retreat. I packed my tub with dyes, white fabric, stamps, and a collection of embellishment tools with the idea of creating fabric pieces in both new and tried-and-true methods.

Terry’s new home, not yet completed to the stage of being move-in ready, was perfect for the 3 of us. Downstairs was our makeshift studio and upstairs were our living quarters. Her husband helped to rig up a hot and cold water sink, complete with a 5-gallon bucket underneath as our drainage system.

We busily tried a number of methods: wheat paste cracking, stamping and making stamps, carving stamps out of styrofoam trays, palette dyeing and folding. Using wheat paste was a new one for me. The sun cooperated by drying out the pasted fabric quickly, then I gently crushed it to get the “cracked” look. I painted over it with thickened dye to fill in the cracks. My results showed that I should have been more aggressive with my crushing, so I went ahead and tried it again. Terry drew a lovely picture into her wheat paste AND pressed lace into it which produced amazing results. This is one method I will definitely try again.

We stopped in time to spruce ourselves up a bit for a lovely dinner at the Heriot Bay Inn. What a treat to go out to dinner with friends.

Sunday was another day of more of the same. By day’s end I was exhausted, but filled with a much needed burst of creative energy. We vowed to make it an annual event.

You might be wondering, “What is that?” Look hard, what do you see?

I live in the coastal  rainforest of British Columbia. The name of the community is Refuge Cove on West Redonda Island, in the middle of Desolation Sound.  This community is a land and housing cooperative shared by 18 shareholders, our family being one of them.

You enter “ Refuge” from the series of docks, where, depending on the month of the year, you can see a wide range of qualities and quantities of boats moored there. In the summer months, it is a mecca for boaters in search of fuel, groceries, a meal out, perusing through the book exchange, or just some socializing-on-the-dock time. You might even catch a game of washers. In the wintertime, you may see a few float houses and a skiff or two.

Past the “commercial zone” are the “keep out” gates, the boundary of the members-only zone. This is how you would come to my house. I pass boardwalk, hillside and the last 100 feet of thick forest, which pops right onto the bluff where our house sits. This little forest trail has become the home for a few of my ceramic, metal or glass collectibles.  I was ready to part with them (probably more like a de-cluttering mood) and decided to give them a new home along this trail. This all started about six years ago so some of the items have a nice coat of moss on them by this time and are getting hard to see.

Today five fairy houses appeared on this magical little mossy path. They are made of sticks, moss, rocks, pinecones and built into the natural curvature of the rock cliff that winds its way next to our path. They are hard to spot, but they are definitely fairy houses. (I don’t think the fairies are living there yet, but are probably on their way.)

Who built those fairy houses? My niece, Sarah, and her boyfriend, Chris, were visiting for a week, and just this morning, I walked them to the boat to say good-by. On our way down the hill at 5:30 am, they mentioned for me to look for the fairy houses. It took a moment, but my eye finally tuned in. They had created them the previous afternoon, adding more magic to the path.

So the little quilt journal piece above is a fairy house. It’s the one built under a cleft of rock that  has the perfect triangle shape, so naturally created by the moss. Sarah and Chris added the finishing touches: sticks rocks, more moss, pinecones.

I’ve been trying to come up with an idea for this quilt journal challenge with the theme of “TODAY”. Lately I’ve been in the sort of creative funk that does not allow me to have fast reaction times (from idea to reality in just one day???? You must be kidding!). Once I had taken photos of all five fairy houses and got to looking at them, putting it onto fabric seemed like a doable project, with the main idea to create a basic structure, similar to one the actual homes, covered with lots and lots of green stitching to represent the moss. It was therapeutic and the perfect activity to get some of the spider webs and kinks out of my free motion system. I finished, not on the “today”, but on the “tomorrow” which isn’t too bad for me.

So on this “TODAY” (which actually was the “today” of about 5 days ago), the fairy houses appeared, and Sarah and Chris left Refuge Cove for their return to Annapolis, Maryland, after a  fantastic week-long visit. Two, bright and capable recent college graduates, they truly appreciated the uniqueness of our environment and took advantage of all the highlights of Refuge Cove: kayaking, canoeing and swimming in the lake, fishing, prawning, hiking, eating amazing home-harvested meals, playing washers, and enjoying family time together in a special surrounding.

Each time I walk down our path, I look hard to find the “fairy houses” that are tucked so secretively along the path and in the cliffside. Warm memories of a good visit come back to me.

It’s kind of like writer’s block, but only with cloth, not pen and paper.

And I’ve got it! There are a wealth of distractions here in Refuge Cove that keep me away from the sewing machine. Actually my desire to sew is about nil – thus,”Quilter’s Block”.

But maybe it’s because of all the amazing distractions I have here in Refuge Cove. Like, my new garden fence (put up last year), recently fitted with a beautiful gate made by Tom.

Or playing in the dirt in my new greenhouse.  It’s 80% completed and plenty adequate for growing and taking advantage of our summer.

The hummingbirds are really keeping me busy. I fill 4 feeders every day. Those little hummers are inhaling a half gallon per day.

We’re still hoping to see more goldfish in our pond. Every day it’s the same answer…3! Two years ago, we had 17.

Our good friends and neighbors, Jim and Sharon, arrived yesterday and we helped them move. With hamburgers on Cortes first!

Tom’s latest garden project was to build my 3^rd raised garden box.

He asked me to check it out for size…what’s that all about!?????

I quickly filled it with dirt and plants….thankfully,  I haven’t seen him building a lid!

So quilting is the last thing on my mind, but I really should be thinking what I’m going to put in Sandie’s shop (Refuge Cove Gallery) this summer. My first QUICK little commercial project was to cut up a few of my old, undesirable pieces into 3”x6” rectangles and then I proceeded to making them into luggage tags.

And we’ve also been prawning, which is horrible this year because the commercial guys have totally scraped the bottom clean. So now we are trying our hand at fishing, which also hasn’t been too fruitful .

And then there’s my new Kindle. I’ve powered through 4 books in the last 3 weeks. That’s a lot of reading by me. They are: 1) The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver, 2)The Hummingbird’s Daughter by Luis Alberto Urrea, 3) Unbroken: A World War II Story  of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand, and 4) Stoned into Schools: Promoting Peace with Education in Afghanistan and Pakistan by Greg Mortenson. These all were great reads!

So, you can see, I’ve definitely been pre-occupied.

We now claim our U.S.  residence as Jacksonville, Oregon. After faking our U.S. address as Fairbanks, Alaska, for the last five years, it feels great to have  our little place in America. Of course not much will change with our seasonal migration between Refuge Cove and Mazatlan. Our Oregon life lasts for 6 weeks in April/May, plus the two months of October/November, the transition times for us.  Southern Oregon, in particular the Rouge Valley, is  truly beautiful. Neighboring towns to our small historical community are Medford and Ashland. Vineyards abound. It’s a quick drive to the coast. We like it…a lot!

We just spent the last 6 weeks fixing up our cute little trailer. Midst all the projects, I did get some time to do some fabric play with friends! (Yes, we moved to a place where we know a good number of folks!…How wonderful is that!!??)  My awesome Fairbanks/Ashland friend Christine, hosted dye days and collage sessions. Look at the fun we had!

We had fun just letting loose in the dye studio!

We went from watercolor-like blobs to multi-step stamping all in one enjoyable afternoon.

And then we moved on to collage work in the style of Pamela Allen…I shared what I know with Chris and then pulled in Cynthia for another day. 

Looked what we produced!

Lovely composition, Cynthia:

Christine, this piece just flowed out of you. It’s so, so , so ….Christine!

I just couldn’t resist those buttons!

The big feathered serpent called Alaska Airlines leaves today at 1 and takes us to our northern home. As we prepare to depart Mexico after another winter season, passing through the neighborhood to say our goodbyes, carefully storing my quilted works to protect them from the elements, we reflect on another special moment in our lives.

The warmth of the Mexican sun touches our souls. We carry the warmth of the Mexican people in our hearts. It will last forever.

This winter has sped by! We are two days from leaving Mazatlan and I’m amazed at how another snowbird season was so fast, furious (in a positive way) and full!  A good part of the richness of my experience here can be attributed to my associations with those who came to share in my studio “play days”. Twice a week I opened my workshop to up to 4 who came to explore in the arena of fiber arts. In past years I have held more structured classes, complete with handouts and a schedule, and packed the day with everything I believe that EVERYONE should know about fabric dyeing. I took a more open approach this year, just wanting to share studio time with others, giving them the basics and allowing them to “do their thing”. I was so amazed at the range of directions that people took, at the variety of projects and products that evolved. We all truly learned from each other…maybe me the most!

Robyn, who shares my hometown of Tacoma, Washington, really enjoyed making these tablecloths. She also added some stamping to a very traditional cross-stitch done by her aunt. Beautiful!

Pam, my non-sewer (I’m working on her!), had fun making tie-dye shirts for her husband. Some she liked so well, she vowed to keep them for herself. On her third and last session, she came with ideas she pulled off the internet for new and interesting techniques. Here’s an amazing shirt she produced.

Anne brought her artistic skills from painting and eagerly applied them to fabric. Her first project was to create pillow tops for her grandchildren.

Then she moved into painting on fabric. She pulled two images from the internet and chose one for reproducing on cotton. She put her painting experiences to good use here. I have little experience in that area, so together we took the process poco a poco (little by little) and she ended up with an amazing piece. After washing, she decided to add more color. 

Anne’s second computer image was used by Olivia, a Mexican neighbor who happened my way. She wasn’t quite sure what she wanted to do, so she jumped right in and started putting thickened dye to cloth. I admired her courage and she too came out with an interesting piece.

Basha was one of the last to join in on the fun. She came with a keen and energetic interest in all things dyeable. She set herself up with a collection of beautiful hand-dyes to keep her busy through the long summer ahead here when life slows down to nothing. Plus she created some new outfits for herself.

Here’s to this winter’s wonderful partners in the fascinating world of dyeing: Bobbie, Anne, Edwige, Heather, Ann, Kathi, Marie, Rosemary, Sharon, Aldo, Basha, Pam, Robyn, Joyce, Nancy, Olivia, Val, Doreen and Anne Marie! Thank you for all your blooming creativity and inspiration. And special thanks to Edwige for her gelato contributions!

My Mondays in Mazatlan are set aside for working with the local sewing ladies. Typically Toy (our fearless leader, in the foreground above) picks us up (Bev and I) and takes us to the community center in one of the outer colonias. Bev starts with her English lesson, while Toy follows with a meeting to organize selling, discuss marketing ideas, or lead a reflection pertaining to self-development. I add to the mix with some sort of sewing idea or ways to add personal, artistic touches to their wares. These 12 women make my Mazatlan experience very special.

There are others that are connected with the group. Art and Jackie Plunz (pictured above, Art is the tall guy in the back and Jackie wears the pink scarf in the front) have endeared themselves to this group in many ways. They aren’t regulars with us on Mondays, but certainly are there for special events. Last year they brought down a dozen sewing machines to Mazatlan, and distributed one to each woman. Through their church, they have collected donations to help us with special projects. Art, a retired dentist, has helped one family whose daughter has some serious dental issues. They are incredibly kind and generous and lots of fun too. Jackie loves to sing and joins in with the few Mexican women who entertain us with their talents at our parties.

Art and Jackie invited all of us to their oceanside apartment today for a lovely catered luncheon.  Judith and Gustavo created an amazing feast for us on the grill while we had an hour of our regular meeting time. Patty (our one women now working on her degree in social work) led us in an activity.

After lunch, Art brought out maps of Alberta and showed the women where he and Jackie lived, and showed photos of their northern life. Images of snow, dogsleds, snowmachines, ice roads, mining operations, small planes and decorated parkas were source of stories and questions (happily translated by Toy).

With dessert we were treated to our delightful singers, Ceci, Lola and Jackie. Their voices and creative talents penetrate my soul!Thank you Art and Jackie!

Ligia is a friend of mine. She is a single mom with two teenagers (Ligia, 19, and Juan Jose,15) and her 78 year old father. The weight of her family falls on her shoulders, as is so typical in many Mexican homes.  She’s tough, she’s strong; Tom calls her a “pitbull”. On top of that, she’s funny and talented. She began as our half-day-a-week housekeeper more than five years ago, but now she’s certainly more than that.

Her young daughter was scheduled to have her baby at the end of February.  Because Ligia works for a myriad of northerners who make Mazatlan their winter or full-time home, it was only fitting that we have a shower for her. Two neighboring sisters from Holland were the hostesses (with the mostest-es!) and the rest of us were the fortunate guests who just brought sweet baby gifts and enjoyed the pleasure of giving to a woman and her daughter who gives so much to all of us. Oh yes, and the food was fabulous!

I made her a colorful diaper bag. I remember the one I had when Ben was born – dark green, nothing special, jammed with clothes and diapers, pacifiers and toys. I’m hoping it will be a tiny, cheery moment in the reality of crying and dirty diapers; a comment that this baby is special! (as all babies are).

Baby Ligia was born last Monday. Both momma and baby are back at the family home now, settling into new roles. A small group of us went to visit (and get our turn at holding her!) and arrived just in time for her little bath. What a beauty!

Life is tough for our friend, and now there is another mouth to feed. We see the stress she lives with and can only hope and pray that this little girl brings her grama incredible joy and happiness and love to overshadow life’s daily struggles.