Friday's Fiber Artist - Cactus Bloom Fibers

Ooo..how exciting and luscious! This week's featured artist is Cactus Bloom Fibers.

CoreSpun Recycled Silk Yarn by Cactus Bloom Fibers

 

As exemplified by the above silk yarn spun from a recycled silk, Patricia of Cactus Bloom Fibers has given a modern twist to the ancient art of fiber spinning. It is also a wonderful example of her versatility; dyeing and spinning traditional fibers AND transferring this process to non-traditional spinning materials from the world around her. Just take a look at this scarf!

Handspun Wool and Recycled Silk Tie Scarf by Cactus Bloom Fibers

The spinning of fibers into yarn is a fiber art form that dates back to prehistoric times. It evolved from rolling tufts of fiber along the leg, to attaching fiber to a stone and twirling, to a spindle and distaff, and the "revolutionary" spinning wheel. Modern industrial spinning techniques make use of high-speed rotary and open-ended spinning.

Hand-dyed Fiber by Cactus Bloom Fibers

 Though there are many varieties of spun fiber at the big name craft stores, it is artists like Patricia that keep the medium alive and fresh. It is the individual artistic whim that gives handdyed roving and handspun yarns the perfect touch for yarn and needle crafts. The ability to create unique items from the yarn and fiber at Cactus Bloom Fibers is abundant!

Handspun Thick and Thin Worsted Merino Wool Yarn by Cactus Boom Fibers

Plumberry Handspun Art Yarn by Cactus Bloom Fibers

Let's hear from Patricia about how her love of color and interest in spinning came to be:

"Cactus Bloom Fibers is a name I chose for my business because I consider myself a desert transplant.  I currently live in Springfield, Missouri but grew up in Arizona.  When I was coming up with ideas for a name, I kept coming back to cactus blooms.  In Arizona, my brother and I used to explore the desert and mountains around us.  My family used to take us on hiking trips around the state, as well.  To me, the desert is beautiful - and one of the most beautiful things you can see are cactus in bloom with bright luscious yellows, pinks or reds.  Those seem to be the colors I use most in my dyeing, including large amounts of green.
 
I have a passion for color, but texture is wonderful, too.  I love working with natural fibers such as wool and silk. I enjoy dying & blending my own fibers and spinning them into interesting & beautiful yarn.
 
I've dabbled in a lot of creative fields, such as silversmithing & jewelry making, quilting, sewing, knitting and needlework.  Lately, I've been designing felt brooches/baubles to coordinate with my handspun yarn.  I've noticed that my best creative moments come when there is no pressure to create - and I'm just living in the moment, enjoying the process.

A few years ago, I became intensely interested in the process of dyeing yarn and fiber. I did quite a bit of online research, read online tutorials (there's tons of them online), checked out books at the library, bought books and also watched any program on TV that had anything to do with spinning or dyeing fiber that I could find. The only thing I didn't do was take a class. I'm just not a class-taker. I like learning independently and and some classes can move at a pace that puts me to sleep!

If someone were to ask me why I love spinning colorful fibers into yarn, I would say that it's the tactile quality that is so appealing. I bet that is why most women who spin yarn like it, too. What's really wonderful to me about dyeing fibers and spinning them into yarn is that I get to use my creativity to make fiber art, but in turn, that fiber art is something that can be made into something useful and beautiful.  It's a 2-in-1 process that I just find amazing.  I would also say that wool is my all-time favorite fiber (as is probably for many spinners). When someone asks me why I love wool so much, I usually say "There's just something about wool..." because I don't want to lecture them on all the wonderful attributes it has - and some people get the glassy-eyed look that tells me I'm being too educational.

I stay busy working full-time at an office job during the day, winning bread, etc. for my family...The most positive thing I can say about the office job is it gets any need for structure and orginazation out of my system.  When I am home working on the fiber arts, I can just let go and let the creativity kick in.  Of course, there's kids to deal with, pets to feed, dinner to be fixed and hopefully (if I'm being really good - 20 minutes of exercise to fit in somewhere).  The weekends are my big creative-outlet time.  
I would love to work as a full-time fiber artist some day and maybe fill any needs for structure or organization in other ways."

Thank you Patricia for sharing a little bit about yourself and Cactus Bloom Fibers. By the way, my daughter has suggested that the roving below would be a perfect choice for me to buy her for her next needle felting project!

Garden Flow Falkland Wool Roving by Cactus Bloom Fibers

Friday's Fiber Artist - TeeGee

Hello fiber arts lovers! I am very excited to be featuring this weeks artist, TeeGee.

Oak Flame Velvet Shibori Scarf by TeeGee

TeeGee is also known as Mom, Beth, and quite possibly "Hey, Lady".  Like many who love fibers and textiles, Beth has fallen for more than one medium. After focusing on quilting off and on for 8 years, she has turned her creative inquisitiveness to the Japanese art of Shibori. This is a form of pleating, folding, stitching, binding, and dyeing of fabric that can be traced back to 8th Century Japan.

Velvet Bomaki and Arashi Shibori Scarf by TeeGee

Beth utilizes various Shibori techniques to create the magnificent scarves at TeeGee's. These methods include Bomaki Shibori and Arashi Shibori. In the Bomaki method, the scarf is dyed, stiched, then compressed on a large pole. After it is compressed on the pole, the color is discharged from certain areas and then overdyed with another color. In Arashi, the scarf is stitched, then compressed and wrapped on a large pole, which creates areas of resist where the dye cannot penetrate. Then thickened dye is applied to the pole wrapped scarf.

Although anyone who knows me is familiar with my love of silk scarves(you should see my coat rack), I absolutely love the Bamboo Rainbow Socks. I love how she incorporates the use of Shibori to create these fun and colorful socks.

Hand Dyed Rainbow Socks for Little Kids by TeeGee

Here is Beth in her own words describing her creative evolution:

"As a kid and in high school I tended to gravitate away from sewing and needlework as crafts and more towards building and tactile type arts, like pottery and sculpture.

I returned to sewing as an adult, first as a utilitarian quest, making linens and so forth for our apartment and making costumes and sometimes clothes for my little ones.  Quilting caught my attention early on and I found I really enjoyed staying up till all hours after the kids were asleep designing & piecing quilt tops.  Like a lot of quilters I have come across- I seemed to have an aversion to actually finishing them.  I just like the designing & piecing. There is a shelf full of unfinished quilts- just waiting for me to get them sandwiched and quilted.

It was when I was looking for “just the right color” for a quilt I was putting together, that I tried dyeing my first fabric, just a few fat quarters, in the sink.  I loved doing it but didn’t really have enough room to go all out with a dye studio, so that hobby was shelved till about 2006 when I picked it back up again and I started dyeing gradations and full color wheels on cotton. Soon after I started doing scarves in Low Water Immersion- which I really love doing because in a way it seems so simple but can go oh so wrong if the wrong colors start blending. 

I also love playing with wax on fabric, and honestly I think the most “fun” is using splattering soy wax in random patterns. I’ve also experimented with mono-printing with thickened dye, and various kinds of resists like potato & corn starch, and even old fencing from my garden.

I’ve been reading and studying about shibori for the last few years, I love the effects of the colors on velvet, especially when discharged and overdyed a few times. It’s always a surprise, usually a good one.  It is very labor intensive, but so worth it when you unravel the threads and start rinsing – I love that moment more than any other when I’m working with dyes.

I have a bit of creative ADD- as I can’t quite always focus on one thing. Right now I’m taking advantage of a new sewing machine and finally returning to using the raw fabrics I’ve dyed. So far in the works: a quilt and several shawls & constructed scaves and a few bags.  I’ve also finally tried dyeing fiber again and hope to find a way to work it into my work with all these textiles.  I love the process of taking boring white fabrics and manipulating it texturally and with color to make something completely different. Now if I could only find the time after my day job and my family to do that on a regular basis- then I’d be golden."

Batiked Willow Branch SIlk Charmeuse Scarf by TeeGee

I want to give a big thanks to Beth for allowing me to feature her and TeeGee on Desert Dyeworks. If you have any questions about Shibori or any other techniques that Beth uses, please feel free to leave a comment with your questions.

Happy Friday!

Star Mandala Tutorial Part 1- Folding

Though the results can look amazing, this fold is relatively simple. You will need your fabric, I'm using a square of silk, a washable marker, a ruler or straight edge, and string to bind your fabric. Oh, almost forgot, you'll need a squirt bottle set to a mist spray.

The first step is to fold your fabric into quarters. Give it a spritz of water so that it is slightly damp and the layers stick together. I also take the opportunity to smooth out wrinkles.Place your finger at the center corner of your quartered piece of fabric. Keeping your finger on this corner, fold your fabric again to create a pie wedge. Your fabric is now folded in 8ths. Fold once more to create a narrower piece of pie. Your fabric is now folded in 16ths.

16ths pie-wedge and marking fold lines

Using a ruler or a straight edge, draw a diagonal line from one edge of the pie wedge to the other. Draw a few more lines along the length of your folded fabric. These will give you a guide as to where to fold and tie. They also will help delineate your bands of color when you dye your star.
Accordion fold along the lines that you have drawn. I prefer to bind each line/fold separately. Again, these will act as a guide as to where to apply dye.

Binding the folds

An accordion fold is the basic pleating of the fabric. This is done by carefully gathering the fabric by means of gently pushing and pulling the folds together. For thinner and smaller fabrics like the silk used in this tutorial, the height of the folds should not be more than a 1/2 inch high. Thicker fabrics can require taller folds. Otherwise it can become unwieldy to work with.

Accordion fold

Folded and bound mandala star

Pay Attention!

O.K. that is mostly as a reminder to myself to not ignore this blog. However, it is notice to all who may stumble upon my colorful world here. Pay attention, there's good stuff comin'!

So, what does this 'good stuff' entail? You most likely won't see descriptions of last nights dinner, well, unless it was totally awesome. What you will see is a window into the world of fiber arts and incredible creativity. I will be sharing my exploits in introducing fabric to color, as well as how to do some of this stuff yourself.

Of course, I am not the end all and be all of fiber arts so I must search out all those other wonderful fiber artists out there. I can't wait to share as many of them as I can with you.

So...stay tuned and PAY ATTENTION!

Let Me Count the Ways!

There are many facets to the world of dyeing. It has been a craft around the world since time immemorial. According to the World Shibori Network, evidence of adding color to fabric has been found from pre-Colombian society in Peru and ancient tombs in China. The greatest historical record of dyeing is the technique called Shibori, or bound-resist dyeing. We are familiar with this today in the form of tie-dyeing. Traditions over the centuries have not been limited to South America and the Far East. Surviving traditions can be found in the Middle East, India, Africa, and Indonesia.

Adding color and patterns to fabric can also be achieved through a variety of other methods besides tie-dyeing. These include Batik, stamping, silk screening, and painting. Batik utilizes wax as a resist(method or substance preventing dye from penetrating fiber). The wax is applied using a Tjantings, Tjaps, or brushes.

Stamping, well, utilizes stamps to apply dye or pigment to create designs and patterns on fabric. Stamps can be created from a variety of materials. Do you remember using vegetables and fruits to stamp paint on paper in preschool? One of my favorite things to do is to make stamps out of craft foam. It is a simple and easy way to create great images on your fabric.

I think silk screening is a method that everyone is most familiar with. Heck, the t-shirt you are wearing right now was printed using silk screening methods.

Some of the most beautiful painted images I have ever seen were painted on fabric. Fiber, especially silk, takes color marvelously. Combine this with the creativity and skill of an artist and WOW!

How will you add color!?