thistledown

Small Felty Bits

2008-06-19T12:18:00.001-07:00

After I completed all of my school work, I felt an urge to felt. Having not much space, I felted up these small pieces which I then embroidered over (the perfect little portable projects- I actually did much of the sewing on the bus). The first became a thank-you gift, the second became jewelry to wear on the opening night of my grad show. I used merino wool (which is absolutely dreamy for felting) and silk thread. As you can see, I have a thing for French knots.

The Perfect Cookie?

2008-06-12T12:40:00.000-07:00

Summer is the perfect time to cleanse one's diet, what with all the fresh fruit and veg available. I have resolved to do this, therefore, it was a bit of a stumble when I baked a batch of chocolate chip cookies last week. I blame it on PMS and the spate of cool, cloudy weather we've been having here in Vancouver. I am crazy about the chocolate chip cookie. I have had wonderful chocolate chip cookies containing five kinds of flour, nuts, dried fruit, and/or various seeds, etc. But I remain devoted to the chocolate cookie in its pure and simple form and when I crave a chocolate chip cookie, I have a particular cookie in mind: tender and chewy. I have not always been successful in baking said cookie and for quite some time I have been on the prowl for tips on how I can succeed. I am pleased to report that last week I baked my best batch of chocolate chip cookies, ever. (Andrew and I are confident of this, however, there is no third or fourth opinion as we did not share the cookies with anyone else.)
Here is the recipe I cobbled together from various internet sources, using Mark Bitman's How to Cook Everything recipe as a base. There is nothing profound, because as I stated, the goal was simple, tender and chewy.

The Perfect Cookie?

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, melted
1 stick (1/2 cup) shortening (I used the non-hydroginated kind), softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1 (or slightly less) cup brown sugar
1 large egg, 1 large egg yolk
1 1/2 cup flour
1 heaping cup of rolled oats
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
about 2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Combine flour, oats, baking soda and salt in a medium-sized bowl.
Cream together butter, shortening and sugars in a separate, larger bowl. Add eggs until well blended.
Add flour mixture to the batter; stir until blended.
Stir in vanilla and chocolate chips.
Drop onto baking sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes.

Yum!

Spring Rabbits

2008-06-02T18:53:00.000-07:00

Here is a series of yardages I printed for my final Surface Design project. The pink one represents my first attempt at silkscreening with thickened natural dyes. I used cochineal and osage orange. I had mixed results with this particular fabric (smooth, shiny cotton with a very high thread count-- lovely to touch but not very good at sucking up the dye). In the end it was a very satisfying experiment and I hope to do more printing with natural dyes in the future.

Back to Earth

2008-05-29T21:33:00.000-07:00

We've been back a week from the fabulous Thistlethwaite family vacation to the British Virgin Islands. What a time! The highlights were sipping cocktails while relaxing in the sun with my wonderful family and snorkeling among the reefs, just a stone's throw from our door (I wish I had pictures of the sea turtles and the scores of beautiful fish that we saw every day!)

Here is my nephew, Michael's first snorkeling excursion. He is accompanied by his dad and Uncle Andrew.

and on a craft-related note: I made myself a skirt for the occasion.

Show

2008-05-28T21:13:00.001-07:00

The Ferry Building Art Gallery is in a fabulous location- on the beach in West Vancouver.

Opening night of the show went really well. Quite a few friends and family members came out and a good time was had by all. It rained and poured and most of the pictures from that night were dark and dreary. Here's one of the good ones. My sister Maryka made the trek from Bellingham, WA to West Vancouver.
The rest of the pictures were taken on the day the show closed, when I went to pick up my work.

A quilt by Emmily Stephens. Shibori, indigo and mineral dyes.

A fabric book by Gayle Ramsden. Silkscreen, cotton, lace, knitting needles.

A weaving by Maddy Andrews. Copper wire, wool.

This is an extension of my crochet project. It turned into quite a compulsion .

Rose was weaving all week at the Silk Purse Gallery just down the lane from the Ferry Building.

And here I am with the lovely and talented Kimberly Francis, just before we took all the art off the walls.

Grad Show

2008-05-13T09:58:00.001-07:00

Today is the opening of my grad show. I'll be sure to take lots of pictures.

Moth: The Final Weaving Project

2008-04-25T18:47:00.001-07:00

Our final weaving project was an open one. I chose to revisit tapestry (my first foray into tapestry was in my first semester). The image of the moth in light came from Holy the Firm by Annie Dillard, which I first read ten years ago. There are many passages within that little book that have stayed with me. One the most striking involves a moth that flies too close to the flame of a candle. Her wings burn and shrivel and her abdomen is caught upright in the candle's wax. The abdomen is hollowed out by the fire, but holds the flame. What is left of the moth burns as a second wick until she is blown out, late into the night.
So, this tapestry is an attempt to capture part of that story. It is 9.5" x 8.5". Woven with cotton warp and wool, silk and other unknown fibres in the weft.

The golden-tan wool was dyed using arbutus bark. The greys was dyed with arbutus and then dipped in an iron post-mordant. Arbutus is a tree native to the Pacific Northwest. Incidentally, they are plentiful on the Pacific Gulf Islands were Annie Dillard wrote Holy the Firm.

Hey, Crochet!

2008-04-25T18:07:00.000-07:00

In my 3-D class we were given an assignment to learn a technique, create a project, and teach a workshop on this technique to the class. Our workshop was "Crocheting Around Things" and it was very fun. I stuck to crocheting around things I found about the house, while my partner in this endeavour, Stephanie, went farther afield. Stephanie has embarked on an ongoing public crochet project. In the back alleys, phone booths and construction sites of Vancouver, Stephanie is leaving her mark. And for the life of me, I cannot get her pictures to load into this post. So you must to go to her flickr site and see for yourselves.

Empty Studios

2008-04-25T17:36:00.000-07:00

So, I'm not the world's most diligent blogger... I've had my little nose to the grindstone. As of this past week I am completely finished. It's a bitter sweet feeling. I was so busy toward the end and it feels great not having deadlines. But these two years in the Textile Arts program at Capilano College were fabulous. I learned so much and met many wonderful people. I'll especially miss the studios. We had access to so many materials and resources. Now I'm faced with the daunting (and exciting) task of setting up a studio of my own.

More Dresses

2008-03-15T08:28:00.000-07:00

I made more little dresses for another class project. These ones are made of synthetic fabric and pressed flat under a heat press.

I've been using the photography studio at school to take pictures of my work. Here are some pictures of resent work that turned out well.

Strange Little Dress

and Band-Aid Bear

The Maiwa Loft: Textile Paradise

2008-02-29T09:07:00.000-08:00

One of my very favorite places in Vancouver is Maiwa. They have stores on Granville Island and in east Vancouver. Maiwa "endeavours to support traditional craft through an ethical business model. They support the production of embroidered, blockprinted, handwoven, and naturally dyed textiles throughout a number of countries." They are committed to fair trade; in fact, they buy the products directly from the artists themselves-- there are no middle-men.
"In a world economy where mass-produced items are cheaply and efficiently made, quality of life for the artisan must come from the respect that is accorded to the master craftsperson. The survival of a culture depends on the aesthetic freedom of its people."
In addition to their stores, they have a foundation which supports development projects, they produce documentaries and podcasts, too! And then there is the Maiwa Loft.... Located above the Granville Island store, the Loft is filled books and and cupboards full of beautiful textiles from all over the world. The folks at Maiwa call the Loft a "living archive". It is open to the public by appointment. I can imagine spending days there, pouring over the hundreds of books and gently unfolding the most exquisite textiles.

I visited the Maiwa Loft for the first time on Tuesday. I was especially taken with the embroideries from the women of the Kutch Desert in India. These textiles are hand embroidered! Maiwa has created a documentary about these artists and supports the co-operative that the women are a part of.
"[Co-operative] members from the tribes of the Kutch work together. Collectively, they set standards of quality while maintaining their unique traditions. To ensure equity and build confidence decisions regarding costing, design and organization are subject to a vote. In this way responsibility for the direction of the embroidery is placed where it is most appropriate - in the hands of the women who create it."

Strange Little Dress

2008-02-21T18:24:00.001-08:00

This little dress (13"x 5") was made for an assignment called "The Empty Dress" for my sculpture class. The idea was to create a non-functional garment or something "body-related". In the emptiness of the dress, a wearer is implied. I hope to excite the imagination of the viewer as she considers who might wear this strange little dress.
Speaking of strangeness... I think this might be a good time to introduce my new favorite quote. I recently picked up a book of short stories called The Birthday of the World, by science fiction writer, Ursula K. Le Guin. It has been sitting on our bookshelf for a couple of years– Andrew read a story from it for a class at Regent. I've read the last two stories and love them; I can't wait to read more. Anyway, here is the quote I found on the back of the book (it is from the introduction):

"To create difference– to establish strangeness–then to let the fiery arch of human emotion leap and close the gap: this acrobatics of the imagination fascinates and satisfies me as no other." –Ursula K. Le Guin

Attention! Please Be Careful!

2008-02-13T22:28:00.000-08:00

There has been some troubling issues with my blog lately. On my latest post there was a comment made by someone named "malabei" with a comment that said "see here" (with a link attached to the "here"). There was some disturbing content when I clicked the link and it was accompanied with an attempt to infect my computer with a virus! (in hind-sight, I should have known better than to click on someone called "malabei"). So, please be careful! Do not click on any suspicious links that appear in my comment section! If anything bad happens to anyone's computer after reading my blog, please let me know. I do not want to have to delete my blog, but I will if it is infected.

A Rug and a Snow Day

2008-02-12T16:55:00.001-08:00

Rug weaving was the most recent unit in our weaving class. Here is my rug. It is my largest weaving project yet. It is about 20x30 inches. It woven with 100% hand-dyed wool.

This has been a particularly snowy winter for us in Vancouver and the Northwest. Last week we actually had a snow day! These pictures were taken on our North Vancouver campus the day after classes were canceled. The school is several miles north of where we live and there was much more snow. This was most snow I've seen since we've lived in Vancouver and it made me giddy! Look at the snow on the towering pines! Magical!

Where's Mister Tumnus?

Teddy Bear

2008-01-28T17:04:00.001-08:00

I created this little guy for my 3D Fibres and Mixed-Media Sculpture class. He is made out of fabric Band-Aids. It was challenge to make sure the adhesive didn't gum up my sewing machine.

Strange Pet

2008-01-06T13:38:00.000-08:00

For the last project in my surface design class, I revisited an older image of mine. I photocopied the original embroidery, made a silkscreen print and embellished it with hand painting and hand embroidery.

Weaving and Felting Redux

2008-01-06T13:12:00.000-08:00

One of my excuses for the lax blogging is that it's been so dark and dreary here in Vancouver. The sun came out for about a half an hour the day before we left town for the holidays and I ran around with the camera taking pictures of various projects. Excited by all the weaving and felting done in our class this fall, I revisited the process for an open project for my weaving class. I used linen and wool of a similar hue and wove it very loosely. After weaving, I threw it in the washing machine. The wool felted and shrunk, the linen did not. I am very happy with this scarf. I love the texture.

Blogging Catch-up

2008-01-06T12:39:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! My blogging habits spiraled downward as the year came to a close, providing inspiration for yet another New Year's resolution. In addition to cutting back my sugar intake, I resolve to blog more often! Here are some pictures of brother Christopher's visit over a month ago.
We hardly ever get any snow here in Vancouver. The weekend that Christopher, Maryka and Kevin were in town we had the treat of a snow storm that covered the streets of Vancouver with a pleasant dusting. We all piled into Kevin's car and drove to North Vancouver for a walk in the woods beyond the thrilling Capilano suspension bridge.

Craft Fair Detour

2007-11-28T18:18:00.000-08:00

Thank you for all your nice comments about my monkey yardage! I am very busy right now-- I only have two more weeks left before the end of term. This past weekend I decided to put off all my school projects and create a product for a craft fair that our class was invited to participate in. As you can see, I made iron-on animal badges. The animals are silkscreened on cotton fabric with iron-on Heat-n-Bond on the back. Most of the animals I drew myself. The rabbit and the bug were taken from my 5,000 Animals book. It was a beautiful fair and I wish I had taken more pictures, but my camera ran out of batteries. I am happy to say that I sold quite well at my first craft fair!

Adventures in Pattern

2007-11-17T20:40:00.000-08:00

Well folks, I have not been the best blogger of late. I have been hard at work on all sorts of new projects. One of my big assignments was to create 3 metres of fabric using a repeat of a silkscreen image. I have been thinking about this project for weeks. It took weeks to design and hours to print. Here's the result:

There's No Place Like Dressew

2007-11-17T20:15:00.000-08:00

Maryka and Kevin came up to Vancouver last weekend. They said they wanted to hang out with Andrew and me but I think the real reason for the visit is that Maryka has become a Dressew Junkie. Dressew is a bargain basement wonderland full discount fabric and sewing related notions that has to be seen to be believed.

Kevin is thinking, "Maryka better not buy that creepy plastic doll's head! I don't care if it's only 25 cents!"

So much fabric, so little time.

Buttons! Buttons! Buttons!

Oh, my! Come to Vancouver and see for yourself!

Weaving and Felting

2007-10-30T20:47:00.000-07:00

I wove two scarves (one for me and one for Andrew) for my latest weaving project. The project involved loosely weaving the scarves and then hand-felting them after they came off the loom. They are both wool and as they were worked with soap, hot water and friction, they shrunk, becoming softer and thicker. Here they are on the loom, pre-felted and then finished, around our lovely necks!

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First Silkscreen Project

2007-10-25T09:20:00.001-07:00

This is a series I created for my first silkscreen project. I was very much inspired by my children's literature class. I was thinking about the importance of reading and education, of discovery and imagination.

Rain City

2007-10-22T22:34:00.000-07:00

It has absolutely poured for days here in Vancouver, but it is warm and sunny in the cockles of my heart thanks to the Red Sox victory yesterday evening. Andrew and I will now be spending even more money on beer and greasy food as we cruse the neighborhood pubs in search of places to watch what is sure to be a very exciting series. Being a Red Sox fan in Vancouver is a lonely pursuit. There were three of us in the pub last night: Andrew and me and our friend Steve Moss. We want all you Bostonians out there to know that we will stay strong!

Here are some pictures taken on a recent trip to Granville Island (it is not really an island, for those of you who haven't visited us yet, it is mostly surrounded by water in a tiny, peninsula-like fashion). Granville Island is a haven for artists and crafts-people and one of my very favorite places in the city. That cozy little shop on the right in the picture above is The Silk Weaving Studio. It is full of silk yarns and looms and I love it. In addition to silk, the other purchases of the day were sausages stationary and apples!

GO RED SOX!!!pleeeeeease??!!!!

2007-10-16T20:33:00.000-07:00

Even though we don't have a TV and no one we know has a TV; even though when we try to watch a Red Sox game at a pub here in Vancouver, they will often change the channel to a hockey game (hockey??!!), our hearts are in Boston these days. I can imagine quite a number of my loved ones glued to their TV's and radios, desperately hoping for a comeback. So, if any of the Red Sox read my blog, take a good look at this picture. You guys do NOT want to to disappoint your youngest and most adorable fan.

Happy (belated) Canadian Thanksgiving

2007-10-11T17:19:00.001-07:00

I don't know if you folks south of the 49th parallel were aware, but Monday we Canadians celebrated Thanksgiving. Our friend Aaron Bandstra's parents invited us to their home for a full-on turkey dinner.

I made some Milana Thistlethwaite-style Brussels sprouts. In my opinion this is the only way to cook Brussels sprouts: cut sprouts in half, saute in olive oil, combine with toasted pine nuts, yum.

Andrew made a sweet potato dish, featuring large amounts of butter and brown sugar, double yum!

Noah, our godson, slept through dinner...

but was awake for dessert!

I am so very thankful for my sister, who was able to come up to Vancouver from Seattle. I am also thankful for little Dutch chocolate sprinkles for sprinkling on my buttered toast!

New Weaving

2007-10-03T22:07:00.003-07:00

Here is my first completed weaving project from this term, called Moon and Bamboo. It all started here.
I was working with the following techniques: transparency- a loose, delicate weave structure; inlay- weaving different coloured weft in a decorative way into the weave structure (the circle and circle within the circle); and painted warp- the green vertical shapes were stenciled onto the warp before weaving.
Phew! It's nice to be done.

Silkscreenin'

2007-09-27T16:54:00.000-07:00

Here are some of my first silk-screened images from my Surface Design class.

The Boat

2007-09-25T10:02:00.000-07:00

Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing, absolutely nothing half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.
- Rat to Mole in The Wind in the Willows

We were in Bellingham last weekend visiting the Bandstras. Andrew and Aaron spent a few hours aboard the Cape Anne.

Here is the boat that Aaron built. Isn't it beautiful?!!

**gasp** who is that handsome man at the stern?

ARRrrr! It's Andrew!

The Things He Carries

2007-09-21T19:32:00.001-07:00

I'm taking a children's literature class and I have the trill of reading The Hobbit once again. I just finished the chapter which introduces one of my favorite literary characters, Gollum. I thought all you Gollum fans out there might enjoy this little list taken from Chapter V:

The Things Gollum Keeps in His Pockets
fish-bones
goblins' teeth
wet shells
a bit of bat wing
a sharp stone to sharpen his fangs on
and other nasty things

Dyeing With Bugs

2007-09-19T17:54:00.000-07:00

That's right bugs. This beetle is the cochineal. They are plucked from cacti in Central and South America and their carcases are ground into a powder and used as dye. The dye has been used for hundreds of years by the indigenous of that part of the world. When the Europeans arrived, they went wild for colours it produced and for a time, the dye was a hottest export from the New World.

I was lucky enough to be a part of the cochineal group during the natural dye section of my "Precision Dyeing" class. Here the little ones themselves (may they rest in peace).

This is the ground up cochineal. Look at the change in colour! Nothing was added-- that is pure bug.

Oooo, so red. The cloth has to simmer for about 45 minutes.

Voila! The darker fabric is the protein fibres (wool and silk), the paler fabric is cellulose fibres (in this case, cotton/hemp and linen).

Have a Lovely Weekend

2007-09-14T18:09:00.000-07:00

Here is our breakfast table from last weekend. Baked french toast is one of my very favorite breakfast dishes. This one is adapted from the Smitten Kitchen recipe. I added less milk and shoved some late summer blueberries in between the slices of cheap french bread before baking. It was delicious, all smothered in maple syrup!
Well, this weekend we are off for an impromptu visit to the Bandstras' in Bellingham. Ta for now.

I Have a Thing for Sock Monkeys

2007-09-09T13:33:00.001-07:00

My latest: a monkey for my bicycle-building brother, Christopher. The wonderful block print on the t-shirt was made by my talented friend and classmate, Emmily (yes, that's right, with two m's).

..........................................................................................................

Speaking of monkeys... Andrew and Sarah gave me this book for my birthday:

Each sock monkey has so much personality.

Nothing puts a smile on my face like a pile o' monkeys!

In the Loom Room

2007-09-05T18:05:00.001-07:00

Our weaving studio. In the textiles department space is a commodity. Look at all those looms!

My good friend Kimberly gets some help with her warp.
We spent most of the first day of weaving class warping up the floor looms. The "warp" are the fibres that run length-wise and remain under tension as you weave. (The "weft" is what you weave with, threads that cross over the warp) For me, warping up is the most tedious part of the process. I feel so relieved after finishing: now I can get down to weaving.

Here is the warp on my loom. It's a little boring, I know. There will be more pictures to come. We will be working on transparencies and inlay... stay tuned.

Back-to-School Pouch

2007-09-04T13:32:00.000-07:00

Made in anticipation of my first day of classes tomorrow. Look at that wonderful bear patch! Sarah sent it to me well over a year ago. I believe she got it at a craft fair in Boston. I'll have to find out were it comes from so that I can give due props.

***The bear patch was made by Wonderland Q***

Hand Embroidery

2007-09-03T19:37:00.000-07:00

I participated in an international hand embroidery competition this summer. I had a great time sewing and am pleased with the work so far. I didn't make it past the first round so I relaxed a bit in late July and August and the pieces are not quite finished. Here's what I have so far:

The must-have accessory for fall...

a little velvet scorpion purse!

This piece was inspired by Albrecht Durer's Hare. It hopes to be made into a little purse someday.

Here's a (not-so-great) picture of the final piece stretched on a frame. Because of the type of stitches I used, I needed to stretch the linen very tight.

The blouse that it is meant to be is still in pieces. It is very close to completion and I hope to be able to finish it with the help of my sewing teacher before school gets too crazy. I'll be sure to post some more pictures then.

Late Summer Lovin'

2007-09-03T08:41:00.000-07:00

We just got back from a fabulous trip to Boston where we celebrated the wedding of my brother David and the lovely and amazing Alison. Here are just a few pictures:

Dave and Alison rehearse their nuptials.

We love our cousin Ben!

Our brother Christopher and Uncle Peter discuss music under the wedding tree.

Alison prepares with the help of her sister. Alison tried so hard to remain calm, cool and collected. It was 95 degrees and she could not have been wearing more petticoats!

Blurry, champagne fun with Maryka and Kevin at the reception

Dining with Eden

Let's See How This Goes...

2007-09-02T17:08:00.000-07:00

I'm sure all of you who know me as the techno-phobe that I am, will be shocked to discover that I'm starting a blog. I decided that the week before the start of my second and final year in the Textlie Arts Program at Capillano College was as good a time as any to begin a blog. I'm expecting the next year to be an exciting and creative time for me and I hope to use this space to share the process of creating.

No craft or art yet, just a bunny enjoying the waning days of summer.