Barbara Schutzgruber - Storyteller & Weaver | Every weaving tells a story…….

Posted by: bschutzgruber | April 2, 2013

Felting with Suzanne Higgs – Day 1

March ended with 2 days of felting at the Michigan Fiber Festival Symposium in Kalamazoo, MI. I did 2 workshops with Suzanne Higgs.

Day 1 – Dyeing Habotia Silk & Nuno Felting

1) We started by dyeing 5mm habotia silk with Jacquard Acid Dyes. Mine began with three dye passes using yellow, hot pink and burgundy. This came out kind of “interesting”….. and Suzanne suggested over dyeing it. Why not!! We mixed up a combination of more hot pink than I used the first time, red-orange and a touch of black. It looked like a black mess but once it was rinsed out = VERY nice!!

2) Next we laid out the silk leaving bunched up sections that will give texture.
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3) Then laid out thin layers of wool over the silk and gently rubbed using soapy water to felt the wool to the silk.
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4) I LOVED the end result = looks like tree bark!! I have just enough to make a vest.
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Posted in felt, garments, Projects | Tags: beauty, clothing, jacquard acid dyes, michigan fiber festival, nuno felting, style

Posted by: bschutzgruber | March 19, 2013

A Frame for ‘Day Dreaming’

After looking at the wall pieces in the AAFG exhibit at the Village Theater, my felt piece ‘Day Dreaming’ needs some ‘drama’ before I submit it again to anything. This morning I got an idea = actually frame it using an old window frame!! Did a test print on paper to see how it might look = I like it!!! Checked out the local Re-use/Re-cycle place and yes… they have old window frames for only $5 = woo-hoo!! Next step figure out how to actually do it.

Making stuff in March

Been a busy set of weeks since my last posting!!

‘Heron’ was accepted for the AAFG show in the gallery at the Village Theater at Cherry Hill, Canton, MI. The show run March 1-26, 2013.

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March 8-10, I spent a fabulous 3 days in a dye workshop with Jane Dunnewold. Jane is a wonderful artist and teacher! Using fiber reactive MX dyes, we printed on silk, cotton, linen, and rayon fabric using stencils, thermofax screen printing, paint brushes, stamps and more!!

I spent the last day working on a parasol. Using stencil, thermofax screen printing and paint brushes on a commercial cotton umbrella blank I created ‘Butterfly Sunshade’ Parasol. Using the brushes to ‘paint’ the dyes created the textured ‘watercolor’ effect. UV block sun protection fabric treatment provides 30+ UPF.

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Over the past 2 weeks, I made 2 new garments from yardage I wove last summer. The jacket and vest (along with the dyed parasol) have been accepted for the runway at the AAFG’s annual Fiber Feast Fashion Show on April 13th.

Woven in plain weave @24epi. The warp is 5/2 spaced dyed mercerized perle cotton (‘Prairie’ from Valley Cottons) with a 1″ stripe of 5/2 black perle cotton. The weft is 10/2 perle cotton. The woven fabric reminds me of the dark chestnut coat and stripes on the hindquarters and upper legs, the Okapi of central Africa.

Woven in plain weave – @24epi. The warp is alternating stripes of thick and thin Rayon Boucle. The weft is a Mohair/wool/nylon blend.

The woven fabric reminds me of the changing colors of the fall foliage here in Michigan. The finished vest is fully lined in silk habotai.

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Posted in dye, felt, garments, Projects, tapestry, weaving | Tags: clothing, fashion, style, watercolor effect

Posted by: bschutzgruber | February 23, 2013

So much to do… so little time!

The good news is… it’s been a busy 2 weeks.
The bad news is….. it’s been a busy 2 weeks and there are only so many hours in the day!

A dear friend of 30 years passed away on her 90th birthday. Jean was an amazing woman – a teacher, master gardener, weaver and storyteller who was always up for an adventure and road trip. She’s the one who connected me with my very first weaving teacher – Gloria Teeter. I’ve been helping her family inventory and organize the sale of her loom and spinning wheel, plus all the equipment that goes with them! [The loom is still for sale so if anyone is interested in the details – send me an email.]

Last weekend I was the emcee for the Storytelling Festival at the ARK here in Ann Arbor with Donald Davis, Carol Birch, and Laura Lee Hayes performing. The stories told on Saturday night for adults and Sunday afternoon for families were a spellbinding blend of humor, poignancy, rich language and imagery.

Plus I was working on a second felt wall hanging to submit with ‘Heron’ for the AAFG show in March at the Village Theater at Cherry Hill in Canton, MI. I decided to do a self-portrait. Now I struggle when it comes to sketching/drawing and being a ‘process’ artist/‘experiential’ learner … oh this was going to be an adventure!

Because I don’t ‘draw’ I take a lot of photographs and use those as my ‘jumping off’ point when it comes to design.

Here I am in the lantern tower windows of Ely Cathedral, England.

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This is the view from the floor below!

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I cropped the photo…

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…enlarged to make a 36″ x 43″ pattern.

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Take #1
I laid out Merino wool fiber, black silk chiffon fabric and then backed it with Romney wool – the only black wool in my stash. I felted it – rubbing/rolling using soapy water. End size is 29″ x 24″ but the Romney was too ‘hairy’ so it did not felt the way I wanted and worked it’s way from the back to the surface = oops!! Even after giving it a ‘shave’ with an electric beard trimmer, this was not going to work…..

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…but it did give me a piece I could practice adding the facial features….

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Take #2
12″ x 18″ sample while I waited for my order of black Merino fiber to arrive.

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Third time’s the charm!! “Daydreaming” (29″ x 33″)

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Posted in felt, Projects | Tags: architecture, arts, beauty, felting, illustration, Photography

Posted by: bschutzgruber | February 7, 2013

GreenMan still on pause…..

With 2/3 completed I’ve had to put GreenMan is on ‘pause’ so I could get a piece submitted for the AAFG show at the Power Center on the University of Michigan campus. It was not selected – darn. Any time you submit something for a show that features multiple artists (over 24 with this one!) the committee has to look at balancing the variety of techniques used, over all impact in a large space and balance of the exhibit. I’ll submit it for our next show in March which is a smaller gallery setting.

‘Heron’ is wet felted. The image is carded wool fibers on silk chiffon fabric which is backed with 2 layers of carded merion wool fibers. Finished demensions 28″ x 34″

Below you can see the difference 40%-45% shrinkage makes. Staring dimensions approx 43″ x 54″

heron layout

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Posted in felt, Projects, tapestry | Tags: Art, birds, illustration, waterfowl, wild life, wildlife

Posted by: bschutzgruber | January 17, 2013

Finished the eyes!!

I’ve got the eyes done!!!

Only so many hours in the day…… so I need to put the GreenMan on hold for the next couple of weeks:
–I have a shawl to weave that will be auctioned at St. Francis of Assisi School’s annual Educational Trust Fund benefit dinner on February 2nd.
–Because I will not have the GreenMan finished by the end of the month, I still want to have a wall hanging to submit for the Ann Arbor Fiberarts Guild annual show at the Power Center Theater (runs the month of February). Felting is a faster process than weaving so it will be a wool fibers & silk fabric wet felted together.

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Posted in Projects, tapestry, weaving

Posted by: bschutzgruber | January 11, 2013

Working on the face…. the eyes

The eyes have been a real ‘learning experience’!!

I dyed a very pale shade of green to use for the ‘whites’ of the eyes. BUT…. when next to the other greens…. SURPRISE!! it looks yellow!!! Hmmmmm….. do I want my GreenMan to have ‘yellow’ eyes???

Decided to try the other eye using white yarn. Hmmmm….. this might be too harsh.

Then tried it using the same green as the highlight on the tip of the nose. Hmmmm…. this might be too subtle.

So….. decisions… decisions….. yellow – white – or green? Stepping away…. for a better sense of the over all ‘look’…… I am leaning toward the ‘yellow’.

Working on the face…… the nose

Getting the facial features right is what makes or breaks a face!!

Working on the nose…. is less critial than getting the eyes right but it still took me 2 tries. I sit about 24″ away from the loom when weaving so I need to step away every now and then to get a different perspective. After spending several hours weaving the bridge of the nose – when I stepped away…. it was not looking good. So…. took it all out and do it again…..

Much more pleased with this result.!!