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Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Workshop: Natural Dyeing

Far away to another Island in Washington State magic was recently made under the tutelage of India Flint.  I was lucky enough to be there.
Arriving the day before the workshop began, I got to meet some of the local residents...
 

...see some of the sights...


 ...and wander through the hedgerows of this beautiful place.
 Lopez Island abounds in small farms...
 ...and fresh produce.
I got to feast on delicious local beets on several occasions.
 The workshop was held in a garden Alice in Wonderland would have been at home in.

Flowers as well as vegetables in neat rows exuded gorgeous aromas.

One of the first activities of day one was labeling our silk, cotton, and wool with our own mark.
 The initial bundles were made with a plant the Lopez dye group had not been able to achieve color from.  India accepted the challenge, made some helpful suggestions, and set us to work.
The contents of my first bundle included both green and 'toasted' leaves.
 Our bundles went into the pot of hot water to simmer.  It would be the next morning before we got to open them.  When we woke on day two, it felt like Christmas.
 The first bundles were so exciting, I nearly forgot that we had two more to open that morning!
 
 


How it was fascinating to see the diversity of our bundles.
We hung our newly-dyed treasures on the lines outside the workroom and went back to bundling.
 When the cloth was dry, we stitched our pieces together...
 ...and enjoyed a splendid exhibit of Lopez-dyed art cloth.

I had such a good time, learned so much and met so many kindred souls.
Thank you to Christie, Patsy, Raiti, Suzanne, Lisa and most of all, Favorite Bear, for giving me the time of my life and endless inspiration.

13 comments:

  1. I wished I would be part of this great workshop in this fantastic landscape!

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  2. Dear Sus,
    I love love love it!
    Thank you very much for sharing... it's really fascinating and archaic!

    Love xo Ariane

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  3. How utterly fantastic! I would loooove to go to an India Flint workshop. Thanks for sharing it with us.

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  4. A-ma-zing !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    Thanks Sus ! ;-)
    I think you will have lots of fun with your new treasures !

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  5. What a lovely post! Truly grand to have you there, Sus, and to meet - at last - the human that Flossie owns ;>]]

    One of the very best attributes of life out here in webland is the connection to like-minded souls it provides ... oh, we have been so fortunate. Fortunate, too, that India said "yes" to wandering our far western shore.

    Best to you!

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  6. ooh ooh.. this looks like so much fun.. Never tried but its on my list.

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  7. splendid!
    i could just step right in!
    oh my.
    n♥

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  8. Susan, thanks for all the great photos! I was so immersed in what we were doing that I didn't take out my camera, even when it was assigned...
    So glad others are more photo-oriented and willing to share the images of our delightful days.

    Good luck with your commission work and I will check back to your blog every so often for a look at the final result--
    Janet
    willowstudio.com

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  9. How wonderful for you to experience being with so many of your kindred spirits at once! xo Carole

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  10. Wonderful colors and photos! This looks like it was an amazing experience!!

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