1000 Markets: A Winter Outfit

DreamWoven     $290

Yesterday I wrote a post about winter wear on Etsy.  We've had a terrible cold spell here in Kentucky, so I picked woolen goodies that I could lust after.  There is nothing like wool to keep you warm when those temps hit rock bottom!  I have a store on Etsy and like to support the sellers there whenever possible.  I also have one on 1000 Markets and it didn't seem fair to do a post on Etsy without also doing on on 1000 Markets.  Actually, many of us sell in both places and several of the sellers shown have joined the fiber art/textiles network I started on Ning, The Fiber Focus Group.  Over time, those who are more active online and in social networks start bumping into each other, forming cyber friendships.

Now, to shop on 1000 Markets!  I am looking for an outfit that will keep me warm from head to toe.  Maybe it's a bit too fancy to sit at the computer as I am now, but this is the destination I have in mind.  A cold house with freezing floors.  The water pipes have burst and six inches of water have flooded the whole ground under the house.  Head to toe, I need warmth.

The place to start is the head.  Cover your head when you are cold!  And, why not do it with art for your head?  DreamWoven's hats have been a long time favorite of mine.  Someday I will own one.  "Simone", the hat above is the bestest hat in the whole wide world!  I love it, love it, love it!!!!!  All of the images are hyperlinked to the product in this post and you must click on DreamWoven's hat so that you can see it from all angles.  DreamWoven and I have been cyberfriends for quite awhile now.  We're both Rachels and we both enjoy the role of helping others find larger markets for their work.  She is on staff at 1000 Markets and has always been a great support, encouraging us all to move forward with our work. 

 

TickledPinkKnits    $98

DreamWoven's hat is open at the back, so I will need to keep my neck warm with this beautiful scarflette by Tickled Pink Knits.  The fibers are various soft wools, including alpaca, so it is sure to be luxurious!  I like the frilliness, harking back to Victorian wear mixed with enough ruggedness and texture to fit a Viking like me.

 

Coco and Juan   $45

Coco and Juan specialize in Plus Size wear which is perfect for me.  I like the lines in this top and think it will work just fine with what I've got so far.  Notice how the side panels of the blouse curve in, helping provide at least an illusion of a slender figure.  I know I need all the help I can get!  I would prefer a solid knit and it looks to me like Coco and Juan would probably work with you on your choice of fabric and color.

Modern Era Design makes these custom choices clear upfront.  The brown in these pants isn't going to really work well with what I have picked, but they have color swatches to pick from and there are several other choices that I could go with.  In fact, they will make it to your size, too.

 

Modern Era Design       $52

Comfort was what I was looking for, which I found, with the added benefit that the cotton jersey is organic.  Gotta support those green industries!

I'm thinking that those comfy pants might just not be warm enough, so I'm going to add these custom dyed leggings from Dye Diana Dye.  When I first saw her name, a long time ago now, I just thought it was the most clever play on words!  Her work is impeccable and she has many other dyed garments that are stunningly beautiful.   Keep dyeing, Diana, but live a long, long life!

 

Dye Diana Dye     $36

This photo is a little dark, but I loved these tabi socks by Twiddle Toes.  (Another great name!)  Tabi socks were originally used by the Japanese with their wooden kimono flip flops.  Now, we can also wear them and Twiddle Toes has them in a bunch of different colors!

 

twiddletoes    $32

The tabi socks will need some booties, so I picked a pair made by my friend Catherine at Bazaar Bayar, another of my cyber friends.  She has been knitting up a storm lately and you will have to go look at her other lacey slippers. I thought these slippers were very reasonably priced!

 

Bazaar Bayar   $20

Many of Catherine's knitting designs use complex color and texture patterns and some hearken to her second home, Turkey.  I decided that I really, really wanted one of her hand warmers, too.

 

Bazaar Bayar   $50

Those rusty colors are perfect for me.  I would like the thumb and finger area to be a little longer, down to the first knuckle.  Can you do that, Catherine?  My friend Diane made the one I have on now and the thumb area goes almost all the way to the thumbnail.  I really like that.  Catherine has several other pairs in her store.  Type away and keep your fingers warm!

I'm feeling like my top is not enough.  I shopped around and couldn't find a sweater or vest that I liked on 1,000 Markets.  I wanted something long and roomy.  If you are a knitter, know that there is very little competition with those products right now.  Might be a good niche for you!  But, I did find something else that I really liked:

Marge Rohrer Designs     $300

Isn't this a stunning piece?  Marge calls it a "fling" because you can fling one end over a shoulder.  She was inspired by the Middle Eastern marketplace and used a variety of threads, including bamboo (!!!!), to weave this piece.  Will it match my hat?  I've got a lot of different reds going on here, but I think it will all work.  I am warm and I am beautiful!  All because I shopped on 1000 Markets!  My total bill?  Only $923....  Interesting.  About the same I "spent" on Etsy.  (In my dreams!!!)

How does shopping here compare to Etsy?  Well, one thing is for sure, the search here works.  It is so easier to find things here because they are in defined categories.  The drop down menu is available on every page and is as smooth as butter.

How about the product selection?  I was disappointed to see that some categories were pretty sparse.  1000 Markets is a juried venue so each store has to be approved before it hits the marketplace.  That means that the approval process is much more laborious, but it eliminates all the junky stuff you might see elsewhere.  There is a lot of talent on 1000 Markets and I am sure that if the exact item cannot be found, someone would be willing to make it for you.

Have you visited 1000 Markets?  Shopped there?  I would love to hear of your experience, as a buyer, seller or voyeur....  Stay warm and dress well!

1000 Markets: A Winter Outfit

Do Fusible Products Harm Your Artwork?

Autumn's Edge, by Gina DeLorenzi

Research continues on discoloring and degradation of fusible sprays, webs and batting.

by Gina DeLorenzi


To help artists in make informed choices when they buy fusible products, Janet Evenson and Patricia Cox-Crews, U Nebraska - Lincoln, published recent research on fusible sprays, webs and battings. They wanted to know how these products discolor and degrade over time since they could find no published results concerning the long-term performance of adhesive-containing products available to quilt makers and home sewers..

Scientists at the university used infrared spectroscopy to determine the chemical classification of the adhesive sprays. Fusible batting adhesives were identified by proton nuclear magnetic resonance.

The goal was to identify discoloration, yellowing, strength loss, bleed through, stiffening and color changes other than yellow. Various methods to accelerate aging were used.

Major brands of fusible products were studied. Control samples were prepared for comparison. Since different products have different chemical properties, and product formulas change over time, comparing different brands of fusible sprays for example, can only be stated as “this product developed more stiffening than that”. In other words, there can be no exact comparisons between 2 brands performing the same function, merely in relation to each other. One brand may become stiffer, or cause more yellowing, or lose strength sooner. In several cases, percentages of degradation are given for these comparisons, making the information more relevant.

It is reassuring to read in the report that fusible batting products do not appear to deteriorate or cause deterioration in quilts. “The fusible batting adhesive formulations may contain cellulose ethers. Cellulose ether-based adhesives are quite stable to light and have been used for long-term conservation treatments.”

The results for fusible sprays and webs are more disturbing. Read the complete article, its methodology, findings and conclusions.

Evanson and Cox-Crews conclude:

“The fusible webs evaluated, while acceptable for quilts intended to last for 10 to 20 years, could not be recommended for quilts intended to be handed down from generation to generation or for studio art quilts intended for sale to serious collectors or museums. A museum curator or knowledgeable collector will not want to pay thousands of dollars for a quilt that only has a lifespan of 20 years."

Quiltmakers should carefully consider their long term expectations for each quilt they make and select adhesive-containing products accordingly.

We gratefully acknowledge the financial support provided for this research by the International Quilt Association and Quilter’s Newsletter Magazine.” (quoted excerpts from the referenced article)

Do you have a disappointing "fusing story" to share?
Please leave a comment with your experience.





Gina is a self taught quilt artist. She creates visual and emotional impressions in her fiber art by allowing a relationship between various fabrics to emerge. The stunning results of her dyeing and sewing techniques energize the direction each art work takes.

Gina is a regular contributor here on Fiber Focus. Click here to see her past posts. She is also the quilt moderator for our Fiber Focus Group.





www.quilts4u.com
modern interpretations of a traditional art form
www.contemporaryquiltart.org
your inspiration zone

*

Do Fusible Products Harm Your Artwork?

Bark Cloth – Sustainable Production in Uganda by Karin Zetterqvist

Message holder made of bark cloth from Uganda

Bark cloth is a unique, non-woven fabric produced from the bark of Ficus Natalensins, a rare and novel fig tree species peculiar to Uganda and locally known as Mutuba.

Since the 13th century, bark cloth has been produced in the Buganda Kingdom, and used commercially, ritually and ceremonially by the Baganda, an ethnic group found in central Uganda. Ranging in texture from the coarse and thick to the finest and light, bark cloth, as an article of clothing was worn sarong style and wrap-around by Baganda men and women respectively.

The bark cloth was used to pay land rates and fines by the peasants to their chiefs, who in turn selected the best for presentation to the king’s courtiers. Other rituals and ceremonies where bark cloth used to play a central role include the initiation of twins into the clan and their protection, child naming ceremonies, payment of dowry and during marriage ceremonies, succession rituals and last funeral rites to identify the heirs, widows, orphans and so on.

Only the best of the cloth, fine and light to touch, a rich garnet red with a shiny sheen, was presented to the king for use as clothing and during coronations, royal weddings and other functions.

A Masterpiece of Indigenous Textile Production Skills

Bark removal of the Mutuba fig tree.

Harvest of bark to be used in Ugandan bark cloth.

Banana leaves offer tree protection

The art of making bark cloth, passed from father to son, involves stripping the particular fig tree trunk of its bark by ringing down. A straight cut is then made and the bark is then carefully stripped off the tree.

The bark is then steamed, spread out on big logs 2-3 meters long and carefully beaten with mallets. As the bark is beaten it gets wider, longer and finer. A piece of bark measuring 75 by 150 cm can produce cloth measuring up to 4 m by 1.8 m.

The stripped part of the tree is wrapped in layers of fresh banana leaves and with careful nurturing a single tree can produce up to 400 sq m of cloth in a period of about 40 years. In this way it is not only a natural fabric, but also eco-friendly.

African Ethnic Designs

Bark cloth bag with coloured raffia decoration

Bark cloth purse with raffia decoration

Business cards case made of bark cloth

Bark cloth coin purse (Uganda)

Today the applications, to which bark cloth is put, are endless. Royal Bark Cloth Designs (RBCD) - with the price winning designer Sara Katebalirwe - is working with village community women using bark and other natural fibres specific to Uganda to make various and beautiful novel products. Aesthetic yet functional, the designs are applied mostly by hand.

The design applications, as well as being aesthetic, also give cover to the cloth, to minimize abrasion/friction, thus giving the product a longer life. The best design application so far in terms of bark protection is the raffia couching.


Preserving the Bark Cloth Production Skills
Uganda’s bark cloth was named as part of the world’s collective heritage recognized by UNESCO November 2005. The global body declared the “art of bark cloth making in Uganda a masterpiece of oral and intangible heritage of humanity.”

Watatu (meaning three in Swahili) is a web shop, owned by three friends (two Tanzanians and one Swede), where you can find more of the products from Royal Bark Cloth Designs. Promoting the bark cloth and its use internationally will assist to preserve the bark cloth production skills.


Written by
Karin Zetterqvist
Watatu Textil
www.watatu.com
©Watatu


Sources:
"Bark Cloth" by Royal Bark Cloth Designs


Karin wrote another article for this blog on Kanga and Kitenge cloths, traditional fabrics used as garments in Tanzania. She is a member of our Fiber Focus Group. Visit her page.


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Bark Cloth – Sustainable Production in Uganda by Karin Zetterqvist

TAMMACHAT Natural Textiles, Part 2: The Artisans

“I feel in harmony with this work.”
Loek Khonsudee, Member, Panmai Group, Northeast Thailand

By Ellen Agger and Alleson Kase
All Photos © Ellen Agger 2009

TAMMACHAT Natural Textiles works with rural communities in Thailand and Laos where women have long been recognized as valuable and equal members of their families and communities. These artisans:

• transform barks, berries, leaves, seeds and silk cocoons into gorgeous weavings
• create traditional and contemporary designs using traditional floor looms
• develop and use natural dyeing techniques that support their health and the environment

TAMMACHAT Natural Textiles is building trading relationships – based on fair trade principles – with a growing number of weaving groups and non-governmental organizations in Thailand and Laos that work with village groups. We want to introduce you to a few of these groups.

Panmai Group in Thailand works with silk production
and organic weaving production.

Panmai Group has 250 members living in 3 provinces in Northeast Thailand in both Khmer and Laotian villages, who draw on these traditions in their designs. These women are very skilled in sericulture (the entire cycle of silk production) and are proud to weave only organic, village-reeled and naturally dyed silk yarns. They are expert and widely respected for their dyeing skills using natural materials, protecting both their own health and that of their environment.

Prae Pan Group in Northeast Thailand dye cotton naturally
and weave silk.

Prae Pan Group has 200 members in 7 villages in Khon Kaen province in Northeast Thailand. They are highly skilled at supplementary weft weaving and the natural dyeing of cotton, although they weave silk as well. Prae Pan, like Panmai, has been operating for 20 years and is proud to be entirely villager-run and self-sufficient.

During a recent visit, women from both groups told us that this work allows them to stay in their villages where they can live with their families, grow rice and practice their foremothers’ art – while preserving it for their heirs.

Pattanarak Foundation works with
disadvantaged and stateless peoples along
the Thai border.

Pattanarak Foundation works to balance development and conservation among disadvantaged communities and stateless peoples along Thailand’s borders. Their products are handmade with an indigenous species of cotton organically grown along the Thai-Lao border on the banks of the Mekong River. After spinning, dyeing and weaving, some products are sewn by projects in the west of Thailand along the Burmese border. This helps forge links and exchange ideas between communities that are experiencing similar challenges. One village group working with Pattanarak specializes in indigo dyeing, always popular for its lively colour – “nature’s true blue.”

Saoban provides technical assistance and training for
low income textile entrepreneurs in Laos.

Saoban is a Vientiane-based marketing outlet for over a dozen village groups that work with the Participatory Development Training Center (PADETC) in rural Laos. At Saoban’s shop, young entrepreneurs develop business skills while providing much-needed markets for village products that range from bamboo-silk handbags to naturally dyed silk scarves. This is part of PADETC’s vision for Laos: education for sustainable development.

Mulberries is the market brand of the Lao Sericulture Co., a not-for-profit organization that is accredited by the World Fair Trade Organization (formerly IFAT, the International Fair Trade Association). Its goal is to strengthen the position of women in Laos by providing them with dependable incomes and to preserve their sophisticated weaving and natural dyeing techniques. Women are further trained to bring diverse skills and environmental sustainable to the complex cycle of silk production with extraordinary results. Founder Kommaly Chantavong was a nominee for 1000 Women for the Nobel Peace Prize 2005 for her work on this important project that is recognized for its poverty alleviation, cultural preservation and peace building.

Green Net Coop helps Thai organic farmers market their products. One Green Net project brings together grandmothers who grow, spin and weave organic cotton in Ban Kokkabok in Loei province with sewers in Panmai Group in Northeast Thailand, who transform the cloth into children’s sunhats and baby products. Read the story of the Kokkabok Women’s Cotton Group.

Fai Gaem Mai helps groups in Northern Thailand
develop handwoven silk products.

Fai Gaem Mai is based in Chiang Mai University and helps community-based production groups in Northern Thailand develop handwoven Eri silk products, one of the textile products that TAMMACHAT carries. The Eri silkworm feeds on the leaves of cassava, rather than mulberry, providing additional income for villagers already growing this high-volume, low-value commodity.

Suan Nguen Mee Ma Company (Garden of Fruition) was founded by Sulak Sivaraksa, who was honoured with the Right Livelihood Award (the “Alternative Nobel Prize”), to explore new markets for indigenous crafts, to publish educational materials and to act as a small-scale, practice-based “think tank.” Among their projects, they support small groups of farmers in Nan, Thailand to revitalize organic cotton growing, spinning and weaving, and to preserve heritage varieties of naturally coloured cotton.

Each of these groups bring their special skills in creating their unique products. We feel honoured to work with and learn from them when we visit on our annual networking/buying trips, deepening our relationships each year. The products highlighted in this post are available at TAMMACHAT Natural Textile’s Fair Trade Textile Events. Select products are also available in TAMMACHAT’s Online Shop. Visit www.tammachat.com to learn more.

Voices of the Weavers

“You must consider the whole process if you want to support this art.
It is difficult to produce by hand.
Our work is real women’s group work, handmade art and tradition.”

Mae Samphun Jundaeng, Chairperson,
Panmai Group, Northeast Thailand

“We want to work with natural dyes –
it’s better for our health and for the environment.
The colours we use in our weavings depend on the plants
available around our village.
I am told that most people appreciate my work –
especially the colours.”
Noi Simpree, Member, Panmai Group, Northeast Thailand

TAMMACHAT Natural Textiles imports fairly traded, naturally dyed, handcrafted textiles directly from the artisan groups that create them. TAMMACHAT, which mean ‘natural’ in Thai, was established in 2007 by Alleson Kase and Ellen Agger. Alleson and Ellen love textiles and had been involved with both fiber and empowering women for decades.

Ellen Agger, co-founder of TAMMACHAT Natural Textiles. See Part 1 of this post to learn more about TAMMACHAT's mission.




Ellen is a member of our Fiber Focus Group.

Clicking on her slide show below will take you to her page:

Find more photos like this on Fiber Focus

TAMMACHAT Natural Textiles, Part 2: The Artisans

TAMMACHAT Natural Textiles: Empowering Women Artisans in Thailand and Laos, Part 1

By Ellen Agger and Alleson Kase
Photos © Ellen Agger 2009

TAMMACHAT Natural Textiles imports eco-friendly, fair trade fashion and home decor from rural Thailand and Laos. TAMMACHAT, which mean natural in Thai, was established in 2007 by Alleson Kase and Ellen Agger. Learn more about the artisan groups TAMMACHAT works with in Part Two of this post.

Ellen Agger, co-founder of
TAMMACHAT Natural Textiles

Why we started TAMMACHAT

Two reasons: First, the more idealistic one, was to realize the sayings that “another world is possible” and “vote with your wallet.” We believe that people impact human rights, communities and the environment with every purchase we make. So, it’s important that people have access to fairly traded and environmentally friendly products.

Second (and this is more serendipitous and more personal), we were in the right place at the right time. A few years ago we were traveling around Thailand, searching out weaving groups, an interest of Alleson’s since 1980 when she first traveled in Guatemala. The women we met at one weaving co-op told us their sales were down, which meant they had to limit membership in the co-op. Right away, we knew we were going to connect their desire to expand their market with our desires to find new and meaningful careers.

What motivates us:
We want to live in a world where:
• women have choices about and control over their lives within their families and communities;
• people are fairly and adequately paid for their work; and
• everyone uses resources wisely and according to their needs, so that communities and the planet are preserved for future generations.

Thai weaver hanging organic silk,
coloured with natural dyes, to dry.
© Ellen Agger 2009

Fair trade in action
As social entrepreneurs, we want to encourage fair trade and ethical consumption. This means:
• knowing what goods are made of
• where they are made
• how their making impacts the people who make them, their communities and the environment

TAMMACHAT Natural Textiles imports fairly traded, naturally dyed, handcrafted textiles directly from the artisan groups that create them.

Weaver at her loom in rural Thailand weaving
organic cotton table runners.
© Ellen Agger 2009

Handweaving, one of the world’s oldest arts, continues to be practiced with amazing skill and well-deserved pride in many rural villages in Thailand and Laos. The silks and cottons woven by women in these areas reflect cultural traditions that have endured from earlier times, passing from mothers to daughters.

We select each piece of wearable art, each table cloth and wall hanging, and every length of hand-loomed fabric that we purchase. Every textile chosen displays technical expertise, aesthetic beauty, careful finishing and sustainable production.

We travel extensively in rural Thailand and Laos, visiting weaving villages and artisan groups, to learn firsthand about the textiles we buy and how they are made. After 2 years of trading, we will apply for fair trade accreditation with the World Fair Trade Association.

We support the artisans and communities that create these textiles by:
• paying fair prices set by individual artisans and artisan groups
• building long-term trade relationships with artisan groups and non-governmental organizations that work with village groups
• supporting environmentally and socially sustainable practices, and appropriate technologies used by artisan groups in the creation of their products
• providing international markets for this work to help preserve this women’s art form and encourage the younger generation to continue these traditions

Raising mulberry silkworms in traditional bamboo baskets
to create organic silk yarns.
© Ellen Agger 2009

Natural fibres, natural dyes
Whenever possible, we source organically produced natural fibres. Heritage varieties of silkworms are raised without chemicals in artisans’ homes rather than in factories. The cocoons spun there are painstakingly hand-reeled into yarn, yielding extraordinary beauty and value. Traditional varieties of cotton, in 3 natural colours, are grown organically, most often on the banks of the Mekong River. Unique, nubbly textures result from ginning, fluffing and spinning these fibres by hand.

Before weaving, silk and cotton yarns are hand-dyed in small batches with organic materials that are locally raised or sustainably gathered. Emerging from these village dye pots are colours that range from subtle to intense, in all the rich hues that nature can create. Of course, some yarns are woven in their natural shades of white, cream, butter yellow or tan.

Age-old designs for contemporary life
Many of the pieces that we buy use designs and techniques that have been handed down for generations. Others – especially weavings that are sewn into clothing, bags and cushion covers – combine the beauty of naturally dyed, handwoven fabric with contemporary flare. We work with artisan groups to develop new products, such as the 100% SILK. 100% ART silk squares for quilters and other fibre artists – developed with the expert colour sense of Panmai Group members and advice from internationally known quilters Valerie Hearder and Laurie Swim in Nova Scotia.

We also buy traditional designs, such as khit (supplementary weft) and mudmee (tie-dyed yarns that produce a design when woven), choosing pieces that will be popular with western consumers.

How we sell these textiles
We sell these handwoven textiles at Fair Trade Textile Events that we organize in communities throughout Atlantic Canada and beyond. We also opened an Online Shop to make select pieces available anywhere in the world. We also have a shop on Etsy. Everywhere that we take these textiles we tell the stories behind them, because this showcases the real value of this beautiful work.

For more information, visit our website. Also enjoy the TAMMACHAT travel blog written by Alleson and Ellen.



Ellen is a member of our Fiber Focus Group. Clicking on her slide show below will take you to her page:


Find more photos like this on Fiber Focus

TAMMACHAT Natural Textiles: Empowering Women Artisans in Thailand and Laos, Part 1

Ecological Arts by Rebecca Burgess

"The role of Ecological Arts is to create art in order to understand and revitalize natural systems. Founder Rebecca Burgess has been a teacher and artist for many years."

As an environmental educator and textile artist, I am consistently looking for ways to engage students and the public in hands-on textile arts techniques that move us one step closer to living in greater harmony with the planet.

Ecological Arts offers a series of workshops
on using natural dyes and weaving.

I created EcologicalArts in 2004 as a way to house the sustainable textile arts processes that I was both creating and learning from other artisans around the world. Inspired initially by villages like Pejeng, Bali, and Sukhonakon, Thailand, places where women grow and spin organic cotton, raise and ferment indigo, and work cooperatively to produce beautiful finished goods. These villages illuminated sustainable textile production for me. Upon returning home, I felt the calling to start my own tradition.

California Fleuristic Province, home of Ecological Arts.

I live in the California Fleuristic Province, it is among the 25 most bio-diverse places on the planet. I felt there must be species here, in my homeland, that I can use for color- and thus avoid the carbon footprint incurred from ordering all of my dyes from overseas, or even out of state. In the process, I have become a natural dye harvester, restoration gardener, and an unintentional steward. I prune, I weed, I replant, and I seed- it's all a part of the harmonious and reciprocal process. Stewardship and dye work are now hand-in-hand activities for me. My garden is both a restoration site for native and useful dye plants, and an experimentation zone of Indigo, prairie wildflowers, and pokeberry.

From plant life to yarn color, dyes by Ecological Arts.

While there are still dyes such as cochineal, and logwood, whose colors I have not found sustainably harvested substitutes for, I was able to find and create recipes for every color of my hearts desire. And, there is still a lifetime of experimentation left in the fields and hillsides of my homeland.


As a canvas for these natural colors- I connected with the local sheep ranchers, angora producers and organic cotton farmers. These relationships have given me the opportunity to economically support local fiber producers. They create some of the highest quality raw materials in the world, and yet their origins are at most 70 miles from my home!


These processes I undertake are nothing new in history, they are in fact quite ancient, and yet- I feel that every moment of creating with nature’s raw materials is a novel experience. The permutations and possibilities for what a textile artist can do with the resources within his or her community is truly stunning.

Yarns by Ecological Arts.

Rebecca Burgess graduated from UC Davis in Art History, and while in the central valley spent time studying at DQ Native American University. Searching for art outside the academic canon, she found a Native American basket weaver. The artistry, ecology, and function of the native baskets became her inspiration. While traveling throughout the United States, and Asia she found remnants of ecologically focused textile art traditions.
Through each investigation she became increasingly inspired to begin a local tradition within her own bio-region. Ecologicalarts was born in 2004. An organization dedicated to creating, reviving, and teaching, art forms that utilize resources to promote thriving eco-systems.

Rebecca is a member of the Fiber Focus Group, has a blog, website and sells on Etsy.



Find more photos like this on Fiber Focus

Ecological Arts by Rebecca Burgess

Karoda's Quilted Poetry: The Design Element of Words

Words on Fabric, Postcard by Karoda

by Karoda (aka Karen R. Davis)

I never thought of myself as a visual artist until a few years ago. My first calling was that of a poet which I embraced at a young age, but after years of dealing with pulmonary disease as an adult, I found myself in a space of not being able to hear the poems inside of me. Hearing is essential to a poet. Instead I started dreaming in images and seeing inspiration in quilt designs in architecture, from reading literature, etc. What I was dreaming and seeing intuitively I knew to be quilts. Much of where I started in 2003, when I jump-started this journey for the 2nd time, felt like learning to walk when I really wanted to just dance (similar to those teen-age years when I wanted to grow up too fast). I often was side tracked by responding to the work of other quilters and what I liked…I wanted to try every technique and not miss any of the fun. I worked small, not wanting to commit in size to a technique that I hadn’t mastered or enjoyed. I still have much of those small studies around wondering what I’m going to do with them.

Words, dye and circular quilting as design elements.

Juanita Yeager, my quilt guru, had planted the idea of doing “series” work and keeping a journal and working a bit larger. I begin to pay attention more closely to my body, thoughts, and emotions and what I responded to with passion. Quilts with text, particularly hand writing, excited me. After seeing the quilts of Angela Moll, it still didn’t strike me to do it in my own work. The turning points started at the end of 2007 when poet Estella Majozo invited me to be a part of the Artist-In-Revolution Poet’s series, a community arts project conducted from her downtown studio. I had the month of December and although it had been many, many years since I did a public reading, I didn’t have any new work to share and was somewhat reluctant, but that experience showed itself to be the fire I needed to begin my second series work, aptly named Poetry Series. I immediately started writing my poems onto my hand dyed cloth in hues of red, green, yellow. The colours where chosen to align with the African American cultural flag except for the yellow which is the colour for spirit based on the flag Rastafarians made world famous. These colours communicate vibrancy and life to me. Drawing upon my culture and heritage, making the collective meaningful in a well integrated way personally, has been a preoccupation since my early teen years and something I committed to developing as I matured and this is being interjected to what I do visually.

Superimposing layers of dye and letters, with an applique focal point.

I wanted this series to come from the deepest part of my interior and in order to make sure I stay in that space, I answer questions I pose to myself around why and what for each step in the process for The Poetry Series. Allowing some words to show through and others not, I ask myself why and what does it mean to me…when stamping on the circles, I repeat the questions, and so on for the following layers. I know that it will never be possible for the viewer to know all of my answers or most of them, but that is not why I do it. I have to answer the questions as a way of getting and staying in the interior space I want these quilts to emerge out of.

"Answer the questions..." Words exploring design.

The second fire for The Poetry Series came while attending a workshop with Leslie Morgan and Claire Benn in Ohio where I learned how to print and write using dye paints and how to evaluate my work to achieve more complexity in the layers I put on my fabrics. The third fire came when I took a very basic intro class in casual lettering with Laurie Doctor. In the workshop with Morgan/Benn I was working with freedom and a wide range of motion in writing and with Doctor it was more about focus and control...opposite skills that provide me a wider range in selecting how to place my poems on the cloth.

Words in the background, giving form to pattern.

My daughter asked me what was the point of writing for it not to be legible. I’m not interested in the poem being completely legible or read in its entirety. For me, that would be a book. I’m interesting in my handwriting being used as an original design element and the viewer seeing the writing as a clue for the quilt’s foundation and as part of the mystery in it. Handwriting is so personal. People can identify you by it. Handwriting is a very intimate and experts in the field can infer personality traits by examining an individual’s handwritten marks.

"Handwriting is very intimate."
-Karoda

Also, the making of these quilts is the embodiment of Sankofa, a concept that translates into knowing where you’ve been in order to progress forward. As I read and re-write my poem onto fabric, it becomes an act of breaking open the seal on my present and future in merging the literary and the visual.

Word and quilting swirl.

So far, I have 3 studies and one completed quilt and two laying on the cutting table that need a binding, and fabrics on the design wall being auditioned for the next one. While working on this series, I’ve concluded that constructing poems and constructing quilts is very similar…weighing the pauses, periods, and words in a poem, its rhythm and texture, and evaluating the effectiveness and intent of a poem is no different from weighing the hues and values of colour, the spaces, shapes and lines, the rhythm and texture, and the effectiveness and intent of a quilt. I don’t know or want to know where this will lead, but I know I’m committed to writing on my cloth and using my poems as a foundation for a long time to come because it feels like the me I love the most.

Bringing the elements together in color and quilting.

***the quilts in the Poetry Series can be viewed at my website and I have documented my journey in my blog.




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Karoda has been an active member in our Fiber Focus Group. Clicking on her slide show will take you to her page there.

Karoda's Quilted Poetry: The Design Element of Words