dorisL

Canadian textile artist creating snow dyed textiles using traditional shibori techniques.

Color or colour, fabric stashes and book club!

Inspiration / By

Oh no, I’ve joined a book club to read and learn hands-on about colour! Normally something that would not cause a negative reaction. But, the first thing we are told to do is cut the 150 color card swatches included with the book: The Quilter’s Field Guide to Color : A Hands-On Workbook for Mastering Fabric Selection. 

Rache Hauser cover
The Quilter’s Field Guide to Color : A Hands-On Workbook for Mastering Fabric Selection by Rachel Hauser.

Why do we need to cut up a perfectly new book? It goes against everything I believe! I work in a library, I’m a library technician! I can’t possibly cut up pages!

Rachel Hauser Table of Contents

Cutting up a perfectly fine book (I know I must!) notwithstanding, I am excited to be participating with a small and enthusiastic group of quilters on this project. We are a mixed bunch – some have been quilting for many years and others fairly recently. Some have an art background and many others don’t. I know we will all learn a lot from each other and this experience whether we do or don’t have an art background.

Rachel Hauser. About

I have a good size collection of fabrics in my stash. Will it suffice for this project without purchasing? I hope so, as I do want to use the colours I have collected without adding any more. My aim is a deficit, not surplus.

Fabric Stash in closet of doris lovadina-lee canadian textile artist

The first cut is always the most difficult!

Knitting for Covid-19 Memorial Blanket Project

Inspiration / By

There hasn’t been a lot of meditation in any format for me lately. But I changed that a few days ago when I began to knit. A friend passed on information from the CBC regarding a couple of women who were beginning a very large scale project to honour all of the people who have dyed due to Covid-19. The Covid-19 Memorial Blanket Project was conceived by three knitters: Heather Breadner, Allison Day, and Amanda Sharpe. They took inspiration from the National AIDS Memorial Quilt which travelled around the world and a part of it became Canadian AIDS Memorial Quilt.

ball of yarn and knitting needles with a page of instruction from the Covid-19 Memorial Blanket project

All knitters and those that crochet are invited to participate in. Unfortunately, the number of squares they require number 9,193 to date. There will be more.

My husband is really the knitter in the family and he’s already made three blocks. My mother has contributed one as well. She knit hers in just a couple of afternoons. Oh, retirement – sigh!
I have only until November 2020 to get my square to them. They hope to have all of those collected made into a large blanket so it can start its tour across Canada.
But it’s expected that they will need to continue knitting and creating more blankets until necessary. So I recommend reading the information they have posted on their website and keep knitting even if seems November seems to be too soon.

My studio – my house!

Quilting / By

I say in some of presentations that my studio is my entire house, inside and out! I am not kidding. Thank goodness I have such an understanding family!

Roses and Lace is a large quilt hanging to be photographed by canadian artist doris lovadina-lee
quilt hanging on design wall in studio

Where is your studio?

Stitch Meditation – 9th Month Review

Inspiration / By

There is no secret that I love colour – however it’s spelt 🙂 Blocks of colour pieced together to create design and impact.

6 squares of 5" stitch meditations. Hand embroidered meditations by doris lovadaina-lee textile artist canadian

Held together with basic stitches – made by hand.
Irregularities, imperfections are expected when a piece is created by a person not a machine. They exist and and remain to indicate the maker.

Looking back at the ninth month:

Colour and waiting til it’s complete – one stitch at a time!

Stitch Meditation – Day 63 and 64

Inspiration / By

Always drawn to colour! When colour is present, the design can be simple.

red and pink pieces stitched together with embroidery thread into a 5 inch square stitch meditation by Doris Lovadina-Lee Canadian textile artist
Hand dyed cotton, perle thread
5" square embrodered with red, purple, yellow and turquoise fabrics by doris lovadina lee toronto ontario canada quilter
Hand dyed cotton, perle cotton

Creases, folds even holes left from the scrap’s previous incarnation. Where did this piece come from, what was it’s purpose? Left to be discovered by those who stop and look.

Stitch Resources

  • Website: Color in Art. By Thaneeya McArdle.

Adding colour — one stitch at a time!

Stitch Meditation – Day 61 and 62

Inspiration / By

I am very interested in modern art. There is something about the colours and design that really appeals to me. Specifically minimalist art. I find myself looking at these pieces much more than others. Some reach out and speak to me while others quietly whisper. It forces me stop, to listen, and think.

stitch meditation day 61 by doris lovadina-lee textile artist
hand dyed cotton, repurposed linen and perle cotton

I had only stitched the orange blanket stitch and thought it was complete. Yet, I kept putting it back into the container to wait. I stitched a few others. Then it popped to the surface and I added more stitches. Now its journey is complete.

stitch meditation day 62
Hand dyed cotton, repurposed linen, hand dyed perle cotton

French knots and a Y-stitch on hand dyed cotton sprinkled with salt. Is it the ocean or the sky?

Stitch Resources

  • YouTube: Handiworks. Hand Embroidery for Beginners: 10 types of leaves. (starts with fly stitch)

Waiting and stitching to the finish — one stitch at a time!

Pillows and more headed for online shop!

vending / By

I’ve been working on updating my online shop. Taking photographs that do justice to the beautiful nuanced colours of the hand dyed textiles is not easy. Many, many photos are taken to get one or two I really like.

5 hand dyed pillows on white bench and 2 textile paintings

Pillows, scarves, table runners, and a few more things are being photographed and in some cases rephotographed. I am letting these items go to new homes in order to make way for some new ideas, new colours and new fibres.

black spider on corner of a fabric postcard of a black spiderweb on printed orange cloth
whimsical house embroidered onto a 4x6 inch quilted art postcard

My newsletter subscribers will get the first option to log in and purchase all items in the online shop for 20% off and free shipping. Then I will open it up to everyone. So subscribe now!

back of a 4x6 cloth postcard with copyright symbol and Doris Lovadina-Lee

Salud! Sit back and enjoy all your savings! You will be happy when the holidays roll around and you’ve done your shopping.

Stitch Meditation – Day 59 and 60

Inspiration / By

Stitching is still happening in fits and starts. Simple shapes and basic stitches. Rummaging through to find just the right pieces of cloth. Drawing lines with knots and running threads, outlining a circle with variegated thread, improvising and stitching quietly.

five inch square of deep turquoise blue and circle of yellow cotton hand stitched with perle cotton embroidery thread doris lovadina quilter

Changes to my stitch repertoire are bound to happen though. A friend lent me her copy of a book she thought I would enjoy reading: Intentional Thread: a Guide to Drawing, Gesture, and Color in Stitch by Susan Brandeis.

five inch square of three strips of fuchsia hand dyed fabric and repurposed silk stitched with embroidery cotton and a narrow cotton strip created by doris lovadina-lee canadian textile artist

After just a quick look at this book, I knew it was a fantastic resource for anyone who loves to hand stitch. I immediately ordered my own copy! Susan Brandeis is a retired Distinguished Professor Emerita at North Carolina State University’s College of Design with degrees in art education and textile art. This is the textbook she wished she had when she was teaching.

cover of Intentional thready by Susan Brandeis
Brandeis, Susan. Intentional Thread: a Guide to Drawing, Gesture, and Color in Stitch

Beautifully illustrated with examples of her work, a guide to stitch types, samplers of her stitches and so much more! I know that I will be referring to this book for a long while and seeing new things each time.

In the preface to the book, Brandeis writes about living in a world of speed – information, transportation, and commerce are happening faster and faster.

But the abscence of speed in the handmade stands in opposition to that hurry, offers an anitidote to frenzy and commotion, and is one of the reasons I love handwork. I am drawn to the ‘meditative’ quality of working slowly at human (rather than machine) speed.

Susan Brandeis

I’ve listed a YouTube video in the Stitch Resources. It’s a short video of Susan’s retrospective show. It’s interesting to hear of her talk about the ideas, inspirations, and techniques she used to create her pieces.

Stitch Resources

  • Website: Susan Brandeis: Textile Art, Craft, Design, and Education
  • YouTube: Susan Brandeis Retrospective: Quilting & Surface Design, 1978-2008.

Always studying and improving — one stitch at a time!

Upcycling snow dyed wool and silk scarf kantha style!

Fibre art / By

Moths! These fuzzy winged insects feasted on this beautiful snow dyed wool scarf, leaving it unfit to be worn. I loved the pattern and colour of this scarf and did not just want to throw it out.

Kantha style shibori dyed scarf in fuchsia pink and white in progress by doris lovadina-lee toronto quilter
running stitches on a white with pink designed wool scarf by Doris Lavadina lee textile artist and dyer

This is another long-term project that I have on the go. I am using a variety of threads on this scarf, alternating in between perle cotton, embroidery floss, and regular sewing thread. I am looking for similarity in colour but different thicknesses to add texture and interest.

pink running stitches in circular pattern on silk scarf
folded scarf with running kantha stitches in pink thread by doris lee canadian textile dyer

Kantha was originally a very humble embroidery craft. Running stitches kept layers of old saris together to create blankets for the cold winters in Bangladesh. I hope my scarf recognizes the beauty of recycling and stitching too.

Stitch Meditation – 8th Month Review

Inspiration / By

Blueprint formerly Craftsy has announced the platform is closing. This is sad news for so many people. It offered such a wide range of classes from some very skilled craftspeople. Maybe, some of you like me may have purchased classes and not actually worked your way through them. The time for this is now!

6 hand stitched squares for the 8th month of the 100 day stitch meditation

I just looked at my old emails and the original purchase date of my first Craftsy class was 2013! I believe that I first learned about them when I attended QuiltCon. They had a booth in the vendor’s market and were very active in promoting themselves.

I am embarrassed to say that I have 2 classes from Craftsy. I completely forgot about the first one purchased: The Art of Cloth Dyeing with Jane Dunnewold. I have never logged into this one!! Absolutely one I am interested in viewing and applying to my work.

What will you be doing this weekend?

Looking back at the eighth month:

Learning online – one stitch at a time!

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