The Fabric Giveaway

DOROTHY CURTIS

2008-04-30T10:02:00.000-07:00

Dorothy Curtis made these wonderful placemats using a combination of Fred and woven cotton fabric. She used the pattern 'Calendar Placemats #139', by Little Country Quilts in Brookfield, WI. (phone: 262-782-2210).

Dorothy and I sew together in a small group named 'Miniatures'. We are proud of the fact that none of us have ever made a 'miniature' anything; sometimes I think we just keep the name to scare off people. (Mary's dining room is full to overflowing on the days we meet.) Some time ago, when the group was formed, we had the intention of learning to make miniature quilts. We gave that idea up almost immediately. What I like about this group, in addition to a very mellow blending of personalities, is the comfort factor. Ages ago we had a discussion about all the places we have lived in our lifetimes, and the cultural differences, and especially the differences in food. The next month, Joanne Gruver brought for lunch a pan full of pork and sauerkraut she recalled from her Pennsylvania days (I had never cooked pork). This evolved into us each taking a month and treating everyone else to comfort food. It also led to "Jake's: Where Your Fantasy Is Our Reality", but that's another story.

Dorothy is the one who keeps us laughing through the month. When I declared that I was not buying another stitch of clothing until I lost some weight, I guess she got tired of seeing me in the same old things, because she handed me a stack of things to wear! Yikes. I have lots to thank her for.

IT'S GOOD TO BE GREEN

2008-04-30T09:46:00.000-07:00

The name of this piece is "World Gone Wrong". It is a calendar of sorts. The upper section is a piece of Fred that has been rusted, then free-motion stitched to the dark green back layer. The lower section is a catalog of many of my concerns and fears. It seems that as soon as I start to figure things out (no matter what the subject is) and make myself a better person, my world a better place, I realize that anything I can do is just a quick fix, a patch job. As I was hand -stitching all these little bits and pieces to the fabric, I wondered how Mother Nature feels as she tries to hold together a much larger, much more complicated puzzle than I will ever have to work with.

This wall-hanging was included in "It's Good to be Green", a show that Larkin Van Horn put together for the Latimer Quilt and Textile Center in Tillamook, Oregon. There is an exhibit catalog on cd-rom, that includes more than 200 photographs. It is available at www.larkinart.com/exhibits/latimer/. Thanks for inviting me to participate, Larkin.

LOLA IN LIPSTICK or THE END OF PART I

2008-04-30T09:02:00.000-07:00

I spent the summer of 2007 giving the fabric away. Through this project I have met some people doing some amazing things, and not just with fabric, either. I'll introduce them to you as they send me photos of their work. In the mean time, I'm including this photo of our favorite camping area in the Little Belt Mountains for your viewing pleasure. I actually live here! Excuse me while I pinch myself.

Part I of the fabric giveaway was officially declared ended during the Rocky Mountain Sewing Festival, held each fall in Billings, Montana. I was there to learn a little about indigo dyeing, and ended up giving away several boxes of Fred. Fred, if you remember, is shorthand for 'fabric-giveaway fabric'.

One of the people I met there was Cynthia Coe of Dun a Si Farm (http://www.montanasheep.com/). She raises sheep and hand dyes the fleece, and was at the Sewing Festival as a vendor. We chatted while I filled my shopping basket with amazing colored wool roving. She remembered seeing the article in the paper about Fred, and said she would love to have some to make clothes for her sheep. (Actually, a blanket-type wrap that protects the fleece before it is shorn from the sheep. But I didn't know that then; I stood absolutely still for a moment, imagining...all sort of possibilities.)

I went to my car and filled a box with colors I thought would be functional out in a field, not show the dirt too much, then threw in a hot pink, just because I had a lot of it. Cynthia looked through the box, and said, yes, these are good. Then she saw the pink and got excited! "And THIS is for LOLA!!!" she exclaimed.

Now remember, each piece of this fabric has its own color name--and this particular shade of hot pink is called 'lipstick'. That's right; Lola in Lipstick.

Well, this seemed like an auspicious time to declare that Part I is over--the part where I give large quantities to groups and individuals. Eighty of the boxes have been sent out into the world to be turned in to wonderful things.

AND NOW WE ARE ONE...

2008-04-30T07:35:00.001-07:00

The Fabric Giveaway turned a year old on Earth Day--April 22, 2008. I celebrated by putting off updating this blog for a little longer. Actually, I had been thinking about what monumental amounts of my time and effort this little project has ended up taking, and how it seems pointless in a lot of ways, and had pretty much decided to just end it all, and get on with my life. The top picture, one we took near our favorite camping place, sums it up: Mother Nature and I were both feeling burned out.

But then the most amazing things started happening. Everyone seemed to come out of their winter caves, nests, where ever you hole up, bit by bit. I started getting emails, phone calls, pictures, and requests for more fabric.

The second picture is of a wall hanging I made over the winter. I had made some vests and kimono jackets as thank you's for people who are helping me with the giveaway. My idea was for them to wear them to the quilt festival in Houston to advertise what we are doing. (Never having been to that show myself, I had no idea how warm it is in Houston during the show! So the vests and kimonos jackets were variously displayed in a booth, worn for 10 minutes one evening, or carried around and shown, or left at home. But everyone did distribute the little pins I also had made to introduce the giveaway to anyone interested.) I had told everyone they could either keep the garment as it was, or give it back to me and I'd turn it into a wallhanging for them. So that is what is pictured. It's official title is "World Gone Wrong II", but more often I call it "Scary Quilt"; my husband calls it part of my Soapbox Series. It was made using part of one kimono jacket as the base; this was sliced apart and stitched to a woven cotton fabric backing. The sun is made from a rusted coffee filter. It sums up how I was feeling over the winter: uncertain and very burned out.

SHAMROCKS

2007-10-11T13:08:00.000-07:00

Mary K Gartland is a wonderful friend to have. She is one of the very few people in the world with an insatiable curiosity about all things, and the courage to say 'Sure. Let's try that'. She is also the kind of grandmother that I dream about being.

This is a placemat she made for one of her grandchildren (yes, folks--that would be 'Chad'). She wrote his name on the dark green shamrock with a bleach pen, and bound the knit fabric with woven cotton quilt fabric.

Mary K helped me sort the fabric from all 90 boxes into piles of related colors so people could find what they wanted more easily. She spent a day cutting the stuff into 1 yard lengths, until we finally looked at each other and thought 'This is stupid. What if people don't want 1 yard pieces...' She also has shared her family with me--it is her daughter Mimi and granddaughter Ella who are in the video clip that is on the newspaper website, www.BillingsGazette.com in the article about The Fabric Giveaway.

Mary K gets her choice of either a vest or a kimono. She deserves both, actually. As if I had that kind of time.......

SHIBORI: BURNING QUESTIONS

2007-10-11T12:51:00.000-07:00

Another unfinished creation! I am making this for the Official Writer of The Fabric Giveaway, Linda (Lynn) Jackson. If you click on the image, you will see that I free-motioned two layers of the fabric together to make the vest, then added (with Misty Fuse) some burned shibori. It will now be subjected to lots of machine and hand embellishment before I will call it finished.

Shibori is a traditional tied resist used in fabric dyeing; it just felt right, in this case, to skip the dyeing and roast it like a hot dog over an open flame. Why? Well, the fabric was going to be incinerated, right? So I was curious what that looked like, smelled like, etc. Also, and it's a big also, we in the American West have been having a problem with wildfires the past few years. By mid-summer the air is filled with smoke, the sunrises and sunsets are bright, beautiful, deadly red, and depending on the wind direction, you can see almost part way across town. Normally we can see the Beartooth Mountains from here.

Every one who sees this fabric wants to know how it is done. I will photograph the process and show you, just as soon as I wrap another stick with the fabric.

A SORT-OF KIMONO

2007-10-11T12:38:00.000-07:00

While I was waiting for Mere to arrive, I started making thank-you gifts to give to people who helped me organize and start the Giveaway. I am making this for Nora for sending me wonderful emails that have kept my spirits up, and made me realize that even if I still haven't figured out why I am doing this, it has meaning to others and reminds me once again of the healing power of Art.

While I was working on the easy-to-get-in-and-out-of version, I was actually picturing a gloriously long, embellished version. So Nora and I have decided to do this: I will send her the unfinished short kimono for her to decorate and wear, then I will do a fantasy version with the very loooonnnng one, being inspired I am sure by the colors she uses, the things she does. I am hoping it will be something that will make you close your eyes, smile, and imagine floating through a perfect world where there is no pain.

MERE, THE MERMAID

2007-10-11T12:13:00.000-07:00

This mermaid was done by Nora Bebee, from Brookfield, Wisconsin. She has been sending me photos of the design process; I was so excited to finally see the finished doll in person. She is so beautiful. Lots of beading, and Nora used shredded, distressed fabric for the seaweed, and a hand painted face. She balances on her shell. I didn't know that Nora has major health problems, and that this is the first thing she has made in about 2 years. She thought she knew what she was going to do with the fabric when I told her it was in the mail, but when she saw the colors, she said the image of the mermaid just popped into her head.

I know she is working on at least two other projects from the fabric, and I can't wait to see them; they are very, very different from this one.

Nora emailed this to me: "Mere, as I understand, has three meanings: water such as a lake or pool; nothing more or nothing less like purity; a part or segment. So, a mermaid should be related to water; she is a pure creation from my heart, and is part of something bigger--YOUR project. I thought Mere was a perfect name!" Yes, it is. Thanks, Nora

I am taking Mere for a tour of Billings over the next week or two, then returning her to her home. She will be back, though, for the Rocky Mountain Quilt Festival in March, 2009 if you want to see her in person.

Be sure to click on the photo: you've got to see Mere in close-up.

PERFECT CIRCLES: THE COMING AND GOING AGAIN DANCE

2007-10-11T05:47:00.000-07:00

For the record, this is how we like our bears--alive and in the woods. This is a sow and her cub that were much too close to the road on opening day of bear-hunting season. We were trying to haze them back into the forest. Parris was not using a telephoto lens here; he was actually this close to them. I was close, too, but inside the car with the windows rolled up and saying 'Honey? Honey? Let's just leave them alone.' They were drowsy and just wanted to sleep, and no, I don't suggest you try this yourself. If you do, make sure it's with a black bear and not a grizzley.

Yes, it's a real bear hide. No, I didn't shoot it; I found it at my favorite local thrift shop, Montana Rescue Mission (MRM). My husband had made the comment that he appreciated my work, but still thought quilts should be on beds, not walls--he prefers blank walls, with lots of windows, to look at the wildlife outside.

So, of course, I took that as a challenge to create something that he would appreciate on a wall. I thought of it as a 'guy quilt', for no really good reason, except that he is...well...a guy.

A few days later, Dan (the MRM store manager) brought out 3 bear hides. new, and in perfect condition. And made me a deal I couldn't refuse if I would take them all, before they were shopworn.

The quilt buttons onto the hide so that it can be removed and cleaned. The buttons became an integral part of the design. It was finished in camp (again, lots of hand work); we drove into town (White Sulpher Springs) and photographed it at the local library. The librarian was great; she helped us pack it for shipping to a show in Wyoming.

Thought you'd like to see another recycling project. By the way--it never had a chance to hang on one of our walls; it was sold at the show in Wyoming. So I will never know if it would have changed my husband's mind about quilts on the wall.

WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH THE GIVEAWAY, ANYWAY?

2007-10-11T05:34:00.000-07:00

Well, nothing, except that I'm waiting for the sun to come up so I can shoot some new photos.

These are some pins I made from silk scraps and beads. The hand-dyed silk came from Carter Smith. If you don't know who he is, or what he does, please look at his work at www.shibori.com and you will be amazed. Fabric and dye. It's so simple, yet so endlessly beautiful.

'kITTY' BY JOE MADL

2007-10-11T05:00:00.000-07:00

Joe Madl is an enormously talented artist who lives here in Billings. He made 'Kitty" in just a couple of days, designed the pattern himself. He is the reason we changed the name of our local art quilting group, WAV, from 'Women' to 'We'. His business name is Manhandled Fabrics, but I couldn't find his blog address; I'll add that later.

STILL WAITING

2007-10-11T04:45:00.001-07:00

Hmmm....how about a close-up. Waiting for pictures from giveaway participants is like waiting for Christmas, so I shall shamelessly continue 'The Brooke Show'!

I use a lot of found objects and hand stitching in my work. The cards were entirely hand stitched, except for attachng them to the background, while we were camping, so a lot of the things I used, like the shale pieces, came from The Mountain. My husband calls my work 'shamanistical'; I call it obsessive-compulsival.

BEEN GONE TOO LONG

2007-10-11T04:34:00.000-07:00

Bear with me while I relearn all this. This is sort of a test to see if I can still find everything.

This piece 'Betting With the Devil', is about a sort of crisis I had; I did some really stupid things and it did not turn out well. Yes, the Devil held the winning hand. So, the Purple Quilt (as it is also known) is a deck of marked cards; once you crack the code you can tell at a glance which card is which. As a friend of mine said, This is like your own 'DaVinci Code'!

BLUR

2007-10-11T04:17:00.000-07:00

Well, yes. The last two months have gone by in a blur; didn't even know it had been so long. That explains a lot.

The newspaper article came out on Saturday, August 18, 2007. If you are interested in reading it (the writer, Donna Healy, is really good at taking my babbling and figuring out what I was trying to say), go to www.BillingsGazette.com to see it.

I was feeling virtuous about getting fabric right away to those who tracked me down. It was so much fun meeting everyone and learning what they envisioned doing.

A week later, Donna got home from vacation and forwarded many more requests from people who had contacted her; the sidebar with the giveaway's contact info had not been included in the article. I think I have talked to almost everyone who left messages, but am still finding little scraps of paper with names I don't know written on them. I will call and offer them fabric; if they answer with silence, I will know it is the TruGreen Chemlawn guy, or someone else who has no idea what I am talking about.

UNITY IN DIVERSITY

2007-08-09T06:18:00.002-07:00

This is one of the best mottoes I have ever come across. It belongs to The General Federation of Women's Clubs GFWC), which is one of the largest and oldest women's volunteer service organizations. They have more than 10 million members in more than 20 countries worldwide.

Working locally through thousands of clubs in the United States and globally, GFWC members support the arts, preserve natural resources, promote education, encourage healthy lifestyles, stress civic involvement, and work toward world peace and understanding. The combined force of members on the club, district, state, and international levels offers strength in unity.

All of the above info comes from their national website, which also lists some of their programs and activities. http://www.gfwc.org/ They do a lot of work for women and children, which is one big reason they have received two boxes of Fred to play with, and I can't wait to see Fred transformed!

Part of the fabric will stay here in Billings and part will be sent to other groups in their network.

SUPPORTING THE FABRIC GIVEAWAY

2007-07-31T11:20:00.000-07:00

If you still don't want any of the fabric, but think the project sounds interesting, there ways you can help.

A lot of the fabric is going to groups that work with young people of all ages. They are groups that typically have tight budgets and could use some help purchasing things that the kids could use along with the free fabric. The things on this list are extras that would help take us from being 'the fabric giveaway' to being 'The Fabric Giveaway!'.

Some of these things are basics, such as:

Thread--for basic sewing or embellishment
Needles--for both hand & machine sewing of knits
Interesting things for Embellishments--yarns, beads, buttons, charms, etc.
Fabric dyes and paints suitable for cotton
Markers that will not fade by washing
Scissors or rotary cutters and blades
Rubber stamps & stamp pads with ink useable on textiles
Misty Fuse, both black and white
Fusible woven interfacing
Glues suitable for fabrics (GemTac, etc.)

These things need to be in useable condition, of course.

Some things are not basics, but would:

Make my day--offer to loan me a laptop computer for 2 1/2 years. We travel a lot throughout the year and having a laptop would allow me to keep the Giveaway running smoothly. I am hoping a company that is updating theirs will think of us. I have been told that for my purposes an Apple would be best, but I'm not used to that system, so, really, anything that runs fast and jumps high works for me. If anyone out there knows either Steve or Bill, have him send me an email.

As long as I'm dreaming big, someday I'd like to go to Japan and England; Korea and Australia, too, actually. I'm nuts about the textile work that is coming from these parts of the world, and would jump at the opportunity to study, teach, talk about dogs, or just stare at things in any of these places. As I have severe hearing problems, my interpreter Mary K. Gartland-Lynaugh, would need to come, too. We have already cleared our schedules, just in case...But I digress.

The Fabric Giveaway itself has no legal status to receive gifts or contributions; I have no time, interest, or funds to do that.

If you would like to contribute things you can send them to me or to the organization that you would like to see use them. I can deliver to places in Billings. Either way, you will receive a receipt from that organization.

Checks should be made out to the organization that you want to receive them, such as the Yellowstone Art Museum or Venture Theater or GFWC Billings Junior Women's Group. Their addresses are listed in the post titled 'Who's On First'.

You can contact me at pabajaba@bresnan.net.
I humbly thank you in advance for your generosity, and for seeing value in this project.

WHO'S ON FIRST

2007-07-31T11:00:00.000-07:00

I'm very excited to announce that the following organizations have been quick to see the value of this project, and have agreed to be part of the Fabric Giveaway:

Yellowstone Art Museum
401 North 27th St.
Billings, MT 59101-1290
Linda Ewert, Education Director
http://www.yellowstone.artmuseum.org/

Venture Theatre
P.O. Box 112
Billings, MT 59103
Dina Atwood, Executive Director
http://www.venturetheatre.org/

GFWC Billings Junior Women's Group
P.O. Box 20234
Billings, MT 59104-0234
www.gfwc.org (national)
www.gfwcbillings.com (local)

Billings Sewing and Vac
1212 Grand Ave., #11
Billings, MT
(406)252-6989

I will be spending Wednesdays at Sew & Vac, from 12 pm to 4 pm to distribute packs of fabric. I will have some of the sample projects with me so you can see them in person. These are play days, not formal classes, so you can bring things to work with and keep me company as we explore some of the possibilities for all this fabric.
I can be contacted at pabajaba@bresnan.net.

INTRODUCING 'FRED'

2007-07-28T08:56:00.000-07:00

I'm tired of typing and saying 'the giveaway fabric' over and over and over, so have decided to refer to it as 'Fred'. As in that old golfing joke that ends with "Hit the ball, drag Fred. Hit the ball, drag Fred."

I feel like anywhere I go, anything I do now, I am dragging Fred with me. I try to keep a big box of pieces of Fred in my car so I can give it to anyone who wants some. Yeah, I think I like this better.

WE'RE GOING TO BE FAMOUS! or MY WEIGHT IN CLOTH

2007-07-28T07:59:00.000-07:00

Earlier this week I gave some fabric to the four children, who are my other next door neighbors. At about 7:30 the next morning my doorbell rang, and there they were, all wearing things they had made! I adore these kids--they are on the shy side, I think, but when they smile, they radiate happiness. And it was obvious to me they were having fun with this project.

Some of their friends made pieces for the fashion show. It's hard to construction clothing when you don't sew, or so I thought, but these guys did an inspiring job.

Yep, that's all 200 pounds of me, and 200 hundred pounds of fabric. I'm hoping that as I pass out the fabric, maybe a little bit of me will go with it. I've already lost a few pounds just hauling boxes around with me where ever I go.

Donna Healy writes for our newspaper, The Billings Gazette. She wrote an article in March about "Twenty Feet", aka 'the red quilt', and it was at that time that I told her about the Fabric Giveaway. She has been working on an article about it that should be published soon.

We all met on The Rims, one of Billings' main geologic features, early last Thursday morning to be photographed for the article. Since the temperatures had been over 100 degrees for more than a week, we were trying to stay cool. On a clear day, you would be able to see the Beartooth Mountains in the background. It was nice and breezy, and soon after we finished it rained a decent amount for the first time in an age. And the day stayed cool.

When I had asked the kids if they wanted to be in the photos, they said "Sure!" Their mother told me later they had been very excited, saying "We're going to be famous!" One of their friends has been practicing writing her signature fast, so she can sign autographs and not make you wait in line too long.

Donna Healy should get a special award for being willing to meet me in difficult places. She hasn't complained once. My husband Parris shot these photos, by the way. He should get a special award, too.

CAR WASH

2007-07-28T07:46:00.000-07:00

This is our neighbor Mike Binford using a piece of the giveaway fabric to wash his truck. Thanks, Mike! He was attacked by a bee a couple seconds after this photo was taken; now, those photos are pretty funny, but don't really have anything to do with the giveaway so they'll stay private.

INTERLUDE IN RED

2007-07-21T08:07:00.001-07:00

The long, skinny image is actually a wallhanging 16"W x 22' long. The other photos show closeups, including a system for shortening it for hanging.

The making of 'Twenty Feet' began as a reaction to news reports about flooding in New Orleans after the city was hit by the hurricane Katrina in 2005.

I could pull out a tape measure to show the linear measurement, but still couldn't comprehend the impact to one's life by having water 'twenty feet deep, in places' wash through it.

I began by measuring the height of the things I would rescue--my dog, my puppy, myself. When I eventually reached the tallest point of the ceiling in my house and I saw that I was little more than half way to twenty feet, I had my first feelings of the proportions of the disaster.

The materials and techniques used all point to the realization that I would have been left with nothing. My survival would have depended on things I could find along the way.

Nearly everything used for the quilt was recycled from something else. The fabric I used was torn from an old curtain and other cast offs; things picked up on my daily walks, things washed out of the ground, were stitched to the burnt, bleached and raw surface to refer to the breakdown of modern technology and communication, to represent the shockingly rapid disintegration of civilized behavior, and the ceaseless reports of new terrors.

As I stitched, I thought also of the coming deaths of two of my friends from cancer; I wondered about my responsibilities to them as the one who would survive.

The realization of the depth of my own private despair is in tandem with the very public horrors experienced by so many individuals. It culminated in the overwhelming, numbing darkness that must be faced before the acts of surviving and rebuilding can begin.

'Twenty Feet' means much to me personally; that makes its reception when I show it even more thrilling.

I first showed it at the Lowell Quilt Festival in 2006. It was awarded Judges Choice ribbons from Martine House, Susan Carlson, and Joe Cunningham. This was extra exciting to me because it wasn't even in the quilt show! It was part of the special exhibition of Katrina-related quilts organized by Laura Cater-Woods.

I found the ribbons when I opened the returned piece. I was numb, I shook, I cried, as much as anyone on Paxil can cry. The honor stunned me, and gave me my first recognition of the power this medium can have to touch people.

It was shown in 'Sacred Threads 2007' and next travels to 'Quilts: Fiber for Thought' at the Plains Art Museum in Fargo, ND. http://www.plainsart.org/ The show runs from October 25, 2007 to January 13, 2008.

In my dreams, a wealthy patron purchases it for display in New Orleans, where it really belongs.

OUR FIRST PLAY DAY

2007-07-20T13:09:00.000-07:00

The GFWC Billings Junior Women's Group is one of the organizations getting some of the giveaway fabric. We set aside Saturday June, 25, 2007 to get together and just try different techniques, including painting, sun printing, and discharging with bleach pens. This was a very talented and ready-to-work group. Cindy St. Charles let us use her workshop, which is in a beautiful location. We have had a lot of hot, hot days in Billings, but 100 degree weather didn't slow them down this day. They will use the fabric for several different projects.

EXPERIMENTS

2007-07-20T13:00:00.001-07:00

Jeanne Knudson quilted this on a longarm machine as a test. It has a flannel backing. She used the knit fabric for the binding, but said it wasn't a good choice for that.

This was a sunprinting test. I used Setacolor transparent dyes on damp fabric. Have I mentioned we are building a new deck in our backyard? Lathing strips were just laying there...Worked pretty well.

A LITTLE MORE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS

2007-07-20T12:38:00.000-07:00

Cindy St. Charles made these little dolls, using polymer clay faces. I like the way she used the stretchiness of the fabric.
Joanne Gruver made the cool chicken; she has a set of three in her living room in graduated sizes

The doll was made by Kathy Lichtendahl for Cindy's grandson's first birthday. She has more pictures of Airus playing with the doll on her blog at cindy-stcharles.blogspot.com. Look at the entry for April 7, 2007.The scarf was knitted by Marsha Selwyn from 1 1/2' strips of fabric knotted together. Marsha usually takes about 2 years to finish anything, but this she did start to finish in 2 weeks! That's how much fun it was.
I made these necklaces. The one on the left is heavily beaded; I wore it to our daughter Laurel's wedding, with a hand dyed kimono jacket made by Cindy. The necklace on the right recycles an old earring.
These are some of the postcards I made to celebrate May Day. I was inspired by the Stupid Sock Creatures of John Murphy--you need...NEED...to see his site. http://www.stupidcreatures.com/

Cindy also made these suns, with polymer clay faces made from molds. Cindy is the hardest working fiber artist I know. She is always experimenting and does beautiful work.

HAPPY JULY 4

2007-07-20T12:08:00.000-07:00

Well. This is what the field looked like after the holiday weekend. Scary, eh?

OUR FIRST PHOTO SHOOT

2007-07-20T11:54:00.000-07:00

These are the Official Mascots of the Fabric Giveaway--our standard poodles Madison, Zarathustra, and their 9 month old son Sam I Am. They were sure I had covered the rock in fabric just for their comfort!

This is where I walk the dogs in the morning; when I thought what a nice place it would be for photos, I wasn't seeing all the tall weeds in my mind. Big mistake.
Mimi and her daughter Ella graciously agreed to be in the pictures, with Ella playing with some of the finished projects. That was the best part of the morning--watching Ella play. She loved the doll.

Oh, well, I thought--we'll reshoot later, after I've had a chance to stomp down some of the weeds.

WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS

2007-07-20T11:36:00.000-07:00

Joanne Gruver gets the "Jump Right In" award as the first person to actually make something with the giveaway fabric. In fact, she made these two little bears before she even had any of the fabric; she used her own. So please don't ask for these colors; I don't have a secret stash of 'speckled brown'. Joanne does, talk to her. These were made using a program for her sewing machine that embroiders the eyes and heart, then stitches the bear outline.

SANGRIA AND EARTH DAY

2007-07-20T11:08:00.000-07:00

The Fabric Giveaway officially, if accidentally, kicked off on Earth Day, April 25, 2007. We met at the storage unit and sliced open the last 36 boxes, to lots of oohs and ahhhs. This part of the giveaway has provided me with an excellent hands-on lesson in color relationships. Colors that look perfectly scrumptious in one stack of fabric suddenly become washed-out 3-day old road kill next to a different bunch.

I had fun that day looking at the choices people made. Cheryl Wittmayer in particular has a knack for delicately combining colors that, frankly, would scare me to use together. This is a collage she made using three pieces of the giveaway fabric, some hand dyed cotton by Cindy St. Charles, and topped with a sheer fabric.

Cheryl is one of the few people I know who is equally proficient with machine sewing and stitching (embroidery and quilting) by hand. I love the way she combines the two. When I moved to Billings and was thinking about taking a good basic quilting class, everyone and I do mean everyone, I asked pointed me in her direction. Can you tell how much I like and respect her? You can look at her work at http://www.sew-be-it.biz/.

These are just some of the thoughts I thought as I sat sipping the sangria while every one else was tossing fabric and colors around.

Each length of fabric had stapled to it a tag with its color name and dye formula. I enjoy the color names and have kept a record of them. Try to imagine what 'Eve', 'Dawn', or 'Princess' look like. I'll wager you are wrong--they aren't what I would have put with those names, anyway.

SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT

2007-07-20T10:57:00.000-07:00

I don't have many pictures yet for this project, so I am including one of a duct tape teddy bear I made for our daughter, Sarah, when her third son was born. All of the embroidery is hand sewn. She and her family are moving to Kentucky from southern California; they leave today. I am adding this to the blog so she will know I am thinking of her. Our family has been exchanging Christmas presents made from duct tape for years now; we have a d.t. quilt, Tickle Me Elmo, Twelve Days of Christmas, on and on. Sarah's sister Laurel has gotten very good at working with it.

I CAN'T THINK OF ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE STUFF!

2007-07-20T09:38:00.000-07:00

Let me help. Some general catagories I am putting ideas into are :
Wallhangings
Quilts
Wearables
Jewelry
3 Dimensional
Toys
Science Projects
Any Crossovers of the Above

Look at Nick Cave's Sound Suits; do an internet search on Pat Oleszko. These are just two of the innovative artists who use fabric in very entertaining ways.

I would love to see people treat this fabric as a serious material, to explore and expand ideas they are already working with.

I would like to see people use it who normally don't even think about fiber. How could someone who works with glass, or metal, or watercolors incorporate this?

HOW'S IT COMING SO FAR?

2007-07-20T09:14:00.001-07:00

Fine, thank you, although the universal first response is "Huh?" and then "I don't work with knits..." and then I have to jump in with "Well, think about it for a while and I bet you'll come up with some ideas." Then the next time I see that person they say excitedly "You know, I could do this, or try this..."

Personally, after the initial disappointment of opening box after box of...knits...(I had pictured woven fabrics while talking to my sister on the phone), I considered to be a creative challenge. I've never sewn with knits, and had to face a huge learning curve. Luckily, people are generously sharing lots of advice--more about that later.

I'm thinking a lot about how to exploit the cloth's stretchiness and cut edges that don't fray. It is 100% cotton, so anything you do to your quilting fabrics, you can do to this--meaning it takes dye and paint beautifully.

It discharges, with either bleach or Thiox. This picture is hysterically funny to me--it is my attempt to be organized with the giveaway project. I discharged, with bleach, samples of each color that came in the first 32 boxes to arrive. I stopped at sample #113; the boxes kept coming.

If you use a bleach solution or bleach pens to discharge the fabric, when you're finished be sure to soak it in a combination of water and anti-chlor to stop the process, otherwise the bleach will eat tiny holes in the fabric that stretch into big holes, that can make your husband smile and say "I could make my own quilt out of that and title it 'A Tear In the Space/Time Continuum'..." You can find anti-chlor in the aquarium section of any pet store.

DISCLAIMER

2007-07-12T17:59:00.000-07:00

Just so we are clear, there is no money, except postage when needed, involved here. No one is being paid anything. If your organization can use aspects of this project to raise money, well, great!, or if you receive any contributions to fund the use of this fabric, it is up to you to do your own paperwork and to file the appropriate IRS stuff. The same goes for individuals. I urge you to consider making things as gifts for others, just as the fabric was given to us to use; or if you sell what you make, give at least a portion to your favorite charity. Obviously, I can't enforce much of anything, but hope you will want to be part of the spirit of the giveaway.

You are responsible for your own expenses, including postage. For $8.95 I can stuff a USPS flat rate mailing box full and send it anywhere in the US; for any one else you need to pay actual mailing costs. It you live in, or are visiting, the Billings area contact me ahead of time and you can pick up the fabric personally. I'd love to meet you!

THE TIMELINE

2007-07-09T15:02:00.000-07:00

The fabric giveaway was designed to cover the 2007-2008 school year, since several of the projects involve school classes. Hopefully, most of the fabric will be distributed this summer (2007). As unused fabric is returned, more will be available at a later time. Pictures may be emailed to me at any time; they must be in by Dec. 31, 2008 to be included in any after-project documentation, including a book. Selected finished pieces will be invited to be included in the Big Sky Quilt Show in March 2009 (Billings, MT) and other venues.

THE PLAN

2007-07-09T09:31:00.000-07:00

My Aunt Bonnie told me they had a saying in their house as my cousins were growing up."There are two ways to do something--the normal way, and Brooke's way. And Brooke's way is always a lot more fun!" I've decided that the fact that this fabric still exists needs some attention. So the plan is to go ahead and donate ten boxes to several groups who will use it to do the things they quietly do for other people. If you represent a group that does such things, I am sorry but that portion of the fabric has been allocated already.

I have always believed in the importance of art, of personal expression, and the value of thoughtful play. I have no doubt about the righteousness of artistic expression, and that is what I want to encourage by giving some of this fabric to you. I want this fabric in some way to be relevant to your life, its existence to matter. "The arts are a very human way of making life more bearable. Practicing an art, no matter how well, or how badly, is a way to make your soul grow."--Kurt Vonnegut. The rest of the fabric will be distributed to anyone who would like some. The quantities for each individual will be limited by what is available at any given time. In other words, I will give you, say, 4 yards of various colors to work with. You can either keep leftovers for later use, or return it to me. Returning it means that some will become available later in the project for others to use. The pieces available will be smaller and smaller because of this process, until eventually it is all gone. Of course, by then even I will probably want to incinerate the stuff!

Most Asked Question #3: What If I'm Not An Artist? What you do with the fabric is up to you; if you want to wash your car with it, please do so. Just remember to have someone photograph you doing it, and send me the picture!

Most Asked Question #4: What Are You Going To Do With All These Things? I repeat, all I want is a digital image of whatever you do or make with the fabric!!!!! The things you make are yours to do whatever you wish with them. In the spirit of things, I would nudge you towards doing something nice for someone else, in which case a couple of photos showing you working on your project(s) and one of the recipient with the finished project (you get the idea) would be nice.

FABRIC IN FLAMES

2007-07-09T09:13:00.001-07:00

The Most Asked Question #2 is: What are you going to do with all of it?

Well, I've thought about this a lot over the last year. On days when I think 'This is a really stupid idea, and a colossal waste of time" I think about pulling out what I think I personally could use, then donating the rest of it to groups who would sew up quilts for people in need, caps for cancer patients, etc. But I keep coming back to the issue that got my attention: This fabric was going to be burned! Yards and yards of it, more than a ton of it in flames! What a picture. Besides, there is a lot here, but it's not enough to clothe the world, comfort all those in pain and misery. Still wanting to do as much as possible with this stuff, I have come up with a plan.

MOSTLY USELESS QUANTIFYING

2007-07-09T08:27:00.000-07:00

The Most Asked Question is: How Much Fabric Is There?

The answers depend on who is asking, and circumstances. The day we moved it into a storage unit, the answer was 90 boxes at about 30 pounds each equals over a ton of fabric. And I moved it twice that day--onto the truck, then into the garage-sized space. So I lifted and carried more than 2 tons of fabric in 3 or 4 hours. This project is fast becoming part of my physical fitness plan. So that tells me nothing useful, except that moving it around is helping me to build strong muscles! Ok.

People Who Sew want that translated into yards. So, let's take 30 pounds worth and measure it. A pound of t-shirt equals slightly over two yards. But then what does that look like, and how many streets in downtown Billings will it cover? Is it enough to cover a house? Is it enough to wrap the Rims? Parts of it, but we'll leave that to Christo. Wouldn't I like to try that, though...

THE WHOLE STORY

2007-07-09T06:22:00.000-07:00

Well, what would you do if you were in my shoes, and woke up one day thinking "I really have to do something with those 90 boxes in the garage..."? How did this happen?

One of my favorite textile magazines is 'Selvedge', a British publication (http://www.selvedge.org/). Last year, in the early spring, I was savoring both a cup of tea and the most current issue (Issue 09: React!), when I came upon the article that stopped me in my tracks.

Written by Kate Fletcher (http://www.katefletcher.com/), it was about the high cost of fabric in our world. Check out Kate's blog at www.katefletcher.com/blog.shtml ; I love the 'Dollar A Day' dress!.

I already knew about some of the high costs in environmental terms--issues that include the use of pesticides, large amounts of water, poisonous dyes, sweat shops, on and on. What I hadn't heard much about is something referred to as 'end of life'--the huge amount of clothing, etc. that ends up in landfills; even more shocking was learning about the tons...TONS!...of fabric that is routinely incinerated as part of the clothing manufacturing process.

Now, I've tried to be conscientious as I've made my way through my life--who doesn't recycle these days? And I've always used found objects in my work. It was a huge jolt to my system to realize that the material so basic to my art is so harmful. (I also resolved to use only pale colors after reading how much water is used to wash out dark dyes. We'll see how that goes.)

All the issues covered in the article are good ones that need to be addressed, but the thought of incinerating fabric hurts me in so many ways!

My sister, Angie, works for a clothing company, and she had recently moved to their design and manufacturing side; I asked her if this was true. She called me back about a week later to say that not only is it true, but that she had just come from a meeting where one of the items of business they had discussed was what to do with a warehouse full of fabric that should have been incinerated through the last few years, but wasn't. When the okay was given to go ahead with destroying it, my sister raised her hand and said "I think I know someone who can do something with this..." They were curious enough about what I would do with it, that they agreed to send it to me.

"Uh...yeah...sure...Hmmm. Okay, this could be interesting" I told her. I am something of a fiber-related black hole, anyway; my friends know I am always looking for 'odd little things'. Right now, for instance, I am collecting broken or bent pins and needles for a piece themed 'sewing as a blood sport'. Also, I need old lipsticks.

Over the next year, as they had time, interns at the company pulled out colors they could still use (that is why there is no black, white, or red in the boxes they sent me, I think), took it off the rolls, packed it in boxes, and began sending it to me. The boxes arrived ten or so at a time at first. "This is manageable" I thought. You may want to ask my husband Parris what he thought. One day in March 2007, he called me to ask "Where would you like them to put two UPS trucks worth of fabric?"

These particular fabrics were used as color standards. Every year, every season, the colors used change slightly; small squares of every color used in the current clothing collection are stapled to cards and sent out to each company that manufactures each product in the clothing line. That is how belts match skirts that match tops that match pants. Fabric left over at the end is incinerated.

I want to be clear about this--this is an industry-wide practice, not something done by only this company. In this particular case, this is one aspect of the business that, thankfully, has already changed. This is old technology that has been replaced, so there will be no more of this cloth sent to me next year, or the year after that. This is it.

I have no idea how this practice started, or when. I'd love to know, though. If I sound vague or confused in any of this, it's because I'm not part of this industry, and am passing info along second hand from various sources. Please feel free to check anything I say, and let me know what you find.

THE FABRIC GIVEAWAY

2007-07-05T11:15:00.000-07:00

It's as easy as this: I give you fabric; you send to me pictures of what you do with the cloth. Contact me at pabajaba@bresnan.net.

A FEW MORE DETAILS

Why: This fabric was slated to be incinerated, a common practice in the clothing manufacturing business. We're curious to see what else could be done with it.

What: The fabric is all excellent quality, clean, new t-shirt weight cotton single-knit. It is available in solid colors, every shade imaginable except red, black, and white. Pieces range in size from about a yard long, to 4 or 5 yards long. Widths vary, 72" is a good average figure, but some are less than that. You may do what ever you like with the fabric.

When: The project has begun, and will last until the end of 2008. All photos must be received by Dec. 31, 2008.

Where: The fabric is in Billings, Montana, USA. I am willing to send some anywhere in the world, but since I have no budget for the project you must either prepay the postage, or make other arrangements.

Who: The company that has sent me the fabric wishes to remain anonymous.