Etsy Updates - Little by little

It's been fun to create a few things to add to my Etsy shop, whose shelves have been bare for quite awhile. Here's a sampling of pouches and a small art quilt. Coasters to come. Thanks for looking!

https://www.bearberryworkshop.com

Low-Slung Sun

 The first photo was taken just before sunset the day after winter solstice. The second photo was taken yesterday about an hour and a half after sunset after the sun dipped at its very shallow angle below the horizon. It's a beyond beautiful time when the skies are clear as the colors get richer and deeper. A Fairbanks secret.  Shhhh.

Winter Solstice

 We are coming up on our shortest day of the year here in the far north, about 65 degrees north latitude, and on the solstice our length of day (sunrise to sunset) will be 10:57 a.m. to 2:39 p.m. for a total of 3 hours and 41 minutes. That's short, but there's enchanting civil twilight on either side of that, and on a clear day, the light is pure magic.

I made a couple of pouches with some hand-dyed, printed fabrics that represent the golden qualities of winter solstice. Clear skies mean cold, and as we head toward a clear winter solstice, our temps will be in the -20s Fahrenheit. But you don't live in Fairbanks without owning enough layers and handwarmers to see you through.

Think Summer!

With a background of birch weighed down by snow on this December day, here's a handful of summer in credit card zip pouches.  Fields of bright poppies grow among the rocks, and willows line the edges of the riverbeds near the mountains. Keep remembering: all good things come to those...who wait... 

Small Works Big Ideas

 I love making these 5" x 5" coasters--pushing the windows of color and design. Collage sketches with fabric. Do I make quilts? I get asked all the time.  Sometimes.  But I prefer broken quilts. Small works big ideas. 

Trees Trees Trees

 From the wet November forest of Norway pine in northern Minnesota to the winter spruce/birch mix near the North Fork of the Chena River and in our woods by my "little house" workshop, these towering giants reach to hold up the sky. As much as I also love treeless tundra, these big old trees give me comfort.

Surprises and Delights

 Here's some recent dye printing and then subsequent overdyed versions. This is a neverending source of joy. Each print 20"x30".

Ravens, Caribou and Ocean View

 

Here's a group of Zip Pouches, credit card size and passport size, now available at Roaming Root in Fairbanks. These are a delight to create with their color and individuality.  The mountain and raven pouches are mini quilt collages with an overlay of polyester organza, free motion quilted to hold everything together and add detail.  The caribou pouch is an original block printed design then free motion quilted.

Morning Walk through the forest tunnel

 We have about 5 inches of snow on the ground now.  There's no going back for at least another 7+ months.  Settle in for some monochrome, interspersed on clear days with pink lavender apricot skies.

I brightened up the day by running some sunny colors through a soy wax screen on dyed cotton canvas.

GIVEAWAY Update -- all shipped out today!

 Thanks, everyone, for the great response on Facebook and Instagram! All the hand-dyed and printed quilt coasters shipped today to places all around Alaska, from Nome to Wasilla, Kodiak to Ester and Fairbanks to Eagle River.

Let's keep the momentum for re-electing Mary Peltola to Congress, and get out the vote! Go Mary! A representative for all Alaskans--

Mary Peltola for Congress-- Coaster GIVEAWAY!

GIVEAWAY! I have 20 handmade coasters available to give away! If you would like one, please email me with your address, and I will mail it to you.

I designed these coasters with a family of fishing boots--the kind Alaskans of all ages and sizes wear--on a dock above a river of salmon.  To me it represents how we are alike in many ways and how we benefit from working together to protect and use our resources.  I am thrilled we have our first Alaska Native running for Congress.  Go Mary!

It's exciting and an honor to be a part of the Creative Center at the Mary Peltola for Congress campaign! Thank you for supporting artists across Alaska--

#MaryforCongress

Get ready for the Mary Peltola for Congress Coasters Giveaway!

The midnight oil is burning around here to finish a project generously funded by the Creative Center of the Mary Peltola for Congress campaign.  

If you would like to tuck one of these handmade coasters with an original block print design under your mug, I'll be announcing a giveaway of 20 of these tomorrow (Thursday, Oct. 20) at noon Alaska time in a separate post. It will be first come, first served, so I hope to see you then.

Also, it will be the last day to apply for an absentee ballot.  Do you have a voting plan? #MaryforCongress

Art Project for Rep. Mary Peltola Campaign

My art proposal for the Creative Center of the Mary Peltola campaign was accepted!

It's been so much fun to create a project that supports Alaska's bright future with Rep. Peltola in Congress, working for all Alaskans. Thank you to the campaign for giving artists around Alaska this opportunity to share their support through art, and for supporting us.  I look forward to seeing what others have created. 

Here are some progress photos as I've been hand-carving blocks to print and quilt coasters.  The group I'm making is almost ready to give away--to you! Keep your eyes open for an announcement here and on my Facebook and Instagram pages in the next few days.  For now, back to work!

Mary Peltola for Congress/Creative Center

Samples of zip pouches I have made with carved, block-printed designs. 

In the past couple of years I have made a series of zipper pouches that I have sewn from hand-dyed cotton fabric and block printed with hand carved original designs using textile paint. They have reflected statements of purpose with creative designs and bright colored backgrounds.

For the Creative Mary Peltola project I would like to carve a design similar to the sketch I have drawn and shown here and then print the design onto colorful, hand-dyed fabric. Then I will layer batting and backing behind the heat treated fabric and free motion quilt the design with an accent thread. The next step is to layer the small 5" x 5" quilt sandwich with a stiffener and waterproof backing and bind the edges with an accent fabric to make a coaster quilt.

I would plan to distribute these coasters via my business Facebook and Instagram pages by making announcements there and giving them away by mail, first-come, first-served. I will also leave the posts up as stories on my page and share the design on social media.

I have been so excited to watch Mary Peltola's successes so far as Alaska's Representative in Congress, and am thrilled to have her represent all of us in Alaska.  I trust her to do her best for all of us, and I want to see her continue her great start as the winner in the upcoming November election.

The theme for my carved block design is a family of boots on a dock with salmon swimming in the river below. The words Pro-Family, Pro-Fish, Mary Peltola for Congress, surround the design.

Samples of Coaster Quilts with free motion quilted designs

American Made Clothworks

Just arrived! Pfd cotton from Clothworks American Made.  After these photos, I prewashed and will test a few small pieces with low-water immersion dyeing and snow dyeing overnight.  Fingers crossed it takes dye well, sews and quilts well, so that I can work toward making as much as possible of what I do, not only Made in Alaska, but also Made in the USA.

Quilts for Ukraine

 Here are a few photos of quilts in progress and finished. The two have been shipped to a nonprofit in Ohio, Mission of Love, that is sending needed items to Ukrainian refugees in Poland and Ukraine.

Recent Work - Dyed, printed, quilted, beaded