Author Archives: Margaret Ford

When all else fails….be an arts patron

Posted on May 24, 2014 by Margaret Ford

I went last night to the live auction of the Salvage/Selvedge quilts.  http://stargazey.com/salvagecatalogue/live-auction.html When I went to the opening of the Salvage/Selvedge exhibition on 16 May I was stunned by how gorgeous they  were.  They were all absolutely exhibition quality … Continue reading →

Posted in Design, Machine quilting, patchwork | 1 Comment

Avocado Dyeing ……and a disaster

Posted on May 12, 2014 by Margaret Ford

Yesterday I decided to do my well overdue “Animal Vegetable and Mineral” challenge for Designing Women (see previous blog). As is won’t to happen, the day went awry.  In fact it wrote another chapter in my coming of age as … Continue reading →

Posted in Natural dyeing | 4 Comments

Red Cabbage Dyeing

Posted on May 11, 2014 by Margaret Ford

I belong to a group of creative West Australian women called Designing Women. Their blog is http://designing-women-wa.blogspot.com.au At yesterday’s monthly meeting we had a retrospective of her work from Rae.  It was very absorbing and I was particularly taken with her … Continue reading →

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Mud Cloth Finale

Posted on April 27, 2014 by Margaret Ford

Well, that’s misleading.  It’s not a finale.  I’ll definitely be doing more…. But today was the last day of the two day WAFTA workshop on Mud Cloth with Judy Dominic. (http://www.judydominic.com/mudcloth.html)  Judy taught us a lot.  She also frankly shared … Continue reading →

Posted in Natural dyeing | 2 Comments

Mud Cloth

Posted on April 26, 2014 by Margaret Ford

You know I’m interested in natural dyeing and that my favourite textile palette is “neutrals”, much to the distress of relatives who love brighter colour! Well, today I had the chance to explore another form of “natural” dyeing.  Mud Cloth, … Continue reading →

Posted in Natural dyeing | 2 Comments

Octopus

Posted on April 21, 2014 by Margaret Ford

I’ve been making flowers for a particular vessel for the last couple of days .  This started life as a chrysanthemum but along the way I thought it looked as though it had the potential to be a sea creature … Continue reading →

Posted in Design, freeform crocheting | 2 Comments

In Defence of Crochet

Posted on April 16, 2014 by Margaret Ford

I’ve crocheted all my life.  Well, since I taught myself from a Woman’s Day lift out in 1958 anyway….If you’re figuring, that’s 56 years ago! I’ve done all sorts of things of course.  Toys and edgings and bags…  Then, in … Continue reading →

Posted in Design, freeform crocheting, freeform knitting | 1 Comment

Avocado skin dye thickened for painting

Posted on January 27, 2014 by Margaret Ford

In my quest for a non-toxic way of making more marks on my avocado pip dyed silk, I made a dye bath from the many neatly sliced avocado skins given to me by my fellow MELD member Liz.  They’d also … Continue reading →

Posted in Design, Natural dyeing | 5 Comments

Avocado pips and silk

Posted on January 26, 2014 by Margaret Ford

I just felt like dyeing some fabric!  I found a largish quantity of frozen avocado pips in my freeze, boiled them up in water and then blitzed them in a food processor until a paste formed.   Frozen avocado pips … Continue reading →

Posted in Natural dyeing | 2 Comments

Happy New Year!!

Posted on January 4, 2014 by Margaret Ford

I’ve been so slack with maintaining this blog that I’ve probably forgotten how to create a new post!  I’m busy working on pieces for the exhibition to be held by MELD later this year but wanted to show you one … Continue reading →

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