Lisa Barth Chapel at Children’s Mercy Hospital Commission Completed!!!

It is finally done. More than two years working on the commission and in an hour I am off to the Lisa Barth Chapel at Children’s Mercy Hospital Donor Reception. Unfortunately, the images of the final piece aren't the greatest due to the reflection. It was decided to frame my piece to protect it. 

Just click on the link for the process images and descriptions of my "Mercy" project.

Slideshow

Unweaving, Chocolate Cake and New Yarn Wearables

Yesterday I was busy working on deconstructing this new weaving for a show I am having next Friday  in the Crossroads at Bridgeport Gallery, 18th and Oak. More info tomorrow.

Making a few new yarn necklaces....this is one of them.

And making a chocolate cake (with coffee, yum. yum.) for my Grandma Louise's 99th Birthday dinner.

Ha! Ha!! Okay, I failed at presentation but my partakers loved it. This chocolate cake recipe was given to me at one of my wedding showers twelve years ago. It is my absolute favorite cake to make. Here is the recipe.

Moist Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

2 cups all purpose flour

1tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. baking soda

3/4 cup cocoa

2 cups sugar

1 cup oil

1 cup hot coffee or hot water

1 cup milk

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

Sift dry ingredients. Add oil coffee and milk. Mix for 2 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla. Beat for 2 minutes. Butter and flour pans. 

Bake @ 325 for 25-30 in 9"x13"or 15-20 in round pans

Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting

Ingredients

3 oz unsweetened baking chocolate

1/3 cup butter

3 cups powdered sugar

2 tsp vanilla

Melt butter and chocolate. Cool down before adding powdered sugar. Stir in sour cream and vanilla. Beat until spreadable. Sometimes I add a very small amount to whipping cream.

Please let me know if you make and what you think.

So many ideas.....so little time

I three necklace custom orders from the Kansas City Art Institute this month which started the floodgates of ideas......so many ideas so little time. Here are a few I got done last week. 

Green to Blue to Purple Crocheted Yarn Necklace

Green and Blue Crocheted Yarn Necklace

and

Shades of Blue Crocheted Yarn Necklace

                Shades of Gold with Gray Crocheted Yarn Necklace

                  Five Green to Peach Crocheted Yarn Necklace

Saturday Vigil and Easter Sunday

Reflections from
Jessi Marcus 
Koinoia Pastor at JW

The Saturday Night Vigil at Jacob’s Well this year was one of those experiences that is hard to capture in words. We purposefully sat in the disillusionment of the Saturday that falls between Good Friday and Easter morning. Can you imagine what the disciples of Jesus may have been feeling that day? Maybe you know what that feels like to lose someone that you love. One of my first instincts when my grandfather died this year was to sit down and remember as many moments and stories from his life that I possibly could.

That was our instinct for the Vigil as well this year. We traced back through Jesus’ life, reading through the entire book of Mark. Every hour on the hour, we would crowd into the prayer chapel where some gifted actors and readers in our church guided us through readings of Mark’s gospel, which was powerful enough on its own. But what made the evening beyond my ability to explain in words was Debbie’s weaving. She set up her loom in the prayer chapel, so that as the readers were reading, Debbie was weaving the final shawl of the Lenten season to drape over the cross.

The rhythmic sound of the ‘clunk-clunk’ as Debbie worked on her loom made me feel as though the reading of Jesus’ life was being woven into my heart. This was a sacramental act, weaving the story of Jesus’ life into this shawl, symbolizing the redemption through his life, death, and resurrection.

As the readers finished their portion of the gospel each hour, we would all sit silently as Debbie removed a shawl from the heavy-laden cross, removing some of its weight and darkness as we progressed through the night.

At midnight, we read of Jesus’ death and burial. Debbie cranked the final piece on the loom with a disorienting creaking and stretching sound, as the story further found its way into our hearts. And as the reader ended, we sat in silence as Debbie took scissors and cut the bright white shawl off of the loom, removed the final shawl of darkness, and placed the Easter piece, all bright and hopeful and promising newness, over the cross, the pieces of darkness gathered like water under the cross.

And perhaps I’ve never felt the power and significance of these words as much as I did that night: He is risen, He is risen indeed. The story had been woven into being. Hallelujah, amen.

Click here for a slide show

Preparations for Saturday Vigil

Here are some images of the preparation that went on the week of Easter. Cora had spring break. So both girls went up to Iowa for 5 days. I got so much done during that time. 

I decided last minute that I wanted to create a yarn background. Here is the start of the warp for the dark background.

Then woven on the loom. I wove three inches at the top and three at the bottom that would be hemmed for a metal rod to go through and be hung from. 

Here's the warp for the medium background.

Each old thread is tied to a new thread.

Tea time

Medium woven

Light warp

Snack time

This was taken the Tuesday of Holy Week. I just started setting up my loom with my last white shawl and put up the first two dark yarn background panels.

Working hours on this shawl warp I had to restart on Good Friday with a new all white 100% tencel warp. The original shawl was a mixture of cotton, linen, wool, silk and cotton. The different threads got so twisted up that it was extremely hard to work with. I made a decision to restart. 

I needed to watch some Arrested Development to help with my exhaustion and frustration with my project. 

If you look closely, you can see tiny lint balls. These are SOOOOOOO annoying. Every 8-10 inches of warp you have to brush threw to help align and separate each thread. What slows you down are these darn lint balls multiple threads are connected to. My hands and fingers get sore from all this and my brush actually causes me to bleed sometime. There are a few areas with spots of blood on this white  shawl. 

I just calculated that I worked with a total of 4,650 individual threads on my little and big loom. Which in total was 1,508,760 yards of yarn.......OH MY GOSH!!!! (and that doesn't count the yarn that I wove with called the weft yarn.)

Thirty minutes before the service and I got everything ready just in time.