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African Threads

Valerie Hearder's African Threads

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Category Archives: Fabric

Eco dyes with Penny and Diane

African Threads Posted on September 30, 2018 by Val HearderSeptember 30, 2018

Visiting Annapolis Royal is always a treat, especially to visit Penny and Diane. I’d asked if I could come to one of their regular dye days to learn more about my new fascination with the alchemy of the dye pot. … Continue reading →

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Posted in ecodyes, Fabric, natural dyes, Uncategorised | Tagged blakc walnut, Dorr wool, dye, eco, leaves, linen, mordant, polypore, rust, sumac, thai silk | 1 Reply

Repair

African Threads Posted on March 23, 2018 by Val HearderMarch 23, 2018

The indigo cotton is soft, like faded blue jeans with the same comfortable worn-in feeling. I’m patching this baby quilt I made for Leitha when I was 28. The quilt is now used by Scarlett and is showing it’s wear. … Continue reading →

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Posted in contemplative stitching, indigo, My history, Quilts, shwe-shwe, Stitching, Uncategorised | Tagged baby quilt, blue, grand-daughter., homeland, indigo, memories, mending, patch, repari, work-in | 7 Replies

Healing cloth.

African Threads Posted on January 22, 2018 by Val HearderJanuary 25, 2018
wool cloth dyed with tumeric spice

I recently made my first natural dyed fabric. I used fresh ground turmeric roots and Dorr Wool. Links below. This colour enlivens me in the dark of winter. What to do with this rich cloth? It will be stitched upon, … Continue reading →

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Posted in Fabric, Musings, natural dyes | Tagged Cloth, Dorr, dyepot, healing, natural dyes, saffron, turmeric, wool | 11 Replies

New York!

African Threads Posted on November 6, 2016 by Val HearderNovember 6, 2016
New York's Garment district, Mood Fabrics.

This past week we spent 4 days in New York. We wanted to do something memorable for our 40th anniversary and New York was perfect. As our Uber driver said, as he forked over $15 for the Holland Tunnel to … Continue reading →

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Posted in art, Fabric, Fabric shopping, Travel | 5 Replies

Indigo stitching

African Threads Posted on October 28, 2016 by Val HearderOctober 28, 2016

I’ve been digging into my old treasure trove of indigo cotton prints from South Africa. Many of the prints were bought in the late 60’s and early 1970’s when I still lived in South Africa. The local blue print cotton, … Continue reading →

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Posted in Fabric, Fabric shopping, indigo, My history, shwe-shwe, Stitching, Uncategorised | Tagged cotton, fabric shopping, indigo, prints, shwe-shwe, South Africa | 7 Replies

Scissors

African Threads Posted on March 19, 2016 by Val HearderJuly 8, 2016
Shangaan woman with carving

  We met this delight woman in Limpopo Province when we toured there last year. Her husband is a famous carver and she is is second wife. My friend Janine Hunt from Bainbridge Island was in our group and both … Continue reading →

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Posted in Fabric, Fabric shopping, Grandmothers of Africa, South African Tour, Travel | Leave a Reply

Textured Tuesdays

African Threads Posted on March 16, 2016 by Val HearderJuly 8, 2016

This stack of folded kuba raffia cloth exudes texture, colour and energy. Abstract designs are appliquéd on to a background fabic. The colours suggest the essence of Africa. I spotted these fabrics when we visited Kim Sacks Gallery in Johannesburg on our last tour to South Africa.

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Posted in AfricanThreads, Fabric, Fabric shopping, South African Tour, Textured Tuesdays, Travel | Tagged African, appliqué, Cloth, fabrics, kuba, raffia, Textured Tuesdays | Leave a Reply

Textured Tuesday

African Threads Posted on February 23, 2016 by Val HearderJuly 8, 2016

I photographed this detail from a piece of handwoven raffia cloth in a shop in South Africa. Decorated with beads and cowrie shells. Some of the squares are dyed with indigo. It has a kind of pom-pom edging.

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Posted in AfricanThreads, Fabric, Inspiration, Musings, Nature, Textured Tuesdays | Tagged cowrie shells, hand woven, indigo, pom-pom edging, raffia | Leave a Reply

Tuesday Textures

African Threads Posted on February 9, 2016 by Val HearderJune 14, 2016

Dorr wool scraps for baby Scarlett's blanket. A contrast for this white snowy day.

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Posted in Fabric, Tuesday Textures | Leave a Reply

Stitched into this place.

African Threads Posted on November 17, 2015 by Val HearderJune 27, 2016

Today, when some in our world seem hungry to divide people violently along racial and religious lines, I find myself thinking about growing up in Apartheid South Africa. In Durban in the late 60’s, I was not supposed to go alone to the Indian Market, in the heart of the city. Here I found community and my world grew bigger.

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Posted in AfricanThreads, Community, Fabric, Fabric shopping, Musings, My history, Social Commentary, South African Tour, Travel | Tagged African medicine, Apartheid, bunny chow, culture, curry, Durban, fabric shopping, Hindu, Indian Market, Madrassa Arcade, Muslim, South Africa, tour, Victoria Market | 3 Replies

Slow Quilting

African Threads Posted on November 8, 2015 by Val HearderJuly 7, 2016

We gaze at the patchwork, the fine cotton, the tiny quilting stitches. Like sentences in a diary, each patch is a record of a childhood dress, a housecoat and scraps from dressmaking projects from an ear when women made all the families clothing.We sense the comforting continuum of the generations of women who stitch. And so it continues with Cooper’s quilt. We’re doing what women have always done…slow stitching.

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Posted in Community, Embroidery/Stichery, Fabric, Quilts, Slow stitches | Tagged bee, cotton scraps, generations, patchwork, quilting, slow stitching | 5 Replies

More fabric shopping in South Africa! Part 2

African Threads Posted on June 11, 2015 by Val HearderJuly 8, 2016

I’ll write more about the various adventures we had in South Africa including more in depth information about shwe-shwe fabric pictured above, which is the iconic fabric of South Africa. I want to tell you about the herd of elephants that surrounded our safari trucks, the leopard we saw and the Zulu baskets and beadwork!

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Posted in AfricanThreads, Fabric, Fabric shopping, Grandmothers of Africa, South African Tour, Travel | Tagged African trading store, elephants, fabric shopping, iconic fabric of South Africa, Limpopo, printed blouses, safari trucks, shwe-shwe, South Africa, Venda | 8 Replies

Fabric Shopping in South Africa.

African Threads Posted on June 10, 2015 by Val HearderJuly 8, 2016

When we visited Limpopo Province this past April, our tour group was thrilled to stop at an African trading store. Three generations of an Indian family had owned the store supplying fabric to the various groups in the area: the Shangaan, Tsonga and Venda.

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Posted in AfricanThreads, Fabric, South African Tour, Travel | Tagged African trading store, elephants, fabric buying, leopard, Limpopo, safari truck, Shangaan, shwe-shwe fabric, South Africa, tour, Tsonga, Venda | 2 Replies

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