COLOUR THEORY DEMONSTRATION

This Monday, Rhonda will be giving a demonstration on how to use liquid food colouring to create a 12-hue colour wheel using only the primary colours.  Anyone interested in having a better understanding of how to create various colours or wishing to come up with their own dye formulas will find this demonstration useful.  If you plan to participate, please bring a pen and paper for taking notes and a colour wheel if you have one.

DARK FRUITCAKE

A few weeks ago, Claire brought some dark fruitcake to our Monday gathering.  She received a lot of requests for the recipe so here it is.  Anyone who was interested in making this cake, can print a copy.  It comes from the Better Homes & Garden All-Time Favorite Cake & Cookie Recipes cookbook.  The ingredients and quantities in brackets are the directions that she followed for the cakes that she made.

 

Here is the recipe:

 

DARK FRUITCAKE

 

3/4 cup butter or margarine (butter)

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. each ground nutmeg, allspice, and cloves

1 tsp. salt

16 oz. diced mixed candied fruits and peels (2 1/2 cups)

1 15-oz pkg. raisins (3 cups)

1 8-oz pkg. chopped dates (1 1/3 cup)

8 oz. whole red or green candied cherries (1 1/3 cup)

1 cup slivered almonds (walnuts)

1 cup pecan halves

1/2 cup chopped candied pineapple

4 eggs

1 3/4 cups packed brown sugar

1 cup orange juice (1/2 cup each orange juice and brandy)

1/4 cup light molasses (honey)

 

Grease three 8X4X2-inch loaf pans.  Line bottom and sides of pans with brown paper  (parchment) to prevent overbrowning; grease paper.  In saucepan, melt butter or margarine; cool.  Stir together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, and salt.  Add mixed fruits and peels, raisins, dates, cherries, nuts and pineapple; mix till well coated.  Beat eggs till foamy.  Add brown sugar, orange juice, molasses, and butter or margarine; beat till blended.  Stir into fruit mixture.

 

Turn batter into prepared pans, filling each about 3/4 full.  Bake in a 300 degree F oven about 2 hours or till cakes test done.  Cover all pans loosely with foil after 1 hour of baking to prevent overbrowning.  Place cakes on wire racks; cool thoroughly.  Remove from plans.  Wrap in wine-, (brandy)- or fruit juice-moistened cheesecloth.  Overwrap with foil.  Store in refrigerator for 3 to 4 weeks before serving.  Remoisten the cheesecloth once a week.

 

Enjoy!

 

Thanks for sharing this Claire.  Much appreciated.

PERTH RUG HOOKING WORKSHOP - CANCELLED

Jane C. advises that the Perth Rug Hooking Workshop has been cancelled due to a lack of response.  For next year, she and Carol plan to get the info out sooner and to have two separate subjects rather than two wide cut classes. This sounds exciting.  Let's encourage such an initiative in our area.

PEN'S DIRECTIONS FOR MARBLING WOOL

Pen, who is now our Women Matters' icon of marbling, has provided us with the following directions.

"Take three 1/4 yd pieces of dry wool, one dark, one light and one medium in value in a variety of colours. ( you can use smaller pieces if you choose, but you must be able to roll them in with your larger pieces).

Layer the pieces so that the light is in the centre and the medium and dark are on the outside. (the wool should not have  been previously dyed ).

Roll the pieces lengthwise so that you have a long tight sausage shape. Then twist the sausage as tightly as you can and tie it in a knot if you can.

Then take the whole thing and put in a pot large enough to hold the wool and some water. Pour some water over the sausage until it is about 1/3rd of the way up the wool. Add a tablespoon of laundry detergent (usually Tide without bleach) and bring the heat under the pan to a gentle boil/simmer.

Gently simmer the whole mess, keeping an eye on it so that it doesn't run dry. You will notice that the water begins to look muddy, coloured with the dye running out of the wool. You can gently turn it over every once in a while. This will take about a half hour.

 When you see that the water is quite murky, throw in a couple of glugs of vinegar and watch to see the water gradually clear, about a half hour. Again keep an eye on it so that it doesn't run dry. When the dye appears to have been reabsorbed, let it all sit on the heat or about another 15 minutes, then let it cool, rinse the vinegar out in the sink and have a look. It aught to be marvellously marbleized!,

Good luck, have fun and let me know how it turns out"

OTTAWA AREA 1 HOOK-IN

WHEN:  Saturday APRIL 5 TH, 2014, 9:30 am to 3:00 pm

WHERE: Maki House 19 Leeming Drive, Ottawa, Ontario

Please bring one rug, either finished or in progress, for Show and Tell.  Remember to bring your lunch and a coffee mug. Plan on enjoying coffee and tea along with the goodies provided by the members of Olde Forge.

Our vendors:

                        Christine Gibson

                        Loretta Moore

                        Elaine Tigges

                        Cathy Ivory

will have a variety of beautiful wool, yarn and other hooking supplies available to purchase.

We are asking that you pre-register by contacting Lucie Deschamps at  luciedeschamps@rogers.com . We will tick your name at the registration table upon your arrival. This will allow us to have a clear idea of the number of attendees.

Unfortunately, because of space limitation and fire regulations we can only extend our invitation to members of OHCG Area One Branches  (Sorry no non-members or guests at this event.)

JOAN MOSHIMER'S DIRECTIONS FOR ONION SKIN DYEING

 Joan Moshimer, an American icon of rug hooking, once provided the following directions for onion skin dyeing.

"Gather together an assortment of colored flannels, new or used, in all sorts of odd sized pieces.  The colors can be red, rose, orange, tan, greens, blues, grays, lavenders and some small checks and tweeds if you have them.  Darker colors will result if you start with a lot of dark colored wools.  Generally, for the best results, use medium and light colored wools.  Soak wool for a few minutes in warm water with a little detergent in it, then arrange the wool in layers in a medium size enamel pan, putting between each layer a handful of the onion skins and about one tablespoon of uniodized salt.  Let these layers build up to within a few inches of the top of pan then cover with boiling water.  Let it all simmer for about 30 minutes, then rinse well and dry.  The colors that emerge will be like no others you have evern seen, soft and subtly blended with a golden glow from the onion skins.  The more onion skins you use, the more pronounced will be the 'glow'."

PROGRAM SUGGESTIONS FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

Regrettably, this year’s winter weather has kept me from attending WM gatherings. As a result, I have not had the opportunity to book a program for the first Monday in February.  As you may know, January’s program was on the second Monday of the month rather than the first so let’s have our February program on the second Monday as well.  This extra week will give us some time to decide what we want to do.  As I understand the current schedule, our sister branch in Algonquin will not be meeting that day and so they too will be able to attend the program, if they so desire.

While I was huddled up at home this past month, my pent up creative juices were flowing.  I had some time to think about what we might do as part of our programming for this year.  I would like to propose the following two programs that I have designed based upon comments that were made and interest that was expressed at WM gatherings last year.

Colour Theory

The first program is a colour theory demonstration.  We will look at primary colours and how to use them to create a 12-step colour wheel. Then we will put this knowledge to work using food colouring to create a 12-hue colour wheel. You will learn about different sets of primaries and which ones to use to create an unlimited number of colours. 

Please note that this is a colour theory dyeing demonstration and not a dyeing demo.  It will give you basic information that can lead to a better understanding of how to create the colours you want when dyeing your wool.  You will also gain a better understanding of colour that will be beneficial when planning your rugs. 

The first part of this workshop is being offered to regular Women Matters members, free of charge. The second part is more advanced and so for those of you who, after taking the first part, are interested in pursuing the second session, can do so by signing up for the class which will be held in my home studio.

 A Potpourri of Patterns (POP) -- Zen Tangles, Fair Isle and Fabric

The second workshop, Potpourri of Patterns, is inspired by Zen Tangle artwork, Fair Isle patterns and fabric designs.  Above is a sample Zen Tangle design that I have hooked which will give you an idea of what Zen Tangles looks like.  You can search the web for more Zen Tangle artwork.

To begin this workshop, I am suggesting that each participant create an original rug design that contains various segments or elements.  One session will be devoted to designing your pattern.  In each of the subsequent sessions, I will introduce you to two or more patterns that you can use to hook the sections or elements of your design.  

This workshop series is also being offered free of charge to regular Women Matter members.

If you are interested in participating in one or both of these workshops, please let me know by commenting on this post or by sending me an email.  As soon as I know that there is enough interest, we can flush out the details, set a date (possibly

Monday, February 10^th) and we can get started.  

Rhonda