my contribution to the milkweed project

First off if you haven't heard of this amazing project you should first read about it

  here. It was actually a few of my wonderful readers who first brought it to my attention many months ago. As soon as I read about Shan's vision I just had to join the hundreds of fiber artists from all over the world to create this magical installation.

I started this project months ago, spinning some soft natural merino wool to use and gathering together the other soft natural fibers and materials that I wanted to incorporate in this piece. They included alpaca, cashmere, silk, natural dyed wool felt and embroidery thread. Some times I have a complete picture before I start but this one just started with the idea of pods connected together and evolved step by step from that starting point. I wanted to share with you the steps and then show you some detailed pictures of the final piece. I hope you don't mind.

The first step after spinning the wool was to crochet it into pod like shapes connected by crocheted chains.

Then I threw this in a hot washing machine to felt it. My stones 

were the perfect drying platform for

maintaining the required pod shapes.

Next my attention was turned to what would later fill

 the pods, 

the milkweed seeds. I made tassels out of fibers 

and all of them

were so soft and luxurious. This is exactly what

 I imagine being inside 

a milkweed would feel like.

What I was working on this past weekend was hand sewing the natural dyed felt seeds onto the tassels. 

This took a long time but at least I got to enjoy

the amazing weather in the garden

and on the porch.

I literally fell in love with the milkweed seeds

 especially the silk cashmere ones. 

They became like my small children 

and I was mother nature putting them 

carefully to sleep safely in their pods.

 My eldest daughter helped me with this 

stage.

I love the flow and I really hope you can follow it.

 It is over 10 feet long 

and wasn't the easiest thing to photograph.

The milkweed pod is tightly packed with seeds

 and then slowly the pod ripens and opens

 revealing its magical, soft, silky contents.

 The seeds ripen and the silken fibers thicken 

and soften even more until

 they are eventually very soft, fluffy and ready

 to spread their little wings to fly away ,

 outside to explore the world

 and have their own adventures.

 It was only today driving home from work

 and thinking about this piece 

that I realized how very similar this is

 to my post earlier this week about parenting 

and back to school.

Comments

[Rane]

This project is beautiful...
have you ever noticed that the very best, I mean the art that moves your very being...you inner
soul is always a tribute to
nature itself. These milkweed pods
are amazing and so are their tender cargo. You have captured this seed pod perfectly.
This plant has a secret place in my heart...thank you for sharing it with all of us.
Rane

(*Ü*)
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

[Nanou]

I'm without words. Margie, you are a beauty "maker/worker" ! You probably have a relationship with Mother Nature ...

[Denise @ A Bun Can Dance]

Hi Margie
This is a beautiful art piece with such wonderful rhythm in it. I totally agree with Rane, the first comment, that the most moving Art focuses on Nature.
I don't think we have milkweed plants here (?) in UK so I looked them up on google images and the pods - aren't they amazing?
Congratulations, you've created such a beautiful tribute to this plant.

[Sonia]

Thank you Margie, for introducing me to this precious plant & its seeds, I didn't know about it. (including the fact that it's the sole food source of Monarch Butterfly larva)
This project is one of a kind & you must be proud to be part of it. Your contribution will be such an important part of it.
xoxoxo

[erin]

That is so unique and turned out amazing!

[Dawn]

You Are AMAZING.

[Laura A.]

Beautiful! Truly inspiring from idea to execution.

[Patricia]

What beautiful shapes, those pods, and they are filled with such perfect little baby seeds. I love everything about your creation!

[Sam]

That is so beautiful, Margie. An inspiring contribution to the project.

[MrPuffy]

You are so creative. I appreciate that you share your thought process and steps along the way. Love the pods and the felt tag too.

[Shan]

It was wonderful to read about your piece in this beautiful post. I really enjoyed the description of your process.

Thank you for sharing the project with your readers.

[melissa]

this is an amazing piece of art. i love that you went to so much trouble and thought so deeply about what you made. the end result is just beautiful.

[joanie]

Margie I just love these. The way you've first crocheted the pods then made them even more cozy by felting them and shaping them. The sweet seeds too, and oh so long. What a wonder you are!

[Roseanna]

Lovely,so creative. Last year at a guild meeting I purchased a bag of milkweed fiber from a member. I spun it up with wool fiber (it was everywhere!). I incorporated the resulting yarn into some weaving projects, just loved it.
www.tinyurl.com/nmmdcr

[k]

such an amazing piece, i'm in awe, Margie.