Tag Archives: sea island indigo

BBQ on Saturday night — end of Sea Island Indigo workshop

IMG_0950Southern cooking at its finest! We had: Ossabaw pork (roasted and smoked for 24 hours and basted with a mustard/vinegar sauce and donated by Holy City Hogs), hash, chicken bog, okra stewed with tomatoes, cukes with dill and red onion, succotash that featured raw (delicate!) corn and butter beans, cornbread, and Carolina Gold rice, donated by Anson Mills.

Rebellion Farm host and pig roaster - Jeff Allen Rebellion Farm host and pig roaster – Jeff Allen
Hash - Phase One Hash – Phase One
Hash in its final form Hash in its final form

Hash, apparently, can be made of various parts. For this one, our host used pig’s head and feet. It tasted remarkably like pate. ‘Chicken bog’ is a porridge of stewed chicken and rice. On the Anson Mills site, they call it ‘the most famous unknown dish of the South’ and include a recipe.

IMG_0851 our dinner’s father, top left

Ossabaw hogs are a breed of pig derived from feral pigs found on Ossabaw Island, Georgia. Unique in many ways, these hogs are “the closest genetic representative of historic stocks brought over by the Spanish”. Read more about them here.
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IMG_0931Sides were prepared by Gullah Chef BJ Dennis. I didn’t get a great picture of him, but there’s one on this post about the evening (and, by the way, you’ll also find lots of other great pictures). For a wonderful portrait of Mr. Dennis that also talks about Gullah food generally, go here.

IMG_5438 Kathy Hattori and Laura Kissel

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For the dinner, we were joined by foodies, botany experts, fashion designers and entrepreneurs and a filmmaker.  It was an interesting and vivacious group.

Donna Hardy holding up jar of sorghum Donna Hardy holding up jar of sorghum

IMG_5443IMG_0960IMG_0955 The pole barn was transformed with white and indigo-dyed linens. Bouquets of local flowers and indigo leaves (of course) dotted the tables. A glorious sunset lit up the horizon.
IMG_0959After dinner we were treated to a showing of Laura Kissel’s documentary about clothing manufacturing called, “Cotton Road“.  The movie starts with cotton in a field in South Carolina, follows the fiber to China, and then back again, as clothing being shipped into Charleston Harbor. It was poignant and disturbing.
IMG_5447From the website:

Cotton Road uncovers the transnational movement of cotton and tells the stories of worker’s lives in a conventional cotton supply chain. From rural farms in South Carolina to factory cities in China, we span the globe to encounter the industrial processes behind our rapacious consumption of cheap clothing and textile products. Are we connected to one another through the things we consume? Cotton Road explores a contemporary landscape of globalized labor through human stories and provides an opportunity to reflect on the ways our consumption impacts others and drives a global economy.

All in all, the Sea Island Indigo workshop was an educational, stimulating, fun, and worthwhile experience!

*  *  *

Sea Island Indigo Workshop took place September 18-21, 2014 in Charleston, SC.  A field of indigo was grown for us by Donna Hardy, of Sea Island Indigo, on Rebellion Farm, in Ravenel, SC.  Fiber artist Kathy Hattori, of Botanical Workshops, flew in from Seattle to co-lead.

 

 

Dyed Together — Sea Island Indigo, Day II

IMG_0826The thing I really loved about the second full day of the Sea Island Indigo Workshop* was how dyeing united us. Sounds philosophical, and maybe it is, but I simply mean this: the love of blue made us kin.

Leigh and Sarah Leigh and Sarah — coated, flexible copper was to keep yarn skeins from tangling

On Thursday– we were parents or not, retired or not, local or not, from the North or the South, staying in the city or elsewhere, but by Saturday — IT WAS ALL ABOUT INDIGO. What are you dipping? How did you do that? Let me see! Batman?!  Honestly, that’s pure genius! Ooooh!

Meghan's son lucked out -- look at that Batman!! Meghan’s son lucked out — look at that Batman!!
IMG_0821 Sarah successfully dyed wooden buttons

If on Friday, we were felters, weavers, quiltmakers, spinners, storytellers, or fashion designers, by Saturday — we were all JUST INTO INDIGO. The enthusiastic focus that three large vats created was wonderful. It was binding. And the results were nothing short of spectacular.
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doilies, grosgrain ribbon, commercial cotton: mine doilies, grosgrain ribbon, commercial cotton: mine

IMG_0815 IMG_0816 IMG_0842 IMG_0860It was hard to take pictures. What?!! Pause and lose out on another dunk? How could you? Gloves on/off, hands dried — when you could be twisting a cloth, eagerly dreaming of ghostly stripes or submerging that thrift store shirt?!  And, it was one thing to get faces, sleeves, and shoes blue, but cameras and phones?  Not so good.
IMG_0898 IMG_0900  IMG_0907There were beautiful kimono scraps, woven shawls, and skeins of wool for sale, and even though I ran out of material at some point, I resisted. Do I get extra points for that?
IMG_0809Speaking of getting blue on everything, take a look at Heather, above, and Julie, below.
IMG_0767Margo dyed her hair.Margo (with blue) and BarbaraAnd, I was told I looked like I’d been ‘kissed by a Smurf’! PICTURE TO COME. Kathy Hattori sent me 1/2 dozen yesterday and you all should see at least one, but I want to post this today and though I could easily download pix to ‘dropbox’ I haven’t figure out how to get one to show up here.  You will have to wait!

IMG_0887 Batman creator, Meghan
IMG_0892 I almost fell in a vat when Sage told me she was an Applied Physics major at Stanford – I guess SOME differences still popped!
IMG_0896 Kathy & Ximena conversed in Spanish all w’end. Ximena grows mangoes in Columbia.
IMG_5426 my fave, as you know. it faded A LOT at home (boo!).  Donna Hardy on left.
IMG_5421 Using strips of muslin, linen, and vintage table cloth for ties means you have those at the end, too
IMG_0782 how did she stay so tidy?!!

IMG_0839 IMG_0848 IMG_0871 IMG_5417 IMG_5427We learned Michele Garcia’s 1-2-3 method on Saturday as well — which Glennis Dolce had gone over back in 2012 during her online Indigo Dyeing class, but I didn’t get around to it then.  Maybe soon?
IMG_0753 IMG_0755I didn’t envy Kathy trying to get our attention on Saturday!
IMG_0752The food was so unbelievable that night that it deserves its own post.  Suffice it to say, that the aromas of roasting pig and Carolina Hash were mouth watering by mid-day Saturday!

hash in progress hash in progress

  *  *  *

Sea Island Indigo Workshop took place September 18-21, 2014 in Charleston, SC.  A field of indigo was grown for us by Donna Hardy, on Rebellion Farm, in Ravenel, SC.  Fiber artist Kathy Hattori, of Botanical Workshops, flew in from Seattle to co-lead the two days of hands-on indigo dyeing. 

what is enough?

IMG_5336Sea Island Indigo’s workshop is allowing us THREE bags of fabric for the dye pot.  By that, I assume they mean the standard grocery bags.

Well, I am flying.  I am NOT going to check two bags.  So this morning I am balancing my squirrel-like packing skills (of which I am rather proud) with the greed to bring more (and more) fabric.  To my surprise, it was a great relief to put half of the cloth away… to name the feeling, ‘greed’, and put that away, too.  Setting aside greed allowed love to come in.

You see, I had collected a bunch of needle-resistant cloth for the rag quilting workshop.  Made sense…. it looks like sewing will be limited with this method.  But an awful lot of the tough fabrics I own are a tad gross in feel.  I find myself protesting, “NO!  NO! I’m only bringing fabric I love”.

Selecting fabrics you love is not at all the same, of course, as fending off greed.  Instead, it is governed by pleasure, aesthetic discernment, cultivated tastes, sensory delight… by all those irrational preferences for some colors over others, and in my case, by a slight mania for a good jumble of patterns.  When you’ve gathered a pile of fabric you love, sometimes looking at the stack is enough!

Raise your hand if you know what I’m talking about.

I will save my greedy impulses for food.  There’s gonna be some AMAZING food on this trip!

 

 

Time for details

faceNow it’s time for the nitty-gritty.

But first — more kickstarter gratitude. I continue to be bowled over by the immediate and overwhelming response of my readers and friends. Twenty-two of you have given me $850!!!

I almost wish there was a way to receive funds without seeing how much each donor is giving (it wouldn’t work) because EVERY gift meant the world to me — and, in fact, sometimes a ‘small’ gift from someone feels HUGE because I have a sense of financial struggle out there.  So, again — thanks!

Just booked a room in West Ashley. It’ll be my first airbnb experience.  I’m a little hesitant about staying in a room in someone’s house, particularly because I’m not that chatty a person (ha!)… and because who knows about people, right?

I picked a convenient, very reasonably priced place with almost 50 positive reviews.  But seriously?  It was the picture of this guy’s dog and his backyard that clinched it!  A sweet old hound and beautifully tended perennial beds — surely these indicators of character?

The folks at Sea Island Indigo are being super accommodating in terms of helping to coordinate rides out to Rebellion Farm, where two days of the event are being held. Given how many OTHER details they are managing right now, I especially appreciate this.  It looks like I will be able to get by with a couple of cab and bus rides and no car rental at all.

Oh, and did I tell you they will be feeding us like queens?!

Eagerly awaiting the supply list.
laundry-line

Soul Collage card, 2012 - "Dreamer"

Soul Collage card, 2012 – “Dreamer”

Going back to 2012 dye pictures, I found this Soul Collage card. Funny, that a card titled ‘Dreamer’ features blue hands, huh?

Oh, and I just noticed that the sleeper in the background may be covered by a pieced denim coverlet — that’s one of the great things about Soul Collage — the discovering of things later.

Off to the pages.  But not for long.  It is also a Farm Share pick up day. Possibly a post office day (chocolate to Boulder). Have to pick up a script. And, there’s a quick, near doctor appt. Not much time for writing today, in other words.  But thank goodness it is cooler.  Yesterday was a beast of a day.