What I did with snow dyed fabric!

You may recall that earlier this year we were blessed with snow, the first time for some years and as a committed dyer, I did some snow dyeing.

At long last I've used the fabric I produced to make some mats and a tablecloth for our caravan.  The designs were simple so I could get them done quickly and out of the fabric from this year's dyeing I made mats for the table and coffee table.

These two used all the fabric I had so delving in to my stash I found some more fabric that I did some years ago using either snow or ice - I can't remember which!

The colours are much deeper than this year's batch so I don't know what I did that was different. 

For the tablecloth, I used a wooden block to print a leaf design using discharge paste.  I had intended to do this with the first two mats but I forgot to do it!

It was a great exercise as it showed me how different coloured dyes react - some of the squares only had a very feint print whereas others were very clear.   I haven't done much work with discharge paste but I was so pleased with this work that I'll definitely do more again soon.

Journal Quilt for June

Moving on from yellow, this month's JQ is yellow and green.

I started with a random pieced panel in the centre which was created using fused fabric which I bonded to a backing fabric and then cut to shape.  This was then bordered as a log cabin first with yellow which I then cut at angles before completing with a green border.

I was a bit worried about the raw edges on the centre panel so decided to machine quilt narrow lines and hope it was enough.

You may recall that one of the criteria for my quilts this year was to include some fabric that I have gelli printed.  Well, I got so carried away with creating the quilt that it was only when I had finished that I realised I hadn't used any printed fabric!   The border came to the rescue and I printed some fabric with fabric paint using my own foam shape blocks on the gelli plate.

Journal Quilt for May

I've now reached Yellow on my journey around the colour wheel so I decided as it was one colour I would do a 'whole cloth' quilt and print it after quilting.

I started with a piece of yellow fabric which I had in my dyed stash and quilted it as a traditional log cabin.   Once complete, I gelli printed it using a wooden block in a leaf design.  I use two shades of yellow fabric paint but as the quilt still looked a bit plain, I also added some prints using the same block.

For the binding, I used some more of the yellow fabric which had been printed in the same was as the quilt.

Sew4thesoul update

I've now completed my third stitch sampler in the Sew4thesoul series and together with the first two, the samplers are now mounted and framed.

I gel printed a backingr using blue, white and grey acrylic paint to compliment the colours of the embroideries.  For the actual samplers, I wrapped them around mountboard so they sit slightly raised on the background and I think they look good in the deep white box frames.

Granitos, feather, wheatear and running stitches

GelPrinting Challenge

During March I took part in a gel printing challenge organised on Instagram by Birgit Koopsen.

It was quite time consuming (in a nice way!) so I tended to do three or four days at a time just in case I wasn't able to do a day.   We were also away for part of the month at our caravan so I took loads of stuff with me but of course as all you crafters will know, despite taking loads of stuff, there is always one or two things, or even more, that you should have included!

I enjoyed the whole process and learnt so much on the way thanks to Birgit who not only posted each day with us but also included videos many days which gave me loads of new ideas and techniques.

I did three or four prints for each day so now have well over a hundred A5 sized prints.  I decided to get a scrapbook to keep many of the prints to inspire me in the future so as soon as I get started, I will share it.

I also decided to print a fabric piece each day and make postcards.  I've done the first few days and have nearly finished stitching the rest - some on the machine and some by hand - so I will have to have a day of finishing off.   I might well send them to people I hope will appreciate them.

Just to give you an idea of what I did here's a compilation of the 15 'best' ones.   I'll get together some compilations of each day and post them in a few days.

You can also see the whole collection on my Instagram account @lccreatingchaos.

February JQ

For my February Journal Quilt I continued my journey around the colour wheel, moving from red to red and orange.  It's not strictly on the wheel but a combination of two colours suits my plan for this year rather than the accepted red-orange.

I started with a piece of the same red fabric I used in January, placing it on the corner slightly to one side and used different width strips in a combination of plain orange and red fabric as well as some orange fabric I printed with red fabric paint using bubble wrap on a gelli plate.  I also put in some extra folded strips of red for accent.

It's the quilting of the finished block that always gets me stumped and this was no exception.  In the end I opted for quilting in the ditch on each strip as well as free machine quilting in a bubble pattern on the plain orange strips using an orange, red and yellow variegated thread.

The finished quilt was then bound with some fabric that had also been printed with the bubble wrap.

Once again I found the second print was better than the first but I think this is because I was putting too much paint on the gelli plate - this must be a difference between fabric paint and the acrylic paint I normally use - so next time I will be more sparing with the paint.

Block Printing

I have a growing collection of wooden printing blocks which I pick up mainly at shows as I find them lovely to work with, especially when using my gelli plate.

I was therefore thrilled when I received a late birthday present from my daughter Clare which was a kit for hand printing a scarf with a wooded block.   It came from The Arty Crafty Place who we saw when we went to the Sewing Bee Live Show.

The scarf if huge and I didn't know quite where to start and what to do.  I was also worried I'd start and then not have enough paint to finish as the pot in the kit looked very small against the scarf.  After a lot of deliberation and general phaffing I decided to start printing from one end, see how it went and then do the same from the other end, figuring that if I had enough paint and they met in the middle then great.

I worked on my ironing board as I thought that was the printed bit could remain fairly free and have time to dry.  I put a towel under the scarf to give a soft base to print into as well as protecting my ironing board.   I did give the scarf a gentle press as it had been heavily twisted and creased when I unwrapped it and although I preferred this look to a pristine flat surface, I was worried that if it was too creased it would affect the print.

  

My plan worked well and I managed to print about 20" in from each end which left quite a gap unprinted in the middle but I think it looks better for it.  My only problem was trying to make the printing look random - I don't do random so I had to concentrate hard.

I love it and look forward to wearing it somewhere warm!

Anniversary Gift

Back in March I shared some textile art I had created based on a Workshop on the Web workshop and inspired by some Dorset buttons I had made.  Here's a reminder....

My daughter Clare loved it so I decided to make another for her wedding anniversary and as they were decorating their bedroom at the time, I made it in shades of yellow and grey to match their new room.    The anniversary has now been and gone so I can share it with the world!

The background was once again made using strips of different papers and as Clare enjoys sewing and dressmaking I included some garment patterns and instructions.  After painting, I printed some random lines using an old credit card as the new bedding they had bought had similar lines.  Again I was using Dorset buttons so decided to use the circular shapes as part of the design.   So with the addition of fabrics and lace, beads, washers, sequins, machine stitching and hand stitches - again reflecting the same linear design - the Dorset buttons finished the design.

  

  

I'm glad to report that it was well received.

September Journal Quilt

This months quilt is inspired by the many cactus we saw in and around the hotel in Gran Canaria. 

For the construction I was inspired by some videos of Hilary Beattie that I have been watching on You Tube.   She is really a great inspiration and I have admired her work for some years.  She is also a very generous artist who openly shares her way of creating not just in workshops she runs from her studio but also on the internet.

Using her methods, I printed and dyed some fabrics inspired by the spines and form of the cactus.  Using the fabrics I arranged a collage of shapes, together with photos of the cactus.  I did minimal machine quilting around the square shapes but added hand stitching to reflect the spines of the cactus.

  

I think this is definitely going to be one of my favourites this year.

Journal Quilt for June

I have once again used Strelizia Nicolai as inspiration for this month's Journal Quilt.

The plant has large flat leaves which grow upwards and wave in the breeze and split towards the stem so I've used this image of the leaves.   The background was inspired by another tree which grew nearby but remains unidentified.  For the background I used some white lutradur which I printed with lines and dots together with some black lutradur and newsprint.   The edges were machine quilted with patterned stitches before the leaf shapes were added and machine quilted.

  

February Journal Quilt

Another Journal Quilt comes off the work desk!

For this months quilt I started by using a thermofax screen I had made for a previous project when completing the Creative Sketchbooks course.   It was made using a photo of a Euphorbia plant taken on a previous visit to Gran Canaria but despite going back over my photos, I can't find the original photo.

I printed the image on to blue fabric I had dyed myself but despite much thinking and planning, the result was not good enough to provide enough squares to make an 11" square. Once cut, the squares were moved around for a more random look and then after much deliberation I made up the difference on two sides with more of the blue fabric.

The free machine quilting along each of the vertical seams represent the thorns on the plant.

Image printed on paper

Hello Again!

I'm rather embarrassed about the length of time since my last post.  Started off with the excuse that we moved to Dorset but that was now over three months ago so I'll just move on.......

We have settled well in our new house and as it was brand new, we were able to move in without any further work.   We have had the garden to do so that has taken some time recently but as it is quite small, I can't use that as an excuse.   I got my workroom sorted quickly too and the best thing is I have my own room so no more having to clear away when the grandchildren come to stay.

It's not massive but I managed to get all my things in and with less space, I have to keep it tidy. So far, so good!

My only regret is that my large Perspex table that I used with my Bernina is too big for the desk so at the moment I have had to resort to the small extension table that came with the machine.  I have seen that Cotton Patch do a similar one (a lot cheaper than the Bernina one!) but I am having trouble deciding which size to get.

I have been busy with a few projects......

... the first one was a quilt for a friend's new baby boy.   We are caravan neighbours so I went for a seaside theme.   Baby Paul has now arrived and Mum and Dad loved the quilt.

 

 

I have also decided to have another go at selling online, this time giving Etsy a go.  I will start with some of the items I already have ready and will also include some of my framed textile art.  I've also planned to make some mounted arrangements of inchies, something I have done in the past as part of my themes on rust and maps.   For these new ones I am going to have colour themes but choose colours that can relate to occasions and anniversaries.  So far I've done purple (just because I like it!), red (Ruby Anniversary) and white/silver (Weddings and Silver Anniversary); will go on to gold next.

 

For each set I started by creating a felt base on my Embellisher, incorporating various fabrics and fibres including organza, scrim, netting and silk.  I then added beads, buttons, sequins, ribbon, lace or hand stitches before finishing the edge with buttonhole stitch.

 

 

 

I have also done some work in my sketchbook, but not as much as I wanted to.    The first two pages are based on some of the many photos I have taken of beach huts we've seen since we moved.  I've included photos, some gelli plate printed deli paper, some stitched applique and some hand stitching.   I found the colours particularly inspired these pages.

 

 

 

The second page uses car park tickets as the background which I printed with the gelli plate, adding some cut lettering to finish.

 



 



 

Hopefully there won't be a long wait until my next post.

 

 



JQs for July and August.

My Journal Quilt for July was inspired by a visit to the Indigenous Australia exhibition at the British Museum.

Continuing with the mixed media theme, I started by using the ticket for the exhibition and an image used in the publicity.  I started my tacking these to a calico background which I then monoprinted using a Gelli Plate.  I built us a few layers of paint, using acrylic paints to which I added Golden Fabric Medium.   Using a small "dabber" (something I found amongst the art department of Hobbycraft which I think is a blender) I added black and white circles.   I then added hand embroidered French knots and running stitches and mother of pearl buttons.   The paper pieces curled a bit as they dried so I secured them with some straight stitches.

As with all the other quilts this year, I used the same fabric for the binding and then added toning beads around the edge.

  

During August we spent many happy hours walking along one beach or other on the Sussex coast, so this was my inspiration for the next Journal Quilt.

The background of my own dyed fabric (some of the fabric I dyed in July) was monoprinted once again using a Gelli Plate.  I then machine quilted sea waves and sand ripples.   The "Seashore" letters were all cut from various magazines and attached using Matt Gel Medium.   Fabrics including organza and scrim together with Angelina fibres were stitched in a wave-like way with hand stitches and seed beads.  Some fishing twine was also couched to the sea area.   On the sand section I stitched shells, wood and dried seaweed which I collected from the beach.

Once again the quilt was bound and beads were added to finish.