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A little printing

I’m about to dive back in to fabric printing, but I wanted a quick record of my first several prints. I was going for a subtle tone-on-tone effect mostly, but found them mostly too subtle.

The circles with yellow splashes was probably my favorite – the yellow splashes help keep it unstructured.
 
   … the other’s need work. Going for a little more structured printing today!

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Dye and more dye

I’ve been dyeing fabric more this week, after my start this weekend. Its been fun, but its also been a journey. The first batch had an undetermined problem with the cobalt blue. Here it is after the next batch of keeping, printing, over-dyeing, and dyeing some more…

AFTER: over-dyeing, printing

I love the revised set – more what I was dreaming for base fabrics. This is my first time printing with print paste (some of those fabrics are still drying) – definitely a work-in-progress. Looking forward to printing more on the weekend. (and grateful that fiber-reactive dyes are so easy to overdye)

BEFORE: Yikes! Not what I had envisioned. Where did the cobalt blue go? Love the coral.
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Getting started is half the battle

I’ve been craving new hand-dyed fabric for a while now, and finally decided to take the plunge and participate in a fabric swap organized by Leslie Keating at maze and vale. What a fun group of people it turns out I get to exchange fabric with. For me, getting started is always the hardest part, so I dug deep for courage, did lots of drawings, put up some works in progress where I wanted more hand printed fabric and started. My first pass was definitely a warm-up. The first print with my paper laminate stencil? Really. It looks like makeup you would put on your face, a typical foundation color. It does. The red circles were okay, and the aqua stamps, hmmm.
I had a quiet house, so this weekend was a fiber retreat for me. I’ve been going back to my favorite, dyeing fabric with fiber reactive dyes, and exploring using print paste to paint with dye. I’ve also been simply enjoying. Definitely a work in progress, but these small tries below have potential; the steel blue circles are casually fun without looking stamped. (play dough cover) I enjoyed trying rubbing with the circles and mesh. Mom is taking a bigger piece of mesh for this weekend. Ended up with about 8 yards of fabric dyed, but the Cobalt blue wasn’t my friend, didn’t set very well so I have light mauves and greens instead of gray. Overdying, here we come. Can’t wait to continue.
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Finally

My camera has been giving me grief. Turns out the CF card was giving errors. I’m back in business, and finally can show some photos. My first big quilt in a while, but it felt good to get back in the groove.
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Joy is contagious II

Cards 3 & 4. Joy is contagious. I want to be more joyful, and these cards make me smile! Hopefully one day they will make someone else smile.

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Study break collage

A few weeks ago before Taylor’s winter break, we needed a change of pace, so I got out some fun paper, scissors, and glue and Taylor and I enjoyed some collage work. Good to work out the kinks in your brain after heavy-duty studying. Somehow creating small pieces always relaxes me. Got around to sewing them today while Taylor is in Rome. (You can see her influence in the vibrant greens and aqua paired with coral.) A little foretaste of spring.

I think these are destined to be part of greeting cards … here is the second one. The first is in the mail!

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Rusty

Skills get rusty. My “large quilt” skills are rusty. However, I am making progress on the Sandy Quilt and should finish this week. Here is a peek!

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Wisdom – font of life

  

I’ve been machine quilting the twin size quilt I am working on to donate, and pondering the design of this quilt. I like the idea, but the person-like “arms” and “legs” aren’t working for me. I have a notion of how I might be able to reverse applique aqua semi-circular arcs that run from edge to edge of the fabric instead. Hmmmmmm … a work in progress (just like me)

The machine quilting on the Sandy quilt (which may turn into the “….” quilt at my speed) is going well. The quilt looks even better with the stitching (which is always a good thing) in brick red up and down.

Blessings on your Lenten musings, whatever font of life God is leading you towards.

PS Sorry for the horrible photo – Photobooth on the mac works, but not super well!

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Wisdom – shoots and branches

Deep into a seminar on grant writing, pondering how I ended up in that room at that time, I sketched a quick drawing on my legal pad, juxtaposed with tips on honing specific aims in a grant.

Thoughts of wisdom imagery, of wisdom waiting in the town, up on the hills, at the door, welcoming me into a thoughtful life. Thoughts of life, of journeys, growing, new doors, and re-entering doors. Yet, always the possibility of the sprouting of vivid new life.

Don’t love how it turned out … used felt with batting, and have it pinned onto another piece of felt to ground it. But, it is nearly finished, and I learned something.

If I tried it again, I would make it more colorful and graffiti-like I think, but still with the seedlings popping. Maybe a traditional backing and binding? However, my goal was to try to make progress on a series of art quilts, and this is forward movement!