Sunday 12 April 2015

Getting Things in Perspective

It has been a very difficult period for my family recently but we are beginning to appreciate that the light at the end of the tunnel might not be an express train.

Getting things into perspective has been the order of the day over Easter and so that is the inspiration for my April quiltlet for the Contemporary Group Challenge.  The quotation is from Marcus Aurelius and I am continuing to adhere to all my rules.  This piece is based on groynes on the beach.
I stitched a prayer flag for my DD Sara over the Easter holiday.  She likes it but thinks it is a shame that the idea is that it disintegrates in the wind and weather.  I told her the prayers are already sent (and answered in some cases) and so I think she might hang the flag somewhere sheltered.
What else? Well how about these gorgeous Kantha stitched creatures on fabric dyed with woad?  Angela Daymond (Fenland Textile Studios) will be selling kits to create these yourself at Festival of Quilts this Summer.  She asked several people to trial the kit contents and instructions.  I've never measured the amount of thread I'm using before, quite interesting!  All the thread is beautiful Aurifil in various weights, including lana wool, all lovely to stitch with.  The Kantha stitching has been very therapeutic to work, just what the doctor ordered.
I love the movement and sense of freedom exhibited by Angela's hare.
The heron is so elegant and haughty.
This last hare is on plain fabric, not woad dyed and is only 4" round so it will be the perfect introduction to Kantha stitching.






Monday 6 April 2015

Shaving Foam Printing


Some fabric friends share magazines or ideas, some point you in an interesting direction and then there are fabric friends like Ros.
On Sunday she showed me an article about shaving foam printing in an issue of Fabrications magazine.  On Monday morning she sent me a text saying she had gathered EVERYTHING we needed to have a go! Now is that impressive or what?
We filled a tray with shaving foam.  
Good tip:  lining the tray with cling film makes an easy way to gather up and dispose of foam and ink later.
We dropped, sprayed and dribbled various kinds of textile paints on the foam.
Using a skewer and a chopstick we swirled the inks together.
Pretty!
We took prints from the surface of the foam.

We left the ink to dry for a few minutes, scraped the remaining foam from the surface of the fabric and then ironed it (under a cloth) to fix the dye.
Ta dah!!  Thanks Ros, just what the doctor ordered!!