Found and finished

I find that some textile pieces  just languish, momentum is lost, inspiration fades and the object lies reproachfully somewhere, often out of sight.  I'm therefore trying a "finish, donate or bin" approach to these objects.  In this spirit, I had a finish last night.

This quilt made up from two different planned quilts, neither of which came out as I envisioned.  As it is so busy, I've used it to practice my machine quilting and a binding method applying the binding to the back, and then securing to the front with a three-stitch zigzag.   The wobbly edges are due to the hanging, I hope.  I had some pieces left over, so had made a pieced back.

I'm not sure about this now, as it could be interpreted as having a religious element, which was not intended at all.

Learning from this one - watercolour pencils will not necessarily wash out, particularly red ones!

Breakdown printing, initial results

All looking very organic. The plastic embedded objects are pulled off, and then the screen is used to print by pulling Manutex through it until the dye is exhausted.



The initial cloth then had soya wax applied and Procion P dye paste scraped over the whole piece with a credit card ( this is very therapeutic). Below shows the cloth before the wax has been washed out.



I think this is an either love it or hate it technique. If one is obsessed with precision and definite lines, this is not the right method. If one enjoys a more serendipitous approach, this is great fun.

Journals progress, red to yellow

I'm taking part in the Contemporary Quilt Group challenge again this year. The theme is to make an A4 piece once / month with 4 months focusing on shades of red, 4 months on shades of yellow and 4 months on shades of blue. Up to 25% of the piece can be other colours, as long as the predominant colour is as specified for that month.

I showed the January effort here, but I don't think I showed February, maybe as I wasn't too pleased with how it turned out. Fabric origami hearts appliquéd to a shibori dyed background.


March is now complete. Cotton sheeting, batik dyed with red procion P after marking with soya-wax,( washes out with hot water, so no tedious ironing it out) and then machine quilted. Binding is commercial fabric attached from the back, and stitched down with a decorative stitch from the machine.



April's is underway, and I've decided to include a transition from one colour to the next in the pieces that straddle a change of main colour. Commercial fabrics, the background is one of my all time favourites, " Milano villas" from Makower. Appliqued hexagons, with an attempt at machine trapunto, not very successfully so far, as the puffiness all seems to be on the back. Maybe a greater amount of background quilting will make it more prominent.


Due to a sick child ( not serious,now recovering), I've had a day at home, so have made a start on May, the first of the yellow-themed pieces. Hand-dyed fabrics from an exchange, which will have dense hand-embroidery on it.