Thanks to Virgin Trains..................

... and a train journey of 2h being extended to 3h and 45 mins, I had time to start on my next series of the challenge.  Bacterial colonies, being embroidered on to cloth printed using the breakdown method.

Water back in its right place

The lurgy has gone, so I got out to Henley on Thames, usually associated with rowing, to see the Water, Water exhibition, curated by Kate Findlay, she of the series of quilts based on the Large Hadron Collider.    I did my helper stint with Kate and with Delia Salter, she of "The Shipping Forecast" fame, ( blog post by Margaret Cooter, here).  The venue was lovely, lots of natural light from roof windows, and a nifty front door that slides down the side of the building.  Not surprisingly given the theme, the overwhelming impression of this exhibition is blue, in all shades, with some taupes, greens and flashes of red and orange.  Photos below of my favourites ( and my own quilts in situ) not in any particular order.  I didn't get  a photo of the lovely piece based on Skye, by Delia Salter, as it was tricky to photograph and I didn't get every artists' name, so apologies.

Kate Findlay

Brenda Wroe

Mary Munday ( and me)

Amanda Wright

Penny Kurowski

Caroline Wilkinson

Annelize Littlefair

Joanna O'Neill

Sue Hotchkis

Alicia Merrett ( that's the radiator at the bottom, no matter how much it looks like two lines of stitching)

 

Jane Wheeler

Chris Dobson

Hilary Richardson

Artists' names not noted

Even after all of that inspiration, the quilter in me couldn't resist these pavement slabs round the corner.

Deconstructing or breaking down...

…….not me, but re-visiting this technique, done a slightly different way.  This time, resist objects  were placed under the screen on top of a piece of paper, and then Procion P dye paste was applied through the screen, and then allowed to dry.  Much less dye is trapped on the screen, so the screen was dry enough to print from during the same day.  There is a good description of the technique here and a good video here.

Objects used as resists, after being removed from the screen.

Manutex carrier paste is applied with a squeegee - needs some effort - to rehydrate the dye paste, resulting in a different print with each pull, as the dye pastes rehydrate at different rates.  This is trying to get to a mix of pastes close to my favourite turquoise blue, using turquoise, black and scarlet red.

Prints on the table on cotton lawn

First set of prints

Print on paper, not an even pull, so less dye in the bottom right corner.

Detail of the section resulting from using bubble-wrap.

After attending a talk by Sheena Norquay last night, about her seasonal inspirations, my head is once again bursting with too many ideas.

CQGB Challenge, June, EH9, political awareness

Breakdown-printed recycled cotton sheeting as background, commercial stencil applied with Markal painsticks. Machine quilted with postcode and various quilting patterns, hopefully reflecting the ripples of positive change that can occur when individuals act together.

When I was a student it was in the turbulent late 70s. I went on several demonstrations and although never a member of a political party, I have continued to act on behalf of causes I believe in. I believe there is little point in moaning about something if you are not prepared to offer time, money or moral support to get it fixed.

Journal quilts, "There are places I remember….."

I want to use this theme to explore abstract interpretations of places I remember. I have focussed on significant addresses in my life and wanted to use colours and textures to invoke what those places meant to me at the time, and sometimes what they mean with the benefit of hindsight. Although I have visited several countries for pleasure and for work, and my family is fairly ar-flung ( East Coast US, West Coast US and Australia) , I have always lived in the UK, so there will be no glorious colours of wonderful destinations. It took me a long time to get started on this theme, perhaps because some of the memories are tricky to deal with. I'm planning to use postcodes as a unifying element across the series, but added with different techniques.

January, Dalmuir

My early life was spent with my brother, sister and parents in a two room flat on the first floor of a tenement, one of those that were just far enough away from Clydebank to survive the Clydebank blitz.  My cousins lived in the same street, and my memories are of endless days playing in the back court, in the huge park within walking distance, and in the rubble across the road.

I want to get away from pictorial representations of these memories, so I have focused instead on the colours that I recall: the rust red of the sandstone buildings; the green of the park; the blue of the stream in the park; the brown of the River Clyde.

 Breakdown printed cotton sheeting, using Procion P dyes with Manutex. Postcode stencilled with permanent felt pen. Machine trapunto under the section quilted in a brick pattern. Hopscotch ( “beds” or “peever” in the West of Scotland) chalk quilted with rayon thread. Stipple quilted with variegated blue thread, then microstippled with Bottomline thread in green, light rust and light blue.

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.