Background fabric dyeing

I fished out some cotton fabric...

...along with my trusty pots of Procion Dyes...

...and set about dyeing pieces for my workshops at The West Country Quilt Show next month.

I did the background colour in the laundry machine...

...then poured over a mix of colours after the damp fabric had been scrunched in a bowl.

Results....

I'm now dyeing the felt background pieces in Yellow, Orange and  Cerise.

Next is the printing.....

Have a good weekend lovely people

x C

Lots and lots of goodies to play with...

I've been going through boxes and drawers...

...picking out all sorts of bits n bobs...

...to use in my "Lavender & Lace" pieces.

Gorgeous old French linens picked up on holiday...

...some dyed....some not...

A bird's nest of sari silks in glorious colours...

Empress Mills' Egyptian Cotton dyed with Colourcraft "Lavender" Procion Dye...

and my wonderful spray-booth paper covered in all sorts of Brusho colours!

(This is the paper that is underneath everything that I spray. Colours get built up one on top of another...and I end up with the most beautiful papers to play with!! :-)

Hi di Hi!!

x C

Fun days with friends

I've had the most wonderful few days.....

....chatting, planning.....

...and dyeing in the sun....

...with Laura from Colourcraft....

...who arrived on Sunday with a load of Procion dye bottles that simply HAD to be used up!!

We dyed backgrounds first.....

...then overdyed in plastic containers...

...which gave us both a right-royal-pile of scrummy cloth to play with!!

So, this morning, I've skinned my Markal Paintstiks and started playing with rubbing plates.

I have 'plans' for these ;-)

...and while fiddling with another bit of the 'plan'...

....my ironing paper towel ended up like this.

Now how many folk can have such wild ideas for bits of stuff that normally would end up in the rubbish bin?

Oh! I feel like such a lucky lady.......

....even though my fingers are forty different shades of all-sorts right now! :-)

...another "Indian Peacock Panel" ....

In between other things I've been pootling on with another workshop sample...

...an "Indian Peacock Panel".

This one is larger than the first and with variations in the stitching. Bright, bold tassels are "de rigeur" for this piece though!

This is one that is being done in Brussels and at Busy Bees this year.

It has been stitched on  lightweight calico fabric from Empress Mills and dyed with Colourcraft Procion MX dyes.

Lots of lovely threads have also been pressed into action!

(This one is now in my current workshop list ... and there are a lot more photos on the "Indian Peacock Mini Quilt" page)


We're off soon....

...to get a little "arty fix"...


See you on the weekend

x C

...time for some serious textile fun!!

The final magazine article for 2013 went off in the post Monday...

...and... after another delightful falala Tuesday choir session....

....this Wednesday morning finds me in a state of eager anticipation...

...and enthusiasm for things-to-come!!

I can now get stuck in to my "Magic" work, and I'm REALLY excited about it all.

Quite a few pieces have been thoroughly worked out on the page (a couple more will be shown on Saturday)...

...and the embellisher has been pressed into action already.

One of the first set of three is ready for hand-stitching to begin (so that's me sorted for the rest of the day then :-)...

...and pieces of felt have been dyed and prepared for the other two.

There is a real buzz in the air around here!!

(...and it's NOT that GIANT bee that was trying to head-butt it's way in through my patio doors yesterday either :-)))

Postie brought some more exciting deliciousness the other day too...

...in the form of a big parcel from Colourcraft.

Lots and lots of goodies to play with!

Lovely metallic acrylics...

several tubs of a new material (being affectionately referred to as "jollop" between Laura and myself) that's being launched sometime soon...

A thick, heavy paste medium that you can mold and build-up into whatever you can think of....

Some watercolour crayons..

...some soft wax crayons....

..and a selection of Procion MX dyes to use with this lot...

...of silky smooth Egyptian Cotton from Empress Mills.

Oooooooooooooo...

...what a LUCKY girl am I!!