More Thread Dyeing

It was too tempting to play around with dyeing more threads for embroidery work.  So I gave in to the temptation and made four skeins on my skein winder.

This time, I did some experimentation with some colored threads to see what would happen.  I chose light/medium value colors both in the "mauve-ish" family for two of the base threads. The other two skeins are the white that I used previously and was sure would come out nicely.

Here you see the colored base thread on the left.  The yellow turned an orange color while the purple, blue simply went deeper in color. What little red there is seems no different.
The two white skeins dyed nicely although I over-compensated from the previous time and there are some white bits.  That will just add to the variety, I think.

None of the threads absorbed the dye as well as the previous batch did.  Although the three above are totally acceptable for my use. 

The fourth skein is a failure in my estimation.  I will not use it for embroidery but will likely wind it on a bobbin and use it for weaving.

This thread seemed to shed the dye mixture.  It only took the dye in spots.  As I was squirting the dye on it, I saw that it was resisting the dye.  
Lesson learned.  Next time I will soak the thread skeins in the soda ash solution first rather than adding the solution to the dye mix. That way the thread will grab the dye readily as the soda ash is the catalyst/activator that makes the dye bond with the plant fiber.

At least I can use this in weaving where it will add a nice bit of surprise color as it is woven in.
In fact, the first time I dyed bundles of threads where when I was dyeing for weaving.  I have come in a bit of a circle to get here.   What I find is that each type of creative endeavour gives ideas and methodology to use with other forms of creativity.  And, well - I love that!

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

A Sunset Melody

Suddenly the realization came.  This piece of stitches and dyed fabric is like a song about a sunset.

Okay maybe I am being a bit melodramatic.

 As I was stitching along on it, I suddenly realized that all it needed was the final quilting stitches and some finishing work.  As yet, it isn't completely finished.  Still,  it has been quilted and an edge finish has been applied.  It needs to be mounted so that it can hang on the wall, but I need to go shopping for the pieces I need for that bit.

It is too difficult to keep from you, so I am going to show it as is.

 A lot of the variegated hand dyed threads came from Laura Wasilowski at Artfabrik
It is not laying completely flat right now, but that will be fixed once it is mounted.  I am very happy with the way this came together.  I did a lot of playing with stitch patterns as it went along.

I have yet to decide definitely which way should  be "up" on this, but a landscape orientation is the way I am loving it right now.  I am sure I will change my mind a few more times.  I think I will enjoy looking at it for a while.

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

Stitchin' Away

You may remember that I started a piece of handwork that I can take with me to rehearsals.  So far it has not made it to a rehearsal, but it has certainly had some hands-on time.

You see,  my character comes onstage later in the play.  The director is rehearsing the play in order, so I have only been to the original read through. My first rehearsal is in about a week.  But I could not resist doing some stitching on this project.  And when I sit down with it, time passes easily.  I love the unplanned creativity in making this type of work.  I simply decide what thread and what stitches I am going to do as I go.

Originally I was planning for this to be a landscape orientation, but that changed. Of course, it could change back later, but I am enjoying the shapes in this orientation for now.

There is some machine couching on this that was done in the first step.  However, there is one thread that is hand couched.  That thread is larger and the only needles I have in that size are not sharps.  So I threaded it and forced the needle through the fabric, then I couched it with  a fine thread by hand. At the end, I forced it back through the fabric and knotted the end. I think it looks great.  It makes me glad that I didn't have the correct needle yet; so I learned the difference in machine and hand couching.
 I think machine couching presses the couched thread further into the piece. But the hand couching allows it to lay on top and have a greater textural impact. 

Fortunately, I have one of the fabric pieces I painted that will become my next handwork piece.

I also experimented with dyeing a skein of thread to use in my handwork. This thread is one that I have on a big cone for weaving but was about the same size as some of my perle cotton threads.

Hand dyed threads - I am not sure if it is cotton or bamboo.

The thread took the color nicely but it spread more than expected. (It is a learning process.)  It sews nicely so I am planning to dye some more in the next few days.  The next time I will be aware of the fact that it wicks so much and hopefully get more of the result I was going for.   But even if it surprises me, it will still be useful in this process.

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

From UFO to Flimsy

Way back in August of 2014, I started a little quilt. It was planned to be a variation on the "Yellow Brick Road" pattern.  It still shows a hint of that beginning.

But later that month I saw a tutorial on inset circles.  So I started a detour.

I had made quite a few of blocks before this got completely sidetracked.

While doing some reorganization, I found this project and said "I need to get back to this and finish it."  So as a "time-filler" I pulled it out and played.  - And the play turned serious.  I made a few more blocks to have enough to make it a nice lap sized quilt.  Although I may yet add some borders on it - I am undecided. 

On a sunny Saturday morning and early afternoon it became a quilt top -also called a flimsy. 

It is scrappy and fun with batiks, prints and scraps all joined into a wild mishmash of visual delight. 

At least that is how I see it. 

It is 54" by 48" right now. I am thinking that 3 1/2" borders would pull it up to 60" by  54" 

The big question is : What type of fabric to use for the borders?   Solid or batik or a print?  Or maybe a combination of all three pieced randomly together?  

Or maybe just layer and quilt it and call it a finish?

Sorry I am thinking it out as I type.  

Feel free to make a suggestion - as long as it doesn't involve unsewing any of this. 

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

Fabric and Paint

In odd moments, I have been playing a bit more with some fabric and paint.  My paint stash has a lot of quality acrylic paints so I was hoping that I could find a way to use them with painting fabric.  After a bit of reading I found that Golden Paints makes a fabric medium that is called GAC 900.  A couple of days ago I purchased a small bottle to test it for my purposes.  There are two pieces that I can show you right now. The first one is dry and heat set.

This is relatively small, maybe 7" by 10" - but it should make an interesting sky piece for a landscape quilt at some time.

The weather here has been unusual in the amount of rain we have received.  That means that it is really humid and the painted pieces are taking forever to get dry. This is especially true of the ones that need to be laid flat to dry.
This next piece is still wet but the color seems to be close to what it will be when it is dry.

This one is a little larger than a fat quarter.   I used three colors of paint for this.  The blending created quite a variety of color.  The colors used are a red, a blue and a yellow. These are actually the same colors used in the sky piece.

For the sky piece, the paint was applied with a paint brush on damp fabric using a technique that I learned from a Mickey Lawler book.  I really need some sunny days to set up outside and paint fabric.
The second piece was done using a technique where the fabric is put in a ziplock bag and three colors of paint are dribbled in.  Then the bag is sealed and left to allow the paint to migrate.  Then it is taken out and laid flat to dry.  This piece of fabric will be great to do another stitching project like the one I am working on now.  Of course, it may choose a different path and become something else entirely.

The fabric in the first piece has a wonderful hand/drape/feel. It feels almost the same as before the paint was applied.  So I am very happy with the GAC 900 when used with the Golden Liquid Acrylic paints.  I hope that the second piece shown here works out the same.  I know it has more paint on it.

Meanwhile, I am still working on learning my lines for Clue!  And of course I am continuing to work on learning Spanish.  Maybe I am keeping my brain active enough.  Ha ha.

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

A Bit of Handwork (and the horrors of Technology)

Since I will be sitting around during rehearsals for a while, I decided to start a handwork project.  I have made a couple of these in the past.  My favorite is titled String Theory - but I sold it in a gallery.

So it is time to make another one for me. Or at least to keep my hands busy while I wait my time to act.   I learned this technique from a class by Carol Ann Waugh.    So I have done all of the prep work that requires things I can't take to rehearsal. And of course I had to do some hand stitching to have it started.  Once it is going, it is easy to say "Oh, I can do this -here...." and keep going.

For now, here is how it looks:

The lovely hand dyed fabric is from a selection of Ricky Tims fabrics that I got in a giveaway a while back.  Those nice splotches of color give me inspiration for both color and form. 

In case you are wondering about the piece I mentioned earlier, you can find it here

Now about those "horrors of Technology" - For quite a while, my practice has been to take photos with my phone (android device) and when I get to my computer I can download them from Google Photos. 
Up until today, it has worked flawlessly. It is super easy, no need to connect anything or remove a data card, etc.   Today, I took the above photo and went to Google Photos on my computer to download it.  It isn't there.  I tried a few 'tricks' to get it to show up.  I deleted some photos that I didn't need anymore.  Still nothing.  I finally emailed it to myself from my phone.
And that is why you can see it now. 

I still haven't gotten it to show up on Google Photos.  Oh the horrors of technology gone awry!

At least I had a "creative" solution.

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

More Seminole Piecing - Batiks

The Seminole patchwork is still keeping me intrigued.   This time I pulled out some batiks from my Island Batik stash bin and played a bit.

To make this type of patchwork, you sew strips of varying widths and then sub-cut them and sew them back together.   The smaller strips in this were cut at 3/4"  - sewing them is a challenge to your quarter inch seam allowance -- as every bobble shows. I realized that my quarter inch is not nearly as good as I would like it to be.  But I am still happy with the patchwork.   Once it is quilted, the quilting will disguise the less than perfect seam allowance.

I really love the play of colors in this.  There was quite a bit of the leftover strip set after sewing the center band.  That became the border strips, top and bottom.  I think this piece will be great as part of the cover of a notebook or perhaps a binder. 

Seminole piecing is often used to make bands to decorate clothing or kitchen towels.  I have seen it on kitchen towels in the distant past, but I didn't realize what I was seeing as I wasn't a quilter then. If you are interested, here is a photo of the book I purchased to learn this technique.

I am sure that there are other books on the subject. Some may be better than this one. However, this one is a great starting point for me.

Have you ever done Seminole piecing? If so where/how did you learn the technique? 

A while back I told you that I had gone to a couple of auditions.  While I am still waiting to hear from one of them,  I was cast as "The Cop" in the local community theatre stage production of Clue!

This will  be a fun production.  We did our first read through this past Thursday night.  The cast is great and I think we will make a good ensemble/team.  But as I said before, I may be posting less on the blog as rehearsals will be taking up more of my time.

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

February Fourteen

Happy Valentine's day.  Today we celebrate love.  So I am sharing a photo of one of my paintings from years ago.

A Moment in Time
by Gene Black

Have a wonderful day.

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

Sometimes you just have to.....

Sometimes an urge strikes and you just have to do something.  A little while back, I was looking at some things I did early in my quilting journey.   I had been loaned a book on Seminole quilt piecing.  I did a band and used it in a purse I made for a friend.
I have no pictures of that so I can't show you.

But I did order a book at a great bargain price of less than $6 shipped. It came in the mail a couple of days ago.  I just had to sit down and try some piecing in this style.

Here is the panel I have made with my piecing. 

I used two pieces of hand dyed fabric and one piece of solid green.  The panel is roughly 12 by 11 inches.  I have no idea what it will become, but it will become something.   Mardi Gras is coming up on February 25th.  These are the colors of Mardi Gras - purple, green and gold (yellow.)  So I will close out this post with a proper Mardi Gras slogan.  "Laissez les bons temps rouler"  which is French for "Let the Good Times Roll."    Of course, I am studying Spanish so I should also say, ""Que pasen los buenos tiempos"

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

Making a Couple of Gifts

A friend and classmate is having a birthday this month. She told us in our last class that she is celebrating her birthday month.  She also brought us cake.  So I decided that she deserves a present or two. 
My rigid heddle loom is perfect for making a scarf so I quickly put a warp on it and started weaving. I know that she likes a little bling - she wore a shimmery silver top to class and made sure we noticed it.
Black and silver it is!

The warp is a simple black, but the weft (threads that go across) is an interesting black and silver where the silver fades to a sparkle, but has parts that are much more silver.  It worked well.

Of course I needed a bag to put it in - and I had some extra handwoven that was already interfaced. A simple zipper bag would be terrific, right?

My opinion is that zipper bags should always have a lighter lining to make finding things in them easier. Thuss, I used this scrap of a pretty but light colored fabric. It doesn't show in the photo but the bag has some bling/shiny yarn in it also.
I hope she enjoys them.

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

Painting Fabric

I am always interested in fun ways to change fabric.  I saw a demo on using Pebeo Setacolor transparent paints some time back.  Once I had a few dollars to spare, I bought a set of the paints in 45 ml bottles online.

I have painted three pieces so far.  This one was painted and then overpainted.

This is my favorite of the three pieces

First it was painted with turquoise and green paints, then after that had dried I folded it diagonally and added the purple and the fuschia.  The paint is "transparent" in that what ever is there already will show through much like painting with watercolor paints. The color will blend with the color underneath it unless the top color just overpowers it.

I also used the same turquoise and green paints for this piece which was folded and dipped.

It isn't all that exciting but it offers possibilities in piecing or applique. 

And finally this one (which was actually painted first.)

I played around with some techniques on this one. I didn't have the fabric damp enough at the beginning though.  So I decided to use the salt technique to cause some visual texture. 

This close up shows how the salt draws the moisture and thus the pigment to itself.  It certainly makes an interesting texture in the paint.  

I will be doing this more once the weather is warmer and I can work outside so that I can splatter freely.
Here is a photo of the paints borrowed from the site selling them.

My favorite thing about these paints is that they leave the hand of the fabric soft not stiff like some other paints are prone to do. 

Have you tried painting fabrics?  If so I would love to hear what you did and how you liked or disliked it and why. 

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

This and That - Catching Up

Life is interesting and sometimes I forget to blog.  I am sorry about that.

So what is going on?  In the past week I have auditioned for two plays.  First, I auditioned to be in the ensemble/chorus for "My Fair Lady" - that was Tuesday, January 28th. For that audition, I sang "Stars" from the musical "Les Miserables."  I think I did well.
 Then last night, Monday February 3rd, I auditioned for a small role in "Clue," a play based on the 1985 movie.  The director asked why I wasn't auditioning for one of the main roles.  I explained that my life is just a bit too busy to learn all of those lines. But, I was thrilled that he saw the potential for me to be more. 

Meanwhile,  I have been creating with my hands - as it seems I will never be able to just stop. 

I took some woven fabric and embellished a work shirt to cover the work logo and update the shirt - to make it more "me."

This is a rare selfie photo. And you can see my new eyeglasses!

I think it works.  I see that my collar was flipped up.  I sorted that out before I left the house.

I also experimented with a weaving technique  that I had not previously tried although I have known how it works for a while.

You can see that the top and bottom sections are woven right through each other to create a cross shaped piece. This will make a fun hanging to put where it will catch the breeze and turn.  I wove the center section as one single piece just out of curiosity. I wanted to see how it would work out.

And finally,  my name came up on the library's hold list for a book that I want to read.  It is titled simply "Me"  by Elton John.  I started to edit out the flash from my camera, but then thought "Elton was frequently subjected to the camera flash" -so I left it in.

I hope I am living my best life - combining all of my interests and moving along. 

Oh yes, I got the first section of the "Night Sky" quilt quilted.  The rest of it is in the "wait a minute" pile.  But it shouldn't be there too long.

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.