Bleaching fabric

This fabric was dyed using Texiscreen its more like a fabric paint than a dye you get the colour you see but it can be rather flat, I wanted to experiment to see if I could get more depth with it . the green was left to dry on top of bubble wrap and the two mauves were R folded and compressed, L rolled twisted & compressed then left for a day.

The black fabric is a comercial one it was quilted and bleach was applied with a brush, the paler colour is brown er than it is shown I was very pleased with the result. The blue fabric was dyed using the quilters method of 2 colours and plastic bags, so it was red to blue, in reality the paler colour is more pink than white, I rolled on bleach with a sponge roller but it seeped everywhere so I washed it out and then applied bleach with a brush to certain areas, I need to use discharge paste to get the effect I want as it stays where you put it.The piece does have a certain charm as it looks distressed

I thought this tree was beautiful the shape texture and colour I thought I might try to use it as a quilt inspiration, I also picked up this silver birch bark.

Christmas hats

My daughter Lisa sent over these hats from Aus. so when we went to Westonbirt on Boxing day we all wore them, we had lots of people looking & a few comments, Barry was asked where he had bought them from, and a lady asked me if `they were the in thing this year as she had seen so many` IT was just us all walking around in different directions!The intelligent ones are wearing the white hats

To paint the leaves and then I used polysterene blocks dipped in bleach this gives a mottled textured effect which I love.I then stamped some procion dyed fabric with fabric paint with the poylsterene blocks with the addition of lustre powder which gives the colour a lovely glow

I had a go at bleaching with your pen Madi but it didnt work so this was done using a paint brush

Twas the night before Christmas

Well I had a go at painting the quilt piece I painted the fennel with a green acrylic wash then white markal for highlights and dark green for shadow. The rest had a wash of grey acrylic paint then some mauvey pink then pearlised white markal stick to give it a lift. I was pleased for a first attempt but it would be quite nerve wracking to have a go at a full size quilt which had taken hours, and the thought of attacking a new quilt with bleach fills me with dread, although the Kemshall` discharging on their quilts is exquisite so I shall try it out on a test piece.

Nearly Christmas

Olive has made this fantastic gingerbread house, well Lidl made the gingerbread pieces I helped her put it together and she did all the decorating & icing, it will look great as a centre piece on the table I took some pictures of nextdoors cabbages I thought they were lovely

This book by the Kemshall`s arrived yesterday very inspirational so I roughly quilted a picture with my new to me Janome Memory Craft super new machine a christmas present to myself, and if I get time tomorrow I shall paint it It is a good book telling you how they dye & paint the fabric before and after quilting.
The fennel bulbs were drawn by me then photocopied and put onto the fabric by painting on acetone and then rubbing with a spoon, great if you want a black/white image, useful for some or the

techniques in the book

What I do for fun

This is a piece entitled using up all the bits you have just been playing with ie, old dyed blanket, nappy wipes and ammonites made from loo paper, & boy it is a sod to stitch into I have broken 3 machine needles and had to do most of the hand sewing on the top layer only it is really called Fossils and lichens
Now must get to bed so that I can be up in the morning to stuff things make brandy butter and all those other christmassy things. Merry christmas one and all

What I do for fun

This is the sun dyeing that I attempted the leaves on the left were a failure but the metal template worked a treateven better than it looks here.

These are some of the metal pieces I have done to experiment with embossing on metal ,mainly wine foil , and trying different colouring mediums, airondack dyes, shoe polish & treasure gold, sorry they are all sideways on beyond my control at the moment.

What I do for fun

Well Madie I just had to try it, but if I had known that i would still be trying at 2am I might not have bothered, it would help if i could type with more than One finger. these pictures are of the casket we are both making I am Pleased with the metal work and the background but would make the whole box a different way another time