Yesterday I was back in the studio playing with some of the hand dyed fabric (read 'wipe up rags') I made the day before. Hanging to dry, they look pretty messy, but there are so many wonderful treasures within that mess!
I had prepared these backgrounds a while ago, and was planning to create some floral quilts similar to
the one I did last year, but when I saw these pieces of fabric I was inspired to use it to make some flowers and leaves. I started with simple, rough circles (randomly cut by hand to avoid that perfectly round look).
I drew one line as a guide for the stem and then went to the machine to start thread sketching. I love how the black thread sketching just makes it pop. I still have to quilt the background and then finish the edges. This is the first in a small series of four.
This morning, I finished another page in my
'Letter Loving' journal. I really like the torn paper edges on this page.
Yesterday I was back in the studio playing with some of the hand dyed fabric (read 'wipe up rags') I made the day before. Hanging to dry, they look pretty messy, but there are so many wonderful treasures within that mess! 
I had prepared these backgrounds a while ago, and was planning to create some floral quilts similar to the one I did last year, but when I saw these pieces of fabric I was inspired to use it to make some flowers and leaves. I started with simple, rough circles (randomly cut by hand to avoid that perfectly round look). 
I drew one line as a guide for the stem and then went to the machine to start thread sketching. I love how the black thread sketching just makes it pop. I still have to quilt the background and then finish the edges. This is the first in a small series of four. 
This morning, I finished another page in my 'Letter Loving' journal. I really like the torn paper edges on this page. 
LOVE! LOVE! LOVE!
ReplyDeleteThanks Nancy :o)
DeleteI totally love your wipe up rags. Those tend to be my favorite treasure after I've done some messy stuff. Love your colorful flower quilt.
ReplyDeleteThanks Terri. I agree. When I first did messy stuff (years ago) I used paper towels. Although they can still be used in some art projects, now that I wipe up with cotton it gives me so many more options.
DeleteHi Linda!
ReplyDeleteFollowed you over from Letter Love FB. These are a super idea! Do you add anything to set the inks after you are done?
Cheers,
Sharon
Thanks for dropping by Sharon. I simply heat set the inks once they dry by ironing them with a hot iron (cotton setting). Because they are art quilts and won't be washed, I don't test them. If you are planning to use the fabric in a quilt that will be washed, I would certainly try washing the heat set wipe up cloth to test for colourfastness (is that a word?) before putting them into a quilt.
DeleteDo you have a post about your wipe up rags? Are you just using cotton muslin? I would like to start doing that now that I am using more dyes in Letter Love
ReplyDeleteI don't have a post specifically about my wipe up rags, but to answer your question, I use natural fibres because they take colour better than synthetics. Usually I use 100% cotton, but if I have white silk I'll sometimes use that too. You can use muslin, but if it's not true white remember that the colours will be affected (not that that is necessarily a bad thing). Although I have stopped buying printed quilting cotton, I do still have some in my stash and I have also used that which can give you some interesting 'over dying' effects. Have fun with it.
Delete