everything but the girl!

I really need to get going with the girl quilt. I don't really know what I do all week but I seem to be going at a  snails pace. I read other quilter's blogs and wonder 'How on earth?' Well I do know what I do all week-- work, keep the house in some kind of order and do things to keep myself happy and healthy. So I shouldn't complain. Anyway if I was to produce a quilt every couple of weeks what would I do with them all? 

On Saturday morning I was at the Northern Ireland Patchwork Guild meeting www.nipg.org.uk/.

Ester Kiely was the guest speaker. She gave us a very interesting talk based on her work to date and the various community arts projects she has participated in.

Some images of her stitched pieces and sketchbook work. Really stunning.

Visit Ester's blog at  

http://esterkiely.blogspot.co.uk/

So today I have been trying to 'age' or soften the print I made last week

I have been experimenting on this print using transfer dyes. Transfer dyes are painted onto paper first then transferred onto fabric with the heat from an iron. They are widely available on line if you google them. I love working with them because there is a certain amount of unpredictability in the end result. You get great effects if you scrunch up your paper first and then paint on the dye. The dye sits in the creases and when you iron on to the fabric the creases appear.as wonderful marks.

The transfer dyed paper has to be 100% dry before ironing onto the fabric. They are made for use on synthetic fabrics (work amazingly well on Evalon). However colourcraft do a solution called Transfix which enables the use of transfer dyes on natural fabrics.

I painted the dye onto a paper doily placed on a piece of paper. Both the doily and the page can then be transferred onto fabric  

So then I started having great fun with doilies!!!!

Using Markal paintstiks The third image is a piece of flat white cotton. It actually looks like there is a doily sitting on it! What a wonderfully wonderful result. 

Wonder how I could use this on the quilt?

  

My last experiment was using a Sharpie pen (permanent marker)

Straight onto white cotton.

Lovely.

I think I have an idea of where I am going now. I am going to use a combination of the transfer dyes, Markal and the doilies to get the aged look I want.

I might have a go on an off white cotton to soften it all rather than the bright white.

The girl is going to have white on her and so she will come forward more against a softer background.

The snails pace will continue in a good way. No stress involved.