However, to get to the how to - I  started with about 1/4 tsp. white fabric paint and added just a drop of azure blue to about a 1/4 tsp base extender.



Mixed up, it looked like this. A lovely pale greeny blue.  I forgot to take pics as I went along (I got so into what I was doing) - but on the cloth it looked like white, with just the slightest hint of blue - which is what I wanted for the clouds.


A blue-er blue for the sky (remember, with fabric paints, all colours look wayyyyy more intense on the pallete than they'll end up on your fabric - but do some test swatches to get more comfortable.) Here are from left red/orange/blue (for those burgundy orangey leaves) copenhagen blue and goldenrod for a green, goldenrod and azure blue for another green, and just plain straight from the bottle green - all were mixed with base extender to produce:



 Hope you had a good weekend!

.....never a bride.

The third time I've thrown my hat into the ring, and the third time I didn't win. *cue the "whah, whah, whah" music*


I'm happy (?) to announce that  Off to Oz - my entry in the Generation Q Magazine's Scrap Splat Challenge, placed second. Congrats to Flaun Cline on her win. (Her quilt really is quite lovely.)

But, can I just say: "AGAIN with the second place?"  Perhaps one day I'll do a 27 Dresses type thing about all of my failed quilts.

Or maybe I'll just stop entering contests!  *heh*

Talk soon!

Happy Monday!

I mentioned in September that I've been asked to guest host a month at And Then We Set It On Fire... and November is my month. The process we're learning together this month is transfer paint/disperse dye.

I posted the initial instructions last week, and this is my first finish using this technique.


I began by using this mottled yellowy brown background - which I created by first covering my paper with orange transfer paint,  then adding stripes of yellow disperse dye over that, and over it all, droplets of brown dispere dye.  I then smooshed all the colours together by making a pouncing motion with the flat of my hand.  Once it was dry, I ironed it to my fabric. (To get a more intense colouring, I would have had to iron longer - but I wanted this mild version.)


Next, I used this orange/yellow combo (as above) and ironed sections of  it over the mottled mustardy-yellow background.


This paper (now dry) is a combination of greens.  The same disperse dye green, "au naturel" on the left,  mixed with a little black on the right and a little blue on the blackish looking streak/drips on top.  (All the mixing was done while wet.)  I have to say, this particular paper is my favourite - it produces a nice yellow green, a brilliant blue-green and a leaf green - all in the same paper! I think I've used it on every single piece of fabric I've produced for the Fire tutorials (and that's about 30 pieces of fabric - so far! - which goes to show how many times you can re-use these papers.)



I got a fern from the garden and used it as a resist before laying different sections of the green paper above all over it. ( By the way -  when ironing - I've been using a padded surface, a piece of craft paper, my fabric, the transfer dye paper, and then tracing paper over that to protect the iron - and the iron has to be dry, hot and constantly moving with good pressure to get good results.)




After quilting, I added some pastel dye sticks, watercolour dye crayons and a gold leaf pen to enhance, and then decided to add some beads - for once leaving them on!

And that was it! Big fun - I highly recommend it. :)

She picked ::drumroll::

Heidi said...

I wasn't totally interested until I read that blurb! LOL! Very intriguing now!

Phew!



Blogtoberfest is over! One month of posting every day, and today is the last day!

It was actually a very useful exercise for me.  It helped me to be disciplined about my process and my work - knowing that I had to provide content every day forced me to get into my sewing room nearly every day.  And that's never a bad thing!


In fact, it can only be a good thing.

And so, in one month, I produced:


Transracial Adoption






November




My Charley Harper quilt



In the Pink



Two wood quilts (I'll just show one here)




Erosion




Off To Oz




and Winnie.

NINE finished pieces!!! For some people, that's not very much, but for me (who has a full time day job and a family), that's an extraordinary amount of finished work in just 31 days.

I won't promise to produce that much work in a month again (sacrifices were made); but it was good to know that I can, with sufficient motivation. I've also decided that I should be more discplined about spending time in my sewing room - spending at least 1/2 an hour 4 times per week there. 

I also gained 13 new friendly people (welcome to you all - I hope you enjoy being here).

So "Blogtoberfest" was nothing but a success for me!

For my regular readers - I'll be getting back to my normal pace now - posting 2 to 3 times per week - but maybe I'll produce a finish more frequently than 2 to 3 times per month from now on. :)

Don't forget about the Giveaway, and Happy Halloween!