Hand Printed - Sunshine Lotus Flower Quilt

In preparation for my nieces 21st I've started to print up panels of lotus flower in yellows and grey  for her quilt.
Might redo the center panel as I dropped the leaf print onto the lotus flower and had to over print the flower.. one mistake and you need to start again. I did prepare to print two panels by cutting out two 21 inch square pieces of cotton right from the start but the printing will have to wait for another day as I do have to get ready for work.

The large panel and these two strips will form the large center star.
The individual lotus flower panels will be cut for the center of the smaller stars.

A rough sketch of what the quilt might look like. i'm not sure what will be in the two upper triangles of the yellow square..perhaps more printed pieces. Anyway it is a start. maybe I will get this quilt done before her birthday and not a year later like my nephews.

A little light on the subject

 Daylight hours and better light! But the wind is blowing and it is making it impossible to capture a shot without the quilt top blowing upwards when on the clothes line or is partially in shadow when hung on the pergola.

But you do see how much brighter the blue fabric is in the light! Far more appealing and not so dull looking.

Last night shot looks grey compared to the one taken this morning.

Baby Blues Quilt

 Yet another colleague and friend has fallen to the lifetime commitment of parenthood and is preparing to give birth any day now to a baby boy. This lovely lady is a joy to work with and so I said I would to love to make her baby a quilt. I had already made up a quilt top of crosses (look here) for her upon hearing of her pregnancy but later found out that she was having a boy, so I deemed it not suitable.

 Her theme to be for the baby room is Jungle and I had thought of doing a quilt with animals in bright primaries (which is probably what I should have done). But not having made a start on the quilt other than drawing the design (mainly due to illness and work) I have opted to utilise what I have.

Hand printed fabric ..hand carved lino print monkey

I've dragged out my hand printed fabrics with the view to utilising grey and blue colour scheme and the monkey print. I had thought of making chevrons in grey and blue interspersed with a monkey print here and there but gave up on that idea fairly quickly - another day when I have more time.
So a simple square framed by a border is an easy and quicker quilt to make.

The thistle print actually looks really effective cut up  in the quilt

Some left over lotus flower print

A naturally dyed square of grey material from eucalyptus leaves and iron

 Lotus flower print

So it is a little darker than I would have envisioned for a baby but I think  it would be utilised more of a lap quilt.

It certainly is unique and a one of a kind quilt.
I will grab a better photo  tomorrow in the daylight hours, once again doing my photography at night!

Lampshade and Natural Dyeing Pieces

My thrifted lampshade, that I bought a couple of weeks ago, almost completed with new shade of hand printed fabric. I just need to find some tape to tidy up the inside edges. 

I haven't got a light fitting that I can actually hang it from so the next best thing - hang it in the bush - what any sane person would do!

Once again I had problems getting the leaves to print evenly, but at least you know its hand printed

Some solar dyeing with eucalyptus leaves giving off a nice orangy brown.

This piece of materrial has been an on going experiment and has been roasting on and off in the sun for a month. I was hoping for a leaf imprint but I think that to obtain that you actually have to leave the rolled up material alone and not investigate the material weekly  to see what  is happening.

Some of the naturally dyed pieces waiting for my next project - thought I would utilize them with the monkey prints. That little exercise will have to wait until my next days off.

 And some doilies that have been given a colour treatment in berries. They actually look pinker when seen by the naked eye

Oh and my daughter loved her new monkey t-shirt

Hand printed fabric swap - part 100 -the never ending story

I started off with base colours of yellow , bright pink, white and black.

A request for magenta and oranges lead me to start mixing colours. the centre of the lotus flower  is yellow and bright pink to yield a rather burnt orange. And then I dabbed the hot pink on the outer edges of the lotus flower. Working in the pattern that I stamped yesterday (but more evenly spaced) has given this rather hot run of material. One of my friends last night suggested that the flower reminded her of Florence Broadhurst prints...I do love her work, high praise indeed

 Random stamping for the next request for muted tones, earthy favouring green, grey, brown or white.
I struggled with this print as my grey leaves would just not stamp evenly and give me a nice impression - always half hearted and missing the middle of the leaves. It was most frustrating. I do like the mix of colours though. The burnt orange above had a little grey added to it to yield a olive/yellow green found on the outside of the flowers. The center of the lotus flower is straight yellow. When I finished stamping the lotus flowers I then added some more pink to give the golden brown.

I've got to say it though that grey was a real 'bitch' to print with and caused me much frustration.
Parts of the print is okay but I might have to try this one again.

And to finish off some of the inks and just play a quick medallion.

Are you sick of the prints yet????

Hand Printed Fabric Swap

My son gets up really early for swimming training , usually between 0430 and 0445 am, and it is a rare day that I will sleep through his preparations to leave the house. I do admire his stamina at getting up so consistently and the effort then he ensures he puts into his studies, no matter how tired he is.

Any how this morning nothing was going to get me back to sleep. Rather than wake the rest of the household, I holed up in my bed and started to play with the stamps and ink on paper

Looks a little familiar but a twist on placement utilising the original centre of the lotus flower to pattern.

Still bored and wide awake I decided to carve another stamp. Something simple because I was lounging in bed! So I carved a circle with lines circling around., then I went crazy stamping.

This afternoon I tried to be a little more organized  in my placement. It took quite a few goes to get the right amount of ink on the stamp and to figure out the placement of the grey centres so that they would all fit without overlapping or looking to haphazard.

I've really got to work on my spacing

By the time I finished this lot my back was killing me! I have new found admiration for the girls who do this type of work all the time. Just reminds me I am not as young as I used to be.

 By the time I finished this material I thought it looked a bit bare - too may wide open spaces.

So I plopped another  pink circle middle of the paddock and filled the gap a little

So many ideas, so little time and such a sore back! I'm going to my sisters shortly and will anaesthetise it with a white wine or two. Have a great weekend!

Smurf Blue

Dabbling with the stamps with blue ink meant getting my hands dirty and being another stinking hot day in Adelaide I was not going to wear gloves. So now I have a lovely shade of blue adorning my ever so elegant hands. I have never had very delicate looking hands  and you could liken them to the hands of the peasants in The Potato Eaters, by the flying Dutchman himself, Vincent Van Gough. I really am getting back to my Dutch heritage today. A Dutch smurf it is then!

 Trialling the thistle screen
I had to add more screen filler in places where I missed particularly on the edge of the screen. That ink manages to squeeze through the tiniest of places.

Next time I'll measure and place the screen to give a regular print. I also wont allow the dog inside because she kept running over the material when it was drying. But what are you to do, its stinking hot and I wouldn't want to be locked outside on such a scorching day.

Managed to utilize the stamp with fabric ink by dabbing the ink on with an ordinary kitchen sponge. Of course it soaks through the sponge and hence my smurf characteristics.

Any ho, thanks for stopping by again and I cant wait to see what everybody comes up with for the fabric swap.

Hand Printed Fabric Swap

Are you bored yet with my stamp?

I quite like it. I am finding it a challenge to get a good print consistently though.

I found that using textile ink to runny to be applied with a stamp. It is great for screen printing but doesnt give a good even coverage when applied to a rubber stamp.

My red block printing ink on the other hand is nice and tacky a gives a thick even coverage with a roller.
Do you like a consistent multiple pattern or random stamping?

It is probably too hot today to be playing with screen printing inks as they were drying out too quickly.

I had less trouble with the smaller stamp of the seed pod. Every one of them came out with a nice even print.
It makes me wonder of my leaf and lotus flower stamp doesnt give as good a print because they have been mounted on a block.

The advantage of having the stamp on the block means that it is easier to manipulate without the stamp block flexing when trying to place the print. It also means that the stamp is well clear of the work surface and I dont risk rolling the fabric as I ink the block.

My dad made one with a handle and one without. The leaf block can be inked easily on the table surface, whereas the lotus flower has to be held as you ink it, but is easier to manipulate it. No handle is also easier to store away.

Anybody have any thoughts on ink types to utilize with a larger stamp block?