Bits and pieces

Now that my cosmos piece is out of the way, I have been dabbling. A few more screen prints and a couple of attempts at sunprinting. Last weekend was our last of daylight saving, and it was a beauty. I used oak leaves as a resist, and made several samples using 3 different fabrics. I found the wicking problem only happened on the poplin, so won't use that again with inks. The best results were from printing the actual leaves after screening. A nice texture, with a bit of colour variation.

Yesterday I was playing with FMQ one of the poppy prints. Although I used 4 different reds, from a distance you almost can't detect any difference and the centre one was actually a dark maroon. Quite a good lesson, that values really need spicing up for impact. I did a narrow zigzag, which gave better coverage that straight stitching, but didn't really help make the texture look realistic. I can carry on with the leaves today and then the background, all just practice and harmless!

Unusually for me, my first job even before breakfast was to clean my hob and bench. That was because I had just got my new miracle Enjo cloths, which you use with just cold water, and no chemicals. I would say 95% effective, but had to resort to Jif for a few tacky old grease spots. It said you could use it on your glass fire door, so I tried that as well and it was good. The only drawbacks I have found so far, is that the cloths need somewhere to hang to dry. And putting on a mitt soaked in cold water is not an erotic experience. Could be downright nasty in winter.

I've spent a deal of time the last few days trawling the internet for info about slice quilts and then suitable photos for dividing. When we did a poll last week the consensus was for landscape and vertical slices. Now people are backtracking and going off on tangents and we need to keep refocusing. I also keep thinking about the feasibility of the blocks and the look of the finished
quilt. Some people want to do their own thing, and others want to follow a design, some even more literally want to recreate something.

Once we get going I am sure it will be OK, even allowing that one or two people might not make it through to the finished product.