As Promised

Here is the Plane Tree Bark- not trimmed, not mounted, but done--- I THINK ! In " real life" , it is better because you can really see the peely layers.This little piece is mainly layers of Dupioni silk, heavily machine stitched with painted Evolon, organza and the odd bit of commercial cotton batik. now it needs finishing !
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AND, NOW- FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT .....

 ...the first dye experiments. Above, what I was aiming for.

To the left, serendipitous rosy magenta as a result of not a tight enough scrunch and too much magenta dye- but OK.








And here- more of what I was aiming for. All in all, for the first dyeing I have done in YEARS, quite pleasing and usable for sure. Now, for the greens- but maybe not till I get the tree up and decorated and some honest to goodness housework done. Might even bake a cookie? Stay tuned :-)

Note re: Procion MX dyes- I LOVE the fact that this stuff is more granular than it used to be. It does not seem to fly everywhere as it once did- mainly straight up my nose! I did wear a mask though  which I never used to : -(

New Post, new day, old process.....

I did it today!! Photo to follow . I dyed this afternoon in our cellar. I bought some Procion MX dyes and finally got round to trying them out. I made a piece of cotton lawn fabric dyed with magenta and turquoise dyes using the Low Water Immersion technique. The dyes are familiar to me as once upon a time , in another incarnation, I did a LOT of batik dyeing and I used Procion dyes then . The LWI technique is new to me though. It seems kind of tie dye- ish and I like parts of what I did . Parts are too monochromatic though- too rosy with too little turquoise effect. It is nice but I wanted the two colours to show. I know what to do now so next time .....

I still need to post a picture of the nearing finished Plane Tree Bark piece. Pleasant colours. interesting textures. I will perhaps add a light layer of Lumiere paint texture on the top layer just to break up the flatness of that surface.

I have begun working on my Green Inchies. SO much to look forward to : )

Bucketing down

It is WET! I am not really complaining as it is so good for the trees and shrubs just before winter. I am whining just a little though as it is soooo gloomy . Makes my head hurt! I like light, especially when I am working. I am working today on the background for one of the little Plane Tree Bark pictures I took a few weeks ago. The substrate is a piece of pale sort of celery green Dupioni upholstery silk. Great coour and I am over stitching it with a variegated green , some very pale grey green and some interesting jadey teal thread made by Molnlycke. Can't get Molnlycke any more , not here anyway. I always liked it and my new machine likes it too. It is a lovely colour and very even thread.

Now I am at the stage of choosing from TONNES of fabric, the very right colours to make the various layers of this peeling bark. I am not really hung up on exactness here but would like to convey the feeling of thin , peeling layers and that fabulous top layer of biggish  scales of deep purply blue more mature bark. I posted the picture earlier, but in case you missed it, here it is again. Is this not wonderful??

  The colours look a bit faded here where I am typing. Maybe they will be better on the post. well, wish me luck! I am using a LOT of thread : )

More Plane talking

 The rain on the Plane stays mainly ... on the bark, altering the colours dramatically . Who knew that Plane bark had PURPLE in it??

I took more pictures of by brother's Plane tree bark in the rain yesterday. The colours were very much more intense so they will be added to the mix when I make my little series of pieces based on these pictures.

I had a lovely experience yesterday. I was invited to share in a fibre art bonanza by a VERY generous woman . We enjoyed a cuppa and shared many bags of gorgeous yarns and fabrics all given to her by an equally generous woman. No time to play at the moment but very soon I shall be experimenting with these.

Right now, I am working on Patchen . It is coming along nicely but not much to look at yet. I am making it all in quiet misty colours , faded and hard to see. Patchen is full of ancient gravestones which are hard to read commemorating  ancestors all long gone. As history fades lives,making details difficult to discover, so I HOPE this little quilt will have an air of distance, time and mystery . The sheep in the foreground should snap us back to this century! Pictures will follow soon.