My Favorite Books

Saturday, July 9, 2016

Some playtime!

On Thursday, I decided to go collect some leaves and/or flowers and do some eco printing!  I'm not sure how this will turn out but this is the collection I placed on my fabric...yes, the fabric is wet after soaking in alum/water.

And here the package is all wrapped up! Just like Christmas, right!  I'm not planning on opening this up until Sunday...not sure how long I should allow to 'sit' but I decided the longer the better, right?  I know folks put these in a steamer but since I don't have a steamer I'm hoping the hot, humid Michigan weather will help cook it!  This piece is in a container filled with boiling water and will be 'resting' in the sun for the next few days.  I'm not adding any dye to the water. I can always overdye the piece.  Fingers crossed!

It's wrapped tight but not as tight as I would with shiboi.  Yes, I am winging this!  I  purchased some books on Eco printing that I've quickly looked at pages and pictures but just haven't taken the time to sit and read.  Something I wanted to do today outside but it's so dang hot and humid I resorted to staying inside and playing.  I feel guilty just sitting in the house reading but not when I sit outside!  Go figure!

I mentioned that I had some wood pieces given to me by a weaver and her hubby.  So the other day I put some wood pieces, can't remember names of them right now, in some boiling water and let sit.  After I rolled up my foliage piece, I mixed up some alum/water as well as soda ash/water....I'm dong my own test!   I have 3 pieces each in the jars with the wood dye.  I'm curious to see which piece picks up the most color from the dye.

I just may let these sit until the weekend as well.  I'll be gone most of Friday and I do have bindings to sew on my solar print pieces so that will keep me busy!

And I've had some good suggestions from my readers on the quilting of my modern quilt/hex piece, which I really appreciate!  I'm going to make another tracing using different size hex's and just quilt those in white thread as well as a few echo lines around the hex strips...I can see this in my head...now I just need to put it on paper!  Guess we'll see!!

5 comments:

  1. Eco printing is a technique I’m soooo interested in. I did a little bit of experimenting with two pals but want to do more. Not having a steamer or way to steep the fabric has prevented further playing. I love the idea of allowing the sun to do the work……so anxious to see your results. Tx’s for sharing your clever idea.

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  2. That is one of the most interesting techniques. I have never tried it since I live in a city and there is no place to bury it or set it outside. But do keep us posted as to the results!

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  3. Looking forward to seeing the results! At our Fiber Art Bee workshop in June, our instructor did a demo on "boiled books" with eco-dyeing on paper. The impressions and colors she got were so subtle and pretty. She used a big lobster pot and boiled the compressed book (watercolor paper) with plant materials between the pages for about 1 1/2 hours. Ferns, maple leaves, and eucalyptus leaves made the nicest prints. She had mulberries, too, along with rose leaves. Messy but interesting.

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  4. Isn't it great fun to experiment? This looks quite intriguing......I am willing to bet it is hard not to peak

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  5. I'm looking forward to the results as well. It's cold down here in Australia, so it strange to read about the hot and humid weather you are having.

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Had to put Word Verification back in! Getting strange messages!!!