Day Five

So take a close look at this picture. There are two fabrics here - one below the other. Can you see both? They started out the same and on day three I screen printed tiny orange flowers all over the front. I then split it in half and then yesterday the one on the bottom I scraped red dye all over the back. Today you can see that doing this has changed the hue of the front so some of the yellow is gone and the red and orange are not contrasting so strongly. I am working towards making those red/orange leaves that we see in the fall. The picture looks more pink/purple but in real life it is a warmer red.




























As you can see above, fabric changes once it has been washed out and dried. What it looked like yesterday when it was wet and had just been printed is different than what it looks like rinsed and dry- they both lightened up. Both of these pieces will be tray dyed to remove most of the pure white color. The challenge is to pick a color for the background that will blend. What ever color it is will change the color of what is there. For example: if I used green on the one on the left the green spots showing would become a darker green and the blue spots would change to blue green rather than the light cerulean blue you see now... A different set of changes would happen if I dyed it cerulean blue..

The one below is a picture of the back of the fabric I have sewn ovals all over. I have gathered the ovals and it is all bunched up. Keep in mind this is about a 1/2 yard of fabric in that has become a 14x14 " square. It is batching overnight in a tray of a wild mix of colors. It will be interesting to see what colors have mixed and mingled when I take it apart and rinse it out tomorrow.















Here is another one that I screen printed yesterday. I photocopied a copyright free pineapple design, colored in some of the white spaces, and had a thermofax screen made. I screen printed it overlapping the design multiple types to create texture. This too will be tray dyed to remove most if not all of the white still showing. it would be interesting to create a different screen this time coloring in the negative space and leaving the dots in the middle of the leaf white...I love the texture this pattern created.














I also spent some time today writing and drawing some ideas in prep for the seven pieces I hope to create for over the fireplace. I am working on maple seeds and Japanese maples. Thinking of words and images that would inspire the seasons of life...These are good to have in the back of my mind as I make fabric. I am hoping to use a lot of what I create during these days in these pieces. So leaves, branches, seeds images all play a part. I still need that maple leaf screen.


And lastly I counted up all the dishrags I have made this fall in my sunday down time and it is up to 34! I hope to create an Etsy shop soon to sell some of my smaller handmade pieces and these will be the first to be advertised for sale.




I am procrastinating again on the building...Sigh It really is a monster on my back. Gotta do something soon. Maybe tomorrow after cleaning up the stuff batching then the whole rest of the day's spare time will be spent on building matters- after I celebrate Christ's birth with my family of course..
Until Tomorrow.