Eco – printing on paper

The sketchbook I picked up from Wey Valley Workshop has the theme An Artist called Nature, which naturally ( pardon the pun ) led me to eco -printing. My first efforts were rather pathetic, turning out decidedly yellow.

I used eucalyptus soaked in vinegar and water. This second one looks a bit like a Swiss cheese plant.

I remembered I had a collection of pressed leaves, so I dug them out for another try. The first pages were simply folded and tied, then steamed for a couple of hours. This time I used a mixture of leaves, no vinegar and wrapped the pages round a bit of rusty pipe.

These eucalyptus leaves came from the market and had what looked like flower buds. Sadly they didn’t come out, but they’ve still made some nice impressions.

Here you can see the imprint of eucalyptus, maple and oak.

Some lovely detail. I’m sure I’ll be able to make use of some of these.

Triangle Quilt

Not long after my lovely girl got married I finally finished the quilt I’d been making for the happy couple. Yellow is definitely her favourite colour and she loves geometrics, so decision made! I did some research and bought a lot of fabric – of course I didn’t have the right ones, (does one ever) then cut out a load of triangles. It took ages arranging them on the floor before piecing them.

I’ve managed fairly well to get an even spread, but looking at it now I feel like rearranging some of it. Too late now!

Here you can see some of the fabrics I used and the quilting. I just did simple diamonds, which I think work with the geometric theme.

Another close-up. For the back I used up leftover triangles for a less busy result. That way they can choose according to their mood.

Miraculously the quilting went ok over the triangles on the back. I used yellow thread, but it doesn’t really show in this picture. Anyway, it got quilting out of my system for a while, though I did see some inspirational work at the Festival of Quilts this summer so you never know.

Not Just Yellow

Apple leaf yellow

Here’s another yellow. I was hoping for orange. It is quite a golden yellow, but not the deep orange I’ve seen on Pinterest. The apple leaves are supposed to be fermented in water for a month, but I chickened out after 4 days. I think I’ll try again. I’ve got a lidded bucket I can leave in the garden. 

Shades of yellow

Here are all my different shades of yellow so far.

I have managed another colour using bark from a tree where the local cattle have been pulling it off. Looking it up I think it is alder buckthorn. I carefully followed the instructions in my Scottish dye book to try and get black, but instead got brown. It’s a very nice brown fortunately.

Alder blackthorn

It is actually pretty similar to my first dye experiment using avocado skins and pits. I don’t mind as I’m mainly experimenting at the moment. Also, one of the appeals of natural dyeing for me is to find native dye sources and avocados definitely aren’t that!

Dye bundles

This is my collection of other colours. Before I do any thing with all these lovely fabrics I’ve got to do some testing to see how light fast they are, so I’ve made some thread wraps, which will sit on the windowsill for about 6 weeks.

Lighfastness test

My next experiment will be eco dyeing. I’ve picked up a load of eucalyptus leaves, which will go in fabric bundles.

Triangle Quilt

Now the exhibition is finished it’s time to get on with a few other projects that I’ve had in the pipeline. I’ve finally finished cutting out triangles for a quilt I promised my daughter. It was my plan to use up some of my fabric, but unfortunately she wanted yellow and grey. I think I may have bought all this fabric – none from my stash. Whoops!

391 triangles

By my calculation I need 392 triangles. I’m hoping I’ve miscounted. My original idea was to make a quilt as you go quilt, but I’ve seen sense. First of all I’d need as much fabric again! Secondly it’s taken forever to cut out this many pieces.
Now I just need to plan the layout, which requires furniture moving to create space and making sure the dog doesn’t interfere.