What did I do yesterday?

Yesterday was a day of great concentration! I needed to dye a specific range of colours, but to do this I had to use a technique that is quite time consuming, so I don't use it very often. It is worth doing, though, as it creates well over 400 different colours within a minimum number of dyebaths. Of course 400 hanks means an awful lot of preparation, and once they are dyed they also have to be twisted into skeins, so the involve quite a lot of work.



Here are some of them drying in the open air.



They are shown in the early morning sun. By the time the sun is high enough to do any damage they will be in shade and fully protected.



This is just a small proportion, and may not seem very different to other methods at this stage, but there will be a wealth of colour change in these skeins when they are dry. Some of them may well find their way to Etsy at some time. I can't upload any more pictures as these are apparently just about at the limit of Blogger allowance.

Someone somewhere knows where most of these are going ;)

I just have to keep running

So much to do, so little time. Does anyone else feel it too? There is still so much I want to create, but no real time to do it.

There are a few more threads to upload to Etsy, but so far I've just done one today.



The colours in the sunlight are truly stunning, and this picture really doesn't do it justice.

The quilties went into the post, and I have to say that it was a steep learning curve. Although it probably sounds simple to you I found the concept quite difficult. I couldn't be as free as I wanted to be. It was the restricted time that was the problem, and next time 'I'll do better'



Had a lovely day shopping for birthdays yesterday. Daughter and grand-daughter both had birthdays within the last week, so we had a 'girls' day out. Shopped 'til we dropped, then collapsed for the evening. Lots to do in preparation for teaching in Cornwall this weekend. I know a couple of you are coming, I'm looking forward to meeting you. The workshops are at the Roseland Mews Studios, link in the sidebar if you are interested, and a workshop in Grayshott tomorrow.

Go with the flow

On Saturday we were at a Quilt Exhibition (we were actually there on Sunday as well, but this relates to the Saturday). The morning was quiet, and I just happened to have the embellisher with me! Working was obviously a little disjointed as it is difficult to serve, talk, discuss and embellish all at the same time, but the above picture shows the result of pulling apart roving and other fibres and just laying them on a background. There was no real thought to their placing, this 'just happened'. So, if you haven't got the machine out of the box, or if you have but are scared of trying something new. Don't be! Just go for it and 'go with the flow' The above needs more work. It will have hand and machine stitching in the end, and will be a bag - probably. At the moment I too am just going with the flow.

There is another prize draw on the dyeing blog. Don't forget to enter. The prize this time is 2 Yarn Twists. They are worth having - I will be using one to hand stitch on the above.





























































































There is another prize draw on the Dye-a-Lot blog, don't forget to enter.

Take a Stitch Tuesday

As a textile artist there is nothing better than stitching. However family commitments and other obstacles have been in my way for too long. It was for this reason that I decided to join Sharon Boggon's Take a Stitch Tuesday challenge. Of course, because I WANT to stitch doesn't mean that there will be lots of time to do so! Consequently my effort so far is minimal. I have used a perle thread from the Sassa Lynne Serendipity range, (not yet on the website but worth enquiring about) and 14 ct canvas painted with copper fabric paint.



I could have uploaded stitching from a while ago, but this wouldn't have solved my current craving for stitch. I intend to do more, and you can follow my efforts here.


More on the Embellisher later this week. I'm looking forward to that too.

Rectangles

Well, not very precise ones, but a sample for the current challenge. Yarns meshed onto white felt, cut into shape and remeshed onto black felt - alternating the top surface.