Playing with Colour

Lately, I have been experimenting with adding colour to black fabric. My original plan was to discharge the black and then add colour back in................this stuff will not discharge. It is good quality quilters cotton but for some reason it does not want to discharge. I've tried discharge paste, gel bleach, and even hairdressing streaking solution.........nothing worked. So I began playing with paints and not having a lot of success. The best result I have had so far is by painting a motif onto the fabric using an opaque white, once dry I added colour by using Tsukineko all purpose inks applied with those Fantastix applicators.
I don't generally like those applicators but on this black fabric I don't need to be precise (don't have to stay inside the lines)I plan to add some thread work to see if I can get a little more colour "POP"
Below is a postcard that is on it's way to a friend who will soon be celebrating her 80th birthday, I had to send it out a little early because she is jetting off to Mexico.........how cool is that?

Wicked Cool!!!

I received a fabulous surprise in my mailbox this week from Mary over at Quilt Hollow. I had not won a giveaway or anything, she sent this to me "just because" .........isn't that the BEST!!
The whimsical print even has a poem and some real cute little ratties on it.....Fantastic!Well, I gotta tell you that this little bag has the most cool closure I have ever seen. This is a "Snap Happy" pattern from Stitchin' Sisters, go check them out.
Have you seen these before? The secret is that a metal measuring tape is used to make the bag "snap"closed........I think this is absolutely brilliant!!!!!

I LOVE this so much, I had to make one for a friend..... I am sure I'll make plenty more of them.
I don't actually have the pattern but my years working in the garment industry has left me with some fairly good pattern making skills.I made a slightly larger one using coffee themed prints......I included a little pocket inside that is just the right size to hold one of those prepaid coffee cards. I think these make great "just because" gifts.

Thanks again Mary...........I always say.........Quilt bloggers ARE the best!

Edit:
I just found out that the patterns for these bags are available at The Marsh Store (one of my personal favourite spots) so if you are in this area, why not drop by and pick one (or more) up.........make one for yourself and a few to have ready for friends and family.

Seasonal Doodle

Wanting to get a postcard ready for our guild exchange this week, I came across a cute pumpkin fabric and was inspired to do a little doodling.

I did this one quickly in my sketchbook
and then repeated a similar one directly onto a piece of my painted fabric to create this card.
Do you participate in postcard exchanges with a quilt guild or fibre-art group? You just never know what will show up in your mailbox

Ta-Daa!!

Look what was hiding under that blue paint.
Now I ask you........why on earth would someone have felt the need to paint this in the first place?This is the natural wood, no stain or varnish, I have simply used a little Lemon Oil to bring back it's beauty. You can see some of the wonderful grain here and the great decal on this piece.
You just never know what you might find under painted furniture........sometimes the paint is covering something nasty, it can be a gamble and a lot of work......this one was well worth the effort.

Stripping!

Yup, that's right, I am stripper!....... okay........wait, it's not nearly as scary as that sounds.
A short time ago I came across this terrific sewing cabinet, trouble is that it had been painted. I took a chance that it would be a very nice piece once restored and purchased it.
You can see that someone was really into decorative painting, each side was painted a little differently. Fortunately the original decal from White Sewing Machine Co. is still in tact on the inside of the lid and had not been painted over.With the hardware removed, I used a heat gun and sand paper to get rid of as much of the paint as possible.
It is looking pretty good. In order to get the last remaining bits out of the corners and grooves, I will have resort to the use of a chemical stripper. I want to do this outside so if the weather cooperates, I hope to have this finished by the end of the week.