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.

Testing

Do you remember those Black & White prints I over dyed with paint? It is all part of a test process. I do like to use paints quite a bit in my quilting and really want to get a good sense of how they will stand up over time and maybe a little abuse.
I plan to let it live in the light, use it as a table topper and wash it often to document how the painted fabrics hold onto their colour ....even the "off-white" background is a painted fabric, it was originally a white tone on tone.I used some of the original black and white prints when I pieced the back.
This quilt measures 30"x 30" and is known as a "Schnibbles". Mary over at Quilt Hollow sent me this pattern called State Fair .......she confesses to being a "Schnibbles Addict".
To see more Schnibbles, head on over to Miss Rosie's Quilt Co. but be careful............. you may become one too!

And the Winner is..........

KIM! I used a random number generator and your number came up. Congrats to you and thank you to everyone for their wonderful comments.

This card will be on it's way to you shortly

A Little Behind

Have you been wondering where my responses to The Creative Prompt Project have gotten to? I am just a little behind ........well, a lot actually, but I will try to get caught up. It may require being very "creative" so for word # 81 "Middle" I think this photo says it all.
Prompt words, #s 82, 83, & 84 are Curve, Compass, and Crimson. I have combined all 3 with this doodle. A Compass is a great tool to draw a perfect Curve and this one has a piece of Crimson lead!
I will be posting the winner of the postcard tomorrow morning, so if you have not yet entered, there is still time, just be sure to leave a comment in my Sept 16th post below.

Playing and Sharing........(maybe with you)

A couple of weeks ago I got to spend a few days with a fibre-artist and long time friend. Not only did we have a wonderful time catching up but we also got in a little "play time"
Sometimes this is when some terrific spontaneous designs can happen. We were testing out a number of different supplies, when I quickly drew a feather that I could paint to see if there would be much "bleeding" across the lines. Once I got it home, I realized that I really quite liked it, I added a little doodling and turned it into this postcard.I decided to make a couple more based on that same design
This one is using some tiny scraps left over from a previous painted fabric project, the little circles were coloured using Sharpie markers.This one was done using a marbled fabric, the colour placement was not planned, I drew the individual feathers onto the paper side of fusible and simply pressed it to the marbled fabric and then cut out the feathers, sharpie markers were again used for colouring the circles.
Here comes the "sharing" part of this post...........would you like to have this postcard? I am afraid the first 2 are spoken for, but this third one will go to one of my blog readers. To have a chance to find this card in your mailbox, just leave me a comment. Are you a regular visitor or have you just recently come across this blog? I know that there are lots of you who visit often but don't always leave a comment and that's okay, but if you want a chance to win this card you'll have to let me hear from you. Remember to be sure I have a way to contact you. I'll announce the winner next Thursday, Sept 23rd so you have lots of time.

This n' That

I attended a couple of Antique shows in the area this weekend and came away with this pretty little machine along with it's original box and clamp all in excellent condition.
I also scored this beautifully carved wooden box. It is from Wheeler & Wilson sewing machines.
The fall issues of The Canadian Quilter and A Needle Pulling Thread magazines, both have wonderful layouts showing the winning quilts from this year's Grand National. It is always exciting to see one's work on the pages of one of these slick publications. You can learn more about The Grand National quilt show hereAnd finally, here is a little peak at what I am doing with those black and white prints I painted a little while ago. More on this later