Third time is the charm!

Maggie Clark shows with her two latest silk scarves that you aren't stuck when your print does not turn out exactly as you hoped on the first try.   Unhappy with the first eco print, Maggie re- printed the bundle using new and different plant materials and cooked them again.  Still not happy, Maggie added some rusty metals, new and different plant materials and re-cooked the bundle in a used bath of cochineal dye  The third time is the charm!

Lovley design with good prints and some interesting colors.

I love the overall textures and colors on this scarf.  So much visual interest and texture.

Detail photo #1

Detail photo #2, even though the fabric is flat, there is great 3-d texture.

Detail photo #2 show great color and texture

Blocks and stencils and stamps....Oh my!

Last Sunday's workshop was a real treat.  Beautiful temperatures, bright sunny skies, hard-working students letting go with their creativity made for a very special day.  It was an indigo only workshop, but we worked with two resist paste techniques. Most of these examples will show how different each resist technique differs, but more importantly, they will show that even from the not so great prints, there is plenty to salvage.  There will be no waste.  We used things like doilies (plastic and cotton) stamps, ( I was fortunate enough to find some beautiful recycled hand-carved teak stamps from India) quilt stencils to use with either Cassava paste resist or with clay resist paste.  This is our second class on resist pastes, and the students were well over their fears, and no longer seeking perfection in each piece.  I hope you enjoy their work.

Maggie Clark used Cassava Paste Resist pounced through a plastic doily to create this lovely design.

A collection of recycled wooden carved teak stamps from India with cassava paste resist created the diapered pattern.

A plastic quilt stencil of birds and cherry blossoms used with Cassava Paste resit tamped on cotton.  Clarity will become better with more experience in how to fill large areas with resist.

This cotton fabric has not yet completely dried after stamping with cassava paste resist using large teak stamps form India.  The outer border was free hand stamped with foam paddle to create a lovely textured border.

Another plastic quilt stencil, but this time used with clay paste resist.  The fabric is still slightly damp after rinsing, but fine detail was easy with this type of resist.

This pineapple design was from a plastic quilt stencil used with  clay paste resist

Kay Stanno used cassava paste resist with a Sun flower-carved teak stamp block form India. The paste had started separating, but served to highlight the actual design of the stamp.

All over use of 3" teak stamps with cassava paste resist with a foam roller created a nice pattern on cotton muslin.

Bits and Pieces!

I am writing this post to show what can be done with just Bits and Pieces of fabrics.  It is kind of a predecessor to my next blog post.  I helped teach a 4-H Summer camp on quilting, and gave each student a small paper bag to tape to the table in front of their sewing machine. It was meant to hold the little scraps of cloth not used after trimming their blocks during construction.  I was amazed to find how much fabric had been thrown away when the class had ended.  I created these blocks with the scrap pieces from the bags to show them how much farther they could have gone with just a little effort and with using their imagination.    The next post will show two resist techniques on small pieces of fabrics.  Many students thought their samples were not worth much, but I assured them that using a design like this quilt, they could turn their seemingly worthless trials into something beautiful.  First, the quilt top (it is filled and basted, ready to be hand quilted "in the ditch".