Thursday, June 29, 2017

Wet Cyanotype, Soy Wax Paste and Pole Wrapped Shibori

If you look at the title of my post you might wonder what all those have in common. They are all done on fabric and I did them all this past week. I'm beginning to think that at age 70 I've got attention deficit disorder because I'm just bouncing from one project to the next.

First I used up the pretreated cyanotype fabric that I had. The first pictures are of the finished pieces that I showed in process last week, the last picture is all the ones I've done.


I'm loving these, it's easy and unpredictable to a certain extent which definitely appeals to me. I found that I really had to get them quite wet and if I put them out early in the morning most of the process happened before they dried out. The big difference between these and regular cyanotype is the chemicals on the background react differently when wet and instead of a solid dark blue it produces a mottled background of sometimes unexpected colors. I will do more but I want to do some planning on how I want to use them instead of just randomly printing. I will probably keep this group together as one with a sashing in-between the blocks.

So, while going thru my fabrics trying to find something that would work for the sashing I pulled out several pieces of green pole wrapped shibori that had been languishing on the bottom of the tote for several years. A sudden burst of inspiration and a few hours later I had this.
It's about 50 " square and used almost every bit of the fabric.

Next up was soy wax paste. This is a product that Jane Dunnewold has produced and of course I had to buy some after I saw this video of Jane demonstrating it.
My first try was not very successful, although in the video it said you could use regular newspaper to steam the piece I found that the print came off onto my fabric. Second try was much more successful.
I used stencils that I had cut for my weekly stitching, on  a silk noil background and kept it very simple.
Originally I had planned on doing more shapes in the background, but then decided since the Fourth of July is coming, I kept it red, white and blue.

Weekly Stitching
Signs of Life:The five universal shapes.
Week #26



Last week was also Fiddle week here in town and that week is also yard sale week, seems like there are yard sales everywhere. I made one purchase, a bag of pearl cotton balls for $1.
There was one green in the bag that I didn't already have, so that one got used in my daily stitching.

2017 Daily Stitching #2 days 17-23



I also started quilting the hand dyed circles over dyed with indigo, with more circles. Now I'm contemplating what to do next.

I'll be linking up to "Off the Wall Friday" and "Slow Sunday Stitching"

8 comments:

  1. I love everything...the cyanotype is wonderful and the stitching just lovely...looks like French knots...is it ?...What weight perle cotton did you use?....Your post is a feast for the eyes!

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    1. Thank you, the french knots were done in a size 5 pearl cotton. I use #5 and #8 the most.

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  2. Oh yes the leaves look fabulous! Nice snag on the thread.

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  3. The cyanotype leaves are faboulous!

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  4. Your habit of daily stitches is paying dividends. I'm particularly enthralled by the circular web design created with french knots.

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  5. Great find on the thread! So many different projects - and techniques you are playing with. Fun.

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  6. Wow! Great bag of threads for a dollar! Your leaf prints are fun and I love seeing your stitching each week.

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