Machine-stitched resists

I've been trying out a different way of putting pattern onto dyed fabric - machine-stitched resists. Here are my first few trials.

I have used Scollata cotton fabric from Whaley's for these, it is quite lightweight and prepared for dyeing. I cut approximately half metre strips and then divided those into four. I used old polyester thread for the stitching.

I started by pleating each piece with about 3" pleats, then stitched:

* straight lines of zigzag stitch with a short stitch length

* V shapes in both a zigzag and stretch stitch

* battlement shapes in zigzag

Here they are before dyeing.

And after dyeing.

Then I pulled out all the stitching, rinsed and dried the fabric and got these results.

The top one didn't work as well, because the stitches weren't close enough together, but the others produced clear patters. Now I've convinced myself that it can work, I'm going to try some more samples.

Finished JQs and a trip to Harrogate

I enjoyed a few days in Harrogate last weekend, for the Quilters' Guild (QGBI) Conference and AGM. It was a great event and I took the opportunity to try something a bit different. I signed up for a miniature quilt workshop with Judith Dursley. I managed to foundation piece only three tiny trees in the half day workshop, while others managed up to nine, so I still have some way to go to finish the 20 trees for the quilt top. Here is my progress so far:

I had originally pictured myself continuing to work on these over the weekend, but in the end I had lots still to do on my first four Journal Quilts. I was only on the second one when I arrived and went home with three nearly complete after stitching at every opportunity. I just managed to finish them on time (30 June) and I was happy with how they turned out.

There was just one minor hiccough. When I tried to post my photos, the Yahoo website was down for maintenance Luckily it became available about 9:30pm and I was able to upload my photos.

Now what can I do with these leftover pieces?

Thanks for visiting.

Back again!

Probably best not to say too much about my blogging record last year (2 posts). Instead, here is a picture of my 2015 JQs (journal quilts) so far. These are just the top layer and I have not yet added the wadding, backing and stitching.

This year's Contemporary Quilt group 'rules' are that the size must be 6" x 12" and either all portrait or all landscape. (Click the pink and black CQ logo in the right margin to visit the group's website.)

My first four (which I have to finish by 30 April) use fabric that I monoprinted at a workshop with Sarah Burgess at last month's NWCQ meeting. As a group we have chosen 'landscape' as our theme this year, which is why these show mountains.

Thanks for visiting.

Back after 6 months

Hello again! I've been having a break from blogging, but thought I'd try starting up again.

Since my last post, I've been continuing with the monthly Journal Quilts. This year I am working on a theme of 'early computers', in particular 'Baby' or the Small-Scale Experimental Machine built at the University of Manchester in the 1940s. There is a reproduction at the Museum of Science and Industry, which I've been able to visit. I've also had a look round the computing section at the Science Museum in London.

For the JQs this year, I also decided to use a common colour scheme and dyed some blue-green and red-orange fabric. These colours can be seen in my first six 2014 JQs above. These are each 8 inches square (and include a line joining two of the sides).

I've made a few stamps of rows of valves, other parts, punched tape and binary numbers (noughts and ones), which were used in the pieces above. So far I've been thinking in terms of rows of identical components, but when looked at closely the valves, for example, are at slightly different angles and orientations and the wires bend in different ways. So I'm thinking now of looking more closely at the slight variations and basing the next few JQs (three perhaps?) on this idea.

Thanks for reading this.

Journal Quilts for 2013

Under the 'rules', 2013's journal quilts had to be finished by midnight on 31 December. I'm pleased to say that I finished mine by Tuesday lunchtime (not at all at the last minute), and here is the full set:

Looking at them all together, their variety is what stands out for me. Apart from March and April's, no two are similar, although seven used sheer fabrics in different ways and three used fabric I had painted or printed using thickened dyes. 

For this year, I would like to produce a more coherent series, with a clear development throughout the year. The shape for 2014 is 8 inches square and there has to be a line connecting two of the sides.

Best Wishes for a Happy and Creative New Year!

October's JQ - Manchester in the rain

Continuing to work up Journal Quilts using samples from the devoré workshop in September with Dionne Swift, here is one using a piece of velvet. To teach us the basic technique and to get us thinking about positive and negative shapes, for our first task we cut shapes out of a sheet of paper which we then arranged to form a negative mirror-image. We then used this to screen print with the devoré paste. Here is my piece:

I used the top half for my JQ and added buildings in the background using layers of nylon organza. Here is the result:

It looks like a typical day in Manchester, low clouds, rain and not much light. Note the lights on in the tower blocks in the background.

Christmas bauble

At yesterday's meeting of Parbold Embroiderers' Guild, we heard a fascinating talk by Katie Chaplin of Japan Crafts about her visits to Japan and then she gave a workshop on making kimekomi balls in Christmas fabrics.

Briefly, this is what we did. Starting with a polystyrene ball, on the surface we marked out one of three designs, then covered each area in fabric. The final touch was outlining in cord and adding a hanging loop.

Here is my finished bauble, which is already hanging on the tree (as you can see). I'm very pleased with it.

In fact it was a great choice of workshop to have for our Christmas meeting (thanks to Sue, our Programme Secretary) and followed an earlier visit from Katie when she taught us present wrapping Japanese-style.