Just Because I Had It

 As part of the Blackwork course I am doing, we are being encouraged to play with textile multi-media. I started painting on some linen and using Shiva Oil Sticks but more on that later - if it works at all. I had heard that someone has done some blackwork onto felting. Hmm, how is that done? Turns out you make the felt then place some linen over it and do the blackwork through it all. Then you pull out the linen. Not having any felt to hand, and not feeling like making any, I looked around. 

Lo and behold, I had some silk paper, with Angelina Fibre in it, lying around. Why not try?? 

So I found a small piece of linen - didn't want to do a big piece in case it was a disaster. 

It is the Embroiderers Guild, Victoria's 60th anniversary this year and the theme was, surprise, surprise, Diamonds. I found some images online and thought I would try them on graph paper. The designs didn't work well in that format, the angles were not right. 

Feeling a bit impatient, I then decided to just draw the diamond shape onto the fabric using a water soluble pen. The pen has a relatively thick nib (thick for blackwork, anyway). So I had to guess where some of the spaces ended. I also didn't do it all that carefully, so the shape isn't exactly symmetrical. 

I then placed the linen over the silk paper and started sewing. As I did a small design, the spaces were small, I had to choose small patterns. I varied the thickness of the threads to give a bit of difference. I also left some spaces empty - not only to hasten things but for aesthetic reasons too. But it did hasten things. 

When I pulled out the linen, some of the sewing caught in it because I had gone through it when sewing. Most of the sewing was ok but a few stitches did pull. Pulling out the threads also distorted some of the sewing so it doesn't look particularly like blackwork. Ah well, it was just an experiment. I am not unhappy with it, I just don't know what I would do with this sort of thing. This piece is going into my folder. 

Maybe I should call it a rough diamond. 

Experimenting with colouring linen for blackwork embroidery

Our final lesson for the blackwork course I am doing is about colouring the fabric and then doing some embroidery on it. We were asked to colour some calico but I haven't really understood why, unless the teacher thinks that most of the participants will not have coloured fabric before. 

It was also suggested that we use acrylic paint. But I have found that when I use that the fabric handles quite differently, quite stiffly. 

I have decided to play with the colouring of fabric a bit differently. So far, I have used Inktense blocks, the small ones, that look like sticks, and ink.  It has been interesting to find information about using them on fabric. Usually, the articles are about using Inktense pencils and blocks for quilting. We use even weave linen for blackwork. Here is one I found that is about dyeing the fabric for cross-stitch. As I found no information about that, I have decided that linen is a plant-based fabric, not all that different from cotton, so will just assume it is in the same category. 

Today I played with small bits of fabric. I used some that was not washed, presumably has size on it, and some that I washed. Then I tried the Inktense blocks with dry fabric, dampened fabric and dampened blocks. They gave different results. I think the best way to go will be with the dampened fabric because there is less smearing of colour - which will be less likely to come off on the embroidery threads, I hope. 

I have also tried some inks on the fabric, also dampened and not. I don't know if the inks will be permanent but I will heat set them when they are dry. Some sites have recommended leaving the dyes and inks for 72 hours, so I won't iron them till then. Then I may wash them to see if the colour stays. I have only done small fragments of fabric - partly because I don't have a lot of blackwork suitable fabrics and partly because it is relatively expensive and hard to get at the moment with lockdown still in force. Therefore it is possible that I won't bother with the rinsing. I am only playing around with colouring fabric, not with coming up with something that will be permanent and for sale. 

This one is inks on the fabric, resting on a towel that has been used before. Maybe it will be useful in the future, given its absorbance of colours. 

I don't quite know what I am trying to achieve - in terms of a sample. So I will play around, find out some things and then see if I can come up with a piece of fabric that will inspire me to do some interesting embroidery. 

Warmer Weather

 As I was sitting in the lovely sunshine, working diligently on my latest blackwork piece (an actual piece, not a sampler) I noticed some movement outside the window. 

Instant reaction was to be very alert. What is that??

Then I saw the legs - phew. 

Around here we have notices in the parks that warn that the snake season is from October to March but we have noticed over recent years that they are out and about from September to April these days. I think I will not need to be as vigilant these days since our dog has died. But our exercise regime is currently to be out of the house for an hour a day, no more than 5km from home, so we are going to lots of parks that I probably wouldn't go to without Penny. There are so many people out in the parks that the snakes are probably hiding a lot more - I hope so. 

Penny died at the beginning of this pandemic, it is her 6 month anniversary. Life has changed drastically. We still miss her but we are grateful that she hasn't been old and ill during this difficult period. 

She would have been barking madly at the lizard today. She would have been keeping the rats out of our garden too. Rumour has it that the rats have migrated from the city to the suburbs, looking for cafes but are finding our veggie gardens instead. Perhaps our next dog, if we ever get one, will have to be a terrier. 

New design

 After struggling to come up with a design I liked, using the fabrics I have at home (still no going to the shops), I came up with a new baby quilt. 

It is using some fabric I must have had for decades. I think it was supposed to be border fabric but they would have been rather large borders. So maybe it wasn't border fabric. Doesn't matter, really. I have made it into blocks on a quilt. 

The baby was born today! 

Thank goodness for the internet.

 Thank goodness for generous people who show you how to do things too. 

I have spent HOURS trying to do a mitred corner for a sample for the Blackwork course I am doing. We were given notes, we had to practise using paper but I just could not get my head around it today (and yesterday!). 

I eventually found a good link that made it clearer with images. If we were in normal times I would have attended classes and been shown in person. But I have only had notes so far. So the internet has been a Godsend. 

However, I have tried it again, using paper, and am still a bit bamboozled. Sometimes I can do it, sometimes I can't. 

So I think that, if given the choice, I will NEVER do a mitred corner for blackwork. 

Our teacher finally called me and talked me through her process. Success: I have the corner done but as I didn't want to waste fabric if I got it wrong again, I didn't have a big enough piece to do all corners. However, I did try using the sewing machine zigzag stitch on the edge instead of hand sewing it. I think I would use a less regular stitch if I did it again so that the sewing isn't all along one thread which might pull off too easily. 

And I used the sample to try the hemstitch, one direction with the thread pulled out and one without. This really is a sampler!

Try again

 Well, the quilt top wasn't what was wanted! It is a bit too strong for a baby. 

I did try laying it out differently, in diagonal lines and it looks quite good. I forgot to take a picture though. I may make it bigger, once I have the baby quilt out of the way, and keep it for myself or a family member who might like to take it to the football, if we ever get to go again. We go to the MCC, which regularly has large crowds, not sure that will happen in the near future. Not that the football season will go there this year. Hopefully, by March, we will be able to have some matches here in Victoria. But some of our matches have 80,000 people, which suggests that social distancing will be a problem. Wait and see. 

But for now, back to the drawing board. I got out some of my fabrics that have motifs that might do for a baby and started working on another idea. I found some free baby quilt patterns here. 

Unfortunately, I don't have much suitable fabric left from my quilting days. I found some bright dinosaur fabric and tried that but cut it the wrong size and used up too much of the fabric - aargh! 

I tried it with several different iterations but none work. And it is still rather strong colour-wise. 

So I'll have another go at a much more muted one later. Seeing it is a boy and seeing I have quite a lot of blues, I will go down the boring colour theme. Probably. 

I am really only posting because of the date: 20/08/20. 

Using leftover squares for another baby quilt.

 I made a small quilt for a baby about 18months ago and, because he was born 5 weeks early, got carried away in the rush of things and cut way too much fabric. 

Now I have another baby quilt to make. Easy decision to use those leftover pieces (with still some left!). I have been told that the baby is being born into a Hawthorn supporting family (AFL club) so I only used the yellow squares and cut up some brown fabric I had. 

Because there were some already cut, I didn't have to find the pattern or work out the size, I just copied what I had. They were 5" square (seeing most of my quilting equipment is in imperial measurement, I usually use inches rather than metric). 

I sprayed the fabrics with starch as that makes them sit better for cutting and sewing, especially on the bias. 

I cut them all out and drew a line diagonally across the middle, then sewed them, using the quarter inch foot, on both sides of the line. I cut them along the line afterwards, giving me lovely triangles. Using the board that has sandpaper as one surface ensures that the fabric doesn't move. 

I trimmed the corners off all the squares.

I have laid them out but will leave them till tomorrow and look at it with fresh eyes, to see if there are any glaring areas that I will want to change around. It may look different in daylight too. 

I am writing the process down in a bit more detail this time as I needed to look at my previous post and photos to see exactly what I had done. This being my visual diary, I think I need to put in more information so that I can easily find it in the future. 

So far, so good. 

It has been a good change from working on my blackwork course, I find I move around much more when doing a quilt. The sitting still for the embroidery is much harder on the neck and back.