sun printing link

I have been pretty absent here. I fully expect to get back in the groove in a few weeks. Last night I went through and posted a few comments that I had yet to approve and publish. So sorry for the delay. I do very much appreciate everyone's participation here. It's hard to be a good example for two young boys about not needing technology to constructively occupy one's time and to at the same time get anything done - especially when a lot of what you need and want to get done involves technology.

Anyway, there was a question in comments about sun printing. I use this techniques often and we have been talking about it again with the little love of leaves project. It's so much fun and wonderful to use the summer sunshine to get the print. The print above made quite awhile ago using small twigs.

Sun Printing

I use Setacolor transparent fabric paints. I purchase mine from Dharma Trading because I can no longer find them locally. You want to be sure you use the transparent paint.

Dharma Trading has nice step by step instructions posted on theirs site. Click HERE for the link to the instructions.


My waterproof board is a large piece of foam insulation (one side silver one side blue) The size of my board keeps dwindling as my husband borrows pieces off of it for various projects, but it stays nice and flat without warping and I have been using the same piece years. Know that any small dents or wrinkles on the surface you use to lay the fabric out on may show up in your print.

The more contact the objects have with the wet fabric the sharper the print.

Have fun and hope this helps for anyone considering making some sun prints. Happy sunshine!

summer travels

We have been back few weeks now, but I feel like I am still settling in at home. We traveled to Washington and Oregon for twelve days - camped seven nights and spent the rest with friends and family. We could hear the ocean most nights from our various campsites. We spent a lot of time exploring fern-filled forests and beaches. It was completely wonderful.

One afternoon near Tillamook, OR we drove past a small road sign for the Latimer Quilt & Textile Center. My boys kindly dropped me off there for a bit so I could have a quiet look around. The current exhibit featured hooked rugs and they were beautiful to see. There was a knitting group sitting in the center of one of the rooms, knitting while they talked. I made my way around the outside edge of the room admiring all sorts of textiles on display while the knitting meeting was taking place in the center of the room. I really liked the combination meeting room/exhibit room and the sense of community I felt in just witnessing this meeting even as an outsider. I think they were discussing donating some of their knitted work. The other large room was full of looms as well as textiles on display all around. After looking at their website a bit I see that, "Weaving lessons are free to members who agree to speak with visitors and work consistently on their project. " So glad I was able to find this place and spend a little time there.

I feel a little overwhelmed by all the photos that I took of the trip. I can't seem to choose just a few, we saw so much. The green and ocean were always there. So just one - rocks above from a favorite day of beach and tide pools at Klaloch on the coast of Washington.

So we are back and traveling here and there around Indiana for the rest of the summer. The plants here at home are happy and huge from all the rain and warm. It really is beautiful. They offer more inspiration than I have time to act on at the moment. Happy summer.