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!

sewing circle :: love of leaves

I so completely enjoyed our little leafy sewing circle time today that it slipped my mind to take a single photo. Thanks so very much to the lovely ladies who were here. For those who couldn't make it - you were missed. We will try again soon.



It was so warm and sunny I had to try a little sun-printing, which is done with the same transparent Pebeo SetaColor fabric paints. This is my first try with a pressed and dried leaf -  I typically use green leaves fresh from the tree. This pressed one worked beautifully and held up really well - might even last one more printing. I really like the way the tear showed up in the print. These two sugar maples mirroring each other are going to need two more to make it an even four. Stems meeting in the center.

It was oh so nice to sit outside together today. I also really enjoyed seeing what everyone else is working on and sewing on outside of all this leafiness. It's not all about leaves you know.

a bit of green

I have started stitching around some goatsbeard leaves. They are many-toothed so there are many stitches. I am thinking about more contrast and plotting out areas full of stitches alongside areas of none.  I had moved towards browns and golds - thinking of fall. 

I went out to look at the goatsbeard plants yesterday and have a closer look at the veins of the leaves. The very hot and unusually dry summer has left nearly all of our perennial plants looking burned and brown. On the goatsbeard I noticed brand new bright green growth at the base of several of the plants, because we have finally had some rain these last few weeks.

and so I was inspired to add a bit of green.

But... the pale stitches reminds me more of a light frost, which I admit I have spent a bit of time daydreaming about because of the chiggers. I am done with the wicked late summer chiggers.

more than ever

I had thought when I started this I would try to leave more areas with less stitching - this would be a test of that. But the stitches just became more and more. More than ever maybe.

and I love it this way. This is what I do.

Maple Summer Sunshine

I never intended to be away from this blog all summer. We have been quite busy spending lots of time getting to know this little lady, Maple. She has been with us two months now.

Keeping up with her puppy energy and love for outside has made for a wonderful summer. We are crazy about her.

We have had hot dry weather and hot hot sunshine all summer and so it brought me back around to the paint printing again. Hot sun makes a sharp print. I had been thinking on ways to do things differently - pushing all my favorite elements to coexist. Working towards the many threads of ideas here and there all coming together. I have worked on softening some of the colors.

 

Stitch had begun on a small scale - to try some new construction and work a few things out. 

Everything is shifting here very soon. School will start and I am grateful to have a little pup to keep me company. Thanks to all who are still listening and looking.