On knowing when to shelve an idea and do something different

 

Sometimes you have to give up on one idea and head down a different route.  I've been making blocks on & off for ages, with the aim of making what's known in the quilting world as a 'Terry quilt'.  If you've not come across her on Facebook or YouTube, Terry Rowland's an amazingly accomplished needlewoman who produces stunning patchwork quilts using a colourwash method.  Colourwash quilts are where one colour blends into another across a whole rainbow of shades, and they're extremely beautiful.  If you want to see what I mean, here's a link to one of her videos.  

Anyhow, I'd been making blocks and had them stacked up in a box, and every so often I'd take a wedge of them out and trying arranging them in a pleasing fashion.  Couldn't do it.  Just couldn't get the colours to flow.  Okay, I thought.  I simply need to make more blocks in different colourways and patterns.  But I realised the other day that no matter how many blocks I'd make, it still wouldn't come right.  For whatever reason, this quilt design isn't going to work for me.  So I had a rethink.  Instead, I decided I'd make a scrappy quilt out of these blocks.  I'd arrange them spontaneously, without fretting about which block ought to go next to which.  The only stipulation was that no two blocks of the same fabric could be slap-bang next to each other.  

That's what I've been doing.  It feels good to be making progress with this quilt, even if what I end up with won't be what I intended to make when I started.  Sometimes a change of direction is better than being at a standstill.  

Changing the subject - books!  Having finished Philippa's Gregory 'The Queen's Fool', I stayed with historical fiction and devoured this gothic beauty.  Kate Griffin's 'Fyneshade'.  If you're partial to a witchy heroine, a dashing but dastardly gentleman, a spooky country house complete with secret passages, and revenge in a spectacular fashion, then 'Fyneshade' is for you.  

I've also had my nose in non-fiction.  'Fabric Painting for Embroidery' by Valerie Campbell-Harding was published back in 1990, and my recently purchased copy is secondhand.  It has a whiff of mustiness to prove it!  Despite being dated in a number of ways, the book's still a great source of inspiration for anyone interested in textile art.  Whether that's patchwork, slow stitching or embroidery.  

There are chapters full of ideas for adding colour and pattern to fabric.  Including: 

Sponging paint or dyes on to material - could use a cheap washing-up sponge or a natural sea sponge.  Either use the sponge's shape as it is, or cut the surface into a design, like a cross or wavy lines. 

Use sticky paper, eg: masking tape, as a resist when applying paint or dye to fabric. 

Salt - sprinkled on material like silk after paint's been applied to it, makes the colour migrate, leaving textured areas. 

Can lay net or mesh on another piece of fabric, and apply paint by sponging through that net/mesh to create a pattern on the surface below.

The book includes info on painting thread, also rolling or pleating/gathering material before dyeing it to create interesting effects.  

You can flick or dribble paint on to fabric.  Or drop it on there, maybe using a pipette.  

Or scrunch fabric up and spray paint or dye on to it.  Use stencils.  Screen print.  Use different paint brushes (fan-shaped, wedge-shaped, flat, pointed) to make marks and brush strokes on fabric.  

You can make printing blocks from balsa wood which is soft enough to cut with a craft knife, or make them from card, polystyrene, erasers or the humble spud!  Potato printing doesn't have to be limited to primary school aged children, does it?  

There's a section in the book about starch resists.  Apparently they've a long history of use, ie: in Africa.  Starch resists, like flour paste, are cheap and easy, and I definitely want to try this method as it'll be simpler than using hot wax as a resist method.  Which is also described in the book.  As you can tell, it's really comprehensive and throughout the entire book you get plenty of pictures of fabric that's been painted and then embroidered into.  If your creative juices aren't flowing after leafing through 'Fabric Painting for Embroidery' then they ain't gonna flow at all ... 

If it sounds like your kind of reading material, then either you'll find this in your local library or there're copies on World of Book's website or ebay.  My copy was £3.50 from WOB with free p&p, and I've seen it on ebay for a similar price.  

Hope some of that was either interesting or instructive, and thanks for stopping by.  Feel free to leave a comment if you like.  Bye for now.