Log cabin squares

I'm typing this with the Olympic cycling on in the background, and hoping the Ibuprofen I just took will get rid of a banging headache sometime soon. I think the weather's got something to do with the headache. It's muggy, very close, and with luck we'll get a really good storm before long. Or at least a decent amount of rainfall to help clear the air. Today's been a muddle of grocery shopping, allotmenting and adding more stitching to this would-be wall hanging. It's slowly beginning to take shape, and I'm slowly beginning to think it mightn't be too bad. I reckon once I put a border around the whole thing it'll look less raggedy and I can concentrate on adding lots of detail.

Sunday morning was spent gell printing, but it was one of those infuriating times when print after print turned out a muddy mess. I only turned out one single print I kind of liked. So I switched from paper to fabric, and applied paint to calico instead. Previously I'd been painting material using Inktense blocks, waiting for that to dry, then adding stencils on top using acrylic paint. But I came across a technique the other day where you apply the acrylic paint first. It acts like a resist, in a similar way to wax acts with Batik. I stenciled the material with white paint, waited for that to dry, then painted with Inktense.

I want to experiment more with this method, and try producing something that looks like a repeat block print.

I decided to use some of my painted material to make log cabin squares. The strips are 2 and a half inches wide. Not sure what I'll use these for, but sometimes the patchwork bug bites and you have to get the rotary cutter and ruler out and get sewing.

There's a softness to the colours that I really like.

Okay, I need to crack on with the wall hanging, then another chapter or two of 'The Darkest Sin' to read. Oh, and Britain just won their first cycling gold medal of Paris 2024. Let's hope there are plenty more to come.

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