Sunday, March 10, 2013

At least summer is handy for sunprinting

I have been very unproductive of late.  I find as I get older, that I tolerate the heat less and less and this year is still a hot one.  A lot of my large quilting projects have been put on hold until I can work in my smaller sewing room without raising a sweat.  I have a smaller machine for quilting and thread painting out in my studio, where I can regulate the temperature somewhat, so back to small projects.
Last week, I did some sun printing (like I said at least the sun is good for something!).
This one was done using setacolour soleil sunpaint.  I dampened the fabric, then pressed it flat onto a laminex board that I just happened to have.  The water allows the fabric to stick.
Then I painted the whole piece with the paint and a large brush.  I placed a stencil from my huge collection over the top and left it to dry.  The piece above is the result.
It's a bit of a miracle, really. My hubby says it is not possible and doesn't make sense,  but I have seen lots of paint effects related to this, like making fabric for water ripples by gently pleating as it dries.
With this one I used an ordinary setacolour metallic.  In some places, where the stencil did not sit flat, there is not a very defined line, but I liked this one and immediately had to play with it.
I sandwiched the fabric with batting and stabiliser, then quilted around the edges of the design with white thread.
Here is the back.  The quilting is more obvious here.
I am now in the process of beading over all the painted areas, which will take me a while!
Here's where I am up to at present.  I have already had an expression of interest in purchasing this one!  How great is that!

Anyhow, that's how things are going at present.  I will try and keep my blog more up to date from now on.