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Saturday 14 September 2024

A mixed week

 And I don't just mean the weather although it is just warming up again after a cold spell. But I have had a varied week of sewing which is just how I like it.

I removed my sample from it's rust and tea bath after 24 hours and I am glad I did as my finished sample has turned out darker than I expected. It took a couple of days to dry out and then I had to rinse it and leave it to dry again. So here it is - the undyed sample first.





As I said, it is much darker than I expected and I would have preferred something a little more subtle, but it is a sample and I really like the effect. So more of this to come I think. Next time I will try just tea and maybe another sample with just rust and water to see what happens. Lots to try and I also want to try Susan's salt dyeing. This is something I have done on paper but never thought to try on fabric.

On Tuesday my quilt group had an all day session and I took the opportunity to layer up this RSC top from a few years back.

I then joined with some of the other ladies in making some decorations for our Christmas stall later in the year.

We also had a very interesting talk from a couple of ladies who work for the local council's Care Leaver's department. We have made quilts and blankets for Care Leavers in the past and it was good to hear how they are put to use. We were also given a list of items that they would be grateful for to give the care leavers - as well as a blanket or quilt, cushions are welcomed as well as gloves, hats and scarves. So plenty for us to contribute.

This months RSC is complete.

I got the sewing machine out for an afternoon and completed this Christmas cushion cover which has now been put away - hopefully, come Christmas, I will remember where!


And while I had the machine out I made a start on ditch quilting the RSC Dresden quilt between the blocks. I plan to finish the ditch quilting and bind the quilt then put it away for hand quilting at a later date.

I then had a hankering to do some drawing and got my Inktense pencils out to have a go at a Gaillardia that we had flowering in the garden .


Very happy with this so then I started to add water. In the next picture you can see the petals that have been brushed with water which look much darker.


I need to finish these off now and add a few leaves. Maybe darkening off some of the petals in the centre.

We are almost halfway through the month and so my stitch journal is also nearly halfway.


If you can spot the silver thread you will see that it is very messy and a mistake - the rest of the skein has gone in the bin! A horrible thread. But I have left it in place as a reminder.

Well that's all from sunny Somerset, see you next week.


9 comments:

  1. Some of the metallic threads are a real trial, aren't they!

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  2. A very busy week. Lovely to see all that has been happening. Wow, that dye process did come out very dark. Stitching with metallic threads is never a breeze but some are very much worse than others. Good on you for persevering and for leaving it on your sampler, sometimes we need that reminder.

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  3. Well so much eye candy in todays post Lin. I was waiting to see the effects of the rusty dying - yes it is much darker than I thought too ... but I love it, kind of primitive looking. If you try the teadying again, I would think about sprinkling grainules of coffee over it too as I find this bleeds into the fabric & gives a nice effect. I was also surprised that it was black, I think I expected rusty colour. All your other projects are wonderful - I did laugh at the christmas cushion as I forget where I've put things too (!!!) May I ask what are Care Leavers? I've not heard that term before. xx

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  4. So many directions in craft that you put your hand to, Lin - absolutely wonderful!

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  5. Sweet Christmas decorations, I took some out to start this week too! Love your flower, what a difference that bit of water makes. I refuse to play with metallic thread - it never behaves for me and yet others manage fine
    Hugz

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  6. Your tea dying was much darker than I thought it would be too Lin, but a good experiment. Was it the metal that caused the black colour do you think? So many lovely things in your post today, great Christmas decorations and cushion - Christmas is coming way too soon for me!

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  7. Love your flower painting, you are very busy the other projects looks beautiful. xx

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  8. Love the variety in your work - yes the rust & tea did end up dark...but I expect there needs to be a lot of experimenting before you can fine tune such things.
    Your coloured/painted flower is lovely.

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  9. You are so incredibly talented! The lace piece finished beautifully, I think. Congratulations on the RSC quilt top finish.

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