New Silks

I have been working on some new silks. The first one isn't really new, its a copy of "Winter". A bit boring really, I don't like doing the same thing over.

However, I was daft enough to price the Four Seasons separately and sold just one of them. I have decided to make a new one for the sale and keep the other so that I can (hopefully) sell the full set at a later date.

The other one is "Dragonflies". This one is a surprise for a friend and she doesn't "do" computers, so I know I am safe in posting it on here!

I thought I could show you how I do it, just in case you fancied having a go your self.

I "drew" the outline using bronze gutta.

Then I painted around them with water. That is why they look a different colour in the photo.

Next I painted the colours I wanted around them. The water helps the colours blend together.

Unfortunately, I didn't make sure the lines were solid enough around the wings, so some of the colour seeped through.

Adding water after the paints have dried a little has a "bleaching" effect. This was how I did the moon.

I also added some water in the wings to lessen the colour in them.

Finally, I added just some small amounts of brown for the grasses.

When it has all dried, you need to steam iron it to fix the colour. A t-towel on the iron board is advised, otherwise you end up with a multi coloured cover!!!!

The colour you choose for backing makes a big difference to the overall colour of the silk. I chose a cobolt blue. It brought out the purples in the paints without being too dark.

I cut a circle of white for the centre of the bleached area for the moon.

And I carefully cut white to go behind the wings, which I tacked into place.

I didn't want any heavy quilting on this one.

I used I used navy, teal and violet threads for the background with paler versions over the moon.

The dragonflies will be done by hand when I bead them.

I have some bronze filament stashed away somewhere, which I will combine with (maybe) brown thread for the body.

And I will use white with the irridescant seed beads on the wings.

On a completely different subject.......

Last night at Craft and Lace group, we had a talk entitled "My Textile Journey" by Bev Mayo.

She has done some stunning work over the years and I was quite fascinated.

I also learned that I do not need a quilting or walking foot for the machine. The way I use the machine would not work with one.

I picked up one of her leaflets and looked at her site this morning. However, I was a little disappointed to see that it is purely about her latest business endeavour and does not include any of her earlier work.

She is now making Memory Cushions, which you can buy ready made or as a quilt. And there is a competition to win a free one!