Sunday 7 April 2013

from one list to another.


I'm hopefully just sneaking in under the wire with the First Quarter review for Leannes Finish Along....
Not that I have had much success.  One quilt finished out of three, one cushion finished out of three.  And I cant be arsed with the whole show and tell thing either cos the worst thing is that both those finishes were right in the first month, and both blogged about in the same post....  Bit poor really!

What can I say...  Well, I can tell you that I've had a touch of starteritis.  The quilts in progress and random blocks lying around the place have multiplied, the FAA fabric diet took a bit of a blow, and the ideas list is longer than ever.  Oops!  

In keeping with the lists theme though, I hope you will indulge me here.  A long long time ago, I did a list of things that I would like to try.  It went like this...


1.    Learn how to do free motion quilting
2.    Make a quilt out of something other than light/medium weight 100% cotton
3.    Make a large (Queen size) quilt.
4.    Make a quilt of my own design.
5.    Make a quilt using small scraps, ideally a spiderweb pattern.  
6.    Get over my fear of triangles!
7.    Have a go at dying and bleaching fabric to make my own  colourways for quilting.
8.    Make more effort to try new bag patterns.
9.    Use some nice wool fabric for a bag.
10.  Practice and improve my machine embroidery.
11.  Learn how to do piping.
12.  Practice and improve sewing zips into bags.

Now admittedly this is a very old list, but I'm still working on it!  

I've been gathering fabrics for a low volume idea (like, so totally last month I know...lol)  and I thought now would be a great time to have a go at completing number 7 there.  I'd tried the dying half when I made my first bee quilt, but had never gotten round to the bleaching.  Until now...

I followed the tutorial on Oh Franson! and this is how I got on.  

Top - field study print, bottom, simpatico print.


Top - Summersville print, bottom timeless treasures rainbow raindrops
Really I think they were in the bleach too long.  The Simpatic Golden Straws have all but disappeared!  I love the new look field study though.  Still think a little less time in the bleach would have been better tho.  
I do love how the summersville came out!  I know there was a turquoise-y blue line, so in one sense I've not really achieved much, but, but I love the new white background.  The rainbow raindrops print there... well... eugh.  Not so happy.  Not sure I'll want to include it with my low volume as the blue raindrops stand out now even more than ever.  Bit crap.  

Things that I have learned - reds and yellows go fast!  Bleaching must really be monitored minute by minute, and ideally not whilst watching the grand national.    Great fun though, and I might be looking out a few more to try!

11 comments:

  1. ROFL, I love that you were doing this while watching the grand national ;o) Looks like a fun technique though!

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  2. I love how the Summersville turned out and the aqua/turquoise is fabulous on the white background! Did you have a bet on the race? My SIL won £84.50!

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  3. Lol awe don't be disheartened by your achievements, you finished stuff - great! And you tried a new to you technique, with varying results which was always going to happen! I think they turned out brilliantly!

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  4. I love your results from the bleaching. I've only bleached once when I wanted some clouds on a plain bit of blue fabric I had. They turned out pink !!! I just caught the end of the National when I got home from work. Really looking forward to a swim, but you'll need to be gentle as I've hurt me neck again.... fell over whilst trying to pull up a bramble plant. D'oh.

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  5. You are meant to have things carry over in the FAL, it's the unwritten rule! Love the bleaching, especially the Summersville, and the raindrops have definitely improved!

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  6. At least you got a couple of finishes - a couple better than me ;o)

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  7. That's some great results. Is the fabrics strong after or does the bleaching weaken the fibres?

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  8. Gah - there's a law against dipping Field Study in bleach you know! ;)

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  9. Love how this made low volume prints. The raindrops are kind of cool. Maybe mix it with some navy and pink for a baby quilt?

    Did it make the fabric feel thinner or softer?

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  10. Love seeing your bleaching expts. And totally agree about the summersville

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  11. Sorry for excessively late posting again! I like the raindrops. Just not sure about fabric bleaching as a concept! Getting too avant garde for me!

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