Printing Yardage

My stash of my own hand printed fabrics has run low, probably because I usually dye and print outside during the summer months.  I can't stand wet fabrics and prints hanging around the house for days so I have been patiently (ha-ha) waiting for some sunny weather to turn up. I'm going to have to give in on that one and utilise the green-house if this present spell of monsoons keep up.

 To that end, I've started the process by using a little bunch of spoons I found in a bric-a-brac shop. I have made some positive and negative lino cuts from them and started to mess about on paper using them to see what I can come up with. It has all started very neatly and and in regular  patterns,hopefully by the time I have filled a pad up with designs it should get much looser and informal - ready for printing on to fabric. 



 

I have also been loving my sweet peas this year (there has got to be a plus side to all this rain). I found them very difficult to capture at first, probably because I  haven't drawn for a few weeks but in the words of my late drawing master ' after the first hundred sketches of an object everyones drawing of it starts to improve'.  These would look lovely painted onto some silk.

My Embroidered Bead course that I ran at Beecrafty last Saturday was so enjoyable and productive. Everyone produced a very accomplished sample each and also got to grips with some more complex stitches. I think the four hour class was much better than the two hour one that I have done before. The shorter course crammed everything in but felt too rushed. The shop was buzzing with activity - a quilt class was going on in an adjacent room and all helped produce a great atmosphere to teach in. Looking forward to teaching Embroidered Buttons in the Autumn.