"Blue Tulips in the Garden of Evening", handpainted silk and commercial cotton.
Nikki decided she needed to be in the picture. She is my sweet and quirky little border collie, thirteen years old this year. I put area rugs in my sewing room so she would have better footing. Actually, we have put rugs all over the house, even where the placement looks odd. She just can't keep her balance on the slippery wood floors anymore.
Here is a closer look. Handpainting silk was a new experience for me. (I used silk charmeuse from Dharma and the Dharma Pigment dye paints. There is also a little Tsukineko ink used in drawing.) I love the colors, the shimmer, the stitching. I am using lots of delicious hand-dyed embroidery threads and perle cotton to make very big textural stitches. Next time I paint silk, I want to try the "resist" and work for a better focal point and more control. I'm definitely having fun.
My donation kid's quilt is almost together but I haven't worked on the pineapple blocks again since last week. I started a new gift quilt for Jerry that features lots of tropical fish and sailboats since his favorite leisure time activities are scuba diving and sailing. It will be a simple "nine patch and snowball" quilt that showcases the fabrics. I would like to give it to him during his birthday month (March), but it will be a nice surprise any time he gets it. I have a trunk full of quilts in the family room that we all use to wrap up in when we watch TV, but I still think it will be nice to make one that is just for him.
Between work, water aerobics, and the daily household stuff, there are just not enough hours in the day. Good thing I am needing less sleep as I get older.
11 comments:
I have done lots of silk painting using the resisit. I used Gutta. I used Dupont dyes but I have heard that they are quite toxic. They also have to be steam set. THe colors are fantastic though so maybe it's worth it. Yours turned out very nice.
Very pretty, Jen; love the way the handpainted silk looks! Nikki looks impressed, too.
Really nice work Jen. I love that we can click and make it large enought to see detail. It's so pretty. I have that border fabric in yellow on the quilt I'm working on for my son right now.
Beautiful! I love working on silk charmeuse. It is so lucious.
Love the handpainted silk. Very nice.
Oh, I forgot to comment on Nikki. I love border collies. They are so smart and sweet. Give her a hug for me.
I love the colors in that piece. Your dog is lovely, too!
Aw, I love border collies too. Does she try to herd you and your husband?
Your silk work is stunning.
I gotta say re: sleep and getting older--I think you need the same amount; you just can't get as much!
Water aerobics? Fantastic!!
That piece is gorgeous! I got some paints and dyes a couple of months ago and haven't had the nerve to do anything yet.
This is very pretty. I haven't done any painting, or working with silk at all, but you are certainly tempting me.
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