Saturday 2 October 2010

Does this freak you out?

Before I raise your blood pressure I'm sharing a little of autumn in my garden.

 Both of these were sold as Virginia Creeper. Obviously one of them isn't. I don't care, they both perform their socks off at this time of year.

I've been working on my wholecloth. This is how you saw it the other day. People always ask what I use to mark. You can find what I used here.

 Scroll down (and stay calm). Don't forget to click on the photos for the full effect.



















I decided to play a little before I quilted in the backgrounds round the feathers. Above is what it looked like after I sprayed it gently with water and waited ten minutes. The ink has started to run.
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 This is after half an hour. The inks in the pens start to run but in the constituent parts of the colours the company used to make the black. One pen ran out whilst I was marking it, it becomes quite obvious the colours in the pens were different, though when I used them for marking the ink looked the same from each.


 I think the effect is quite pretty, but not what I want. I keep thinking one day I might use this in a finished quilt. Would this worry you if it were yours?
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Breathe, this is it straight out of the washing machine after I quilted the background.

 Because I used a variegated thread (Aurifil), the lines of the feathers appear and disappear.
And a close up, it's just draped over the sofa and still wet. The full effect will show when it is dry.
I've realised a few of you thought I was scared, I wasn't I trust it to wash out. On Old Gold (the quilt touring the States with the World Quilt Show), the ink was ironed in and left for a couple of years and it still came out first time.

13 comments:

  1. Gee Sally-that was scary-glad it turned out fine.
    I would have dyed it over and no one but myself would recognize LOL
    Great you dared to wash it and its crisp and clear :))
    <3 Marga

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  2. Well, that was a cool test. Did you want the ink to be permanent?

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  3. I never thought that I would like the variegated thread but your post is making me rethink because of how the feathers looked like they wave in and out. Cool. Did you draw the design on or was it a stamped product. Hope I didn't insult you. I like to draw my own stuff and I always change my mind during the quilting .... I listen to my quilt speak as I work.

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  4. Okay Sally, I read the post about the marking pens, and I am confused. In that post, were you looking for something to mark quilting lines that would wash out, or for something to mark with that would remain permanent? (As in signing a block). And which one did you use on the quilt in the current post?

    Becky

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  5. am just amazed at the beautiful feathers! I love the variegated thread.

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  6. Becky, the test was to find pens which wash out, though it works both ways, if it survives the wash then it's good for labels, inking in permanent design features etc. The pens which neither wash fully out nor remain bright are useless for all purposes except for keeping by the phone to take messages.

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  7. Hi Vicki, no I wanted it to wash out and knew it would. I also knew if I dampened it, this would happen so I did the whole scary thing just to have something to write about on my blog, lols.
    Sally

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  8. Hi Marty, No insult taken. I drew the feathers myself. If you go back through the blog you will see the whole process in reverse.

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  9. This was a fascinating pen. The next question is for your USA readers. Has anyone found the Berol pens here? When I googled them the only suppliers appeared to be in the UK and there are a variety of different inks in them.

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  10. Oh Sally what a beauty!!! Thanks for the demonstration with the pens~my heart always skips a little beat with washable ink..
    ♥ Eileen

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  11. dear sally,
    i am still confused. which pen did you use to mark the feathers on your gorgeous quilt?

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  12. I used the Berol Handwriting pen though any of the ones which washed out on my test piece would have done just as well.

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  13. Well I am relieved because I thought you were going to end this post by telling us the pen markings did NOT wash out and you were left with these smears over your lovely feathers! Thank goodness because your feathers are gorgeous as always!

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