The green in the GREEN

I promised you I'd show you how I was going to rectify the little problem I had of white and cream quilts for a green colour challenge.

I stitched around the edges of each piece, made up three slightly different dye baths, soaked the pieces in soda ash and then in they went.

And now they are GREEN! 

The silk moth didn't take as much of the black (the dye bath was mostly yellow and black) and is quite yellow.  Interesting, especially as you do get an occasional yellow Puriri Moth as a variation of the species.

This one needed a little tuck in it along the trunk as all the different fabrics shrunk a little bit differently, but that's ok and the beauty of improv.  This moth I expected to be much lighter as the shirt it was made from (my husband's wedding shirt!) was 30% polyester and shouldn't have taken up the dye as well as it did.  The Puriri Moth is also known as the Ghost Moth....

And the furry texture of the moth made of batting delights me!  I've since added another 'ghost' moth to this was some discharge paste.

Now it's time for quilting.  I think a wood grain would suit, seeing as they eat trees.

12 x 12 inch colour challenge - GREEN

I'm making some 12" x 12" quilts to enter in the Aotearoa Quilters colour challenge.  These will all be exhibited together at a couple of different venues and when they are all in the wall together they look fabulous.

This time around the colour is green.  

My chosen subject is the Puriri moth.  A huge native moth, whose catapillar stage burrows into and eats the Puriri tree.

The moth is the most amazing green colour (the catapillar is a bit icky grub-like so we won't dwell on it).

I had fun declaring a ruler-free day and making these backgrounds out of linen, cotton, vintage cloths, white on white prints and anything else interesting I could lay my hands on.

But you may have noticed they aren't GREEN!  And you're right.  That bit comes next.  Stay tuned. And you'll see what I'm going to do about that.