My name is Charlotte, sometimes known as Ms Lottie, occasionally as The Slightly Mad Quilt Lady. This is my blog, where you'll find me writing a lot about my quilting and textile arts and a little about my family's life in a small seaside town in New Zealand. Haere mai!

Thursday, June 18, 2015

Tea + Rust = Grey

I've used tannins to turn rust dyed fabric grey or black before.  But I wanted to know if I could control the effect more.  Turns out you can.

I also want to show you one way I use my own photos for quilts, even if the photos aren't perfect.


So, here's a photo of a white faced heron taking off.  Blurry and unclear.  But I can still use it.

First off I print it in greyscale in A4 size.  Then I take a thin black marker and outline the bird.  I refer to the photograph and if something isn't clear, I just fudge it.  Then I take this photo and enlarge it to the size I need.  My printer has a posterise function that automatically resizes an A4 sheet to A2, then I just tape the relevant prints together.


I use a light box (my mac screen makes a great light box!) or a window and trace this onto freezer paper.  An x-acto knife makes cutting out precise and easy.

So now you can paint, or stencil, or discharge or use this stencil however you like.

In this case, I ironed it to a previously rusted piece of fabric.  Then I applied wet tea leaves over the shape.


I didn't want the liquid from the leaves to 'wick' too far under the stencil so I wanted it to dry quickly.  To do this I placed paper towels over the top and ironed it on a hot setting.  Once it was pretty dry, I brushed off the tea leaves, peeled off the stencil and ironed it again.


I'm very pleased with the results!

9 comments:

  1. Love the process. Thanks for sharing Lottie. The result is just so good, so creative!

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  2. Also wanted to add that I enjoyed your interesting podcast with Kerry of Tulis. Always visit and purchase at her stand at the show!

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  3. I like that effect :) Had my final for the semester today. No idea how I went yet although it seemed ok. Now I get to plan for next semester...

    viv

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  4. Very cool - I love the effect of the rust.

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  5. And so you should be pleased, this is a beauty!

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  6. I love how you saw outside the square and used your imagination to the full. Your work inspires me.

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  7. Wow! That turned out wonderful. Look forward to your progress.

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