Swatch Art
Lately I have been involved in producing a gazillion silk and cotton swatches using all manner of dyestuffs. That and fabric paint, as well as discharge agents etc. I thought I knew a LOT about this stuff - not the case.
Just take this intense blue above. When it is over dyed with complements like strong orange (left swatch) or burnt orange (middle swatch) I see with 'the whites of my eyes' that the blue indeed does NOT discharge when stamped with discharge paste.
But then, I always knew that... what I didn't know was how gorgeous the blue is when peering out from beneath these complementary mixes.
Another swatch with an elastic resist. This one shows what happens when burnt orange is over dyed with mixing blue. The diagonal lines are discharged - this blue discharges.
Another elastic resist swatch showing what happens when intense blue is over dyed with grape then discharged. The discharge takes where there is only grape.
Here is what happens when sun yellow is overdyed with grape. Love the brown. 
More swatches...these are silk habotai.
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4 comments:
Kit... I would love to know more about the elastic resist and the way you came about layering and what tools you did.. more of the process I guess. Can you give me any more detail on the steps.. I truely love the color combinations!
Thanks Von,
Elastic resist is easy: just pinch up a bit of fabric and tie it with an elastic band. Do this 10 to 15 times on a 1 yard piece then dunk it in a small bucket of MX dye. I layer by replacing the elastics on different sections of the fabric and then over-dyeing with different colours. A lot of this process is described in Complex Cloth by Jane Dunnewold.
Kit.
Are you OK? Have not heard from you in a while... Time for another post. Warm thoughts from NY.
Benedicte
I just love fabric and used to make quilts almost thirty years ago using my own cardboard templates - the art of quilting has grown so much since then and I am so glad it is now more recognized as art. I still can't resist purchasing a fabric I see that I like, thinking I'll go back to using fabric again some day. Love your wild quilt; your Lancaster series are so powerful and beautiful, I particularly like the technique on the last of those two on your website.
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