Holidays

I've been away for a few days - it was wonderful.













I've been in the Grampians - did you guess? I'm refreshed and inspired for a long weekend full of creating! x

Putting patterns on fabric

(Or at least trying to!)

This is what I did on Sunday.

I wanted to spend this weekend screen printing, but I hadn't collected everything I need for it, so I had to make do with alternatives.

My first few attempts were pretty awful. I'm sharing anyway.

I tried leaf prints - here are some blobby nasturtium prints:



Then I used a stamp made from an eraser which I quite like, even though the printing is very... unique.


I also tried lino cuts mounted on wooden offcuts. I tested them on paper with a different ink but the fabric version shows bits I need to fix on them both. I learnt how hard it is to get a consistent print in this way!



So I gave up on the stamping idea and tried a stencil - I used contact to cut a similar stencil to one that I intended to screen print. The results were a lot better!





I like how the colours go with the background colour of the material. I was also glad that I could use this stencil so many times, unlike freezer paper /photocopy paper wrapping. But I am definitely looking forward to getting my screen printing gear ready!

Stencils

We learnt how to make freezer paper stencils at Brown Owls. I put glitter on my which was sparkly and lovely... until I ironed it to set the ink and it kind of melted and became globby and lumpy looking. Still, it was fun, and I am going to work on this design.




Since freezer paper isn't exactly easy to come by here I've been using an alternative - photocopy paper wrapping.

Another Baby Quilt

This one is just about to be sent off to the UK, to a very new baby girl.

Wearable Blooms

I saw the "wearable blooms" performance/show/display at the Royal Show yesterday. It was great! Have a look at Jenny Gillies' website for more fabulous flora frocks. http://www.jennygillies.com/

Lists and Leatherwork

I wrote a list of projects I had completed over the the winter:

1. hand felting
2. little birdy
3. baby blanket
4. baby quilt #2
5. babyquilt #3
6. batik
7. potato prints
8. screen prints
9. lino prints
10. bag with birds
11. bag from Ikea fabric
12 black apple doll
13 long skirt
14 comfy trackies
15 granny squares
16. crochet bunnies
17. giant cushion
18. hexagons
19. knitted rabbit
20. knitted beanies
21. bloody rag rug

Ok, maybe the word "completed" is a little strong. "Have made significant progress on" would be more appropriate.

I was planning to share all of them with you, but I keep getting distracted.

For instance, I went to a shoe repair shop in my lunch break the other day, where they also make shoes, which is pretty cool, but nowhere near as exciting as the leather off-cuts which they sell bags of in all sorts of lovely mixtures of colours and thicknesses. So naturally I had to buy a bag - ok, two bags - of them. So that night I raided the bookshelf for '70s craft books and make this little purse. I then had to go to spotlight for the snap fastener and leather needles the next day, and instead of finishing other half finished items when I had some spare time, I sat on the floor and sorted through my new leather stash. Naturally this involves spreading the leather off-cuts artfully around me on the floor, taking up as much available space as possible which was ridiculous as I'd just spent most of the day tidying up! Will I ever learn?

Here's my first attempt at making anything from leather:




Oh and here's something I forgot to put on the list but I used it tonight which reminded me - my yoga bag. I love this ikea fabric.

Screen printing!

I'm so excited about screen printing at the moment!

I've just taken a short tafe course in screen printing which I enjoyed immensely, and its left me with so many ideas to try out - all I have to do now is to find the time to carry at least a few of them out.

Here are some of the results of the course:

Bunnies

I learnt how to crochet at brown owls. I stared with a couple of granny squares but then decided to try something else.

I found a cute pattern online (which I will link to when I re-find it) but found that my crochet pattern following skills are in dire need of improvement.

The pink one was made first - at the time I thought I had followed the pattern properly. But then I began the brown bunny and realised I must have made a lot of lucky mistakes when making the pink bunny, and had not followed the pattern very well at all! I made a lot of faulse starts before I worked out what I had done wrong with the pink one in order to replicate it in the brown!

Here are the critters who resulted:

Out of Hibernation

Welcome to Flying Zebra.

I have spent the last three months - all of our official winter - in hibernation.

Since it is the first of septemeber, the first day of spring, I am taking on board the spring awakening spirit to begin this blog.
The first few posts will be a retrospective of the crafts I have been working on over the winter months, often in front of the heater. I'm excited to finally be able to share pictures of the projects I've been working on - the successful as well as the less successful.

To get the ball rolling, here is a baby quilt I have just finished. I love the colours. It's a present but I'm tempted to keep it. This might also be because its only the second quilt I've made and it worked a fair bit better than the first one did!

Have some sunshine: