Day 17 – Natural Rhythms 30-Day Library Challenge

I wanted to use my Colour Harmonies (multi-coloured tops) to make simple stripes and play with colour movement. I have also been holding out to play with silks and stripes. So, here is the first attempt using Silk Hankies. I love the rick-rack effect! I used Silk Mesh on the back and once again, great effects to be had here, and great drape. There is only one-layer in the stripes, hence the Silk Mesh to stabilize its structure. Do you like the stripes running horizontal or vertical???

Silk Mesh in colourway Regrowth has been used on the backside. Plus detail photo.

Detail showing highlight stripes using Silk Hankies. Love the rick-rack effect that happens because of the wool shrinkage.

Materials: Silk Mesh in Regrowth. Hand dyed superfine Merino tops in Colour Harmonies: Heartache, Regrowth, Kimberly Blue, Red Earth, Sea Grass, Southern Seas, Lavish, Tamarillo. Silk Hanies in Heartache, Sea Grass.

 

Day 16 – Natural Rhythms 30-Day Library Challenge

So I got side-tracked today when I had an light-bulb inspiration moment to play with the idea of shadows. Everyone had been enjoying the backside of the samples where the nuno felted tissue silk fabric toned the colours. So I set about trying to achieve having that effect on both the front and on the back at the same time. Somehow I got away from stripes – I set off to making shadows of a fence and because of a technical challenge I ended up having to put a line along the spine of the fence line – which I think turned it into a leaf. Plus I got the scale wrong – the perspective was difficult and needs more work, it all needs more work – but hey, its just a sample….

 

Backside is almost a complete mirror image of the front side.

I tried creating the fence-like effect again but used needle-felted prefelts (to give more precise lines) for the frontside and wool tops on the backside (covered with the tissue silk). Detail photo below.

Materials: Tissue Silk Fabric: Tarnish. Hand dyed superfine Merino tops: Midnight Blue, Merlot (should have a bit more blue in it)

 

 

Day 15 – Natural Rhythms 30-Day Library Challenge

I’m not a quilter, but I love some of the visual effects and play on colour that quilters are able to achieve! So I set myself the goal of making a small stripe/quilt sample today. What you can’t see if that in places I only left the tissue silk, so you can see through it in places. I’m more of a Gee’s Bend quilter, if you know what I mean…. Will work more on this idea tomorrow, it needs heaps more work but I like the potential and want to take it further.

Nuno felted tissue silk on the back creates a very interesting effect.

 

Materials: Tissue Silk Fabric: Peri Peri. Superfine Merino tops hand dyed: Straw, Terracotta. Colour Nuance Woo: Urban, Cumin, China Blue, Turkish Red.

 

Day 14 – Natural Rhythms 30-Day Library Challenge

What the heck happened to this sample!! Has anyone every had such DRASTIC differential shrinkage?? I laid the wool in an off-set Chevron pattern (dark red ended into bright red – all at 45 degree to each  other), fibres all in a single direction.The back is nuno-felted with tissue silk fabric. No matter what I did, this is the shape it became. Crazy! I’m sure there is a good potential for this effect….

 

Below is the image of the pattern that I tried to replicate in my felt stripes.  Because of the differential shrinkage of each stripe I ended up with a very strange shape.

Materials: Hand dyed superfine merino tops in Ruby Red Dress, Merlot and Lilly Pilly. Tissue Silk Fabric in Heartache.

 

Day13 – Natural Rhythms 30-Day Library Challenge

Another day for technical challenges… Starting to figure out what it takes to keeps lines where and how you want them, plus how to create backgrounds that shrink without distorting your image. I always resort to landscape when concentrating on other problems….

Detail….

Materials: Nudie Tissue Silk Fabric. Hand dyed superfine Merino Coastal Heath. Colour Nuance Wool: Stone.

Day 12 – Natural Rhythms 30-Day Library Challenge

Following on from yesterday’s less than fabulous sample, I wanted to try and correct the issues which presented themselves – too straight of lines, no spaces, lack of design integration. I made some headway with today’s sample! It is quite ‘challenging’ to get the colour challenge, the design challenge and the felt challenge all coming together in the same sample….all in less than 24hours (what was I thinking!!).

Back has a really gorgeous unity to it because of the Black Tissue Silk Fabric.  Lovely structure to the felt as well.

Materials: Basic Black Tissue Silk Fabric. Hand dyed superfine Merino tops in Nomad, Emerald, Terracotta. Colour Nuance wools: Cumin, Mud Honey, Urban.

Day 11 – Natural Rhythms 30-Day Library Challenge

I had to let go of expectations on this one. It didn’t do what I thought it would as far as movement, design, space…. but it has potential. Re-creating another one for tomorrow to see if I can overcome some of these issues. The back is totally different and has potential as well.

Because I used Black Tissue Silk fabric on the back, the results look totally different. Quite interesting!

Materials: Tissue Silk fabric Basic Black. Hand dyed superfine Merino tops in Nomad, Blum Gum, Boysenberry, Midnight Blue, Black Currant. Colour Nuance: Sea Spray. (the colours didn’t photography perfectly true…)

 

Day 10 – Natural Rhythms 30-Day Library Challenge

Well, the laying-out phase looked soooo much better than the end results! Dratz!! At least I’m learning important lessons in ‘what not do’. Bold design imagery is not great when using a soft palette of colours. I also didn’t leave enough space between stripes, too many merged into one another. The best thing about is the beautiful drape the Silk Mesh. Overall poor results.Mesh

The back has some potential….

Materials: Silk Mesh fabric in First Light colourway. Hand dyed superfine Merino tops: Smoky Quartz. Nuance Wool: China Blue.

 

Day 9 – Natural Rhythms 30-Day Library Challenge

Have I gone too far this time – are these still stripes??? Had a disastrous sample yesterday (which I won’t show you…), but learning heaps about technique! I love the movement I managed in this sample and given a larger area more could be done.

Close-up
Materials: Paj Silk Fabric in Kangaroo Paw. Hand dyed Superfine Merino tops in Kangaroo Paw and Heartache. Nunace Wool: Celery.

Day 8 – Natural Rhythms 30-Day Library Challenge

Having fun applying Fibonacci’s principles to designing my stripes and colours.

I used a needle-felted batt on the back and what I love is the bleed through of colours from the front creating a plaid-like effect on the back. Pretty nice happy accident!

Materials: Nuance Superfine Merino tops in Turkish Red, Terracotta, Blimey LImey, Black Pearl. Hand dyed Sari Pink. Needle-felted batt in a beige (sorry can’t remember where I got it from).