Using Some of the New Mandalas
Well, Thursday was another day for experimenting. A few days ago I successfully dyed some remnants of non pdf fabric in a small size so I decided that it would be very useful to have a bunch of these smaller mandalas as they would be more like quilt blocks. As you do these mandalas in smaller and smaller sizes, it becomes more difficult to get enough variety across the piece as you are working with a smaller surface and the dyes are hard to control as you are applying them over ice. These are 11 x 11 inch squares. I had 12 but somehow one has disappeared! Don't know at which stage it disappeared or whether the washing machine ate it!
After I had finished my hand washing of these pieces, I was sure I had my first real color failures!! They were really ugly -- brown and loden green all over. After going through the Synthrapol wash in hot water in my washing machine and then the dryer, I was very pleased with the results and call it another success.
This is the picture of all 11 -- you will notice the bottom two don't have as much variation in color.
These are the two 22 inch pieces that were underneath the 12 pieces. Hadn't intended to coordinate them -- just wanted to test some fabric that I had bought suspecting it would dye well -- it was a very very pale color but obviously a batik and the price was right. You can see it worked just fine! I had drop cloths above all the folded pieces as well as right on the rack so it was quite a sandwich of fabrics.
Here are the blue/green ones -- all 12 this time!
These are the two larger pieces that were under the blue/greens.
Seeing them altogether, it occurred to me that I could make arrangements of the big and small for quilts. This was one thought.
Another thought.
This is a variation of the quilt I made the other day with the reject mandala. Having the squares next to the block on the diagonal was a thought I had back with that quilt but didn't have the fabric that looked right. I kind of like this!
The other block with accompanying small pieces.
Two using the other large squares, the bottom one mixing it with the blue blocks.
I also did two t-shirts to match my red capris which they do! Now to do a couple with black stripes as that is the color I usually wear!!
The next three are the drop cloths that sat underneath the folded fabrics on the three racks.
I like the subtle shadings in these non-pfd muslin fabrics that were hanging about. I am thinking I am going to do a lot more of these matching small and large mandalas as I can see real uses for them. Maybe I will even go smaller with some of my remnants and I haven't tried this on silk yet.......Not enough time for all my thoughts.
Just a note to let you know I tried this out today. They are soaking in synthrapol solution right now. I don't think they were very successful. When you pot the powder on, about how big is the area per color? Quarter size? Couple of inches? I think I used too much red. I'll see how they come out after washout. Not holding out much hope though. Yours are simply gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteI have been careful with reds and haven't tried mixing red or fuchsia at all as fuchsia hits so quickly, I was afraid it wouldn't go through all the layers. I use heat to make sure the turquoise sets as well. Let me know how you are doing!!
ReplyDeleteA few came out ok. Mostly duds. I thought the blues and greens would do better. Mi used a lot of green but you can hardly tell. I'll definitely have to try this again. So many things to try! Thanks for the inspiration Beth. I love reading your blog. Well, except the birds. Minot really a bird person. ;-)
ReplyDeleteMy Instagram feed is suesinstitches so you can see the more successful ones there.
Are you letting them sit for awhile? Are you applying heat at the end to make sure the blues take? Looking at the picture, I would say you need different values in your colors, like a really dark blue or dark green. I don't know whether you are using the pure colors or some mixed colors. It does take a bit to get exactly what you are looking for. It is hard for me to describe as I truly think it is almost on a subconscious level at this point. Maybe if someone watched me, they could describe it better and tell you what I have neglected to say!
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