Wednesday update

Doing this a day early as I have had some pictures sent to me a few days ago so I want to get them published.
There has been some interesting work going on.  First is Diane:

Here she has been finishing off a UFO to make this lovely sampler.

This is a sample of buttonhole stitch making an attractive flower design.

This is called bargello patchwork using the African fabrics she bought earlier.  It make a stunning design.  Like me, she is now stuck waiting to be able to purchase plain fabric.

These next three pieces are from Roma who has been working with running stitch.  They are lovely pieces of work, I wish mine were as interesting and imaginative.

I love these colours!

Lesley has been making scrubs for the hospital and this is a selection of what she has done.

Aren't these lovely! They would cheer anybody up.

I have been looking at the way different African communities join together small pieces of fabric to make a larger piece that can be used to make clothes and robes.  This small piece I have done for my workbook is a type of work done by the Ashanti people.  A double hem is folded to the outside of the fabric and then the pieces are joined with a knot stitch.  You can see I have added beads to one area and you can also wrap the hems with coloured thread to form a decorative band through the middle of the final fabric.

Last week I was having a go at flour paste printing and said I would show you how I had got on.

Not brilliant but there are some areas I can use.  However, I do know what I did wrong and could do it again.  The recipe is from Mary Sleigh's book and is 1 tablespoon of plain flour to 9 tablespoons of water cooked up to make a white paste.  Spread it on the fabric, this is where I went wrong as there was more paste than I needed for the size of material.  You can draw into the paste to make patterns.  When it is dry and this does take a while, up to two days you need to scrunch it up to break the paste.  I had left mine two days and then scraped off some of the excess paste which is why I have so much plain area.  Also, I should have scrunched it more.  I then painted it with silk paints and when it was dry I had to scrape off as much of the paste as possible.  I ironed it on the wrong side on as sheet of baking parchment to set the paint then washed it and washed out all the remaining paste.  It leaves the fabric quite soft and easy to work.  I think I shall try it again.

Keep stitching everyone, enjoy your gardens and make the best of this weather and time for ourselves.