Here is the image transfer onto Felt that I completed. I strated sewing into it, but am just not happy with it. I feel like I need more contrast in the colour of thread used.

The transfer was done using soft gel medium and transparencies. I burnished very lightly with my hand as I had the felt quite wet because the gel was soaking in.

Felt book

Last year I started a felt book. I hand felted the pages and have been decorating them using machine embroidery and dried flowers. I've decided I need to finish this project and move on. I've almost done it. One page has writing in machine embroidery and a sketch on canvas paper sewn into the page. The second last one, I've cut flower shapes out of organza using my soldering iron and have machined them on en masse. The last page I'm very exciting about. I have transferred a botanical image onto the felt using soft gel medium and a transparency sheet. It worked really well which is great as I've had a lot of trouble and a lot of experimenting with this in the past. Hopefully some photos of the finished book soon.

Dyeing

The last couple of days I've been having a play with Dala Sun Colours. I bought a set at the last craft fair and fiiiinally got around to experimenting. It was really good fun. Now that the weather is nicer, I've been setting up outside on the grass. I just slap on a pair of gloves and play. No photos as of yet, still no camera. I can appreciate now what a difference hand-dyed fabric makes to a piece - it just adds another dimension instead of a flat background...Although you can even buy fabric that looks like hand-dyed fabric now...or patchwork...or... The background from my fibre postcard below was cut from one of my first dyeing expeditions. These dyes are effected by the sun in how fast they dry. If some parts dry faster, more dye will move there so that the water is evenly spread, the result being you can get some amazing light and dark effects. You can also place objects on the wet dyed fabric and get results similar to sun prints on photo paper. I just finished 3 miniature versions of the fabric postcards with the letters: FLY on them. AND I even framed them!! All finished an gorgeous. Still agonising over the Spiral piece I am making...when is enough, enough? Pictures soon.

Fibre Postcards for a Cause

Today I sent off some postcards to America. Virginia Spiegel is fundraising for the American Cancer Society. Heaps of postcards will all be for sale at a the International Quilt Festival in Houston for $30 each with all money going to Cancer research. http://www.virginiaspiegel.com/NewFiles/ACSFundraiser.html I chose the theme: Lift, because we all need a lift every now and then, especially if we are trying to cope with the reality of cancer. Hopefully seeing these at the Festival will lift the spirits of someone who needs it.

What's quite exciting about these postcards for me is that all of the fabrics to go on them. The green background is a result of my first go at dyeing. I coloured vilene, felt to make the letters and created the 'stamps' from water-soluble paper. I'll make some ATCs next using a similar design.