Thursday, June 1, 2017

Opam for May

Can you seriously believe that May is over,  holy smokes , how did that happen . I actually had a busy month and had a few finishes plus I finished another landscape just a couple of days ago . I seem to be into landscapes this month , this is my fourth .
This is a hand applique piece , so relaxing to sit and stitch in the evening , I hadn't done any like this in a very long time . My supplies of Hand-Dyed fabrics are way down now , so need to replenish soon . I did try my hand at some fabric dying this week . I gathered some lichen from trees and boiled those down then added my fabric to the strained water . I had first prepared my fabric a few days before that with alum . Now here is the interesting part,  just for fun when I put my fabric in the pot I threw in two small pieces that had not been treated in the alum , well the results were very surprising,  take a look .

This isn't the best picture as it was at night so the fabric on the right is a little darker than it appears here BUT the fabric on the left is the untreated fabric.  I had washed both at this point and the colour stayed the same . I was happy with my first try 😊   My second attempt was not so successful , I had also gathered a little green moss which didn't produce any colour at all 😥 

 So back to Opam,  I had a total of 8 finishes this month,  four landscapes , my Eh Canada runner plus the Westering Women BOM Quilt.  Oops forgot my curved pieced dragonfly art piece and a postcard I gave my Mom for Mothers Day . I made this in a hurry , she was so disappointed I didn't make one for her birthday I felt I better get busy and make one for her for Mothers Day , I think she was also happy for the hand delivery .

 Oh I have to show you our little feathered visitors , I am thrilled we have a pheasant couple who frequent our feeders although his early arrival in the morning is not great,  I hear him make that curdling sound around 5am each day .


The males were fighting over possession of this lovely female.  The male on the right was injured and is now walking with a limp , sure hope he heals quickly . He is keeping his distance now . Aren't they gorgeous .
 I best get going , lots to do today and our granddaughter is coming into town with her school so we are meeting up with her for a brief visit too .
 Thanks for stopping by and have yourself a fabulous day .
 hugs Sheila 

10 comments:

  1. Your card is lovely as are the pheasants. I see so few anymore in our travels. We used to see so many of them. They are beautiful birds.

    Your eco dyeing is interesting. Was that with cotton fabric? I've been wanting to try some more of it and I think you are inspiring me to do it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Your hand dyeing looks interesting. Love the landscape & the card. The pheasants are lovely. Hugs,xx

    ReplyDelete
  3. Your landscape and postcard are beautiful finishes. So you use hand dyed fabric on your landscapes, is that it? You get good results. The pheasants are interesting visitors.

    ReplyDelete
  4. How interesting were your dyeing experiments. Love your postcard and feel very honoured to have one live with me. You certainly achieved a lot for May Sheila. Those pheasants are just beautiful. I hope the unlucky suitor heals quickly xx

    ReplyDelete
  5. It is interesting to see what you are doing with dyeing the fabrics. Your landscape is beautiful as is the postcard...you have had a productive month. Lovely to have the pheasants around, I hope the injured male is ok. Enjoy your time with your grand daughter.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Very nice ,Sheila....your landscapes se fantastic! Pheasants are so beautiful

    ReplyDelete
  7. Lots to show for the month Sheila. Interesting experiment with your dying. xx

    ReplyDelete
  8. I love that you're venturing into new areas. The dying turned out well. I still haven't tried doing it but now I'll have you to go to for advice. Love all your projects.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Good for you for trying dying! You certainly were able to accomplish quite a lot, Sheila! Slow and steady wins the race. I hope you had a nice visit with your grand daughter. XO

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hi Sheila your landscape is amazing,love your bird life we have so many different birds visit our place too xx

    ReplyDelete