This began as an unbleached cotton tote bag, 14 x 16 inches, which I purchased at Michaels. I dyed it with Setacolor Transparent Paints, and discharged it with salt. This is a fancy way of saying that while the dye is wet, you sprinkle coarse salt (kosher is best because of fewer impurities, but I used coarse sea salt because that's what is in the cupboard right now) on it and let it dry. This produces dots and starbursts, and I love the way it turned out! Here's a picture of the back of the bag:
The tote is much more teal/aqua than this medium blue in the photo, but it gives you an idea of the salt discharge effect. If you click on the picture, you can see a larger version.
And some close ups of the CQ square which I placed on point (diamond orientation instead of square):
While I was stitching this week, I listened to an audio book from the library called Made by Hand by Mark Frauenfelder. It's a 6-CD set, that, aside from a bit of "potty mouth" language, I enjoyed. There are 4 or 5 "F-bombs" in the book, but the rest of the content was very interesting. Mark chronicles his family's exploration of the DIY (do it yourself) movement - making the perfect cup of espresso, raising chickens and bees, whittling wooden spoons and being more active in his children's educations. A very enjoyable thing to read or listen to while you are stitching.
The studio reorganization continues. I am now packing up some of my projects and supplies to make more room in the studio, which I share with my husband's home office. It's a small room, and we both tend toward packrattery (well, that should be a word - packrattery...). Therefore I have concluded that the only way to have room for both of us to work is to pack up and store some of our projects, books etc for a time. Pictures will be posted, really they will, but it's still a work in progress.
Happy Stitching!
Love the flowers on the Bag!!!! You have amazing talent
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