Needlequest July round-up and August intro - fabric colouring techniques

Another quiet month for NQ participation, but here's what we do have for the theme of Crockery and Tableware:

* I finished up my little blackwork cup.  Thanks for the comments about wonky being OK, I appreciate your encouragement.  Having said that, I do prefer straight myself so, when I re-do and develop this design (as I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would), I'll straighten it up somewhat!!=)

* Pamela worked a cross stitch trim for a kitchen towel for her piece.  She used the design from an old favourite crock set as her inspiration and pattern.

* Dorte has posted photos of her finished up pouch made from the blackwork pieces she did for the May Quest and also an experiment textile sample for her line work for June.  She's been on holiday on the island of Rhodes recently and has posted some glorious photos.  The text is Danish, but the photos are universal.=)

My stitching plans for July with results follow:

* Finish the wedding ring cushion.  Done!
* Finish this Tudor Lady piece.  Done!
When those two were complete, then:
* Do the blackwork pottery sample for the Needlequest.  Done!
* Complete, or at least substantially progress, the feather.  Done!  (It'll be complete to show you on Weds)
* Make up the Hanako scatter cushion (and do my trouser alterations) whilst I have the machine out for making up the ring cushion.  Finally chose the finishing materials, but haven't started any sewing yet.

Had I not lost about a week in total to illness, I would easily have finished this list, so I do still consider it a victory and any and all pigs may take off at their earliest convenience.=)

So, onto August's theme: Fabric colouring techniques!  Time to experiment with anything and everything that will change the colour of your fabric.  Here are some rather vibrant samples from my C&G days:

Painted silk habotai ready for embroidery

A rather over-lurid fabric painted sample.  It was meant to be autumn leaves, but the vibrancy of the sky made it look more like a brilliant spring day!!

Hand-dyed fabric with some Broderie Anglaise stitching on it.

My plans are to try a bit more with fabric and silk paints, maybe do one or two simple flowers and stitch in some outlines.  I also want to try more dyeing of fabrics, both a few pieces to stitch on and also some clothes that have got stained and aren't wearable in their present state anymore.  I need to get a larger dyeing vessel first though, maybe just a big bucket!!

Other than that and getting the leftover sewing from July done, here are my plans for August needlework-wise:

* Start tropical island cross stitch (for WIPW)
* Work butterflies small piece (the one I planned for NQ April)
* Stumpwork face card for my niece
* 20th anniversary card for my bro

* Find a way to create a single image banner for my stitching blog (ideas welcome!)
* Try to mend Sir's jumper (doubtful)

Text and images © Elizabeth Braun 2014