Friday, March 6, 2015

Seed Packets V2-Help Needed

I mentioned last week that my mom and I did a couple of new technique mini-projects over the holidays (BTW, how is February already over??).  The first was the painting technique I already shared, and the second one was making stamps out of meat packages.  This was also an idea from a magazine, but alas I've forgotten which one.  We cut out flat sections from foam meat trays and used a pen or pencil to carve into them. Mom did the two on the left and I did the one on the right. I really love tiling designs, so tried to make a pattern that would repeat across the edges of each print.

We were somewhat limited by the amount of meat tray that didn't have other stuff already imprinted on it.  We tried to get the men to get us some more meat trays while they were suffering through the holiday-grocery-store-nightmare, but our small town walmart didn't have any meat trays without meat on them and no one needed any more meat, so we just went with what we had.




After "carving" them, we just used regular acrylic paint to make prints.  Here's a strip of test prints from one of mom's.  Her second block (the flowery one) made a really nice repeating design but I didn't get any pictures of it.  




I started printing mine to make a 16" square, with our 16 x 16 seed packet challenge in mind.  I didn't have quite enough green mixed up, so my first panel wound up have lots of different shades of green.  We also weren't quite sure how much paint to use, so some prints were globbier than others.  I kind of like the variation in green but not the globbiness.  Anyway, I was gamely printing along, then got to the last row and ACK printed one of them upside down.  I could have screamed.  I finished up the pattern, then just printed another panel.  The second time, I mixed up extra paint so I had more uniform colors and I managed to print them all in the correct orientation.



First panel

Second panel

Here are a couple of close ups so you can see the repeat a bit better.


So here's where I  need help.  I have absolutely no idea what to do with these (either one or both).  I thought about using them as a background for something else, but what?  They're pretty busy.  I thought about just quilting them and finishing them as a whole cloth, but I have no idea how I'd quilt them and I feel like they'd be a bit flat.

Any suggestions?  I really have no idea at all!

Linking up with Nina-Marie as ever!



8 comments:

  1. These are fantastic. They look like decorator prints to me so the first thing I thought of is pillows.

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  2. Well, they look like really old tiles in European homes to me. I can see them as some kind of border if you reprint them. The thing is they are so regular now, that you are probably wanting a focus. They do look a bit Wm Morris. I wonder if they are your learning tool, and you can move from them to another project using the knowledge. Or randomly slice them up and repiece them into something. See, I'm not a symetrical kind of gal, so I want to insert randomness. LeeAnna at not afraid of color

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  3. They do look like tiles! If I wanted to quilt one whole I would use the first one: the irregularities in the paint give it variety in texture and colour and I thinkk it could be quite effective. LeeAnna's idea of a border is good, or you could use your printed piece as the centre of something and started piecing borders outwards. (Like her I would happily slice into one, but I know that's not for everyone: you have spent ages making lovely pieces of fabric may well want to keep them intact!)

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  4. Tablecloth? I could see this on a table with a yellow vase of flowers. What fun you must have had doing this with your mom though. That memory is priceless no matter what you end up doing with the fabric.

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  5. It looks like Art Noveau wallpaper. I think it is stunning. I vote for wholecloth, finished as simply as possible. I can't wait to see what you do next.

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  6. Another idea would be to make more of these and then edge them for napkins. Make a tablecloth using them as a border, or a table runner. They do look like tiles - you did a great job of making a complicated repeat!

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  7. I think you might be able to do a kind of cut-out technique I've seen on Handmade by Carolyn's blog... like this?
    http://handmadebycarolyn.blogspot.de/2014/02/alabama-chanin-tank-top.html

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  8. Thanks for all the awesome suggestions!

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