friend or foe - a matter of perspective

As well as working on my pieces for the up-coming exhibition, we've also been catching up in the garden and of course the camera is never far away. This time it's been the pesky weeds that have had center stage. I stumbled across some information on edible weeds while researching companion planting. Who would have thought that some weeds actually have alternative uses. So camera in hand I've captured some shots, printed them onto fabric (using the Ink Aid method) went through my fabric stash, picked out a few floral prints and now working them into a collage. Apparently the following are just a few of the possible culinary delights: Dandelion, Purslane, chickweed, stinging nettle (once cooked the tiny hairs on these leaves are no longer an irritant), chicory and even one of the most annoying weeds in the garden is edible - the cobblers pegs (apparently an Aztec herb) One must always remember to correctly identify these plants before plunging in for a feast as some have similar looking cousins that are definitely not safe to consume.

product play - ink aid

When I'm putting together my art quilts I often incorporate photos I've taken or images of scanned drawings into the layouts. I use a few different methods to transfer the images onto fabric and each method has it's positives and negatives and alters the handle of the fabric differently. I'm using an ink jet printer so the fabrics need to be prepared which enables them to firstly run through the printer and secondly hold the ink. For my current project I'm using a product called "Ink Aid(TM)-White Matt Precoat" to prepare the fabrics.

I particularly like using Ink Aid when I'm wanting to print onto colored fabric or do mono-printing over the top of the images once they have been printed. I've found that the handle of the fabric becomes stiffer but is still very easy to sew through. The instructions on the bottle are very clear and easy to follow. Following the instructions and doing a couple of sample pieces is always a good place to start and then play and explore from there.

The Lantern has been printed onto a patterned black (quilting weight) fabric with the second coat of Ink Aid(TM) not being applied evenly, I wanted some of the the fabric pattern to show through and the image not to be so clear/precise. The flowers down the side of the Lantern have been printed onto white homespun which had been prepared with 2 coats of the Ink Aid(TM). The Dandelion flower has been printed onto light blue cotton poplin which was prepared with two coats of Ink Aid(TM). All prepared pieces were then cut to A4 size and stabilized with freezer paper before running through the printer.