I found this guy, rolling eyes and spectacular mustache and all, on the Blue and White Tokyo blog. There are some really lovely things in that post. I am smitten with the blue and white triangle quilt in the window, and the wild dragon one woman made for her husband. But this fellow spoke to me.
Trying to add enough thread to cover the fabric and foil and show off the stars. Heavy thread worked from the back, thinner thread filled in from the front.
Migraine today. I'm pleased I got this circle done.
It was absurdly cold this morning – about 5F when I got up, and 17F when I left the house for the barn. Kaboose and I were invited out on a trail ride, before the next round of dreadful weather shows up and renders the world a skating rink. We went out into the bright cold and fresh snow, and it was so lovely. The snow creaked under the horses' feet in the cold, and Scout snorted at monsters all the way. My toes froze. I might actually need winter boots.
Yesterday I declared I was Done With Foil. Today I have stars of gold mylar thread (Sulky Sliver) which is somehow less annoying to me than the whole ironing/fusing/gluing process. Thread I can deal with. Thread follows the needle, until it breaks, and I have pretty good control over the needle.
This is red foil with star shaped holes over orange silk with yellow/gold thread. Still foiled, still gold stars, just some kind of reverse osmosis.
I have learned some things about foil.
Having pushing it around for three weeks, and run out of gold, I think I am done with gold foil. I'll make gold stars on the rest of my red circles for January in other ways.
I like the basic idea of the spiral, but I am not delighted with the contrast between the two threads I used to make it, or the placement of stars along it.
I am fine; I had a medical test yesterday, and the results were in my favor. The circle for yesterday is over at Flickr.
Still experimenting with different glues. I like the swoop down of this one. Although if you turn it over it looks like a fountain.
In all my fussing about fusible web for foil, I totally forgot that I have six or seven different glues, any one of which might work also. So I did some controlled testing on scrap fabric, and liked the way this one came out. Also, lots of close reds (I think there are three different reds in there, so it shimmers in an interesting way).
I’m much happier with this one. Although I did forget to edge it before I took its portrait.
You can look away now, if you are not interested in the more technical aspects!
After yesterday’s issues I dug out a different fusible (Heat and Bond, vs. WonderUnder). It works at a lower temperature, is thicker and heavier, and seems to be working better. I am encouraged by the intensity of the tiny stars – that was not happening with WU. I prefer WU because I usually need to be able to sew through the stuck down fabrics. Heat and Bond heavy weight is not to be stitched through; it does serious damage to needles, and the Heat and Bond lightweight still leaves strange residues. But it is great for foil.
And a happy natal day to my brother who turns 50 today. I don't entirely understand how that can be possible because I'm a year and a half older than he is and I'm still 36, but maybe that is relative time for you.
Today I suffered a complete foil failure. I've been using foil that requires ironing onto something sticky. I had a special glue for it, but the glue is really difficult to control. For these stars I'd been using fusible web. Paper punches make lovely shapes from the paper-backed fusible. I'd iron the shapes down, peel off the paper, and fuse the foil to the fusible. With more or less success. Today only one star of fifteen foiled and peeled properly. The rest were mangled, fragmented or vanished.
So I begged a piece of gold origami paper from Alice, and used fusible to make punched out stars iron-on, and ironed them on.
I think I have a short list of experiments left to try with the foil. I need to see if higher or lower iron temps matter and I need to try two other kinds of fusible. If I don't find some combination of factors that works, I'm done with the stuff. It is shiny, but too frustrating if I can't make it do what I want.
Fourteen, and a very busy day.
I had a horse, and a concert, and dinner with friends, and then I remembered I had a circle to make.
I am remembering why I got so frustrated with foil. It does it not do what I want it to, and it doesn't do it in ways I cannot fix or work around. I don't mind unpreditability, in fact I like working with variegated threads and handpainted fabric. But this looks ugly to me, the edges aren't good, the fusible doesn't hold all the shape of the transfer, it isn't clean… Two weeks into January, I am remembering why I didn't do much with it before.
And I need to decide how hard I want to push the foil issue – do I stick with it to the end of January, or do I declare this experiment over and go on to other gold stars? Because I still like the idea of counting up to the end of the month.
Lee Thomson 