Blocks don't do much for surface design

Last Wednesday I showed this photo.


I finally got around to gessoing the blocks and allowing them time to dry.


At the same time, I decided to play with a technique I saw on someone's blog (sorry, I don't even remember whose) where she used tarragon to color some fabric. Since I didn't have any tarragon, I decided to see if ginger, lemon grass, and a pepper seasoning mix would give me the same effect. After all, I had to wait for the blocks to dry, so what did I have to lose. Right?

I started by wetting a strip of old bed sheet, my favorite fabric, since I can get them for about $3.00 each (US) at my local thrift store. If you think about it, this is far cheaper than any yardage you can buy, it's pre-washed, and it's great for tinkering around with various surface designs.


While still quite wet, I added the three spices. Sadly, they were mostly all the same color, so it was obvious I didn't have much color variety.


To make a long story short, once the spices dried, they just flaked off and left no color whatsoever. I guess you could call it a failed experiment, but I learned a valuable lesson. Sometimes you have to use the exact ingredient, rather than making substitutes. Of course, I don't remember the gal showing her finished fabric and I can no longer find her blog.

Also, while I was in the basement, I tore four more pieces of bed sheet, and grabbed my Karo syrup. I wanted to try a new technique I had seen on the Quilting Arts web site, but had to get those other pieces dry and off the table, first. Although the blocks have nothing to do with the design of the fabric, they sure didn't do anything to help it, either!


So last Friday morning, while the weather was still decent (or what I call decent), I took the gessoed boards outside, thinking it would be a lot faster to spray paint them.


Boy oh boy, was I wrong! It took an entire day to get these finished. Two of the cans of paint I got at my Household Hazardous Waste Swap and Shop earlier in that week, were nearly empty, one didn't work after the first spray, one wouldn't give up its cap without a fight to the death, and one sprayed all over everything I had just sprayed. Luckily, I kept newspaper over the ones I had not yet sprayed.

I kept making trips outside, checking the pieces, and nothing dried for hours. To make matters worse, the temperature started to drop around noon, and the wind gusts became exhausting. It really got colder and windier as the day progressed. I had to redo two of the blocks, which added more time. In the end, I brought the blocks inside to finish drying and got enamel paint all over my hands.


I finally got the blocks dry enough to move to the basement. I plan to work on the fabric next, which will give me time to decide what I want to do with these pieces. So, please stay tuned for a fabric tutorial, which I hope to show on Thursday. In the meantime, have a good laugh and a stress-free day.