Summer Blues

The last few days have brought us beautiful sunny weather, so I decided to try making some innovative sun-printed fabric for my innovative project.  I splashed some diluted Setacolor paints onto some prewashed, damp fabric, then lay it in the sun and covered it with various flowers, ferns, vines, and pieces of lace.  I covered a portion of it with an acrylic plate to keep the plants flat.  Then I waited.

 
After a while, I couldn't resist taking a little peek.  It seemed to be working.  Under the leaves, it's lighter, as the sun draws the paint away from the areas in shadow.

Here is the fabric after the paint was completely dry and the plants and things removed.  I've had better results from sun printing, but I did get that great clear fern print in the right corner.

I decided to augment my white shadows with actual plant prints.  I gathered some more leaves and flowers, some diluted white acrylic paint, and a brayer.

The resulting prints added some clearer detail, interest, and depth to the fabric.

I've also been stitching these daisies in the evenings, so . . .

I now have a good selection of collage materials to use in the "Summer Blues" quilt, including an old photo of my sister and myself on vacation (circa 1967?) printed on fabric, the back pocket from an old pair of jeans, and the laced edge of an old cotton summer shirt I used to wear.

I even started looking through my ribbons and rick-rack to see if any of it might be included.  It's a start!