Eco Printing and Natural Dyeing

Eco printing on wool gives such satisfying results ... these leaves were windfalls that I dried last fall just before the snow flew and they have given beautiful prints. 


 The strip of brown is wool melton that has been naturally dyed with red onion skins, cutch and a couple of iron spikes in the dye pot.
  
The small squares are cotton fabric that was previously used as an iron blanket when I was dyeing scarves.


 

 This will become a 20" pillow that has some hand stitching added to the machine stitched details. The asymmetrical design really appeals to me :)

Long and Skinny Eco Print Art Quilt

 This is a long and skinny (7" x 36") art quilt that I have created from a piece of eco printed wool fabric. It has a peony leaf as well as maple, oak, black elder, and more.


The backing fabric is also 100% wool (a hand dyed tweed that I purchased that goes just perfectly!) and it extends to form an informal border on the quilt. The black cotton batting that I chose peeks out from behind the eco print wool to give a little zing.

The background is free motion machine quilted in wavy lines and the leaves are all hand stitched.

The organic look of this piece will make a statement in any setting ... the edges are unfinished and just a little bit off-square.  I added a hanging sleeve to one of the narrow ends so that it can be hung invisibly from a 6" dowel ... very easy! (it does hang straight from the top edge, not on an angle as the photo appears!) It could also be draped across a table or piano ... or even wrapped around your neck as a statement scarf.

This piece is now available in my Etsy shop https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/498726654/eco-print-wool-art-quilt-wall-hanging?ref=shop_home_active_1

Eco print scarves

I have been so busy exploring new ways to eco print that I have been neglecting  blogging about the results ... here are some of the scarves that I have made in the past few months.

 This silk scarf has lovely shades of amethyst and pale greens and soft charcoal.

 This one has delicate shades of tan with a bit of peach along some of the edge and a broad shibori-like design dyed into one end.  The peach colour has come from adding madder to the dye pot.

 On the left and below ... The fall leaves have given bold prints in rich gold and green on this silk-wool blend scarf.  The leaves have a bit of an outline or shadow from iron.

These scarves are available in my Etsy shop (click on the icon on the right of your screen or go to kathykinsella.etsy.com).