Sunday 15 July 2012



 I have been having a little fun playing around with a few things this week all in the name of "product design and development". That makes it sound much more important than "having a play and see what happens".
A few weeks ago I started experimenting with 2 colour prints, the results of which were the orange and grey below.
I loved the effect but knew that the 2 colours I had picked were too bold together. I hadn't really planned to use these 2 colours together...it was a result of the newsprint testing pieces for the colours I happened to be using at the time and I was merely overlaying on a whim.
It did make me discover however that there was potential for a 2 colour print with my designs, particular with the stripe and scruffy daisy.
Again inspiration triggered by my old newsprint tester sheets, I set to print in pale blue and turquoise and here are the results below...
...and I'm really rather pleased with it!
Is it wrong to be excited by ones own work? It has such a fresh summery (ha!...there's that strange word again) feel to it and think it would work on so many things. I'm planning on making some pretty summery wash-bags to start with and also incorporate into a quilt I'm doing. I printed up a few to start with, so if you want to grab a piece go here.
I'm planning to try it in a light pink/dark pink combo so watch out for that.

My other "product design and development" this week involved printing onto some Quilter's Linen swatches I had received with the view to creating my winter (that's more familiar...) range. It's hard to get a feel for how a fabric is going to look when it is printed on so doing it this way is great.
Quilter's linen is really lovely. It is 100% cotton but has a look of linen due to it's texture markings. I find linen to sometimes be a little stretchy so this is a perfect alternative as it looks great and sews up beautifully.
I now have rather big decisions to be made as actually I like how so many of them have turned out. So a little help please...which colours would you like to see in the collection??

12 comments:

Paravent said...

Oh Karen - you've been doing great things here :)
The new fabric is gorgeous and I really love the print over the colour swatches too. Kx

Unknown said...

I really love the white on colour swatches there. Looks really classy.

Reene@Nellie's Niceties said...

They all look great! Sorry that's not very helpful :-)

Rachel said...

I love quilters linen and those swatches look fab with the white print on them! Personally I like the cool colours, so pinks, blues and greys.

Kristys Stitches said...

not much help but I would find it too hard to choose too!

Charlotte said...

ooooooooh!!!!! I love the overprinting - such a great effect!

Lady Jane said...

I like the zingy pale green, the grey,the light blue and the strong blue.
They all look lovely and fresh printed with white.

Gill said...

I'm no help because I love them all!

twolittleflowers said...

I think that I would have to choose a selection of warm and cool colours - including your trademark tangerine/papaya colour and maybe an opposite in lime green...sounds a bit like a cocktail!

I have been looking all over for quilters cotton. May I ask where you are sourcing it??

Oh, and loving the overprinting light and brights.

Ta, Keri (keri@twolittleflowers.com)

Jo said...

I like the pink, turquoise and lime green ones best, they look lovely!

Cherie said...

Such a creative idea!

I'd go with colour wheel colours as well as a few neutral tones too =D

Also I've added some new fabrics into my swap shop, as well as a new one via Flickr. If you're interested feel free to check them out =D
http://ibescheraldine.blogspot.co.uk/p/cheraldines-swap-shop.html
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ibescheraldine/sets/72157630591128322/

Nicky said...

I like the pale grey, the 2 reds, the lime green, the hot pink and the aquas ! Too many? I hope not...