Thief in the night

I put on my black cape (everyone should own one, along with their own tiara) and went out after dark. I walked in the shadows. Scissors in hand....I stole things from neighbour's gardens.

Yes, I am that thief, the one who cuts blooms off from the back of your flowering shrubs in the hopes you don't notice.

I feel a little guilty. In fact, I feel a lot guilty. But luckily all those yoga lessons are coming in handy; pay attention to the "Now". That was yesterday, this is the moment and tomorrow, who knows...I might need some more flowers.
Once home, I pulled out my stash of pre-mordanted with alum fabric and began the squish routine. This whole escapade began with the blue hydrangea.

It is such a beautiful color and I fell prey to lust. I had to have some.

I agree, I became a little greedy. I had to have the other two shades of blue/purples as well. For these squish projects, only a few petals are needed, not an entire shrub. Hydrangea flower heads have huge numbers of florets on them. I now have two heads drying in the cupboard. At any rate, only a few florets or petals are needed to squish.

Hydrangea petals and either a veronica or a hyssop bloom

The assumption is that as the seasons turn, petals from other plants will be layered over and around, creating a background to play with for stitching. Maybe in the previous post I didn't mention that the background fabric was made squishing pansy petals, grass and some veronica. I use a marble rolling pin and sometimes have to use the edge of the roller to get the petals to burst open.

The hydrangea left a nice blueish colour most of the time while the veronica or hyssop left a yellow smudge. The colour of the petal is not always an indicator of what the resulting colour will be.

I went back over it with a different hydrangea bloom, or rather, unopened blooms.

Now I love it.

I had some fun with a black/purple berry of some kind and some very small rose hips. I think these are from the Briar rose. These hips are from a neglected garden of an absentee landlord. I felt no guilt on this snipping.

But I love, love, love the results. Well, not really on the berries, these look like poop smears. I used two different types of cotton, the left is an undyed muslin and the right is a good grade white. The berries were fun to work with, they kept popping out from between the two layers, allowing me to rearrange the splodges as I went. The skins were a bugger to get off. I tried using a brush. This left more streaking that I kind of like.

The rosehips also tried to escape at every roll and squish. I should have left it as it is, because I adore it at this stage but I was sweating and having too much fun.

I added some berries and now, I'm uncertain if I love, love, love it. (I changed my mind in only two paragraphs by reviewing these photos) I am not planning to wash the previous fabrics, but I think i will wash this one. It was brighter before. Maybe I'll hunt for some more rosehips and fool around a bit to recapture that bright orange.

I saved the best colour for last and used a duponi silk. I had such dreams. The hydrangea that set me on this thieving spree and a silk, a match made in heaven.

Sigh. From delicate to dirty. But even as I write, an idea speeds through the brain pan. White stitches and a range of mauve threads, a few darks, pale greens and a bit of blue/mauves. Yes, I can rescue this one day.
It's a full moon tonight; no nocturnal adventures. I will search from more rosehips for a darker night. Soon it will be Hallowe'en and then in my cape, on that night, I will strike. (Not the kids or candy, but the rosehips) And blame it on the teenagers.