Thursday, August 13, 2009

Flower pounding!




I don't recommend this if you have touchy neighbors who live close by! LOL Fortunately I live in the woods and only a few grazing rabbits took notice. I used white cotton suitable for dying. I think it holds the color better. Colors come out quite muted and I really liked that. I shall be trying ferns next. Anyway I layed down several layers of newsprint (plain),then the white cotton, then arranged the flowers face down on the cotton, then more newsprint. I had this all on a large wood board by the way as I really don't think a glass top table would be to good. :-0 ! Took a hammer and started pounding away. Good for relieving stress by the way! You have to do a lot of pounding, checking very carefully as you go. Finally done remove paper and poor squashed flowers and let dry. Then press. I chose to quilt my material and shall be making a pillow out of it. Before I quilted I took a permanent marking pen and added some loose drawn lines to add interest. If you enlarge the photo,I think you can see what I mean.

17 comments:

Brynwood Needleworks said...

How beautiful, Sharon! I'll have to try that some time.

By the way, you've won first choice in my blog giveaway!!! Congratulations. Come on over and read the post to see how you can collect your gift!

Hugs,
Donna

Jasmine said...

This is lovely, I want a go! I wonder if it works on wool/felt? Enjoy the rest of your weekend :)

Unknown said...

How cool is that!? You really do amazing things with fabric and stitch.
Hope you have a great weekend Sharon

beth

Snap said...

Wow! That's cool and a good way to get rid of stress! ;D ;D

Judy S. said...

Very cool. I've read about this technique, so it's fun to see how it looks. Nice idea to add the quilting; it'll make a lovely pillow. I'll bet iris would pound well....they seem to drip color off their spent blooms.....

Maggie R said...

Hi Sharon..
I love your work here. The colors are so pretty and fragile looking.
It will make a lovely pillow.
I was tidying up my fabric room the other day and came across a piece I had done ages ago... I was going to make a bag!! Thanks for the inspiration. I Love flower pounding.. It is definitley a stress reliever...I will work far away from my new glass top patio table!!! ROTFLMAS!!!!
xoxo
((((hugs))))
Maggie

Janet said...

I had heard about flower pounding but never seen what it actually looks like. Yours is beautiful and the light lines are just right.

Beth L said...

wow this is so cool Sharon! What a great way to preserve your garden and create something beautiful! And the swirly quilting all around really makes yours beautiful.
I want to try this! My neighbors have been re-roofing and building storage sheds and such so I doubt anyone will notice me hammering away at a few little flowers...LOL

Sea Gypsy said...

I have never heard of this, but it is so beautiful! I can even picture some of your beautiful handwork on top. Really, I am just blown away by the beauty of the fabric! Do you have to do anything to make it colorfast or do flowers make a permenant stain?

Elizabeth said...

Beautiful Sharon! I love the pen details!! How do these poundings hold up color wise for you???
I ahd done some that brown out pretty quickly!! I wonder if there is a color preservative taht would work.

Love the quilting too!!
Hugs!
Elizabeth

Charmingdesigns said...

This is soooo cool. Nice job!! I might have to try that sometime...does it work on paper? Laurie

Pearl said...

I too love flower pounding, my girlfriend and I use to do it once in awhile and we always had fun! Yours looks great by the way.

Pat Winter Gatherings said...

I've pounded flowers, but your project is gorgeous!
Thanks for the well wishes for Angell. She has had a rough morning already..getting pampered by mom and dad,LOL.
Hugs,Pat
}{ Angell gives a smooch to Teddy!

Sarah Sullivan said...

Oh what stunning work you do!! This is amazing - I wanna try it!! I adore fiber artwork and yours...well it is stunning!! Off to look at more! Sarah

Marva Plummer-Bruno said...

Your flower pounding is wonderful! I'm not that good at it...

Shelley said...

Another beauty!! Your talent is amazing!!!!

Tammie Lee said...

Hello,
I have just arrive to visit from Jasmine's blog. She mentions this post. This is beautiful and when I clicked to see your photos large, the details are amazing and was surprised to see that your quilting is hand stitched! Gorgeous.