colour transfers
As I was preparing my eco-bundles for steaming ( https://nichepoetryandprose.wordpress.com/2014/06/20/an-attempt-at-ecoprinting/ ), I was thinking the words ‘heat’ and ‘steam’ – after 30 years of ironing my husband’s work shirts every morning, these words mean ‘steam iron’ to me. So I wondered if it would be possible to transfer the colour of a flower to cloth using my iron.
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So far, I have tried two species: Bugleweed (Ajuga reptans) from under our apple trees, and Birdsfoot Trefoil (Lotus corniculatus) from the roadside …
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basket of Bugleweed
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I placed the flowers between two layers of cotton, sprayed the material with water and pressed down with the steam iron set on medium. I pressed fairly hard and ironed the cloth/flower sandwich until it was dry. Then I wetted it again and continued until I had transferred the colour …
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using the steam iron to transfer colour from Birdsfoot trefoil to cotton
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It took five successive sets of wetting and pressing to obtain the colour. The blues of Bugleweed turned out best …
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colour transfers from Bugleweed (the pale green in the background is made with leaves from my rosebush)
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But the yellow colour from petals and stems of the Birdsfoot trefoil also came out well …
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colour transfers from Birdsfoot trefoil
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Now I have two new colour patterns to add to my future ‘harvesting colour’ quilt !
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colour transfers using Bugleweed and Birdsfoot trefoil
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Copyright 2014 Jane Tims
nichepoetryandprose 
The ironing really did bring out the colour as well as the pattern. The ultimate end of all these swatches is a quilt? How wonderful. It will be like throwing the wild outdoors over top of oneself.
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francisguenette
June 25, 2014 at 12:32 pm
Hi Fran. Yes, I’ll collect squares until I get enough for a small quilt. My quilting isn’t the best but I love the work. Jane
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jane tims
June 25, 2014 at 5:07 pm
Very pretty!
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Lee
June 25, 2014 at 12:24 pm
Hi Lee. Lots of potential! Jane
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jane tims
June 25, 2014 at 5:06 pm
Wonderful! How fun!!!
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weedimageoftheday
June 25, 2014 at 10:46 am
I can hardly wait to try others! Jane
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jane tims
June 25, 2014 at 5:06 pm