Tsukineko Ink Sampling

A few weeks ago, hubby asked me if there was anything I'd been wanting and initially, I said no to which he then said 'nothing.' I thought about it for a while and then said that I'd love to get some more paints/inks. I really like the Tsukineko inks and had a few bottles from a class that I'd taken years ago. These inks never go bad and it only takes a tiny amount so the bottle never seems to empty. Isn't that cool! Well, hubby gave me the entire collection! Our 35th Anniversary is in July and this present is a wonderful present. Thank you honey!

I thought I'd do something I've never done with any of my paints and that is make a sample showing all of the colors. My goal was to show full saturation of the inks on one half and a light shading on the other half. This sample aided me in learning just how much pressure I needed in order to get a light shading. The fabric I used was an inexpensive white, bleached cotton called Roc-Lon. I think the results would have been even nicer on a nicer fabric. I could feel the ridges of the fabric pulling and in many cases causing a streaking of the ink when shading.

On the last square at the bottom, I used the green, #10 ink but before inking the box, I spritz the square with the #9 potion to see how it would react. I love how it looks but it will take some practice to know how to control the spreading of the ink. I inked the center and it immediately spread out and gave a beautiful watercolor effect.

I finished quilting my Hoopoe and am ready to cut, bind, label, and put the sleeve on it. I can't wait to post a finished picture.

I've been working on and off on my drawing for Australia as well. It's not quite where I want it yet so I'll keep working on it until it tells me it's done and to get stitching!

Enjoy your weekend! We had 2 full days of summer this week and it nearly killed me. Seriously, we've had 50 to 55 degree days and 40 to 45 degree nights. And then just this week, we had 2 days of over 80. My body did not react well to such a sudden change, but I will adjust if the temps stay put and quit varying in 30 degree increments.