Fabric block printing @ inktorrents.com by Soma

Flight Of The Tree And A Giveaway

Fabric lino block printing @ inktorrents.com by Soma

 

Hello Everyone!  All Hallows Eve for me is the time when fantastical things can happen.  All you have to do is stretch your imagination a little.  I love decking our house with a myriad autumnal and magical decorations.  My husband and I carve pumpkins and happily dole out candy to all who stop by, children and adults alike.  This year however, I had been feeling very lackadaisical about my favourite day.

Carol’s announcement of the Ghastly Ghouls blog hop was exactly what I needed.  I love her blog hops, she makes them fun.

 

 

 

The Idea

 

Fabric lino block printing @ inktorrents.com by Soma

 

I have been doing block prints on paper for a while.  Printing on fabric would be new to me.  This was just the occasion for trying that out.

 

The Raven was certainly going to be a central part of the picture, but the context was not quite clear to me at first.  Visiting a favourite spot, a grove of oak trees, sparked an idea.   What if, on All Hallows Eve, for that one night, the spirits of the trees are set free as birds!  They get to spread their wings and fly across the world.

 

Who else but the adventurous Girl and her Cat would venture into the woods to witness such a magical moment, perhaps even talk to the raven spirit of this ancient tree.

 

Then, one Sunday, the idea materialised into a drawing.

 

 

The Making

 

Fabric lino block printing @ inktorrents.com by Soma

 

 

I find block carving extremely calming.   Just like the Girl and her Cat, with my kitty right beside me, I ventured into the world of bringing the spirit of a tree to life.

 

 

The Printing

 

Fabric lino block printing @ inktorrents.com by Soma

 

This is the part where I stepped into the unknown territory.  The new Speedball fabric ink I got kept drying out on me, causing very blotchy prints.   After a few test prints, I gave up and went back to my favourite ink which tends to stay wet longer.   That way I could mix a couple of inks to get the right colour and pull a few prints with ease.

 

 

The Not So Magical Moments

 

Of course, there had to be a few hiccups.  Two of my sweet kitties got sick at the same time, both needing a lot of TLC.  Tight on schedule, but I made it.

My iron decided to stop working at 10:30 at night, right before I started ironing the fabric pieces for printing.  My dear husband mended the cable while I got everything else ready.

 

 

Fabric lino block printing @ inktorrents.com by Soma

 

I had to wash the old Speedball ink off the block before I could restart with the new ink.  That caused the block to bend, making it impossible for me to apply ink properly.  After several unsuccessful test prints, I had to call it a night.  I set the block under LOTS of books to try and make it flat again and went to bed.

 

 

 

Fabric lino block printing @ inktorrents.com by Soma

 

These are the test prints.   With the slight changes I made on every print, I saw improvements. That was extremely encouraging.  I wanted to do a few colour fastness and wash tests, but I ran out of time.   The bottom three I saved for a later day for that purpose.

 

 

The Joy of Success

 

Fabric lino block printing @ inktorrents.com by Soma

 

 

Next day, much to my delight, I was able to very successfully pull a few prints by applying all the modifications I figured out the night before. 

 

 

Fabric lino block printing @ inktorrents.com by Soma

 

I set them to dry on the laundry drying rack.   The texture of the canvas fabric gave it a tapestry style look which I really love!

 

 

The Finish

 

Fabric lino block printing on canvas @ inktorrents.com by Soma

 

With the prints almost dry, I started working on my finished project.   Using one of the prints, I made a  bag with pockets.  The canvas fabric is stiff enough, but I still used interfacing to give it a sturdier body.

 

 

 

Here are a couple of photos of the inside and the back of the bag.  Please click on them to see the larger phtos.

 

 

A Giveaway

 

Fabric lino block printing on canvas @ inktorrents.com by Soma

 

 

As I was making the bag, I thought it would make the perfect giveaway for this festive event.  It’s a 11″ x 9″ sturdy bag made of canvas fabrics with three generously sized inside pockets.   I can think of so many things to use this bag for.   (Bag contents not included)

 

My giveaways are for those who subscribe to my blog via email. This is where I share my photos and work in context and communicate with you directly.  Thank you for reading and for all the wonderful comments!

 

The giveaway has now ended.

 

 

 

Just Let Me Quilt

 

I love taking part in Carol’s Halloween blog hops, and I am so glad that I got to participate this year again.  She keeps the event fun  and open, which lets me try out new ideas for my project.  She also makes fantastic quilts and patterns, specially Halloween themed ones.  Make sure to visit her website see her beautiful works.

I am sharing this day with these wonderful ladies –

 

Creatin’ in the Sticks

Inflorescence

Samelia’s Mum

Songbird Designs

 

The Girl And Her Cat witnessing Flight of the Tree has become one my favourite Halloween stories.   I love those magical moments!

Happy Halloween Hopping!

-Soma

 

I am linking up with the linky parties on my Events And Links page.  Please pay a visit to some of them.

 

 

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Charlie's Adventure A Halloween Story about a little cat Charlie @ InkTorrents.com by Soma

Charlie’s Adventure

Autumn Halloween quilt by InkTorrents Graphics Soma Acharya - Whims And Fancies

 

This is a story about Charlie’s adventure.  I shared this story once before when I made the quilt top.  That was so many years ago that I thought would share the story one more time, along with the finished quilt.  

Charlie is my sweet little orange kitty who, contrary to everyone’s belief, has a sweet tooth that would rival anyone.  He would do anything to get a lick of ice-cream, watermelon, sweetened cream, or anything else sweet you can think of.

 

One day, Charlie learned that on All Hallows Eve,  if he puts on a wizard’s hat and a bow tie and sits very very quietly amongst the Jack-O-Lanterns, magic leaves will come and carry him to the Land of the Seven Sisters who would give him lots and lots of sweets to eat.  So he came to me and asked if I would make him a hat and a bow tie.  I was happy to oblige.

 

 

Autumn Halloween quilt by InkTorrents Graphics Soma Acharya - Whims And Fancies

 

 

As the evening approached, he donned his starry hat and bow tie, smartly walked outside, sat down in the pumpkin patch and waited very patiently.

 

 

 

Autumn Halloween quilt by InkTorrents Graphics Soma Acharya - Whims And Fancies

 

 

Charlie has a very bossy sister and two very clueless brothers.  They all love to play with Charlie.  His sister specially loves Charlie and keeps a wary eye on him at all times.   Charlie excitedly told her all about his plan.  She didn’t really believe him, but she was not about to let him sit outside all alone either.  Who knew what peril would befall her brother!  She was also not going to leave the other two out of sight, because then she would have to spend the rest of the night looking for all of them if they got lost.  So the bossy sister pushed the disgruntled brothers out the door and all of them surreptitiously waited a little distance away from little Charlie as the sun sank below the horizon.

 

 

 

Autumn Halloween quilt by InkTorrents Graphics Soma Acharya - Whims And Fancies

 

 

They waited and waited and waited some more.  Then, when everything had gone quiet, all the kids had gone home after their Trick-Or-Treat runs and the Jack-O-Lanterns were about to go out, they heard a rustle and a swoosh.  Suddenly they were off, all four of them, carried away on gigantic leaves!  These were no ordinary leaves, of course!  On each one of them, a different adventure awaited the little kitties.  They stayed together, hopped around and rolled from leaf to leaf, played, and had amazing fun.

 

 

 

Autumn Halloween quilt by InkTorrents Graphics Soma Acharya - Whims And Fancies

 

 

All this time, while they were busy playing, the leaves carried them onward and upward to the Land of the Seven Sisters.  By the time the little kitties got there, they were exhausted.  They sat in the midst of stars and each had their favourite food to eat while watching the Jack-O-Lantern-lit Earth turning down below.  Charlie had his most favourite sweets to eat that day and nobody was going to stop him.  Slowly as the night got deeper, they fell asleep on top of each other and were carried gently and silently back down to earth, down to their soft, warm beds.

 

 

 

Autumn Halloween quilt by InkTorrents Graphics Soma Acharya - Whims And Fancies

 

 

 

I had a wonderful time drawing, creating the layout, and designing the patterns for Charlie’s Adventure.  I definitely had just as much fun as my little kitties.  Charlie was all right with sharing the story with all of you as long as he and his beloved Papa could have the quilt. 

Now I am really glad to have finished the quilt so that they can huddle under it together and dream of sweet things. 

 

For the most part I did wavy quilting to depict the wind that blew them all to the Land of the Seven Sisters.  I didn’t want to purchase new fabric for the binding, so I used some lime green material that I happened to have at hand.  Although I had originally had a purple binding in mind, I rather like this one.

One day I would love to illustrate this story for a book.

 

 

 

 

Charlie Cat Scaling Wall - Inktorrents Graphics Soma Acharya

 

 

As you know, Charlie does tend to come up a lot in my stories and artwork.   This is a sketch I made of him trying to climb a wall.  “Trying” being the operative word.

 

 

 

Charlie's Snowflakes - Lost Pages watercolour paintings by InkTorrents Graphics Soma Acharya - Whims And Fancies

 

 

Last week I shared a  little story about how he was one of the helpers of the Winter Fairy.   You can read that little story here.

 

 

 

Charlie's Snowflakes - Lost Pages watercolour paintings by InkTorrents Graphics Soma Acharya - Whims And Fancies

 

 

Charlie sat and supervised as I wrote the story.   Actually, he was trying to convince me to give him some sweet treats.  He was most disappointed when that didn’t work, “Nobody at home ever gives me anything!”  So he went off to bed to dream about his special All Hallows Eve adventure while snoozing with his pumpkin.  Supposedly the pumpkin gives him sweet dreams.

 

Although he is now 17 years old, he is still the perpetual kitten of our home and continues to make us laugh with his antics.  Also, much to his chagrin, he gets smothered in hugs and kisses all the time, despite loudly claiming that “he is a grown-up boy who should NOT be hugged and kissed”.

 

Whether you read it today for the first time, or re-read it, I do hope you enjoyed the story, even though it is out of season.

Until then,
-Soma

 

P.S.  I always get asked – the patterns are available in my shop.

 

I am linking up with the linky parties on my Events And Links page. Please pay a visit to some of them.  They are a fabulous bunch!

 

 

 

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