Almost Done ... The Candiotic Table

 

I couldn't wait anymore ...  I spent 3 hours last night fusing the swatches to the black Kunin felt.  Even though it's synthetic, it worked fine to spot weld each swatch initially and then really go over it with a pressing cloth.  

It was a kind of meditation to really study and consider each color swatch while I fused it.  There are some lovely colors and textures on this table.   Mmmmhhhhh!   Tonight when I got home from work, I went into my studio and just sat by it.  It radiates a warmth that is really nice!

Yes, I went with the black felt, rather than the white background.  The comments from classmates were unanimous : Go with the black!  Thank you for your input!  These sets are not so dark as to get lost on the dark background.    

The teacher raised a question about the possibility of the black background shadowing through the lightest colors (the yellows), so I did some tests:
 

There was indeed a difference with the yellows.  This is easily remedied by adding a layer of light muslin behind the yellows as a buffer.

I also tested the lighter squares around the yellow corners, but there appeared to be no discernable difference to my eyes.  Thus, only the yellow corners got the treatment.

There are 2 swatches that I need to re-do.


The first time it came out very green.  I must have looked at the recipe wrong and put in yellow and blue instead of yellow and red.   I re-did it once already, a week after the initial set, and I got this salmon color.  Still not quite right.  It sticks out like a sore thumb in the table.


What went wrong?  I have some ideas ...
Possibility #1 : Was the dye stock stale, or weakening after a week?
Possibility #2 : Because my dye studio is in in my 45-degree-F basement (brrr!), I elected to  pop this single cup into the microwave (dedicated for dyeing) for 30 seconds.  It was enough to melt the cup, and sufficiently steam the the swatch.  That may have been a confounding factor.  The melting cup effect never happened when I had 10 other cups in the microwave.
Other Possibilities? Anyone care to weigh in?

This was the last swatch I had to fuse last night.  I was in a rush--my husband was calling me to walk dogs.  I knew I had to add an extra layer of muslin to the back for the color correction / shadow issue.  But I wasn't thinking and I fused an extra layer of Wonder Under onto the existing layer of fusible.  Then I had to add the muslin with final layer of fusible.  That makes 3 layers when only 2 were needed.  It got a little stiff, thick and rumpled.  Easy enough to fix. 

It may take a few days to get the newly dyed squares affixed to the final table.  Stay tuned!

I am hooked!  This is so beautiful!  A wonderful color tool! 
I'm planning to do 2 more sets of primaries.  Candy calls them the Earth and Sky Triads.  Just need to order the other primaries!