Any form of printing on textile will generate a mess and the consequent clearing up can be disheartening.  However, it is possible to get excited by this as the cleaning cloths can be incorporated in textile work.

I have a stash of odd cotton pieces - bargains bought at various shown, old clothes, cut offs and, my favourite, an old Masonic gown rescued from a skip.  When printing I keep a selection of these fabrics handy - to wipe down screens and blocks and to wash them.  The cleaning fabric is then left to dry and the patterns and strength of colour are a pleasant surprise.

Here are examples of three colourways after a block printing session:

These fabrics will be torn into strips of varying widths and randomly stitched together - a new textile is created out of what is basically a washing up rag.

The same technique can be used when cleaning up brushes and palettes after using acrylic paints.  The fabric irons well even when paint-laden though I would hesitate using it in pieces which are intended for washing - but this is only because I haven't yet tested acrylics for colour fastness.

I'll post up pictures of the new fabrics shortly but, in the meantime, enjoy the cleaning!

Well, the results of the snow dyeing were not quite what I expected but definitely not a dog's dinner!

The colours were very intense but rather too even.  One of the feaures of snow dyeing, perhaps the main reason for doing it, is that the resulting colours are not even but broken up by the snow crystals into its component parts.  I may have packed the snow too tightly around the fabrics so that the flakes were compacted and unable to disperse the colours.  However, the fabrics will be used in my work and I'll identify it as such, in due course.

In the meantime, here are the results so you can see what I mean:

Sorting through photographs on the computer I came across pictures of fabrics I had hand dyed a couple of years ago.  I should add that they were my first attempts at dyeing and I was pleased with the colours so am posting the images for a bit of post Christmas cheer.