Wednesday 27 April 2016

Madder Paint for Fireman Jackets.

It is great to have a group of my old friends/students back at the house for two weeks to make Japanese fireman jackets together. Everyone is up late at night sewing and drinking and getting to know each other. Spring is delicate and heavenly right now. Julie the cat had four kittens a few days back. Everything is magic.





We climbed up the mountain and looked down on the house from a new angle.



We are making our own madder root paste paint for the designs on the back of the jacket. Looks like the recipe was nailed right on and we will have a lot of crimson red natural paint to work with. We filter the liquid through coffee filters to get the pure alizarin pigment.







Digging bamboo sprouts with Truus for lunch.





Indigo fields down by the river prepared for transplanting the seedlings in a few weeks.



View from the driveway. So green today.






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8 comments:

  1. neki desu28 April 2016 at 23:50

    the dye looks beautiful, the garden looks beautiful.but in my eyes nothing compares to the view of the terraced field from the house.

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  2. Debbie29 April 2016 at 21:19

    Sweet kitties! Looks like fun!!! Wish we were there.

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  3. Kathy -MIQuilter29 April 2016 at 23:16

    I want to be there!!! Someday hopefully I'll be in one of your classes.

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  4. Lis Harwood1 May 2016 at 01:21

    It all looks wonderful but sounds exhausting! How are you going to stop those kittens being smuggled out at the end of the course?!! I love to see how your fabulous home has both stayed the same and changed incredibly since 2012, it seems to be in a time zone all of its own, 'indigo time' maybe.

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    1. Bryan's Japanese Textiles1 May 2016 at 11:08

      Hi Lis, Only two kittens have their eyes open...it is a little early for smuggling. But kittens bring out the kitten stories. (A few more zillion yen and the house will be livable.) I am giving them a slight break on Sunday today. They are out sitting in the sun and lazily dipping their homework in the indigo. Birds are singing, frogs are croaking...heaven here at the Indigo Hotel.

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  5. momiji1 May 2016 at 08:19

    I wish I were there as well. Not only would I love to make firemen's jackets, but I don't think there's anything more adorable than kittens!

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  6. Bryan's Japanese Textiles1 May 2016 at 11:09

    Puppies run a close second. But a pile of sleepy kittens is pretty adorable!

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  7. judib8 May 2016 at 15:22

    I am loving watching these hanten come together. Already thinking about the design for the back. Itching to get stitching. Flights are booked. Roll on November!

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