Do you ever look at something and think, "Oooh! That would be fab in fabric?" Well today I am feeling inspired by geology; by the colours and folds that can be seen in the rocks of our landscape. The lines and textures would surely make a great image, but unfortunately, I don't know (yet) how to translate that inspiration into something fabric. Maybe embroidery, maybe a woven picture. Perhaps appliqué. Maybe a print on demand fabric?. For now that project is still in the pondering phase.
While I think about how to turn rock folds into fabric the urge to do something "rocky" isn't going away. So I had a rummage in the scraps' bag and found some felt. Perfect! For a while now, it's been obvious there should be a coaster on the bedside table. The circle of slightly worn away paint either needs touching up, or covering up and we all know which would be more fun to do. With my mind on rocks, the obvious design element (well obvious to me) was a geode. Those pretty little caves of crystal wonder.
The science bit
A geode is a hollow rock that is roughly spherical, maybe egg shaped, that formed in sedimentary or volcanic rock. In volcanic rocks the shape is formed by a gas bubble. In sedimentary rocks it might be formed by a tree root, or an animal burrow that over time rots away, leaving a void in the rock.
Water carrying dissolved minerals seeps into the rock's void and some of the mineral is deposited. Over time crystals grow inside the little rock cave. They might be almost clear quartz or calcite. Often the minerals interact with the quartz or calcite and produce vivid colours: blues, purples, yellows. The beautiful purples of amethyst crystals occur when quartz interacts with iron.
This page has more information about geode formation and there are also some cool videos on YouTube
Sometimes the entire geode is filled with crystals. When that happens slices through the geode show rings of crystal formation. It was an agate slice that inspired today's make.
Back to the crafting
My first attempt at a geode coaster was OK. Using a variable length zigzag stitch and a few different coloured threads to create circles of crystals, it didn't take long to create a rather psychedelic looking geode. Pelmet stiffener was sandwiched between two felt layers to stiffen the coaster and it was finished off a circle of clear vinyl stitched in place over the top.
It was OK, but I was sure there was a better solution than a loose piece of vinyl. I briefly considered gluing the vinyl in place, but then decided that someone else must have had the same problem and switched on the computer.
Eureka!
Fusible vinyl. Why am I only just learning about this?
For my second attempt I used a grey background, to represent the clear crystals of the geode. Black felt for the back and black edge stitching gave a more rock-like colour scheme for the "outside" of the geode. Then it was the moment of truth. Armed with my new favourite craft supply and a medium hot iron I held my breath, hoping I wasn't going to end up with glue and melted vinyl stuck to the iron.
I am so pleased with this second attempt. It has the stiffness of a "proper" coaster and the waterproof coating sits snuggly over the embroidery. I think I will be making more of these for the winter fairs. If you were going to buy a set of four would you want all one colour scheme or a variety of colours to choose from? Add a comment and tell me what you'd prefer.
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