Surface Design

In 2004, according to my notes, I took 2 workshops.

The first was my introduction to fabric dyeing. I luved it.

The second was my introduction into surface design. I luved it.

The third event was the Wave, an artists' studio tour along Lake Winnipeg's western shore. Luved it.

Since then I have been amassing supplies, planning my workspace and dabbling a bit. I want to do much more.

3Creative Studios offers play times. The Technique of the Month has a monthly tutorial and this month was screen printing. Because my computer is on dial up I can't always access the big downloads or videos but I remembered that I had made a screen during the surface design work shop so I went on the hunt for it and my notes. And I gave it a whirl.

I'm pretty sure I have the screen on the wrong side and trying to fix it made a boo boo! So I used it as it is and scraped some Pebeo Setacolour black paint over the screen. I had used a graphite pencil to write /scribble a vague letter. Then the gal used her machine to give us a screen to take home. I can see this needs some finesse!

First pull on my rusted fabric. I probably have too much paint .

Second pull on a white print fabric. Not too bad.

The third pull I was sloppy with the right side. The smear on the left is the boo boo on the screen, but I am way too sloppy.

A good mixed media gal has additional stuff laying around to use up the leftovers so I tried on a coffee liner.

Then I tried on a piece of paper that I had spread some colour, probably acrylic.

This is quite fun and has whetted my appetite once again. I have a pretty good accumulation of resource books and I'm thinking I would be better off if I just picked a book and worked ny way through it rather than 'dabbling'! Now, which book?

Good ol' college try

The 3CS has a number of challenges that I like to participate in. I am hampered a bit by being on dial-up so some tutorials can be an issue. The Technique of the Month is transferring colour and I tried a few things but I need to get the transfer medium. My trip to the city has been delayed so I won't meet that deadline but I did do some 'fooling around' with various things including a new box of crayons.

That didn't work so I wondered 'what if...'

I found the Faber-Castell PITT artist pen worked the best on fabric and I drew a border and then filled it with a little scene. Now this may not look like much but I'm actually impressed. Then I got my iron working on the fabric to heat it up and used several of my 64 colours to add some colour. I ironed the cloth with parchment paper between the iron and my drawing. Kinda cool! oh, I guess it should be, Hot Stuff! lol

The Flicker Group for the TOM is here.

The 3CS Colour palette challenge is a favorite combo of mine. I wanted to revisit some curved piecing so I dug out some old class notes. I did these with no pinning.

This is a little preview and I should have my spring place mats ready for viewing tomorrow.

Bookmarked!

I tackled the box of green scraps which had a few teal bits. I laid double sided interfacing down, removed the top release paper and arranged strips. I ironed then down when I had a nice selection in place using a Teflon sheet to protect the iron. Then I removed the release paper from the back and added a fabric backing.


I don't care for raw edges fraying so I laid a piece of black netting over everything. It really is almost invisible but adds a unifying element to the various fabric scraps.

I used variegated thread to apply various sewing machine stitches to stabilize everything.

I rejected my first idea of straight cuts for my bookmarks because diagonals are much more interesting. This is about 2" x 8". I satin stitched around the edge and then added two buttons, one sewn on top of the other for some interest.

The TOM challenge has caused me to be more diligent in using my scraps. It is also a great way to experiment with 'What if...'

Pretty in Pink

I'm still working on the Technique of the Month. Vicki is challenging us to use up scraps. This is a little harder because it seems so much easier to grab a big chunk from the stash. This time I grabbed a FQ, cut it into squares, and then used some overdyed fabric that was left over from a home ec class I gave a girl. The fabric was a white on white print that we dyed fuchsia trying lights, mediums, and darks and some mottled pieces. It was in my pink/red box. It is also challenging to just strike out with no real plan. But I just sewed around the four sides of the inner square and my smallest block was about 8" x 7" and so I cut them all that size. I luv the rectangle.

Scraps all gone but not big enough for the baby quilt I require so I took a solid pink from my stash and cut alternate blocks. I was still short 1 block so I put all 3 scraps fabrics together and I think it'll be fine.

Yay!

Still another day for the TOM deadline. I wonder if I could do bookmarks???

What's cooking!

I'm in trouble. My dear hubby who is more interested in food than I am is looking to preserve the rhubarb for winter.

He is also looking for all the jars. There seems to be a shortage of pint jars.

Anybody who knows anything about science and particularly lab experiments knows you use glass in experiments. 8^) Glass is very stable and besides it is very much nicer aesthetically than plastic food containers. And I'm all about form over function. So I have lots of jars in my dye centre.

The TOM for July was dyeing or fabric painting. I decided to use up some of the old dyes that I had in the jars from a previous dye session. That was some time ago so I just used what was left. I did combine a little of the yellows and the reds. This was very much serendipity. I did the soda ash soak then added the dyes to the fabric as they sat in baggies. I did lots of scrunching as I was after an even colour. I intended to let them sit all day and over night but the bright yellow was making me nervous so before I went to bed I just drained off the yellow but left the cloth in the baggies. In the morning I began to rinse, and rinse and RINSE! It looked like most of the dye was rinsing away but some stayed. Phew! I had done a few pieces of plain cotton and some cotton velvet. The colours are fairly subtle and that is okay. I will remember not to let my dyes get too old.

Oh, and the jam turned out quite nice as well! Actually, it had more colour. Hmm, I shoulda asked for the recipe! lol

Breathing Deeply

It is very beneficial to spend a few days looking at a pile of possibles.

The conglomeration of decorating items had me diddling with paint chips first thing in the morning. I found the colours I had in mind for the wooden stuff in the kids section of all the various paint sample cards I've collected. Hmm. The veranda is mostly used in the heat of summer. Golden yellows will not make me think of a day at the beach! So, golden yellows will not play a large part in the basic wooden pieces but the 10 coordinating colours on the sample can give oodles of variety thru all the seasons. I'm still thinking but I'm almost sure the door will be eggplant! 8) Poor hubby is rolling his eyes and hoping for another aha moment. lol We'll see!

• Block of the Month - Last one I'm thinking and it is so cute. My favorite. I did up the intensity/contrast a bit but I was afraid it would be too light for the previous blocks. I was right. I just may have to make more of these for another small quilt as I do have more theme fabric. I could hang this in the veranda as well, I suppose. I will be trying various layouts for the 9 blocks. I started pressing some of the seams open and liked that much better but some of those early blocks are a bit smaller so I'll need sashing. I tried a couple of options. ???






• Technique of the month was great fun. I bought some Neoart water-soluble wax pastels. You can draw on fabrics, spray with water and then watch the fun. I don't think I can easily find silk so I found some white cotton velvet at a discount store. It looked pretty rough but washed up beautifully. I want to experiment with using it in my fibre art projects. I luv texture. So this has lots of possibilities. I luv the 3-D effect that happened when the water started moving the colour.
  

After the initial spraying I decided to add some streaks of the lighter green to blur the white.

I'm off to do grandmotherly duties, check out thrift shop accessories and pick up paint for the trim. And to think about a purple door! 8)

Old Ladies and doilies

When I began to quilt I began to appreciate things that were handmade. My paternal grandmother crocheted doilies. Oodles of them! I don't use too many as decor items but I couldn't bear to just let them go when we downsized my parents. The Technique of the Month is painted lace. Now my Granny had a love affair with the variegated coloured doilies but also many white ones. Any that were in sad shape I can use for projects. I also got some stuff from a shirt tail relative. His mother obviously liked touring in the Asia as I have got lots stuff that is meant for very fancy garments. I have no idea of the fibre content so I was rather apprehensive of painting some of it but it seems to have took. This piece is about 16" square and I have need of some ATC's so I'll be processing them later this month. I was a bit frustrated at first as my first sample looks like some kindergarten project. But I'm catching on that at this point I like to work in colour harmonies that are analogous. These are colours that are side by side on the colour wheel. So if I do subtle, I am way more satisfied.

Next on the deadlines is the Quilt Challenge. I had a thought. Then I had a better thought. But after rereading the requirements I shall set aside the latter and rush ahead with the former. Now both will be done but I need to try to meet that deadline. This week's agendas aren't conducive to single minded determination but we'll see what we can do. Drat, I wish I could shake procrastination!

Technique of the Month

This month the TOM was to paint some fabric with metallic paints. Could be for the purpose of disguising ugly fabric or enhancing any fabric.

A few years ago I took two different dye classes. One was actually dyeing fabric while the other was painting fabric. Now darned if I remember which ones I have here but the first was kinda ugly to me so I wet it and then applied a metallic paint with a bit of fabric medium. I used a foam roller with sections missing. The folds leave gaps and I should have repositioned and added another metallic. This was a fat quarter of white muslin originally.

Then the second piece seemed pretty good to me so I found a stencil to which I applied the metallic paint. Again, a fat quarter.

Aha, this is how you get those layered effects!

Now this is what I learned.

1) I should get more foam rollers as that would have been better to roll in the paint and then on the stencil. Less would have gotten down in the grooves and the stencil would have been clearer when pressed onto the fabric.

2) The bigger the stencil the less mess.

3) Anything with fabric needs to be done in the basement. The mixed media counter area is too small and I am sure glad my sewing table came clean. yikes!

4) This is a lot of fun. I had a bit of a time crunch and lots is happening here in the coop. I will definitely be designating some long summer days to DYE for!

The Ants came marching two by two

Actually the elephants came 2x2. I spent some time playing with the grandson and his new Noah's Ark. The flood being over I returned for another look at the paper cloth and nope, that isn't even a reclamation project. I can't imagine using it for anything. Not wasted, I learned a few things.
Today I continued with the wet focus. The Technique of the Month over at Three Creative Studios is all about painting quilt batting. I had enough of the basement so I spread plastic and gave it a whirl up here in the Coop and Saucer Playroom. First step is drying but I do think I'm going to like this and the mess was minimal.
I'm back to making cranberry blocks. I misjudged the block size. I wanted 4 1/2 inch finished so I could use my square ruler but the ruler is 6 inches square not 5! oh, well; table topper rather than a runner.
... the little one stopped to tie his shoe and they all went marching down...