Monday - Day Ten

Rachel, Ruth, Tim and I went to the Chemical Heritage Museum in Olde City Philadelphia today and had a great time. We also explored the largest collection of Peale portraits in the world. It is overseen by the Parks Dept in the the Second Bank Building. We saw portraits of all the famous people in the history of the United States: Washington, Franklin, Jefferson, Lewis and Clark and many others in government or society during the lifetime of Peale. Pretty cool. We ate lunch in a pub that had a ton of interesting books to look at then went to the used book store and then came home around 4 pm.

I did a little bit of work in the studio late in the day. Screen printing and tray dying the things I had soda soaked over night. I also rinsed out the stuff that batched overnight. Since I got such a late start I don't have any pictures cause stuff is still washing and I am going to bed.
Til tomorrow!

Day Nine- Sunday

I felt like I just wanted to sit someplace and do handwork all day. I am thinking I need to get a 1/2 quilted piece out and put it on the frame to just doodle on in the down times.

Anyway, after church and lunch,
I worked on my pictures for the inside of the building on the computer. I can't figure out how to use the layering on Photoshop Elements. BUM. I know I am only missing one small step but I don't know what that one small step is.

The library didn't have a book to help onsite. I had to inner library loan an item. So perhaps later in the week unless my daughter can help me figure it out I'll have some more detailed instructions. I should see if there is a u tube video....

Meanwhile, I worked on the building. I attached the three pieces of outside together and got the timtex to stick to the fabric. I am stuck until I can print the pictures using the photoshop elements program for the inside....

So I took the border off this piece and dyed it a more solid green. It is batching overnight.














I took these two pieces and split them in half - half I dyed (one green and one brown) and half I am preparing to print on again.
Tomorrow we are taking a day trip downtown. I am taking my camera!

Day Eight- Saturday

I spent the whole day working on "the building"
Here are the pics.
This is the fabric for the outside and the timtex painted.















I am adding gold for the places where the offices in the building still had their lights on and the dark blue is a reflection of a nearby building in the late afternoon sun.


Rachel, Tim and I then tried to get into Fonthill at 7pm for the candlelight tour, but it was all booked. We went for ice cream instead and came home for a early bedtime.

Day Seven

So it is the day after Christmas and I finally made it to the Gym today WOO HOO.
I also put all our Christmas money in the bank. Yippee!

I watched a video if my dad's recent retirement from the Quarryville Board. They said some really true and nice things about him. I know his service will be greatly missed, but he feels it is time for him to be serving other places now. I need to return this along with several books and a disc with all our Christmas pics to my parents next week.

So what art did I do today?
I finally got outside and ironed the fabrics I had put discharge chemicals on. They turned out ok. The second blue one could be clouds.














In this picture of the green fabric one side is showing on the bottom and the other side is at the top. You can't really see the pattern of the discharge chemicals from the picture and they didn't take off as much of the dark orange as I had hoped but the back is splendid and will make great spring leaves with dappled light on them.

one thing I did learn is that the discharge works better on lighter colored fabrics- or perhaps it would have preferred a warmer day to be ironed...?





The last thing I did was to work on the building for my city and guilds module. I painted one side of the timtex and it is drying. I got all the strips sewed that are going to be attached to the outside of the timtex. I still need to sew the pin tuck on them however- no wonder i postponed this project!. Next I need to figure out how to layer pictures in Photoship Elements so I can print fabric on the printer from pics off my computer for the inside of the building. I wanted a contrast inside to the cold harsh metal feeling of the outside so I need to combine or layer my tree pictures....

Tim got me a great book from the library on Japanese Maple Trees. There are some good pictures of leaves that I can photocopy and manipulate to create a template to send off for a new screen to be made. Very Thankful.

Here is the old quilt top that picked up to worked on last night. The first picture is of the whole thing. The next picture is an out of focus picture of some of the leaves and beading on the upper right- this was hours of work! The last picture is a reframing of the upper right by itself. I think this piece definitely needs a new border and the embroidery is hidden over most of the piece. So I am trying to figure out what my options are. Suggestions are welcome!

Day Six- Christmas Day

Here is my wonderful family














and my adorable precious talented and gifted three kids!- Dave is 23, Rachel 21(on the right) and Ruth 18 (in the ble striped shirt).


We had a nice breakfast meal at lunch time and then handed out the money-checks from the grandparents, cash from us and foil covered chocolate coins. This has been our tradition - being together rather than lots of opening of presents. We are planning three outings together over the next 10 days as a way to celebrate folks being home from school and to do things together rather than everyone run off and do their own things. Sat night is the first one. We will go to Fonthill the mansion in Doylestown to see the Christmas decorations by candlelight tour. Monday we will go to the Chemical Heritage Foundation in Philly and then one warm day we will go to the zoo- Ruth's pick. We are hoping for that warm day to be outside. Fortunately the first two planned events coinside with Tim being off work so he can go too.


In additon to yesterdays mostly being a family day I took all the strings out of the piece I had spent hours sewing and the leaves barely showed up. It was a disappointment but I know what I did wrong. This picture is not exactly the right colors but using the flash changes the color and I haven't gotten good enough with photoshop elements to take the time to fix it so it is correct to the actual cloth. Anyhoo you can see a few of the leaf prints showing up but trust me this is not what i was looking for. What I did wrong: I used cotton thread to sew the leaves so when I dumped the whole thing in the soda ash the cotton threads as well as the cloth became ready to absorb dye. I will try again and use poly or nylon thread so it will actually act as a resist to they dye and there will be nice leaf prints all over.



This piece below is the one that had the glue dots all over it. They too were to act as a resist to the dye. It worked pretty well I think and I have lots of places to add more color




The last thing I did while watching a movie and some TV last night was to pull out a piece I hadn't worked on for YEARS and finally finish sewing on the seed beads. I'll post again later today with todays work and give you a picture. I have a decision to make about this piece....

Day Five

So take a close look at this picture. There are two fabrics here - one below the other. Can you see both? They started out the same and on day three I screen printed tiny orange flowers all over the front. I then split it in half and then yesterday the one on the bottom I scraped red dye all over the back. Today you can see that doing this has changed the hue of the front so some of the yellow is gone and the red and orange are not contrasting so strongly. I am working towards making those red/orange leaves that we see in the fall. The picture looks more pink/purple but in real life it is a warmer red.




























As you can see above, fabric changes once it has been washed out and dried. What it looked like yesterday when it was wet and had just been printed is different than what it looks like rinsed and dry- they both lightened up. Both of these pieces will be tray dyed to remove most of the pure white color. The challenge is to pick a color for the background that will blend. What ever color it is will change the color of what is there. For example: if I used green on the one on the left the green spots showing would become a darker green and the blue spots would change to blue green rather than the light cerulean blue you see now... A different set of changes would happen if I dyed it cerulean blue..

The one below is a picture of the back of the fabric I have sewn ovals all over. I have gathered the ovals and it is all bunched up. Keep in mind this is about a 1/2 yard of fabric in that has become a 14x14 " square. It is batching overnight in a tray of a wild mix of colors. It will be interesting to see what colors have mixed and mingled when I take it apart and rinse it out tomorrow.















Here is another one that I screen printed yesterday. I photocopied a copyright free pineapple design, colored in some of the white spaces, and had a thermofax screen made. I screen printed it overlapping the design multiple types to create texture. This too will be tray dyed to remove most if not all of the white still showing. it would be interesting to create a different screen this time coloring in the negative space and leaving the dots in the middle of the leaf white...I love the texture this pattern created.














I also spent some time today writing and drawing some ideas in prep for the seven pieces I hope to create for over the fireplace. I am working on maple seeds and Japanese maples. Thinking of words and images that would inspire the seasons of life...These are good to have in the back of my mind as I make fabric. I am hoping to use a lot of what I create during these days in these pieces. So leaves, branches, seeds images all play a part. I still need that maple leaf screen.


And lastly I counted up all the dishrags I have made this fall in my sunday down time and it is up to 34! I hope to create an Etsy shop soon to sell some of my smaller handmade pieces and these will be the first to be advertised for sale.




I am procrastinating again on the building...Sigh It really is a monster on my back. Gotta do something soon. Maybe tomorrow after cleaning up the stuff batching then the whole rest of the day's spare time will be spent on building matters- after I celebrate Christ's birth with my family of course..
Until Tomorrow.

Day Four

Today I did break down screen printing first. The picture on the left is the first printing of the screen. The picture on the right is the second printing of the screen with additional screen printing over top. I used a separate thermofax screen to add the wiggly lines. I am excited about how these turned out. The next step is to tray or bucket dye them after they finish their overnight batching.

Next I used Elmer's school glue and applied it as dots all over this 1/2 yard of fabric. These dots will act as a resist when I screen print over them. The glue is water soluble so it will wash out after it has batched from the screen printing.

















This is what the prep for the shibori piece looks like and helps explain why it is taking so long to prepare! I have completed the oval stitching and all I need to do is pull the strings and draw each oval tight- gather them. Then I will tray dye.

I did a couple of other things but they are batching and I will take pictures tomorrow after they get cleaned up.

It is trying to get warmer here. I have three pieces I am waiting to iron outside so the toxic fumes won't overcome all of us in the house. I have to wear a respirator outside to do this job. I can't wait to see how my ideas turned out!


Until tomorrow...
Karen

Day Three

Today I thermo fax screen printed five fabric.











Here are three of them. The one above is going to be used for fall leaves. It needs some more shades of red and orange and yellow. The picture below on the left - the yellow background was created when I did my first breakdown screen printing in October. It needs something more still too. Either a different motif or more seeds in different colors. The fabric on the right had the darkest green color added today. The other colors were already there. The template was made by winding a string around a CD.














While at the mini church event tonight I continued to stitch on in prep for the shibori piece....
That is about it.

Tomorrow I will do the breakdown screen printing- I have two pieces of fabric soda soaked in readiness and hopes that I can fill them up. I hope to get the building timtex cut out and painted and I need to sew the outside fabric strips and tucks. I also need to create a screen of maple leaves. This is the one thing missing in prep for making cloth for the series on seeds. . .
All this and the grocery store!
Til tomorrow.

Day Two of Vacation

Today is Sunday. I didn't have to teach Sunday School this morning so I sat through worship twice then came home to work in the studio.

I screen printed the soda soaked fabric from yesterday and rolled it up in plastic to batch overnight. It has to stay around 70 degrees for 12 or more hours so the dye will take. I had looked for an electric blanket at Wallmart but they were $85 so i decided the furnace room would work and I could use the two flights of steps for exercise.

Second, I got organized for the work on the building reproduction for city and guilds. The first step is to rebuild in a smaller format the cardboard template. It has been sitting in my studio for several months and I think one of the things that was holding me back was the size. I realized that I could abstract the design a bit and make it smaller.... I will use this cardboard design to cut the template for the stiff inner support system - timtex. I will bond the outer layer and the inner layer to the timtex. Since some of the layers are translucent I need to paint the timtex a light blue. While this is drying I can be stitching the outside fabric in preparation.

Then Ruth and I watched some TV and I continued to stitch in preparation for the shibori piece.

I realized that I need a screen of maple leaves to use on some of this fabric. I have the seed pods but I need a screnn of some of the tiny leaves too... Something to work on tomorrow.

I'll post pictures of today's work in the morning after it is done batching. Since tomorrow is supposed to be bitterly cold I can't iron the discharged fabric yet....But Christmas day is supposed to be in the 50's so the time is coming. I have to do this outside.

Here is a question: What do you do when two people who both have "rights to something" can't seem to agree on who's rights come first or how to share?

Thanks for reading.

Day One of Vacation

Cross Cut Circles is complete and hanging on the wall. I carried the painted backing around to the front edges and then sewed a pocket rod on the back. It measures 31 by 26.5 inches. I am very pleased with how it turned out. The green cross pieces and the red sashing is from the fabrics I made at the Crow Barn Class in October.

So what else creative did I do this first day of my two week vacation? I did some errands, I did some deacons work for the church, I didn't go to the gym, and....
I WORKED IN THE STUDIO. Yeah!
This is my goal for my vacation- to work in the studio every day (or at least do some art everyday or something that helps me with doing art).

I figured out how to install the cartridges and put on my new respirator that I got for my birthday in November (Thanks Mom and Dad!). I mixed up some formosol into the print paste I made last night before I went to bed and did some discharge printing with it. I discharged on three pieces of fabric I started in my class with with Leslie Morgan and Clair Benn. I used three more of my new thermofax screens to put the discharge paste on. I managed to clean them in the shower so they didn't get ripped. I have to wait for the application to dry and then I have to iron it outside with a steam iron and my respirator on. The chemical reaction takes place when the hot steam hits it and removes the color from the fabric. This is step two or three on each of these pieces of fabric. I am already doing more steps of work to each piece of fabric than I ever did before.

Another project I am working on is stitching a piece of fabric for in prep for shibori. I am stitching ovals all over it. I will draw the strings up tight and then dye it. Where ever the strings is the dye won't penetrate the fabric so it makes a texture all over the fabric. This hand work is so relaxing- good vacation exercise.

I forgot to soak some fabrics in soda ash yesterday so I did that today too in prep for tomorrow afternoon's screen printing work. Now they are hanging to dry in the basement.

I have three art related things I am intentionally working on these two weeks. I won't fully finish any of them I suspect, but while one is resting or batching until the next step, I have the other two I can continue on with.

1. Work on my building for the City and Guilds course. I have all the fabric and supplies and all I need to do it put it all together. This means lots of time at the sewing machine, which i don't always enjoy- tedius. I do have a good book on tape so hopefully I will discipline myself to do an hour a day and by the end of vacation it should be close to being ready to put together. I really need to move forward with this class so I don't get dropped from the rolls.

2. Continue to develop the fabric I came back from the Crow Barn class with using new to me techniques and ideas. This means a littel bit each day then batching overnight and then washing, drying and moving onto more. Sometimes a piece has to hang on the design wall until I know what the next things is to do. I am learning to think out of the box and try new things. Staying focused on the process of doing is the most important thing I am working on here..

3. To make a beginning on my next project. I am going to make seven small pieces to hang in a row over our very large fireplace (it is only a couple of inches shy of NINE feet mind you) with the theme of seeds. In some of my writing about regeration I remembered this verse from John 12 Jesus says, "I tell you the truth unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds... " I am going to try and explore the symbolism and see what comes of it. I would love to use some of the fabric from #2 we'll see if they are ready in time to be used.

So a vacation at home: sleeping in and not having to wake to the alarm, spending time with my husband and children who have time off from school and work, and being in the studio or doing something art related every day - glorious.

Check back tomorrow for day two's report.
Karen

The back of cross cut circles

Here is the back of cross cut circles painted with Jacquard fabric paint through a thermofax screen. The picture above is a picture of the whole back and the picture below is a close up of the texture.



the one sad thing is that I was washing the screen to get the paint out in the bathroom sink and the drain plug caught on the screen and tore it. I have saved the photocopy it was made from so I only have to send it off to make another one. SIGH I learned something new today- don't wash your screen in the sink - use a tub with no sharp edges!

This has to dry for 24 hours and then be heat set so it won't wash out. Then it will be ready to bind and hang. I accomplished my goal of hiding my quilting stitches on the back! And I learned that I really liked my screen. It was an experiment and it is always nice when these turn out well.

I have decided to not embellish this piece. I think it will take away from the point of the quilt. It is fine like it is and I am happy.

Plus I am ready to move onto new things.

I have three yards of blue fabic I brought back from my class with Leslie Morgan and Claire Benn in October that I have been waiting to get to manipulate more.

Next up I am going to make a pot of print paste for tomorrow.
For my non- quilting friends:
Print paste is made with a seaweed product (sodium alginate). You mix it with water and let sit overnight. It is like thick yogurt or rubber cement in consistency. I can add fabric dye to the paste and then use it to screen print or I can add the discharge crystals to the print paste and take color out of already dyed fabric. If i use a screen print to discharge then I get a pattern of lighter color on a piece of fabric. Normally to dye fabric you add the powder to water and soak the fabric in the solution over night. For screen printing use use the same dye powder but different chemicals to thicken it up.

Until next time

Stage one cross cut circles

I finally finished the basic quilting of this piece. These two pictures are of two of the blocks from the front. I am pleased with how the quilting turned out on the front but not so pleased with how it turned out on the back!





























I am so out of practice that it is embarrassing. But I went ahead and finished it because I figured that the only way to get back into it is to PRACTICE. SO here is a picture of the whole back and one close up. The quilted top has a nice solid feel to to it.














I am going to take some of my new thermo fax screens I had made and paint the back. I'll put some texture by color on the yellow backing to hide some of the stitching. Then I will do the embellishment on the front with the yellow silk ribbon.

Next post will be the revised back and then onto the embellishment.

One thing i am tempted to do is cross cut the whole quilt top as it is right now. Basically there would be lots of minis crosses all through out the surface and then a big cross almost super imposed over the whole thing. I may try appliquing a green cross just to see what the effect is. I have never done that major of a change to a piece before and I wonder if it would be more effective if the shape of the piece as a whole was circular. Just thinking if the message would be louder as a piece if I did that.
Any thoughts?