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?

Circles step two

After paper laminating my photos onto the sheers. I cut them out and arranged them on the front of my cross cut circle top. This picture has two original circles and some with additional sponge painting in an attempt to darken the green.











It quickly became clear to me that the green paper backing was to light. Here is a close up.














So I tried painting the circle with some acrylic paint. I got it the right color, but when I put them on I realized that it just wasn't the right technique for this particular piece of work.














So now I am onto figuring out how to finish this piece. Here is the quilting thread, the silk ribbon and the assorted threads I will use to embellish.

I made some good discoveries in this process: I think the gel medium that I used was not as liquid as the one demonstrated in the book. That seemed to pour out - mine was from Golden and more solid. I also realized that the color of the paper underneath should be a bit darker than you want the final color to be because the sheer takes it down a level and the scrubbing removes some color also. I also think this technique works better when the sheer is put over the whole surface or used in layers rather than spot pieces.
So, it was a good experiment, but not right - at least the way I was using it - for this particular piece.
Check back next week to see how much I get done while I am away this week.

Cross cut circles

This first picture is the quilt top I plan to take with me the second week in November when I go to my work conference. It is about 28 by 32 inches at the moment.
There will be over 2000 people at the conference (It is on addictions. Click here to find out about it.) and I am stationed at the Information table. I will be greeting and helping people in between sessions for three and a half days. I find having a bit of hand stitching to work on during the down moments is a huge stress reliever. In my last post I was trying to decided between two fabrics for the border. I decided to use the fabric with a more modern twist. My daughter Ruth said either would work, but the one on the right with the flowers was traditional and the one on the left had more pizazz. So I decided to try something new! I bought lots of yellow silk ribbon and threads to embellish the green cross lines with yellow dots.



I wanted to try the paper lamination technique from this book by Claire Benn, Leslie Morgan and Jane Dunnewold called "Paper and Metal Lamination". Claire and Leslie demonstrated it at the class I took in October at the Crow Barn. The link will take you to Jane's website, click on "Store" and you can purchase the book from her.



I made a stencil template out of freezer paper that I ironed onto the polyester. The paper underneath the polyester is photographs I had taken printed out on plain copy paper. Some pictures were from our honeymoon trip to Berlin in 2006 and some from the trip to Orlando described in an earlier post. I painted Gel Matte Medium in the stencil and am waiting for it to dry-probably overnight.




Tomorrow I can peal the freezer paper stencil off and with wash the paper backing off with water. It takes a lot of scrubbing to get the paper off. However, the color from the paper backing should stay where the matte medium was applied. I will cut these circles out and baste them onto the front of the quilt above. My plan is to stitch the circles on the original quilt closely and then where there is the polyester overlay on the circles to burn off the polyester between the stitched rows with this nifty tool.





This nifty tool will burn polyester without burning the fabric underneath.












Here is a sample I tried it on. The picture isn't very clear but you can get the idea. The fabric underneath will show through nicely. AND I'll get more texture on the front of the quilt.














I made a larger quilt similar to this several years ago, but without the polyester overlay. My brother Jeff and his wife Susan have the original quilt hanging in their home. You can check out my website here to see it. It is on the art quilt page.
I am trying to visually express how life or circumstance that are intersected by the cross become something new. There is mystery in the cutting and re-creation. How does it happen? Where is the cut going to be made? How will the transformed fit in with it's surroundings? Will it fit in?

I believe there is hope to be found in the change. I believe there is beauty in the transformation.
Next Sunday I hope to post the basted work that I will take with me to stitch while I am away. Stay tuned and you get to see the whole process from start to finish!

Which Border Fabric

I have to choose which fabrics I will use for the border of this new piece. Any suggestions? The flower fabric material may fit more with the rest of the fabrics but is very traditional. The dotted green, gold and plum one sure is more fun/funky. Would embellishments of yellow french knots all along the green insets make it work better? Seeing the pictures helps me see that the yellow isn't necessary! That is good to discover! By the way the green cross insets and the plum surrounding the squares is fabric I made in class with Claire Benn and Leslie Morgan! I think I am onto something here.














This next picture is of some photo copy's that I am going to send off to have a thermo fax screen made from. When I use the thermo fax screen to print from, the color will come through where ever you see black now. I will be able to add color using all these different textures or take off color by screening with formosol. I am actually sending off 8 items so you'll have to stay tuned to see what other fun textures I can add and take away from fabric.....I am getting ready to place a big order for my birthday of fabric dye and assorted creative items from Pro Chem. Waiting, waiting wont' be long until I am 50!
Getting back into the studio after a long break - Even if it is one day a week that will keep the juices flowing. I didn't get to my writing goals today, but maybe tomorrow.

Nancy Crow Barn Trip

Here are some pictures of cloth I made at the course I took with Leslie Morgan and Claire Benn at the Nancy Crow Barn. Some of these pieces of fabric are "done" and some need some more work. Each piece was white when I started. I first tray dyed the white fabric one yellow, one green and one plum and after they batched and dried I cut each one in half and did different techniques on each piece. I hung all the pieces up on my design wall at home so you can see everything all at once. My goal for the week was to create a pallet of cloth in the colors of plum, green and gold.






This piece is a larger piece that could be the background for a piece of compositional cloth. Some of my classmates were working on composition on a single piece of fabric rather than creating a series of pieces of fabrics that matched that they could cut up and then piece together. I hope to go back in 2010 when Leslie and Claire return to work on some compositional cloth. I am intrigued.
I made the stencil I used on this piece with dressmaker's interfacing painted with house paint. Where ever there is no paint is where the print paste comes through and prints my design. It looks like sea weed to me at the moment.


On these two pieces below I used the same maple seed stencil. The one on the left I printed a dyed piece of yellow with three or four different shades of the same dye print paste to get depth. The green fabric on on the right I use formosol to take color off the fabric. Pretty cool huh?! This piece of plum fabric is tray dyed and then discharged. I had made a stamp out of string wrapped around a CD. I stamped this in black on a piece of paper then photocopied it and enlarged it. Then we made a thermofax screen with the photocopy. I could then screen print paste or formosol through the screen. I can now go back and add more color or discharge more or add a different texture with another screen or mark making tool. This is a not done yet piece. The fun is in the process. I might call one piece of fabric done but next year when I go to use another piece of that same fabric I might have to alter it again to match the next grouping it is placed with.

This next fabric is shibori dyed. I made lots of tiny knots with string all over the faabric and then I put it in for an overnight tray dye in plum. Then I scraped the back with several colors or print paste. Where the white fabric was left without color new color was added.

This fabric was made by using a break down screen printing on white fabric then batching overnight.Then I scraped plum on one side and batched over night then the final step is screen printing the darker design all over the top. I tried to use several different shades of the same color but they didn't show up as well as I would have liked. I think it needs one more darker screening of the same pattern or maybe a different pattern.