QC6 Day 7

I finally got to wash some things out today and see the results!  Yesterday's post included a picture of applying color magnet to some yardage - I actually did 3 pieces of fabric, plus I had the t-shirt I started last week and then had to redo.  Here are the results.  First, the shirt.

I thought the color magnet was completely washed out after the soda ash soak, but you can see from the shadowing that it was not.  But still, not a bad result.  Especially because the shirt is 45% polyester and 55% natural fibers - I wasn't sure how well it would take the dye, but it did better than I expected. Now tofigure out what to do on shirt #2.

These are the 3 fabric pieces.  All are printed with thermofax screens.  Top is tree bark, middle is a mustard flower, and the bottom combines a sewer cover image and circles.  I'm really pleased with how they turned out, so I think I will be using more of this product.  I'm already incorporating tree bark in a project that's underway.  I wanted the mustard flower to be an all over pattern, but it was really hard to see where I had already printed so I missed some spots.  The base fabric was a pale blue/green and the color magnet is yellow so it really blended in as it dried.

Another thing I did today was breakdown   printing.  This was prepared a few days ago on a wooden framed silk screen.  The screen is painted with thickened dye and objects are placed on it to form impressions as it dries.  I used stencils to make the impressions.  Of course I forgot to take pictures of that part.  To print, you use a clear print paste on the screen to soften and release the dye.  The more you print, the more you loose the image, hence the name breakdown printing.  Why take the time to do that, you might wonder?  Well, you can get some really interesting, unique prints, and its fun to see what you get.  This is the best print.

And that's it for day 7.  Aren't you glad I didn't mention the bug swarm last night?

QC6 Day 4

Today started off similarly to the last two; a trip to the library to print some order receipts, followed by the post office for mailing orders.  The post office happens to be right next to Geez Louise, so of course we had to stop in and look around!  I found a set of 8 linen napkins that will be good for dyeing, and the real treasure, an old ledger dating to 1899!  Just look at the penmanship!

Yesterday I shared my sun printed fabric; today I added another layer with screen printing.  On the left is a sample Elizabeth printed on commercial fabric. On the right is my piece where I used the fern and pine cone screens that we made yesterday.  This is what it looks like now, although I don't think it is finished.  I think more layers are in order.

I also shared a picture of the t-shirt I started.  Well, I'm back to square 1 with that project.  It needed to be soaked in a soda ash solution before dyeing, so I did that this afternoon - forgetting that the warm water would wash out the color magnet!  So its been drying the rest of the day and I will have to redo the color magnet tomorrow.  (Soda ashed items cannot go in the dryer - they can catch on fire!)

Meanwhile, I put another piece of fabric in the dye I had prepared and couldn't use for the t-shirt.  I did some gelli plate printing and more screen printing, and prepared a silk screen for breakdown printing - that has to dry completely so at least 24 hours, maybe longer because of humidity.  So far I am really happy with the new screens we created yesterday.  More pictures of those prints tomorrow.

Ended the day with a late afternoon swim in the lake - it was like bath water, but still refreshing.  After dark the rain storms moved in - lots of thunder and lightening to go with the fire crackers being shot off all around the lake.  I'm sure there will be lots more of that tomorrow.

Quilt Camp Update

We have been busy campers here at Merrymount.  The studio (aka garage) is buzzing with activity (and bugs).  The sun has come out again after several days of rain and clouds.  Here's what we've been up to...more dyeing, more screen printing, breakdown printing, wood block printing, printing with thickened dye...that's the outdoor stuff. 

Indoors, we've been busy making more thermofax screens and doing some sewing and embroidery.

 Molly the mannequin is very busy modeling silk scarves that we have printed - she's got one for every day of the week!

Last but not least, here's some breakdown screen printing and prints to try out a new thermofax screen.

Quilt Camp 5 Underway

Here we are on the shores of Lake Winnipesaukee for the 5th year of quilt camp!  (aka my friend Elizabeth's family summer house)  For anyone new to my blog, this isn't a real "camp", it's just what we call our annual summer play time to experiment with surface design, fabric dyeing and any other technique that piques our interest.  It's been a slow start with the creativity this year, we spent a lot of the first week taking care of some PG Fiber2Art business which ate up a lot of time.  But there were things that needed to be done, so that is good.  And we took a day last week to go the New England Quilt Museum in Lowell, MA, so now in our 2nd week we're getting into the groove and I'm finally getting a blog post up.  We've done some dyeing and printing, worked on some unfinished projects and started a few new ones.  Here's some of what we've done so far.

 This is a piece I started back in March in a VCQ workshop, so what you see above was done before arriving.  It's a technique called fractured view.

This is what I've added to it - I'm calling it Winter Oaks.  In a another post I'll show how I got from the 1st to the 2nd photo  It's now ready for quilting.

I wanted to try out some new colors of dye, so these are fat quarters to see what the colors look like.  The 4 on the left are low water immersion of coral, cobalt blue, turkey red and teal; the one on the right is ice dye using coral, yellow & turkey red.

 

The 2 pictures above are both practice using thickened dye with a thermofax screen.  The colors are not as intense as I'd like but I'm glad they didn't wash out!  The one on the left is done with one of our gear screens (over a piece of fabric previously used for breakdown printing which is what you see in the background); on the right, both pieces were printed first with a screen of a sewer cover and then some graphic rectangles.

 

Molly the Mannequin is modeling a circle scarf that I dyed last year.  I knew it needed something else but wasn't sure what. After taking a block printing class right before coming up here, I thought this wooden block print would be just the thing.  This is also done with thickened dye, so the hand of the fabric stays softer than with paint.

Stay tuned for more over the next couple of weeks.

More Quilt Camp 4

As mentioned in my last post, here are a few pictures of round 2 of breakdown screen printing.  This process involves spreading thickened dye on a silk screen, placing objects on top to make an impression, and then allowing it to dry.  After its dry, you use clear print paste and a squeegee to soften the dried paste and print the impressed design.  Each print is unique and the design continues to "breakdown" each time you print.

This one is my favorite.  I think it has a lot of potential.

Quilt Camp 4

Greetings from New Hampshire!  My friend Elizabeth and I are in the midst of "quilt camp 4" at her summer house on the lake.  We've had limited internet access so this is the first post.  Weather has been beautiful, we escaped Northern Virginia just before the big storm hit that knocked out power for days.  We have been creating and relaxing, enjoying nature...except for the bear that visited this morning!  Here are a few pictures from the first week and a half.

 This fellow decided to take one of the bird feeders as soon as Elizabeth put it out this morning.

 First round of ice dyeing, a t-shirt and 2 half-yards of fabric.

 This was my big project for week 1; screen printed, stamped and stenciled on duck cloth, 1/2 yard.

 Ice dyeing, round 2. T-shirt & 2 scarves this time.  

 A carved rubber stamp to represent grass for another project.

 Sun printing.

 A beautiful sunset on the lake.

 A walk in the woods at Castle in the Clouds.

 A visit with friends at their camp on nearby Squam Lake.

 We paddled the canoe into the nearby creek in search of dragonflies and other pond life to photograph.

First attempt at breakdown screen printing.  Results of 2nd round are better, photos later!