QC6 Day 23

Today was my last day of quilt camp.  Elizabeth and Barbara will have to carry on without me.  The day was spent mostly packing up after rinsing out the last few pieces in dye.  Sad to say good bye.  Here are some shots from the day.

QC6 Day 14

How can 2 weeks have gone by so quickly?  I guess when I look back at all I've done it's not so surprising but it sure doesn't seem like 2 weeks!  Today was definitely a productivity day!  I spent most of the day - all day - printing, trying out a couple of techniques I read about.  The first was a resist process by Jeannie Palmer Moore, printing with white paint on white fabric.  After it dries and is heat set, you apply liquid dye with a brayer.  I got so involved, I forgot to take "before" pictures of the white on white fabric!  But I do have pictures after the dye is applied.  Tomorrow will be the "wash out" to see the final result.  Of course, part of the process was using some newly made screens, so that was exciting too.  Here are a few pieces.

 This is the biggest piece, a half yard.  the screen used here is "crackle".  I used 3 colors of dye - coral, yellow, and parakeet.  The other pieces are all 9 or 10 inch pieces of fabric.

Along with this process, I tried another great idea from Diane Doran.  When finished printing with a screen, a lot of paint gets washed away in the clean up.  Usually I print on extra fabric to use up the paint but an even better way is to print with a slightly damp sponge which not only uses up the excess paint but helps clean the screen at the same time.  I got lots of extra prints from every screen I used.  Luckily I had brought along a Cherrywood scrap bag of 6 x 9 inch pieces which were perfect for using up the extra paint, and great colors to boot.  If you are not familiar with Cherrywood, take a look at their website - great hand dyed cottons with a suede-like appearance.

Above I was using a sponge to print with the excess ink.  Below, all 3 prints were made using the sponge and all are white paint, even though they appear different on the 3 colors.

Above are more of the prints on a drying rack.

Another technique I tried was using a brayer and liquid dye over texture plates.  This fabric could be cut up and used as is or another layer of surface design could be added. 

 

And one more thing, I made an addition to this piece that I started the first week with a sun print. Can you tell what's different?

  

QC6 Day 13

Today was another partial "outing" day, but I did get a few things done.  I'll start with some pictures of yesterday's wash-outs that were laundered this morning. This is the set of 10 napkins dyed red.  I'm thinking of these for Christmas, and made print a holiday motif in the corner above the lace, but those screens are at home so that's it on this piece for now.

On Day 11 I made a small log cabin collage in neutral fabrics to try a process by Anna Buzzalino called Quilting and Dyeing Serendipity (Quilting Arts video).  The work is pieced and quilted using a variety of fabrics before dyeing, so you're not quite sure what you will get.  Different fabrics react differently to the dye.  Here is how mine turned out.  Although at least 24 hours old, the blue dye was not as spent as I expected so I did a lot of rinsing in hot water to lighten it before the final wash with synthropol which helps set the dye.  The 2nd picture is the back where you can see the quilting a little better; there was polyester thread in the bobbin which doesn't take the dye.

Our outing today was to Center Sandwich where the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen have a shop and were sponsoring a Fiber Arts Fair.  It was a beautiful day, sunny and in the 70s.  It was not a large fair but was fun and interesting.  There were animals - an alpaca and sheep, and demos on spinning, weaving, hand stitching and jewelry making.

Then we walked across the street to The Corner House Inn for lunch - we try at least once a summer to have "a sandwich in Sandwich" as Elizabeth's dad used to say.

The brick building is on the road just outside of town.  Also on the way home we stopped to take a picture of this new fence, and hadn't noticed before the owl sitting on the left end.

There was a bright red sun this evening at sunset, but it was impossible to capture with the camera.   The best I could do was the reflection on the water.

QC6 Day 9

There wasn't much new on the project front today. I did wash out a shibori piece last night, which you see here.  I was over-dyeing a piece that had large areas of pink, which you can still see.  The fabric was pole wrapped and compressed and the dye didn't penetrate well to the inside layers, so I may do another over-dye with the lighter end on the outside. 

I also started a flour paste resist last night, which is still drying.  When it is dry, it gets crackled and then another color dye is applied which seeps into the cracks.  Maybe it will be dry enough tomorrow.

  
Today we had an errand to do on the opposite side of the lake to pick up a mooring sticker, so decided to combine the trip with visits to quilt shops in the area that are participating in the Row by Row Experience.  We found 3 shops that were in the general vicinity and stopped to shop and pick up the free row patterns.  Some of the shops also have fabric license plates available that can be added to the back of your row or used in some other creative way. 

I love the quirky sense of humor you find up here. These landmarks have been here for years along route 109 around the northeast side of the lake.  But they still amuse me and give you something to look for as you drive the country roads.  Clockwise from the top right: lady bug rock, frog rock, chicken mailbox, tin man, and the giraffe in the barn window, this year joined by the lady in the helmet.  One year there was also a baby giraffe.

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 3

Today was a better day, at least I got started on some things.  It's hard to believe its day 3 already - I feel like I've been in a fog.  I took 2 hour naps at 5:00 for the last 2 days.  But today I made it through the whole day awake!  This morning I spent some time figuring out what to start on.  I intended to start with gelli plate printing a background layer, but then side tracked to 2 other things and never got back to the gelli plate, so that will be on tomorrow's agenda.  First I prepared a piece for sun printing.

 

I started with a fat quarter that was pale yellow from a previous dye bath and placed it on a foam core board covered with plastic.  You can see from the pink on the sides that it has been used before.  The first step is to saturate the fabric with water, then apply paint.  I used Pebeo Setacolor that was diluted about half & half with water and brushed it on with a foam brush; I used, green, yellow and blue and blended them together.

 It picked up a few spots of paint from the plastic, but that's OK.

Then I placed my printing objects on top.  I had some new stencils I wanted to try, but they didn't take up enough space so I added some natural elements - ferns and wild flowers.

After everything was in position I covered it with a piece of organza and tacked it down. That keeps things from blowing away or shifting position if there's a breeze while it sits in the sun.  It needs to sit in a sunny spot until its dry.

When it's dry, you can remove the organza and printing elements.  It needs to be heat set (with an iron) before washing.  You can always add another layer of sun printing or other surface design technique.  Here's the finished piece, although this photo came out lighter than it really is; the color above is more accurate.

The second thing I worked on today was trying a new product called color magnet.  Its a dye attractant, so when you dye something, more dye is attracted to the parts that have the color magnet applied.  I screen printed some flowers on a shirt, and left it to dry overnight.  Tomorrow I will apply the dye. (You can see the sun print in the background - that is the true color.)

And one more thing I did today was make and tape more screens!

The fern and pine cone were gathered on my morning walk, and tomorrow I will be able to print them!

QC6 Day 2

I'm off to a slow start this year.  This morning we had to go to the library to make some image copies to burn screens that we had orders for.  Then come back to the house and make the screens, package them for shipping.  By then it was lunch time, so it made sense to eat before we headed off to the post office, Keepsake Quilting and the grocery store.  By the time we got back, I was ready for a nap!  Got up to eat dinner and clean up, but still am not too energetic so I am blogging instead.

I did start off the morning by sorting through some of my supplies and playing with some pieces from previous years, on the far end of the table.

Elizabeth prepared a previously dyed piece with a flour paste resist so it could sit in the sun to dry.  While we were at the library, a small critter jumped up on the table and walked across it.

After our stop at the post office, we headed on to Center Harbor where Keepsake Quilting is located.  They claim to be the largest quilt shop in the US, and have a huge mail order business as well.  Since it is July 1, this is the first day of the Row by Row Experience shop hop and we wanted to pick up their free row pattern. 1250 shops in 34 states are participating.  From July1 through September 2, quilters can stop in a participating shop and pick up a free pattern.  Most shops will also have kits available if you want to make your row exactly like theirs, or you can choose other fabrics.  If you make 8 rows from different shops in your travels and combine them into a quilt, you can take it to a participating shop to be eligible for a prize.  Here is Keepsake's row:

Guess it's time to figure out what I'm going to work on tomorrow!

Quilt Camp 6!

Can you believe it?  For the 6th year in a row, my friend Elizabeth and I are in New Hampshire for our "quilt camp"!  Actually, she would be here regardless since we are at her family's summer home on Lake Winnipesaukee! They are kind enough to invite me and let me stay as long as I want so we can play with fabric, dye, paint, all kinds of surface design and stitch.  How lucky can a girl get??  We arrived late last night, so today we are just getting started with setting up the garage "studio" and unloading the car. Also, getting settled and taking a nap or two, so today is kind of slow - no real work yet.  But stay tuned for more on our adventures in surface design over the next few weeks!

Here's the house with the garage off to the right.

Work tables set up in the partially cleared out garage.

The car is unloaded but supplies not yet organized.

Lunch break on the deck with the view of the lake.

Barbara's already been here for a week, so she's sewing up a storm!