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.

Song Sung Blue Finished!

In the 2 weeks since my last post, I've finished SSB - it's for a challenge that is to be unveiled at my guild meeting this Wednesday, so finished with time to spare.  Rather than borders or binding, it is finished with an artist;s facing.  I didn't have any leftover of the hand-dyed fabric I started with, and the pieces I auditioned for binding didn't enhance the piece, so just finishing off the edges seemed the best bet.  I haven't taken any pictures of the back - sounds like a good idea for tomorrow.

I'm happy with the way it turned out. 

Leaves and Stems

Yesterday I showed the yellow added to the blue flowers.  I decided it was a bit too much, so I toned it down by overpainting the biggest areas with blue. I had added green to the center of the flowers, and also painted some blue on top of that.  Better. I also added centers to the large stamped flowers.

 Now its time for stems and leaves.  Here I am auditioning some stamps and a screen.  The stamps will work well for the smaller flowers.  The screen is one I made for the stems of the taller flowers.  Results of that tomorrow.

Building Up Layers (2)

Let's try this again.  Here are the next 2 photos in the process.

 Above, I added more detail to the flowers.  You can see that the dark blue flowers had a second screen that outlined the petals and filled in the center.  I thought the yellow would work for this but hmm....a little too much yellow?  Well, I decided to let it go for the time being and continue adding.

I had carved a flower stamp, but wasn't sure if I wanted to use it.  I made some modifications to it and added 3 prints.  I thought it was a positive addition. More tomorrow on what comes next.

Brand New Year, Brand New Start

2013 - Brand new year - wow, I remember thinking about 10 years ago how far away that date seemed, it being the year I reach full retirement age with the state.  And now its here.  Happy, YES! But also more aware of how quickly time passes.  9 more months (till retirement) but it will fly by. 

I've also been contemplating what to focus on creatively for this coming year.  Not sure I've come to a conclusion, but have a few things I would like to pursue.  Sketching is one.  I've tried rather unsuccessfully to keep a sketchbook, but I think this is the year to try harder.  I've gotten some inspiration from a few sources - books and blogs - and would love to say I'll make a daily sketch, but realistically, once a week may be more doable.

I just read Lynn Krawczyk's post on her blog about an idea from the JustB blog - a month's worth of creative prompts.  Think I'll have to check that out.  Maybe ideas for sketching prompts.  Hmm....  And posting to this blog more regularly...starting today.

Finishing projects is always on the list.  Thought I'd share the process for one I'm working on now.  It's a quilt guild challenge based on top songs from 40 years ago to celebrate the guild's 40th anniversary this year.  All the participants chose a song from the billboard top 100 of 1974 - I chose "Song Sung Blue" by Neil Diamond.  One of my favorite singer/songwriters.  The piece was originally going to be all block printed, but after doing the background, I decided to combine screen printing, stenciling and block printing, similar to a piece of fabric I created last summer. (Truth be told, it was going to take longer to carve stamps than I had time for!)

Here's the first step, with the sky and grass block printed for the background.  There is actually  more layered printing of the grass than shows in this picture; it looks like I didn't take a picture with that additional printing, but you can see it in the image below.

My vision is a garden of blue flowers, hence the blue flowers printed above.  "Song sung blue, everybody knows one.  Song sung blue, every garden grows one."  These are all thermofax screens made from photos of flowers.  More on the process tomorrow!

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!

Sunday Night Painting

A couple of free hours this evening was a perfect time to do some painting - first trying out a new wooden stamp, and then adding some screen printing to a work in progress.

The idea for this stamped design is to make 2-sided ornaments with peltex in the center - more later.

Above left is a work in progress called "I Can Fly".  On the right is a close-up of screen printed text.  The background of this piece is rusted fabric.  There are still more ideas in the works for this piece.