QC6 Day 18

Wow!  Today we got to see the first of the indigo results!  That was fun.  I had only 1 of the 2 pieces I dyed on Tuesday that was dry, so that's all I have to show right now.  It is a rayon circular scarf, and I'm pleased with the way it turned out.  The other piece was pole dyed and it is still drying out.  Hopefully I will be able to rinse it tomorrow.  I dyed the rest of my pieces today (5 more) so it may take a day or 2 for them to dry.  Here's the scarf - on the left it is still wet; on the right it is dry.

I also experimented with using up some leftover dye by brayering it on fabric that was laid over top of stencils, to see if it would create a pattern like a rubbing.  This was somewhat successful, enough so that I will do a bit more experimenting.

 In the picture below, the blue piece is one that I dyed a few days ago - and had forgotten about!  I think it turned out really well, considering that (again) I was using up some leftover dye and experimenting a bit.

The next 3 photos are yet another experiment - comparing Solar Fast dye and sun printing.  For sun printing, certain paints react in sunlight leaving images on cloth of items used as resists.  I use Pebeo Setacolor paint for this.  One of my first QC6 posts was about a sun print I started with and continued to add layers to.  Solar Fast is a fairly new product by Jacquard that is a dye that reacts in sunlight.  So I took a fat quarter that had been previously dyed, split it into 2 pieces, and used Solar Fast on one and Setacolor on the other.  I did similar arrangements of ferns and set them in the sun.  I work on a foam core board that is covered with plastic, and cover the arrangement with organza tacked to the board to keep everything in place, especially on a windy day like today.  After 30 minutes the Solar Fast has to be washed out.  The Setacolor is paint so just gets heat set with an iron.  The photos show the before, during and after of the process; Solar Fast is on the left, Setacolor on the right.

It was about 1:30-2:00 in the afternoon when I set this out in the sun; ideally around noon is a better time of day when the sun is directly overhead.   I think that's why the sun print in particular is not as clear as it might be.  I think the Solar Fast may give a bit more depth to the print.  Both yield interesting results.  There are some other options for Solar Fast besides using natural objects; more experiments are in order!
 

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!

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!