More From Quilt Camp 4

I'm home now from quilt camp (while Elizabeth remains in NH through most of August) and have gotten most of my stuff put away, so I can try to keep the momentum going. Here are some things I worked on in the last week.

 The 2 pieces above and below are both scarves that were ice-dyed; the fabric is layered with ice cubes on top and the dye powder is sprinkled on top of the ice.  As the ice melts, the dye soaks into the fabric, so the results are somewhat of a surprise, depending on the colors used and number of layers.  These 2 were layers in the the same "parfait".  Both are screen printed. 

The blue/turquoise piece above was an attempt at using tapioca as a resist, following instructions in a Quilting Arts article by Lisa Kerpoe.  After applying the tapicoa and letting it dry, I used thickened dye rather than liquid dye; I think I would have had better results with liquid dye.  The tapioca was difficult to wash off, and there were large areas of white when I was done.  I ended up spraying the whole piece with blue and turquoise dye.

This yellow piece was a sunprint from last year - not very inspiring - so I printed it with an orange.  Much better!

I decided I wanted to see what some of my dye colors looked like individually, so did these 9 half yards on the last day.  A bit backwards, I admit, but I started off with ice dyeing and mixing colors, so wanted to see them separately.

On our last day we had a lovely lunch at Caste in the Clouds, in the Ossipee Mountains overlooking Lake Winnipesaukee. 

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!

Myth Postcard

I sent out my postcards to my swap group last week, only a month late; thank goodness they are an understanding group!  The theme for this swap was "Myth".  My interpretation centers on Athena.  You can read her story on the back of the card in the third photo.

The background fabric is hand dyed cotton.  The image of the Parthenon is printed on Extravorganza and fused to the background.  The olive branch is stenciled, and the owl is screen printed with a thermofax screen created from a photo by Elizabeth Gibson.

I am very pleased with how these turned out.

Arts & Old Lace Sneak Peak

Arts & Old Lace is a quilt challenge put together by two local quilters, Judy Gula of Artistic Artifacts and Cyndi Souder of Moonlighting Quilts.  The challenge was simply to create an 18" quilt with this theme; a kit of fabrics and laces was provided, but not required to be used.  I made 2 pieces for the challenge which will debut July 21.  I won't show the completed pieces until after that date, but I thought I'd share a few close-up shots of what I've been working on for the last month.

  Need I mention that both pieces contain screen printing?  Visible in the first picture but not so much in the second.  Stay tuned for more pictures later.

Thermofax Screen Printing at Artistic Artifacts

Elizabeth and I taught our thermofax screen printing class yesterday at Artistic Artifacts to 6 creative and enthusiastic ladies (and the teenage son of the proprietor).  Had a great time and enjoyed seeing the different ways each student found to use the designs.  They printed on fabric and paper, learned to tape a screen and experimented with discharge products.  We scheduled another class for Seprember 29.  Check us out if you'd like to learn about screen printing!

Screens Debut at QU Show

Yeah!  Our thermofax screens went on sale for the first time at the annual Quilters Unlimited of Northern Virginia Quilt Show!  Here are some shots of the Artistic Artifacts booth; our screens are in a basket on the table - there is a screen of a bird in front of the basket. (barely visible in the first picture, close-up in the third)

Elizabeth and I spent the day at the show, and about an hour & a half demo-ing screen printing to publicize the class we are teaching at Artistic Artifacts next weekend.  It was lots of fun!  But silly us, we forgot to take pictures of us during the demo!  We appreciate Judy giving us the opportunity to share our work.