A Cool Little Technique

Years ago when I lived in Marietta, GA, I used to shop for art supplies at Pearl, very well known on the east coast....Unfortunately after many years, they closed, but in the interim, it provided many happy hours for finding new things to experiment with. I was into dyeing fabric so anything with the word "cotton" caught my attention. 

There were rolls of canvas for painting....cotton and one in particular seemed rather thin. It was a 7oz single fill (I had no idea what that meant) but it was COTTON...so how bad could it be. It was also a great price $3.00 a yard which ran 72" wide so really only $1.50 a yard. I bought a yard...drove home happy as a clam....and immediately dyed  this treasure that same afternoon...(Off the subject, the minute I laid this fabric down to photograph, Molly was on top of it!)

Well guess who was heading back to Pearl the next day for more....

Yup....10 yards this time. I still have lots left; it is a bit heavier than quilter's muslin but it's a wonderful fabric and I've used it many times in smaller pieces.

I always microwave dye it to add some visual texture to the fabric and take away the flatness. The process I use is quite easy...1/4 tsp. each of soda ash, mx dye and table salt in 2 cups of water for 2 yds of fabric. Microwave (in a designated microwave) for 4 mins on high if you have settings. It doesn't matter if fabric is dry or wet to start...each creates a different effect. You can halve the recipe if 2 yards is too much. Above, I used Havana Brown mx which is a dye that splits and gives off a grayish brown along with a greenish color...so pretty. After placing some of the appliques on top, I realized the background needed some more "personality" so I went to my stamp and silk screen drawer.

I mixed up some textile paint to make a brownish gray which I thought would work well on the background fabric.

I love stamps with words...I use this one a lot....and my favorite....not a stamp but something

I found when our house was being built (top left) used as a base for tiles in the bathroom. It creates a wonderful and subtle effect on fabric....just a touch here and there.

There are several size grids...this one above is a little larger than the yellow grid. I like the additonal stamping etc. on the surface.

And now onto the tulle. Tulle, like ballerina tulle is a great "tool" - pardon the pun, in your studio.

There are many times when you have an applique with many parts and you want to try it out on different areas of your quilt...so time was when I had to pin each little part to another area of the quilt until I discovered how to use tulle. So here's what I do...make 2 copies of your applique...one as a reference and the other as a pattern to cut up. Number each part with the same number in each applique....Petal #1 in the cut up is the same petal #1 in the reference and so on......

Lay a piece of tulle under the applique which serves as a reference. The applique pattern is used to cut up and make each part in fabric. Lay each piece on the reference piece on top of the tulle, pin or

use a glue stick to hold in place. Next you are going to iron the pieces onto the tulle using a fairly low setting. Use an old cotton hankie as a pressing cloth and also to protect the tulle from disintergrating. It can happen very quickly...Ask me how I know this.....see bottom right. Now if you're wondering why I just don't use the glue stick and skip the ironing....I've had it happen far too often where the pieces fall off with a glue stick...so ironing holds it better.

Even little fabric dots can be added to the tulle.....Now it is so easy to move the applique anywhere on the quilt to see the best placement for it. The tulle on the lower pictures is very light colored and hard to see....

When you have the right placement, it's time to iron the applique down permanently. Do this a little bit at a time by gently pulling off the tulle, ironing that section, pull off more tulle, iron...etc...It's a great little technique I've used time and time again....
Have fun...til next time.

Forest Relfection

Here is a piece I recently made...shortly before the pandemic and motivation was still a part of my life. I've heard from many friends that having extra and isolated time has not made them more productive...as is the case with me. I've tried to figure it out...it seems it should be the opposite ...but in the meantime, I struggle along trying to find that spark of enthusiasm within myself to create.

I'ld been thinking about working  in a new shape...one that might be more conducive to sales.  I thought a long narrow piece would fit in many decors. I also like working in block format; this one has 4, stacked on top of each other. I started with a deconstructive fabric (light area) that had a leaf.......it needed something more. I thought another printed image on top would work if I fiddled with the print setting. I put the branch image in Photoshop, reduced the opacity and printed on top of the leaf....I think the effect turned out subtle and effective.

On to block #2 which used a commercial print - pretty but needed a little something also....hmmmmm....silk screen or tulle. I often use tulle as an overlay to tone or soften fabrics underneath. Tulle comes in all colors, runs very wide and is inexpensive. Look for it in sewing stores...not a quilt shop.

When I decide to use a silk screen, I like to do a preview first as the paint sets up quickly and pretty hard to remove once it's on there. When I make a screen, I also screen the image on clear plastic (upper left) so I can lay it over the area to see how it will work....a really good tool in designing. I use Speedball screening ink for fabric which is very thick, great pigment and comes in lots of colors.

Here is the second block in the sequence....

The third block brings in the theme of trees again but also needed something more and different on the block....when in doubt, add some writing is my motto. My go-to are screens I made years ago of my grandmother's writing from one of her hand-written cookbooks. It adds a personal touch and the haphazard structure of writing lends an artistic quality to the look. It really doesn't matter if the words are "1/4 cup sugar or mix together" such as on this one...it's the visual texture you're after.

Moving on down to the 4th block....I wanted something dark and heavier for the bottom block to "ground" the piece. I did have another piece of deconstructive screen printed fabric that worked well.

So here's the piece before sewing and waiting to be tweeked...I did edge the left side and top with dark fabric to finish it off and contain it....

And DONE!

Birthdays and Bugs

Well, we couldn't be at our granddaughter's birthday this year because we are being serious isolators. She had her 2 little besties over and apparently had the best time ever. 

Last year, my daughter arranged for an "animal expert" to come over and teach/show the children various animals and bugs...think we all had the most wonderful time. I never got to post about her birthday and thought I would do so today in honor of her  birthday.

Mr. Bug Man (think he called himself that) was so incredibly patient and made sure he showed each child the animal or bug...even let them hold it if it was appropriate. Even us "big" kids (jan below, the other grannie) loved holding the bugs as did I.

Here is Audrey (left side) with a big lizard type of animal in her lap...petting it gently.

There is a scorpion in top right picture...locked in a glass cage...fun to see but a tad bit creepy also.

I wish I could remember the name of these wonderful animals...well a tortoise on top but below left...I can't recall. He was gentle and I made it a point to hold them all...the kids..braver than myself did also with great enthusiasm.

The day ended with a pinata which all the kids loved. And our little leopard...Bye bye....I had a great day!!

A Nice Surprise

I've been doing little odd projects during the Pandemic...things I ordinarily don't get to do. One of these was to cover an old footstool. When I was in college and majoring in Home Ec...we had a Home Managment course.... I loved it as a lot centered around creative skills...We had to learn how to keep bills and budget, create a blueprint of the house we wanted to live in...make a drapery panel, refinish a piece of furniture etc....

For my furniture project, I wanted to choose something reasonable so I would be able to finish it in time....It was smaller than some but it did come out nice and done on time. I covered it with a piece of upholstery fabric I had kept from something else. Mind you, this was 55+ years ago and the stool belonged to my mom....I was giving it back to her when I was done....AND she loved the new look (above).

Fast forward 55 years to present day and I now have my mom's stool which I've used for years (some things are too functional and sentimental to give up). In redoing the family room several years back, I had picked up lots of fabric samples in our new color...some were very big pieces..

and I thought....one of these might work to recover the stool...BUT first I had to remove the old covering from AND AGAIN I SAY.......55+ years ago....hmmmmm.......I wonder what kind of condition it will be in and what I'll find underneath....One never knows.

The old covering was in remarkably good shape....but wait...there seemed to be something else underneath acting as a padding.

Oh Wow..... There....in perfect condition was this beautiful needlepoint my mother had done ....just waiting to be discovered again one day. My mother was a lover of needlepoint and I don't have anything that she's done so you can image my joy at finding this....a great surprise....I'll frame it or make it into a small pillow but it will be out somewhere for me to enjoy....love you mama!!!

And here is the newly covered footstool which goes far better with current decor....I might add, if you're thinking of taking on a project like this...it was very easy....no sewing involved...just staples and a few long nails....Til next time.

Dyeing Linens

A short time ago, I posted about my ice dyeing adventure ....all in all, it took about a week to get done  what I wanted to get done.  It seems like it would go very quickly but soaking and choosing fabric, labeling it which I do for scarves as I want to have a color reference. It's helpful to know what colors are selling for future dyeing sessions. Then there's preparing the fabric in the tray with ice, sprinkling dye and then nuking it. I let it cool and then dump it in a bucket of cold water...several buckets actually as the excess dye doesn't always come out that quickly. AND THEN THE IRONING....which is time consuming but fun to see the wonderful colors.

A friend of mine gave me some old linen napkins and tablecloths to dye ...a few I kept and most gave back to her...I have so much fabric already and know she'll enjoy these. I have no idea what her color palette is so she got a little bit of everything...

As I dyed each scarf I included a piece of linen in with it.....It was interesting to see the difference in the way the China silk takes color to the way linen does...sometimes very different.

But I'm loving the colors. Each piece has 3 different dyes used on them...

and sometimes some rogue dye particles would wander over to a piece being prepared and voila another little splat of color.

I do this technique which I talked about in my previous post in my studio using a designated microwave. I also use a mask and rubber gloves....seems to be the same as when I go to the grocery store now...Well, I hope you enjoyed the small show and tell. Linen dyes as beautiful as cotton and silk with the Procion MX dyes as you can see...Til next time...