Working with Silk

I have always loved working with silk and especially love the colors you get when dyeing it. I have lots of silk scraps but never think to use them in a quilt.  While cleaning out, I came across some larger pieces and decided to give it a try.

 I have some multi-colored and fortunately the right solids to go with them. This is the first one I'm working on.

 This is another I've pieced together and will tackle at another time.

 You can see how pretty and multi-colored some of the areas are, but also very busy so I'll have to choose wisely with what I put on top.

 I'm using several different kinds of silk -  China, charmeuse and crepe du Chine. All are slippery and a challenge to work with.  I find by treating the back with a fusible knit interfacing such as French Fuse, the fabric is more stable and easier to work with.

 I'm using a design which has lots of little pieces so I'm using a black tulle to work on top of.

 I've drawn the design on paper and laid the tulle over it.  As I cut out each little piece, I lay it down in its corresponding area.  I use a touch of glue from a glue stick to hold it in place.

 I can now pick up the tulle with the design on top and move it to my silk for placement. The tulle is hardly noticeable so you get a good feel of where to place the design.

I wanted something that would showcase the fabric underneath and not overpower the top. This "cut out" design allows me to see the background fabric which I like and also gives a little personality to the surface. I'm now in the process of stitching it in place. Check back soon to see my progess. I leave for Atlanta tomorrow to spend Easter with my daughter and sweet little granddaughter...
Have a Happy Easter....Til next time....Judy

Bamboo

At a recent Fiber Junkies meeting, we were working with fiber pastes made by Golden. One of the things we did was to use a stencil. 

I had a hand dyed fabric and thought it might work with this stencil of a Bamboo.

I did like the results but thought it needed more in the way of color. It was hard to see where the "Bamboo" began and ended.

I thought I would use some of the small leaf shapes as a pattern for orange and green fabric.

I used clear plastic with a leaf drawn in black marker to lay over the piece to see placement for additional leaves.

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I also wanted to bring some of the Bamboo stalks down to the bottom  - problem was I didn't have access to the stencil anymore.

I took Jane Dunnewolds workshop on Complex Cloth many years back. I remember we made stencils out of manilla folders. We shellaced them for endurance; I didn't with these, but would only be using them a short time.

I also wanted to do a little shading on the stalks to distinguish them from the background. So it's a work in progress - Please check back to see what comes next. I'm curious too.

Decisions and Red Noses

I rarely get sick so I guess I was due for this. I've been battling the typical winter stuff that turned into bronchitis, for the past 2 1/2 weeks, trying to get some things done on better days.  I'm on my 4th box of "Puffs" (200 tissues per box) so my poor little nose is so red and sore.  I think I could be a contender to pull Santa's sleigh   ( - :  

I've been trying to quilt on my "Enchanted Village" piece as I promised it for the teacher's exhibit at Mid-Atlantic this February where I'll be teaching.  I figured this commitment would force me to finish.  I've always loved using the rayon threads for decorative work (top row) but couldn't get them in my local quilt shop.  They've switched to polyester (bottom row) for its strength and ease of use.  They had some wonderful colors and not wanting to hunt down the rayon, I decided to give it a try. It worked fine but didn't have as much of a surface presence as the rayon which is more loosely twisted.  I liked working with it but think I still prefer the rayon. 

The Candlelight was used to make curls around the tree branches to give a little movement.

And the Sliver added a little glitz here and there. It's really quite subtle on the surface as I used it sparingly.

I want to bind the edge with something - just a narrow strip of color.  I thought black might be too strong but might work if it's narrow.

I also have a warm brown I'm thinking about...

and a cooler brown (on left)

The green is the fabric I used on the back, don't think it works but thought I would just throw it in for consideration.

Any thoughts?
Hope you're having a good day.

Driving on Fumes

I've been working feverishly on my black and white piece for the SHCG exhibition this September.  I have a busy next few months and I knew I had to get going on this now.  The fabric my friend Mary gave me has worked so beautifully, all the value ranges in black and white.  I'm finding the lightest one is the one I use most.  The whites you see are all tone on tones. 

 This one particular pointillist fabric (the lightest one) has become something of a valued commodity. I've been hoarding bits and pieces.

 This is something I don't usually do, I'm a "thrower-outer" and a "cleaner-upper" but every thread of this fabric is like gold to me. You can see the tiniest bits and pieces I'm saving and savoring! I feel as though I'm "driving on fumes" trying to make use of every little bit of fabric.

 I realized after much hair pulling that I wasn't going to have enough of the lightest fabric, the one I needed most. What to do?  I had an India ink pen supposedly good for making silk screens as the ink will burn out the image on a Thermofax so I decided to give it a try.  I made a series of tiny very tiny dots with this pen.

 And SUCCESS, I have a screen I can hopefully duplicate or come close to the fabric I need which is a white background and very tiny randomly placed dots.

 The tiny little scrap below on the right is my favorite fabric lying on top of the one I duplicated. It works pretty good and hopefully from a distance, no one will ever be the wiser!

 My piece is near completion as far as putting the fabrics down. I still have to quilt and frame it so there's still some work to be done but it feels good to get this far. I'm using a canvas - 24 x 30 that's been pre-stretched as a base.

 So looks like another full day in the studio finishing this.
Have a great weekend, I'm so chomping at the bit to be outside in this pretty weather

Black and White Exhibit

The Southern Highland Craft Guild is hosting an exhibit at the main gallery of the Folk Art Center in Asheville, NC.  It will run from Sept 8 2012 thru January 6, 2013.  Members of the guild have been invited to exhibit a black and white piece - any medium.  I think it's going to be a great show. My son draws incredibly well, he also loves working in pen and ink.  I'm using his drawing (which he happily agreed to) as inspiration and I'm recreating it in fabric - so different than working with pens where you have such a great range of shading. It's been a challenge but also great fun.  His drawing below is called "The Flute Player". 

 I started by using soil separator cloth from Home Depot to trace the drawing.  Soil separator cloth is one of my favorite tools, very sheer and non woven.  You can paint it, run it through the printer and use it to make patterns. It costs about 11 cents a running foot and runs 36" wide - a versatile bargain.

 The tracing came out pretty good and will work well as a pattern.

 My son uses dots to shade his drawings and I immediately thought of the very popular pointillist fabric that was so popular years ago.  I didn't have any but my good friend Mary did and gave me every bit she had - think I owe her big time.  I had so much to work with - everything that was made in blacks and whites and in between.  I was off and running.

 So here's the start on my piece.

 I used a pigma pen to create more dots in some of the areas.

 It's coming together as I hoped.

I'm running out of some of the very light dots on white fabric and will have to find a solution - will keep you posted.

Funky Houses - Almost Done!

I've been working like crazy to finish the top of this quilt. It has many examples of inkjet printed images which will work well with my upcoming lecture at Mid Atlantic Quilt Festival.  I must admit I've let everything go - the Dust Bunnies have been keeping me company (and multiplying) and acting quite smug while watching my progress knowing they're safe from extinction for a while. 

   I knew the piece needed some "green" to zing it up and also give more interest.  I have struggled with this part, doing and re-doing vines and tree branches. 

 I've always felt living with something for a while gives a whole new perspective. Time however, was not on my side this time around and I was anxious to find a solution.

 I finally realized it was just overdone - I couldn't see the forest for the trees or in this case, I couldn't see the houses for the forest, so I started to tweak and tweak some more, removing, slimming down each branch.

 I think it works now, less branches and just enough leaves and green. So now it's ready to be quilted - something simple but that will have to wait for a while.

Feels good to be in the homestretch of one of my unfinished projects and one I like.  Hope to see you at Mid Atlantic Quilt Festival - have a great week!

Back to Funky Houses

One of my New Years "resolutions" this year was to finish unfinished projects. It seems I do this every year and every year I say - but this year I really mean it!  Well this year, I really do mean it  (-:  I started this "funky" house quilt last year but for whatever reason, it got put on the back burner.  So now it's back on my wall and I'm in the home stretch.  I think I've had more fun with this quilt than anything I've done in a long time. The houses are a combination of inkjet printed images and commercial fabric.  The house below is the biggest and centered in the quilt.

 I printed a picture of lichen covered rocks for the roof.

 I also printed windows, doors and dandelions.

 This next little "doghouse" started with an image of a sculpture at the Biltmore House in Asheville, NC

 and became the entry way to the house.

 This next little house has a doorway to a forest.

 The next very crooked house has a "wonky" looking door which was manipulated in Photoshop Elements.

 A picture of an outhouse

 became an outhouse with grass on top and a horseshoe on the door (and chickens).

 I'm still working on how to set them and I hoping to get this sewn together by next Monday.

I'm doing a lecture at the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival next week on Creative Inkjet Printing on fabric; this would be a good sample to show - so it's back to the machine.