Spooky Old Tree

I've been grabbing moments in my studio in between holiday activities. I just finished a small piece which in orange - a challenge from a group I'm in. I'm not into orange so it definitely was a challenge. I started with a piece of fabric I marbled.

 The marbling was black veining over the orange which I liked, toned it down a bit and added some movement.

 I used some paintsticks to emphasis some of the areas.

 Since this piece was going to be one of my layered pieces and covered with an organza, it was a good idea to highlight areas to show through.

 I silk screened a tree on top of the marbling, layered it with batting and backing and did some minimal quilting.

 Before laying the organza on top which is done after the quilting, I felt it needed more, so I discharge the same image on the organza, allowing the underneath to show through.

 I added a little more quilting - now to the 4 layers - organza, top, batting and bottom.

I bound it in leftover organza which gives a soft edge.
I'm off and running once again to Atlanta to do our annual Christmas shopping, lunch, etc with my daughter. Have a great weekend.

Holiday Fair

I like to do the holiday fair each year featuring the artisits of the Southern Highland Craft Guild. It's a one day deal, 10 - 4, no money handled - the head table takes care of that and sends you a check, very little set up and people are there to shop....seriously for the holidays. So it's a win-win all around. I usually sell my scarves which I have on hand; they also make nice gifts.  I did some rayon/bamboo dyeing using mx dye and nuked them in the microwave, good results...BUT

 think I need to change the container, Wow, what a crazy mess.

 The scarve did fare well...

 the container, not so much. It might make an interesting piece of art though ( -:   !

 Some of the plainer ones - dyed some time ago, I went back and silk screened using Lumiere paint for some sparkle.

I did leaves, pinecones and some dragonflies.

I

Pinecones are my new favorite screen, nice for winter and the holidays.

 I did some acid dyeing on silk blanks - my favorite way of dyeing.

Some of the bigger scarves needed an overdye like the one on the left, overdyed in another blue giving it a little more interest.

Set up my booth and am ready to rumble. I have to leave in 30 mins, the sale is this saturday and next wee, same fair only with a whole new set of artists. It's at the Folk Art Center in Asheville on Blue Ridge Parkway. If you're around, stop by, lots of great deals and good fun.

Til next time

Judy

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving, I wish you all a wonderful day surrounded by those you love.   

 From beginning ....

to end............may each moment become a wonderful memory.
Warmly, Judy

The Results - soy wax batik

Probably the hardest part of working with wax is the removal of it. Years ago I tried batik and swore never to do it again because of that reason. I was using the traditional set up of part parafin and part beeswax. Beeswax is too soft and won't crackle; parafin is too hard and crackles too much, so a mix of the 2 works best. I decided to give it another try after reading Rayna Gillman's book which devotes many pages to the use of soy wax. It's a little more user friendly and easily removed from fabric.

To remove, lay newsprint over the top and underneath; use a a hot iron which immediately melts the wax which is absorbed into the paper.

I found the fabric to be just a tad stiff but still very useable and I will try washing it which Rayna suggests. Many of the fabrics used were probably too busy to begin with so the waxed areas are hard to find.

This piece is probably more noticeable because I used solids rather than a busy print.

Here is another marbled piece done in the opposite color set up with the yellow being in the center.

I liked the way this turned out, very busy but I liked the wash of color over it more than the resisted areas of wax.

I just went through my scraps, pulling pieces. This piece was a piece of silk that was crimped as a demo for a workshop. It was a China silk and very thin so the crimping/pleats were very effective.

A lot of the wax impressions showed up better, probably because I started with a solid.

This was a marbled piece I didn't like and the only cotton in the group;  I think I like it better with a wash over it and some wax resisted areas.
My daughter is coming this weekend with my granddaughter and then we caravan back to Atlanta for Thanksgiving. It will be a whirlwind of a week.
Til next time...
Judy

Fiber Junkies Pt 2 - The Party

Last week, we had our "early for the month" Fiber Junkies meeting and since several of our members have had big birthdays this year, we've been celebrating them.

My birthday is at the end of December - the 30th and I remember my mom telling me the first words out of my dad's mouth were - "What a great little tax deduction" Anyway, getting back on track, my wonderful friends had a surprise party for me at our last meeting. We like to do themes and knowing each other so well, we seem to come up with the most unique and creative ideas. I guess I've mentioned numerous times how much I love paper dolls and how they were a big part of my childhood - so a paper doll party.

We celebrated with champagne and delicious home made chili from Kate. The placemats were poster board with a outline of a paper doll on them.

all set on a beautiful hand dyed piece of rayon Denny dyed to use as a tablecloth and I got to take home.

Talk about feeling like a kid again...in the center of the table were crayons and colored pencils. Without any prompting, we all dove in to get our favorite colors to finish our "paper doll", guess we all enjoy that feeling of being a kid again.

They were all so cute and I brought them home with me....

The gifts were such fun - a cloth tape measure which you don't see anymore wrapped around vintage paper dolls of Ramona and an antique book...

magnetic barbies and Shirley Temple paper dolls. Denny copied the clothes onto magnetic sheets and provided pans that they would work with. My granddaughter and I are going to have such fun with these.

And of course what party wouldn't be complete without "beautiful men" fabric - too much fun!

The apple cake made by our resident baker - Mary, was delicious.

And I was happy to be amongst such very wonderful friends who put so much thought and love into everything they do, I am lucky!
PS. I've been ironing the wax out of my fabrics and have results to share as soon as I get this house back in order. Thanks for hanging in there with me.
Judy

Fiber Junkies Pt 1 - Working with Soy Wax

Yes, Fiber Junkies again, we work around everyone's schedule and this was the best time with the holidays coming up so fast. This month we did soy wax printing/batiking and it was great fun and a new experience for many of us. My friend Mary has some great pictures on her blog of this technique along with a good explanation. These first 2 pictures are from Mary as I neglected to take them, thank you Mary.

 Several of us had the small electric fry pans which is important for controlling the temperature. Wax has a very low melting point and can ignite easily so it's important to keep it just above the melting point. After stamping fabric with objects dipped in wax, we painted the area with Dye na Flow paint.

 There was a very creative assortment of tools that were "heat friendly" and could safely put put in hot wax.

 Everything from potato mashers to corks, spools and paint brush coiled cleaners were used.

 The wax dries almost instantly so you can start painting.

 This is one of my marbled prints and perhaps too busy for this technique as the waxed image areas seemed to melt into the fabric print.

 This has Dye na Flow added.

 Kates with the wax on..

 and painted.

 This tool that kate is using made such a fun mark...not sure what it was, but gave great results.

 Kates painted. Once the paint is dry, the pieces are ironed between pieces of newspaper to remove the wax the and original fabric shows through, so as pretty as this is, it is still not done and will take on a different look when the wax is removed.

 I loved what Denny was doing with her lettering and piece of plastic "ladder"

 Painted and waiting for wax to be removed.

 Mary's got an additional wash of darker purple...

 very nice effect.

 Gen used a print for hers so this should be fun to see.

 and Denny used a stencil here.

Vals was gorgeous, she used Lumiere paint which was very clever as it's so pretty with it's high metallic content. Everyone is to bring their finished pieces to the Christmas party to share the final look. Next time - the party and please stay tuned.