Home at Last!

Home at Last!

My quilt, Visions of Grandeur, has been traveling for 2 years in the Fine Focus '06 exhibit. I felt very honored to have my quilt included in this incredible collection of small art quilts. You can see and read about the other quilts in this exhibit by going to,
http://www.finefocus.blogspot.com/.

More Distractions

More Distractions
The first is a shibori experiment. I love the bright pink! This sample is made by pinching the fabric as I hand sewed big running stitches. Pull the strings tight and then vat dyed.

This yellow was posted earlier. It was made by dipping a napkin holder in wax, and then dye painted.

After boiling out the wax, I restamped it with an interesting irrigation cap end that I found at Home Depot. The waxed parts saved the yellow, then I dyed it again with orange. It looked fabulous, but I took it one step further.

I tore off a section, and without boiling the wax out yet, I painted the center of the circles (to save the orange), and stamped again with the irrigation cap (to save more orange). Then I dyed it again with red. The red dye was too old, and most of it rinsed out, but the resulted dark orange was just so lovely! I can't decide which I like better, the yellow & orange piece, or the yellow & orange & reddish???

Dyeing Experiments 101

Dyeing Experiments 101

 I needed a dark backdrop for a quilt, so I decided to make it navy. However, I didn't want a solid navy, I wanted something subtle with a little interest in it. Okay, I totally missed 'subtle' with this experiment! I folded this cloth in half and then twisted it very tight, stuck the ends through the loop made in the other end, and then vat dyed. I did not expect such high contrast, but I loved it. Then the dilemma, though beautiful and very interesting, it wouldn't fit my needs. So, I took it to the garage and started batiking circles. Some I left as rings, others I filled in. Then I over dyed it, navy and turquoise.

I liked the new results even better! Someday I will get around to quilting this as a whole cloth. It is large, about 60" x 120". Of course, I will have to find a back for it....which will lead to more dyeing experiments, more fun, and more learning!

Fun with Napkin Rings

Fun with Napkin Rings

I was shopping for a D shaped napkin holder, which I never found....but I did find these two others, and one napkin holder (the yellow fabric). I see the world differently now. The first thing that comes to mind when I see ANY new object is....how can I dip that in hot wax?? And then quickly followed by, what color will I paint it? The last photo is with the wax still in and freshly painted with dye (mixed with print paste). Even with the print paste, I am still having issues with the dye running under the batik. I am painting on a glass surface. I think I need to try a stretcher frame.

with wax and dye painted in between the shapes

Dive Right In...Shibori!

Dive Right In...Shibori!

I saw an example of this type of shibori in the book, Shibori, The Inventive Art of Japanese Shaped Resist Dyeing, and thought I'd give it a try. I planned to use it as a training exercise for the back of a quilt I am working on. It took an hour to do about one panel, and before I invested multiple hours in sewing the entire cloth, I cut out this strip and dyed it to see what it would look like. It is about 60" long and 10" wide, and has a total of 6 circles. I like it so much I don't want to sew it back on to the original now. It is hanging on my studio door, a simple cloth, beautiful in it's simplicity.

Fun with Backs

Fun with Backs


Problems photographing outside on a windy day? OR....A fabric too happy to stand still? I pick the later.

It is time to start thinking about quilting the auction quilt for my children's school fundraiser. Only problem, I forgot to make a back for it. I was planning to tie dye a whole cloth, like a rainbow. I did that once before and was quite happy with the results. Plus, children love rainbows, so I thought it would be popular. And this one was supposed to be a rainbow, but an accident happened and it totally changed the color scheme. It seems like every time I think I know what I am doing, something happens and I learn something new. This time I learned that if you are dye painting on a table, and your cloth is much bigger, it can slip off when you turn your back! Thus the warm tones, already painted on, landed on top of the white half that had yet to be painted in cool colors. I decided to go with the flow and camoflage the serendipitious 'error' and paint the rest in warm colors. See if you like it!

The other thing is this. I don't know why, but before I started, I decided to do batik instead of tie dye. I love all the circles. They look so happy and seem to have so much movement. The real trick after dyeing is of course getting the wax out. I do this by boiling. And since this is a large whole cloth, 60" x 72", it is really quite a trick to get the wax out. And I don't know why I insist on taking an easy project and making it harder on myself. Art? Some creative vision that needs expression?? Regardless, I have added an image for you to see the pots I use for boiling out the wax. The one on the stove (on the left), is my old 'Big Pot' for boiling out wax. I use it for fat quarters, half yards, and maybe up to a yard. The really big pieces won't even fit in this pot, so I had to get a bigger pot--it's the one on the right. It was a cheap steamer I found at the grocery store. It is not meant to boil multiple gallons of water. I found this out when I tried. It is made of aluminum, and when you fill it with water, the top of the pot looses heat so quickly, even when the lid is on, that you can't quite get the water to boil. However, it does get hot enough to get the wax out.

Little Fish Prototype

Little Fish Prototype

I knew this fabric would look great for fish!! This first image is before the fish was stuffed (and before his mouth was painted). The second image is to show a close up of his mouth. I finally figured out how to sew an open mouth. And it happened quite by accident....I couldn't quite turn this tiny tube inside out. Then I realized that it was much better this way!

I am also getting better at quilting the fins using tweezers. If you would like to see the quilting, be sure to click on the photo for the close up. The pectoral fins are made from putting fusible webbing on organza. When you cut the organza, the webbing sort of seals the edges and keeps them from fraying. And, as an added bonus, it is very easy to attach the fins to the fish. I used a tiny clover iron and just pressed briefly at the forward edge of the fin. This fish and his other friends will be debuting on a new quilt called Little Fish. But, due to the nature of that quilt (ie., very tedious and large), it will be many months before I have a picture to post.

Batik meets screen printing and thickened dyes.

Batik meets screen printing and thickened dyes.

Love it! This is so fun and so fast and so fabulous! I drew the design first with wax and a djaunting tool onto the screen. Then I used dye paste from Prochem with dye and soda ash. Since this was the first time, I had no idea how much I needed, so I prepared to do a lot of runs with the screen. Then I pushed the dye through the screen and repeated. The yellow dye is so bright and cheerful!

I was expecting it to run, especially because my design was a bit on the fine side, but the print paste did it's job very well. The whole process only took an hour. I had a lot of waste (only because the soda ash was mixed in, otherwise, I could have saved the left overs). And the process is messy, but I had so much fun doing it, I didn't even notice. And the best part....there is no wax to get out of the cloth!! The design remained very true and the dyes also stayed bright through the entire process. I will make some fish with this fabric. The last note is cleaning the wax off the screen. I haven't done it yet, so I don't know. To see more complete description of the techniques used, see Jane Dunnewold's book Improvisational Screen Printing.

What I'm Thankful For

What I'm Thankful For

Well, there are a lot of things that I am thankful for, but today, I am directing my attention towards my children's school. I am so very thankful for the transfer we received so that they could go there. I am thankful for all their teachers and the support staff that allow so much learning and love happen in the classrooms. This year I am making a quilt for the yearly fundraising auction. How appropriate that I should finish the quilt top today! I am grateful to get to share it with you!

Learning to Draw with Wax

Learning to Draw with Wax

I have a couple of projects in mind that I would love to draw with wax. Unfortunately, most of my experience with batik has been stamping objects....so this whole cloth is my practice, or maybe I should say, another opportunity to practice. I love the navy and turquoise together. I was happy with the design. I still want more practice and more control.

I found it to be kind of like drawing with your wrist instead of your fingers. This reminds me of machine quilting, which I find to be like drawing with your entire arm up to the shoulder. It feels strange and unusual at first, but eventually you start to get the hang of it.

Control is more difficult as the nature of the wax changes while you are drawing. When it is hot, it is very fluid and you have to move fast. As it cools, you have to slow down. I was also having problems with big drops of wax running down the outside of the djanting tool unexpectedly leaving drips. Rats! I keep thinking, surely, there must be an easier way, one that gives you a bit more control over the process. I did not find it, so for now, I must go with the flow!

This piece is 60" x 60" whole cloth. I expected it to be much more difficult to get the wax out than it actually was. And expect for a rather large wad of wax that got trapped in the center, it didn't take much time at all to get the wax out.