fiberhart

More from this weekend. . .

Not only was I discharging this weekend, I experimented with some fabric paints and tissue paper. I read about this in Quilting Arts, the Summer 2006 issue. It stayed in my mind all this time, so when I was checking out the new Hobby Lobby in Salt Lake and saw bleeding tissue paper, I grabbed it.

The idea is to paint the fabric with Pebeo Setacolors, then put torn strips of tissue paper on top of the paint while it is still wet. Then you leave it out in the sun to dry, and voila! Tissue sunprints.

I did six pieces- here five are, baking on my front lawn.



I have several pieces of foam insulation that I use for a painting surface. I covered each one with plastic, then used thumbtacks for silk painting to anchor the plastic and then the fabric to the insulation. A word of caution, make sure you are using the blank side of the insulation, not the side with words printed on it. Trust me, you won't like the results if you don't---

It was 100 degrees, almost no humidity- so my panels dried quickly. Here's what one looks like dry, but with the tissue paper still on-



I was fairly conservative with most of the pieces I did, putting a similar color of tissue paper on paint. On this last one, however, I purposely put different color tissue paper on paint. Both results were interesting- one for the texture you can get, one for the color overlays along with texture.

Here's my favorite- on this one, I used squares of tissue paper instead of strips. The colors certainly reflect the heat wave we've been having!!



It has such spectacular texture, I decided to leave the tissue paper on and just add stitching- at some point, anyway!! Here's a closeup to give you an idea of the texture--




Here's the others-
First, a lighter, more pastel piece- I think I sprayed more water on this one.



Another one with hot colors--



Somehow, I'm going to turn this onto an abstract landscape--



And, the last two-- more cool colors.





If you'd like to try this, all the directions are in the Summer 2006 Quilting Arts issue. I'll be adding more elements to these pieces, but I like the effects I've gotten for a first layer!! Be warned- sometimes the tissue paper can be a pain to remove. I had the easiest time when I sprayed the paper with water after I'd patted it on top of the paint. The only way I got the paper off the first piece was by scraping away with a small knife. Or, you may decide like I did with one to just leave the paper in place. Your choice.

And, I also started the quilting on my practice journal quilt. I've tested some techniques and elements on this piece, before deciding how I will do my full size journal quilt. It has been helpful process for me, since I usually jump in with both feet- and sometimes get good results, sometimes not. Anyway, here's a closeup of the practice piece--



It felt good to just play most of the weekend. And, in Utah we have a second holiday in July, the 24th! So, next weekend will be a five day-er for me. Hopefully I can keep the momentum going--