fiberhart

I've discovered a new toy. . .



I've heard of thermofaxes, read about them-- but until Saturday, never met one face to face. Timmy Burton, who is part of the Utah Surface Design Group of which I am also a member, graciously invited me to her studio in Heber when I asked her about her machine. I printed out a number of designs, some of which would be impossible to do any way except with a thermofax, or a photo emulsion screen.

Timmy has a fabulous studio, pretty much everything a surface designer could want. She showed me how to work the machine, and after we over-exposed the first screen, made a call to another Surface Design member to figure out how to cool it down a tad. From there, it worked like a charm! I probably did about a dozen screens- some leaves in different sizes, a dried thistle I'd photoshopped, a page from my great-grandmother's high school graduation essay, in her exquisite penmanship. Here's a texture piece I made- one that started out as a picture of a rock wall, and then photoshopped to get this image. It's in the carrier, ready for the machine.



After I cut my screens, Timmy showed me some ways to make a grid when screen printing so your images line up. I also got some great ideas for a print board, one that I can store easily but big enough to do the job.



I was sorry I could only spend the morning with Timmy, but we had a wedding to go to in the afternoon. Now I need to plan a weekend for screen printing- I think I'm going to start with thickened dyes. Whatever you use, the process is magical.

I also got some quilting done. Much of the background of the rock art discharge piece is done- I'm trying to decide how to quilt the part that doesn't have the wavy lines on it. But it's coming along nicely, as is the previously mentioned Christmas present. I'm still in the thinking stage of the autumn quilt that is on my design wall- but now that I have the catalog for next spring's Home Machine Quilting Show in Salt Lake, I'd like to have it done for that. The theme is tradition, and that quilt is about as traditional as I get. Got to have something to keep me going during our long winter nights, now that daylight savings is over!!

And, hopefully I will have a photo of my Journal Quilt to post. I can't believe I forgot to take a picture of it before I shipped it to Houston. Half the posts on the Quiltart list are links to the journal quilts, and I sit here like a bump on a log. Fortunately, Suzanne from Surface Design was at Houston, and able to take pictures of my quilts. So once she sends them to me, I'll post a picture.