Springville Art Museum Quilt Show

Today I managed to sneak a couple of hours from quilting my wholecloth to go see the annual quilt show at a nearby art museum.  This is a very traditional area when it comes to quilts, so I go in the hopes there will be a few art quilts, or at least some quilts with extra punch.  And this year I wasn't looking at the awards wondering how the judges came up with that decision- the quilts that had ribbons, I thought deserved them.

This beauty got Best of Show.  Unbelivably, it is both hand pieced and quilted- I think it's a Jinny Beyer design.  I can't even fathom working that way- I'd never get anything done!!

This one is my favorite color combination.  I love the bold design!

This was a small piece, only about 12 by 12.  But I liked the wonky design, color, and embellishments.

I absolutely loved this one, based on a child's watercolor painting.  What a canvas for lots of quilted texture!!

I've got more, but I'll save them for a future post.

On the home front, I washed out the rust dyed raw silk last night.  I'm very happy with how it turned out-now I just need to find a pattern that will work with it.

I don't know if I will get anymore quilting done tomorrow- it is a busy day.  But I hope I can get the little bit I have let done on Sunday, so I can get this one faced and shipped off to Susan in Grand Junction.  I still have my IT! quilt to get done this month!!

Rusting the Silk

The raw silk I discharged in the thiox bath last weekend has been stewing with vinegar and rusty stuff since Sunday.  Tonight I decided it had sat long enough with the rust, but it needed something else.  I made a half-strength batch of tannin, and poured it over, mushing the fabric to get it distributed.  I'll let it sit until tomorrow- then rinse and wash.  Can't wait to see how this turns out.

I got the bottom half of the wind turbines quilt done last night.  I also did some auditioning of quilting designs for the top, which will be different.  I think I know what I want, I just hope I can pull it off.  It will mean the bottom will be much more densely quilted than the top, so I hope I don't have hanging problems because of it.

Half the work week done, half to finish.  You know it has not been a good week when you are ready for it to be done at 10 am on Monday.

Screenprinting and More

I got all the fabric I printed washed out this morning.  For the most part, I'm happy with the results.  On one piece the background seemed to wash out for reasons I can't fathom. Other than that, the fabric came out as I was hoping.

I love this deconstructed screenprint I made with a dish drainer Sandra Hoefner had.  I already have a use in mind for this fabric!

It was so hot and dry in Grand Junction that our screens dried very quickly after we put them outside.  This one had to sit with the clear print paste on it for ten minutes or so before I started getting any dye on the fabric.

Here's two more pulls from the same screen, and another image that I got from Jan Warren.  She made a flour paste resist on her screen, then drew into it.  I absolutely love the image!

I also just used some of my thermofax screens with thickened dye.  This one came out nice.  I'd tried to deconstruct an image of leaves, but it barely shows up- looks more like part of the original dye job.

This is another one I did with one of my thermofaxes.

I plan to add more layers with this one, so I'm actually glad the print lightened quite a bit- like a shadow.

This is the one the background washed out of.  Originally this really was a medium light shade of blue!  I did a deconstructed screenprint of a large stamp I made, then went over it with bubble wrap and red thickened dye.  Definitely not my best piece.

I did a couple of other things while I was there.  I took this rusty piece, wrinkled it up on a pan, and shredded steel wool over it and in some folds. 

 I left that for a couple of days, and took it to Junction with me.  Then Thursday night I dumped a cup of tannin water over it, and left that overnight.  I took it with me to Jane's studio Friday and left it outside to dry.  Then I washed it at Susan't Friday night- I couldn't wait to see it, it looked fascinating after I dumped the tannin on it.  This is what I ended up with!

I think it is drop dead gorgeous!  Can't wait to do more rusting while the weather is hot!

I now have two projects I have to get quilted and done by the end of August.  One is ready for the needle, the other is still in the design stage.  So I will be busy, no more trips planned.  And somewhere in there I also have to find time to work on a tee shirt quilt for a son- I want it done before Christmas!

Sewing for me, Part 2

I got another top done today- a lightweight jacket out of the cotton-linen I dyed and discharged.  I think I'll enjoy wearing this one!

It still needs to be ironed- I gave it a wash and rinse in Milsoft, since it was feeling pretty stiff.  That helped quite a bit.  All I have left to do is sew on three buttons!

I've also been working on a small piece from the fabric I rusted a couple of weeks ago.  I did some quilting, which was a bear- no matter what needle I used, it went THUNK.  I managed to get the bit quilted on the top, although I shredded some thread in the process.  I don't think I will use Kona muslin to rust again- it is just too finely woven to needle easily, and then you add the rust and it's a nightmare.  Fortunately, this one will be mounted on foam core and matted- so my back will not be inspected by the quilt police!

I'm going to do a bit more quilting after the hand work is done.  I'm still trying to decide if I want to quilt the light colored background.

I'm leaving Thursday for Grand Junction again for a couple of days.  No teaching this time, just a couple of play days at the Fabric Arts Studio with other AQuA members.  I'm hoping to dye some color samples to test out working from weight instead of volume with the dyes, and do some deconstructed screen printing.  And, I'd like to do some soy wax batik.  That should keep me busy for a couple of days!

Just Ditzing Around. . .

My studio is still in disarray  after the water disaster- but the closet carpet is dry, has been re-stretched, and new baseboards are in place.  I can't move my fabric back into the closet until the carpet cleaners come on Monday- and then I'll have to wait 24 hours for it to dry, so probably not until Tuesday night.

I have done some dyeing and surface design, however.  I dyed ten onesies for a friend who wanted them for gifts--

(Yes, I did a little stamping on some of them too!)

I got a 30" X 36" piece of acrylic at Home Depot so I can do large monoprints, not just fat quarter size.  I have the first part of one done- I hope it will be good enough to use for a whole cloth quilt for an exhibition with AQuA this fall.

I also overdyed the ugly scarf I discharged last weekend.  I went for dark, with navy blue.  It didn't turn out as dark as I'd hoped it would be, but it will work.  Then I screened a coffee bean print in two sizes on it with discharge paste, and used the steam iron to activate the paste.  I got what I wanted, a dark scarf with areas where the yellow and pale blue show through.  Next to that scarf are two more rust dyed scarves.  I gave the first one as a gift, and it was a hit.  So one's for me, and the other is for a friend who's retiring this week.  Lucky her!

I'm thinking about rusting the light gold scarf I discharged last weekend- do some strategically applied contact prints.  I also ordered some tannin- we'll see what that does.

We're off to a friend's for a barbecue tonight.  Hope your weekend is a relaxing and creative one!

Playing with Rusty Objects

I didn't just dye fabric while I was in Grand Junction in June- I started a nice collection of rusty stuff.  My friend Susan gave me some extras she had, and then we also went to a metal junkyard.  Piles and piles of large rusty objects, and bins and bins of small rusty objects!  I spent five bucks, and got more cool rusty stuff- like this. . 

I have circles in several sizes. some rectangles with neat texture, big bolts- and this is just the small stuff.  I also have a couple of large pieces with nice texture.  The pan I requisitioned from the kitchen- better it should be allowed to rust away than hold food anymore!

Sunday night I soaked a one yard piece of cotton, several smaller scraps, and a silk scarf in vinegar.  Then they got wrapped in different rusty stuff, left in a black plastic bag, and kept moist for about twenty-four hours.  I also sat the pan on top of the smaller fabric pieces, so they were getting rusty from both sides.

Last night I soaked them in salt water to halt the process, and tonight I washed them.  Here's what I have--

The silk scarf--

The larger piece of cotton, which will be further rusted before I'm done, and

the smaller pieces of cotton.  At least two of these are going to end up as smaller, matted pieces.

This is definitely fun, and something I will play with further.  My mind is already figuring out how to best enhance the designs on these small bits of cotton.

What I can't figure is why I have to go all the way to Colorado to get rusty metal.  I have never seen a metal junkyard here, despite the fact we had a steel mill a few miles up the road until a few years ago.  I guess I need to cultivate a few farmers around here to keep my rusty stockpile supplied.  And, contrary to what my dear BIL told me, apparently it isn't too dry here to grow rust!

Lessons Learned about Batik

I finished dyepainting the background of the tulip batik, and washed it out last night. I LOVE being able to wash out the wax the same time I am washing out my dyes! So here's the final result, washed, dried, and ironed--



Mmmm- I like all the colors, with the exception of the orange. I know my color mixing with dyes, but I will need to do a better job of thinking through my color sequencing next time. I really wanted a rosier, pinkier background, not the stark orange.

I looked carefully at the white lines, wanting to see if my waxing needs work or if the soy is just different than traditional batik wax. I could tell that my lines had tiny breaks, enough to cause the issue with escaping green dye that is so obvious. So I will work on my technique with the tjantings. I also remember that I may not have had the wax as hot as I did the other times I waxed, so that may make a difference with the tjantings too. And, I will wax both side of the piece if I want to make sure I contain the dye. It sure seemed to work with the last waxing I did, since the red dye stayed where I wanted it to.

Can you tell from this that dye painting is not my favorite way to apply the stuff? Smooth transitions are hard to do, and I just don't get the color coverage I want. Since I don't have a setup conducive to painting large pieces, I'm less inclined to improve my results with practice. Printing fabric to cut and use with other fabric, this is much less of an issue. And I suspect I will want to do more of that, not wholecloth pieces.

My frame setup is another challenge to resolve. I don't like using a box if I have to move the piece to wax the entire piece. The wooden frame I made did work, but it was a little too small for the tulip piece. And pounding my tacks into the wood was not fun or easy. Also, I managed to dye the thing with several colors from this piece- now I'll be worried about backstaining on the next piece if I tack the fabric directly into the wood.

I have another image I think I will enlarge and try- a big sunflower, from the same book. Maybe a size just smaller than my frame. And I think I will go for a much deeper color background.

I also got my rust dye piece washed, dried, and ironed. This is one process I don't think is for those with control issues. If you think dye is hard to control, it's nothing compared to rusting. I wanted the image on the garden ornament to show clearly- I got part, not the whole thing. So next time, I think I'll do a wrap with wire around a pole. Something where I'm not trying for a specific image!!



This morning, I cleaned up the studio while Bentlee worked on a couple of postcards to give her mom and dad. We've found that my Featherweight is perfect for her, and I can set it up on a lower section of the table my Bernina is in. She stitched, then added some details with stamps and fabric paint.



After the edges were done, we added the final touches with hot fix crystals. According to Bentlee, every postcard needs so glitz!

Tonight, we're off to the county fair; tomorrow, a Bees' game in Salt Lake.

Batik and Rust

I added the last color to the tulip batik this morning, and now it is batching away. Definitely a learning experience, not a masterpiece. I've got it upsidedown so the red will bleed towards the top.



In between a couple of hours of work, and some cleaning / laundry, I decided I wanted to try some rust dyeing. I found a small piece of overdye I did some time ago- a pale turquoise-y with subtle rust accents. I figured more rust would work just fine. I wanted to use a garden ornament Shannon bought DJ last year- something that was designed to rust! Then I added some rusty odd and ends I found in the garage. Apparently rust doesn't take long here. I soaked the fabric in vinegar, and have had to wet it twice to keep it damp- that just in the space of an hour or so.



I have lots more small pieces of this sequenced overdye, this may lead to something bigger.

This weekend it is the county fair, and Bentlee will be spending the weekend with us. So it will be a busy one.