Sunday, October 26, 2014

Painting Flowers on Fabric

My Calendar Girls quilt group chooses a different theme each year for our calendar. The challenge for our next year is "Flowers". I started looking through my old photos & found some inspiration in my Barcelona trip album. In Barcelona, we walked down the Las Rambles several times. There were painters, & artists, & flower stalls. It was like an outdoor market every day. I also loved the textures of the stones & old buildings.

I decided to do flowers on fabric, by painting them with my Dynaflow paints.



I also did little fantasy thread flowers on Solvy (wash-away stabilizer).

I made a back ground quilt, using my own hand-dyed & hand painted fabrics. I layered sheer silk (which I painted), & silk strips that I dyed.

I scattered the thread flowers across the surface & quilted.

The flowers that I painted, I also layered them on wash-away stabilizer, (Solvy Heavy)
thread painted then cut out & washed them. I dissolved the stabilizer enough to make it invisible, but left enough in the fabric to make it dry stiff. I shaped the flowers while still wet, then let them dry, so they have dimension.

I also made leaves, the same way. I decided I didn't want to use the blue flowers, & the others, made me think of Nasturtiums, so I made leaves like Nasturtium leaves.


I also used wire, beads, &  floral tape to make some buds.



Here is the almost finished quilt. I will be beading the centers with glass beads, that I intend to make myself. I've taken a Lamp-working class in the past (several years ago), & I have everything I need to get started, but feel like I need a refresher, so Ive signed up for a class in 2 weeks.

Here is one of the leftover blue flowers, made into a pin/card for a friend's birthday. I used a few seed beads in the center, & sewed a pin to the back.


Sunday, October 05, 2014

A question for you all- plus: Eco-Dye - & a Peek Into My Studio

1st a Question for quilters/fiber artists/Mixed media artists: (I posted this on Facebook too)
If you saw a quilt with Redwork (or Black thread) embroidery, that has been embellished with a few beads & buttons, would you call it "Mixed Media"?
This has been bugging me for a while.


Last weekend I took advantage of the nice weather & last of my summer plants to try some Eco Printing on silk. Note I said "Try" & "Eco Printing" , but it turned out more like dye.
I did 4 pieces, the above were flowers I had planted. Below is Elderberry,

The next is Geranium.

&  this last is Devils Club. (Which I had to wear gloves & handel with care.)

I had soaked the silk in a vinegar solution, then rolled them & steamed them all in a pot for about 2 hours.

Left to set in a plastic bag for 5 days, this is how they turned out below, left to right, Devils Club, Elderberry, Poke-flower & greens, & the square is Geranium.

The geranium was the most succeful, but even that wasn't great. Oh well, I can always over-dye & paint them!

Next is a Comfort quilt that I've had for at least 2 years now. Barbara Clinton pieced the top, & I quilted it last weekend. I had a mishap while quilting it. Having arms a bit short to reach acrossed my longarm frame, I have to stretch a bit to advance the rollers on the far side of the frame. I lost my balance (just call me grace), & I accidentally rolled the top roller nearest me with my body. It tore the quilt top where it was stitched already, just a little 1/8 inch tear in the top left corner where the bright green pinwheel now resides. I made 3 pinwheels & scattered them across the top, to cover the 1 little rip. Thank goodness this was only a comfort quilt. I learn something new with every quilt I do, this one was a lesson in coordination! I actually think the pinwheels improved the top, so I'm ok with them.


 I also did a little rust dying on cotton. Here are the 2 pieces below.


& this weekend I made a crafty mess, doing 5 Quards.
Here are 4 of the 5. Can't post the 5th until after Tuesday.

After I got the Quards all done, I cleaned up my mess, putting the studio back in order for the next mess!
I think the Synthroid I was put on 2 months ago is working! I have way more energy!


& I put all of my summer clothes in storage & winter clothes out. It's been spitting snow off & on today.
Nothing big yet, but the mountains are all white, & it's only a matter of time before we have a yard full!

Happy autumn to all!!!