Tools revealed

Yesterday everyone was revealing their "Tools" challenge over at the Tangled Textiles.  Here's mine.

It took me a while to figure out what exactly I wanted to do, but two folks in a coffee shop were the trigger for my idea.  Two tools used for silent conversation are your hands and eyes.

This piece was quite out of my regular style of quilt.  I used Lutradur, pigma pens, and thread sketching, a technique that I never used before, but thought I would try.  I found pictures of the hand signs on the web and printed them to Lutradur.  The first attempt was too grainy...

and did not give enough detail.  The Lutradur was also a lighter weight (70ml).  Plus it left behind too much ink on the carrier sheet.  Here you can see the residue.

I had read that if you apply a gel medium this would improve the print.  I went to the local artist shop and purchased a sample of products.  Digital Ground by Golden was supposed to work, so I tried it.  I painted the 70ml Lutrador and tried again.  You can see a definite difference.  The treated Lutradur is on the left, the untreated on the right.

This came out better, but still needed detail.  I purchased a heavier weight of Lutradur (100 ml) and tried again.  This one came out the best of all but I still wanted to emphasize the detail a bit more.

 Pigma pens with a brush tip helped provide that little bit of extra detail.  Here is a close up of one of the hands.

Now I just had to stitch them to the background.  I used black thread and arranged them so that they might appear to be in a flurry somewhat like what happens during a conversation.  Of course you need to be able to see the hands during a converstation, so I added the thread sketched eyes.  I connected all the items with stitching to portray the conversation.

Well there you have it!  It was quite a challenge!  Now I think I will go and have a conversation with my other tools.  Till the next time, pieceful sewing...





The next round

Well, here is the next block that I need to work on for our Guild's Round Robin.

This block was made by Louise M. and I need to add a 3 inch finished boarder to it comprised of squares.  Any suggestions?

I also am making some more log cabin blocks that I started.  The blocks are a little unusual in that the logs are all bias strips.  Fortunately, they are paper pieced, so I am getting a good result.  It gives a bit of a wave to the block.  Here is what one of the blocks looks like.

The pins are still in it until I sew it to the other blocks and remove the paper backing.  This particular method of paper piecing was a snap.  Instead of piecing the fabric to the back of the printed pattern, you piece to the front.  Kinda hard to explain, until you see it done.

I know I got side tracked, but I'm still having difficulty with my "tools" challenge piece for my fibre art group, so I am letting it sit for a moment....Oh....yes....that's what I'll try....a bit of thread sketching should do the trick....gotta run while the thought is still fresh.

No pictures just some diversions...

In order to get a bit more organized with my posts, I am offering some diversions for a bit.  I had a scare last month and it took a bit of the wind out of my sails, but I'm back now and just about ready to post a few more tantalizing tidbits. 

In the meantime, if you are looking for an interesting site with plenty of ideas that delve into the "What if..." realm and you are ready to take a step outside the traditional, visit my friend Vicki's site and look around.  She does a wonderful job explaining her techniques and showing the results of her experiments.  She was away for a bit, but is back now.  

You could also pop by my friend Upstatelisa.  A source of creative ideas, she is being featured as a special guest on 3 Creative Studios. 

You could even cross the Atlantic and visit with Nicolette to see what she is up to.  My goodness she is already thinking about Christmas.   Yes, yes I know it is only two and a half months away.

As for me, I'm busy trying to make sense of the bits and pieces that I have on my worktable for the Tangled Textiles challenge that is due this Friday.  I'd best be off so I can get it done.