Some scraps and glue

I've been trying to finish up a piece that uses the technique of Sue Carlson.  You know, the one where she uses all types of fabrics and composes pictures of imaginary creatures.

It's basically a type of collage, except using fabric rather than paper.  Glue still comes in handy though.  Here is a close up of what I mean.

I'm once again working with complimentary colours and using a simple shape.  I would like to get this finished by the end of December so that I can use it as a sample piece when I describe the technique to my local fibre art group (QuArtz).

This is how far I have managed to get but there is still a way to go.

Till the next time, let the creative muse settle on your shoulder and whisper in your ear.

Playing modern

After a few attempts at making a quilt with a modern aesthetic, I've been playing some more.  I shared my first attempts with modern quilts here and here.  I've continued my exploration by joining a group that meets monthly at the local quilt shop.  Here is a table runner that I've finished, but now it needs to be quilted.

I contemplated quilting a different motif in each of the trapezoids and then feathers in the border.  Am I on the right track?

Printing, printing, and more printing

I spent some time in a workshop recently with Catherine Nicolls.  I'd not worked with thickened dye and it was amazing what was produced in the workshop.  Thickened dye is simply concentrated dye added to sodium alginate thickener.  You can read more about it  here.   Dharma Trading also has a good description of sodium alginate thickener.  Here is just a sampling of some of my results.

This one was created using a variety of colours and brushing the dye on with an old credit card.  I like the layering effect that was created by the mixing of the colours.

 This one was also done with an old credit card, but rather than scraping on the two colours, the edge of the credit card was also used to get linear marks.  This is one of my favorites.

We were asked to choose a simple shape, and create a stamp from that shape.  A "2" seemed simple enough and then using two different colours I got "Two for One" or maybe "Double Trouble".

Carrying on with the simple shape, by arranging and mirroring the shape, I used it as a resist for a silk screen. It was surprising what came out of that experiment.  I'm going to explore this some more.

There were many other prints made, and I have yet come up with things to do with all of the samples. The one that was most surprising is the one created with what is referred to as a "breakdown screen".  In this instance thickened dye is applied to your silk screen.  When the thickened dye has dried, you "draw" clear thickened sodium alginate over the screen.  Each draw releases the thickened dye to create print after print, until there is very little left to print.  I had one piece of fabric left, corner was missing, and "went for it".  Here's the result.

One of my friends said it reminded them of licence plates.  Hmmm, what do you think?

Row by row Mystery

Our guild celebrated its 35th anniversary.  Part of the celebrations included a challenge and a mystery.  The mystery was a row quilt.  Each row was revealed at each monthly meeting until all 7 rows were presented.  The blocks used represented "Pearls of Wisdom";  appropriate for a 35th Anniversary don't you think?  I had been saving a particularly colourful fabric for just the right moment.  This seemed to be that moment.  Here's what I ended up with; Spicy Pearls

The pearls of wisdom were represented by these blocks:

• Goose Tracks for "What's good for the goose is good for the gander"
• Duck's Foot in the Mud for "Like water off a duck's back"
• Hovering Hawks for "Watch like a hawk"
• Lost Goslin for "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush"
• Crows Nest for "Something to crow about"
• Birds in the Air for "Birds of a feather flock together"
• Hens and Chicks for "Don't count your chickens before they hatch"

Off to do some hand quilting on another UFO.  Till the next time, be happy and creative.

It's been a while

My word!  It's been almost 6 months since the last time I posted here.  Truth be told, I was stuck in a creative rut; didn't know where to begin; so many UFOs, too many learned techniques, and far too many excuses not to go into the studio.  Well it's time to get a hold of myself and get going.  I'm kinda reminded of the story of the mouse that fell into a bucket of milk.  The mouse thought it would drown until it started to lap at the milk; little by little the milk disappeared, and the mouse crawled out of the bucket.  These last 6 months I've been "lapping at the milk" and it's finally time to climb out of the bucket.

I had posted about the beginnings of my work on Gypsy Wife by Jen Kingwell, which you can read here.  It's finally pieced and ready for sandwiching and quilting.  Here is what it looks like now.  Any ideas?

I chose to do the background striping as an exercise in transitioning from one hue to another.  I think it worked out well.