Silk Paper and a Painted Shibori Technique

Two weeks ago several of my art group, ATW, met with a few members of Fiber Fanatics from the Myrtle Beach area to play with silk paper and a painted shibori technique using Setacolor paint. 

Here are a few of the pieces from Saturday:

Two pieces of silk paper



Wrapped on a 2" pipe



Wrapped diagonally on a 1" pipe

The clean up cloth wrapped on a 1" pipe

Last weekend I worked on additional painted pieces and took a few pictures to document the process.

I have used Setacolor for years but had never had such good results - my pieces tended to be on the pale side.  I think I have always water the paint down to much.

The technique uses PVC pipe, but no string.  I found the best results to start with a slightly damp fabric.  Thin the paint no more the half with water and then paint the fabric in a random fashion.

Then wrap the fabric around a PVC pipe - this piece was around a 2" piece. I think a 1" pipe works better.  On Saturday I wrapped the pipes tightly and had trouble with the next step so this piece was wrapped looser - but I was not as happy with the end result.

Now take the piece and smooched it together from both ends.

It makes a bit of a mess so be old clothes are a good idea.

Then set it aside to dry - completely - don't rush this step as your results will suffer. This is the result. 



Socks and A New Knitter in the Family

I finished my second pair of socks a few days ago.  Much better the first - they are actually wearable.  Unfortunately, I made them for my daughter, so I have to start again to get my pair!

It seems hard to believe that I can now knit with size 1 needles.



Of course the socks couldn't match - she doesn't have a single plain pair to her name.

The bigger news is that she is now knitting (something she swore she would never do) but the genes caught up with her and since last Saturday she has made great progress on her Tom Baker Doctor Who Scarf.

Hard to believe she has never touch a knitting needle before.

A Challenging Challenge

Several months ago my fiber art group had a monochromatic challenge for which I chose green and made a piece with 1" squares and applique leaves.  It was quite a challenge as it end up having nearly 900 squares.  Our guild, Cobblestone Quilters, has issued a similar monochromatic challenge and I have begun work on a miniature piece in a color that I don't normally gravitate to - - yellow.

I had yellow fabric pieces left over from a recent quilt I made for a family member and decided I needed to work in a color that is not in my usually palette.  Then I got a little crazy - I decided that if 1 inch squares worked - what about 1/2".  So I started cutting 1 " strips

Of course I soon found out that I did not have enough variety in the color - so back to the paints and the white on white prints.



Then I made nine patches (an improvement on the method I used for my last monochromatic piece)

And then I stitch the nine patches together to make a  13 1/2"  by 10 1/2"piece using lots of pins.  

If you do the math that means 567 individual 1/2" squares. 

I don't learn.

I have started the quilting - using number 8 pearl white cotton that I painted with Setacolor and used in the needle not the bobbin case.  With a large needle and a slow machine pace, it worked great.  With the tone on tone colors the picture I took of the quilting just doesn't show.  I have quilted large circles that will have a trapunto effect when quilting is done, so I just used batting and no backing.  I plan to do a lot of beading in the circles before adding another layer of batting and a backing before finishing the machine quilting.

Luckily the deadline has been extended from August to September, so I might just finish in time.  

A Trip to Atlanta

Two weekends ago we traveled to Atlanta for my son to attend the first ever National Brass Symposium.  He had a great time meeting and listening to the super stars of his field (trumpet) and came back much inspired.

While he was enjoying the music - my husband and I went to the Atlanta Botanical Garden, a must see if you are ever in the area.  I am the gardener but my husband also truly enjoyed the day.  As an engineer he especially liked the Kendeda Canopy Walk.  The walk was a suspension bridge that seem to just float in the air.

Every time I turned around I found another plant or flower I would love to have in my garden - or given the troubles I have with the animals around here in a quilt.

   

The Japanese garden



  

A trumpet creeper 





The thistles were just starting to bloom

 

The orchid center was incredible with an amazing  variety of plants   

 

 



 

A very inspiring day for us all.





 Dale Chihuly's Parterre Fountain



NC Quilt Symposium - An Unexpected Gift

Last weekend I was unexpectedly at the North Carolina Quilt Symposium at Peace College.  A friend had won a scholarship to this years Symposium at the 2010 event and at the last minute was unable to attend.  She called me early last Tuesday morning to ask if I wanted to go in her place.  I had been at the 2003 and 2004 NC Quilt Symposium at Peace College and had always want to again - and even had tentative plans to go this year until my computer was laid low by a nasty virus and I had to upgrade my equipment. 

It was an amazing weekend.  I was very inspired by the lectures, the quilt show, the vendors (my wallet is much thinner),the classes and of course just being around so many others that have the same love of quilting as I do.

Luckily the classes my friend had chosen were in areas that I have a great interest in - using photos in quilts and beading.

The photo landscape class by Mary Ellen Kranz was fantastic - I learned more about my printer and how to get great quality prints from an ink jet printer.  This is an area I have worked in a lot - but this class in going to take my work to a whole new level.  Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures from this class as the fabric I took with me to work with - didn't.  I chose a sunset picture of a sailboat that had a lot of oranges and dark blues - I had greens, light blues and browns!  I knew I had the right fabrics in my stash - so will work on this piece after we return from the National Brass Symposium in Atlanta this weekend (my son Jeremy is a music major at the University of South Carolina and his major instrument is the trumpet.)

The second class I was enrolled in was Organic Beading by Nancy Eha.  Again a great class and teacher.  I have used a lot of beads and embellishments on my quilts in the past but she had interesting techniques that I had not seen before.

After I added the Cabochon - I relaized that my fabric (my own hand dye) had a wonderful butterfly in the background and so did the rest of the samples on the edge.  I want to go back and bead the butterfly as its own piece. 

When we arrived at the quilt show, my group from Charleston had a wonderful surprise.  One of our members, Judy Heyward, had won Best of show for her quilt Swamp Hibiscus.  At the closing ceremonies she also was awarded Viewers Choice.  Both very well deserved. 






All in all it was a wonderful weekend and a true gift.

Quilt As Desired

Quilt as desired - the most dreaded three words in quilters language.  I recently finished a quilt made for a family member going through a rough time. 

Although I started out as a traditional quilter, now days I prefer make up my own patterns and doing my on thing, but for comfort and supposed speed a traditional, follow the lines pattern was the way to go.  The pattern is Four Patch ladder from Quilterscache.

Or so I thought.  First I had trouble keeping the cream and blue blocks in the right order - every now and then a blue one would show up were a cream one should be and a cream on in a blue spot.  Finally got that under control and finished the whole quilt.  Put it up on the design wall and stood back to admire it - and found I had reversed one of the yellow half square triangles!  Fixed that and then on quilt as desired . . .

 

I usually free motion my quilts to a point they can almost stand on their own - works great for art and wall quilts, not so much for comfort.

I quilted in the ditch around the large squares and the blue triangles - but then struggled with the inside of the large squares.  This was my first attempt and I hated it.  So out came the stitches.

I then decided to do a free motion swirl instead - not completely satisfied but a great improvement. 

I think one thing I truly dislike about quilting a quilt like this is the marking.  I have had problems in the past removing markings, so tend to just wing it.  Not a great plan if you want things to be the same in every block or border.  I was watching The Quilt Show the other day and Ronda Beyer demoed how she marks using the Quilt Pounce. 

A tool I had but never really used.  Out it came to mark the borders and it worked.  I could see the lines and they were easy to remove. 

 

Maybe next time quilt as desired won't be as dreaded.

Lots of Visitors to the Marsh

Last week was a busy week on the edge of the marsh - lots of visitors (even the dang deer - but they come at night when I can't take their pictures!)

This Great Blue Heron appeared at dawn and spent most of the day hunting the pond for fish and frogs.  He was great fun to watch as he walked from one end of the pond to the other - moving ever so slowly.

It has been quite a year for turtles as well.  I snapped this one sunning on the edge of the pond and later that day another appeared in the neighbors yard moving really fast. 

We couldn't figure out what is was up to at first until it reach the edge of the house where it proceeded to lay eggs!

Not sure if they will hatch - but will be on the lookout.

Of course the lizards are everywhere - and truly enjoy just hanging out.

The other frequent visitor is one I have been trying to out smart - a tree rat (also known as a squirrel.) I have tried hot pepper flakes, barriers, running out and shouting and my latest effort - the guard squirrel.  As you can see from the photo its just as successful as all the other techniques.

Oh well - back to the drawing board.