Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Trying Sugar Syrup Resist--Quilter Beth

To get started with the sugar resist, I first covered my cutting table with a doubled layer of Eco-Felt to give it a little cushion and covered that with a big sheet of plastic. To that, I pinned three pieces of soda-ash-soaked fabric.

Next I made my sugar syrup according to Lisa's directions. While that was cooling, I mixed my dyes--Golden Yellow, Pumpkin Spice, Mixing Red, Terra Cotta, Basic Blue.

Then I played...

Piece 1--I brushed the syrup onto the fabric with a paint brush and a plastic barbecue brush to manipulate the syrup before placing the dyes on the piece with an eye dropper.

Syrup...
Wet (I used the blue, red, and yellow dyes on this one.)...
Rinsed, washed, ironed...
Piece 2--I spooned the syrup onto the fabric and pulled a hard plastic notched Tupperware barbecue grill cleaning tool through the syrup to make designs. I also dripped some syrup onto the fabric with the eye dropper. Then I used the eye dropper to drip the dyes onto the fabric.
Syrup...
Wet (I used the yellow, terra cotta, pumpkin spice, and red.)...
Rinsed, washed, ironed...
Piece 3--I put the syrup resist onto the fabric with a syrup soaked sponge, and I dripped some syrup onto the fabric with an eye dropper. Again, I used the eye dropper to apply the dyes.

Syrup...
Wet (I used the yellow, terra cotta, pumpkin spice, and red.)...
Rinsed, washed, ironed...
I have one more piece, but it isn't finished yet. I'll post it later. Once I finally got around to doing this, I really enjoyed it. I love the weird shapes that "magically" appear. I'm not so happy with my colors--my red (mixing red) is too fuschia, and I thought I'd get more green in the first piece when my blue hit the yellow. I'm signed up for a color class with Jane Dunnewold this fall. Maybe I'll make better choices after that. I'm going to try over dyeing some of the pieces and see what happens.
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5 comments:

  1. Judy Sall Fiber ArtAugust 15, 2012 at 8:33 AM

    Very interesting! Are you applying your dyes while the sugar is still wet, or letting it dry first? It sure works well to resist bleeding, and that's probably why you didn't get any green... something to consider! I have bought sugar, but haven't had a chance yet to mix and try this method... better get cracking before the month is over! Thanks for sharing your experiments.

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  2. JudithAugust 15, 2012 at 9:03 AM

    I have some soda ash soaked fabric drying even as I type getting ready for my third attempt at this process. I have not been happy with my results in my 2 prior attempts. This time I am going to try actually following the directions. LOL

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  3. Quilter BethAugust 15, 2012 at 10:19 AM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  4. Quilter BethAugust 15, 2012 at 10:21 AM

    Judy, these pieces were dry when I started. I do have one piece that was wet when I started, but it wasn't ready to post yet.

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  5. Quilter BethAugust 15, 2012 at 10:25 AM

    Oooooops, I thought Judy was asking whether the fabric was wet. Sorry...the sugar syrup was in various stages of drying. Actually, though, even after the pieces sat overnight some of the syrup wasn't dry.

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