Exploring Lutradur with the Experts....

In my area it was a long cold snowy winter. Our spring flowers are starting to bloom in some areas. I love Spring!Somehow it brings a sense of renewal and gives me more energy. Energy to do new things and stop hibernating! 

So let’s get started with talking about the properties of Lutradur. Heading to the manufacturer seems a pretty good place to start.  The Pellon Corporation the manufacturer of Lutradur website gives a good description. http://www.pellonprojects.com/products/lutradur-100g/

“Lutradur® is a cross between fabric and paper. It is the perfect medium for many crafting, sewing, quilting, scrap-booking & three-dimensional wall art projects. Lutradur® absorbs both paint and ink. It can be heat set up to 400˚F. It has amazing body, retains its shape, and is incredibly strong yet delicate & lightweight. It will never fray or unravel. It can be melted, singed, or cut into with a heat tool to create extraordinary antique effects. It can also be used for a base for embellishments and embroidery. Lutradur® is really a ‘must-have’ for all your artistic endeavors!

·         20″ by-the-yard width

·         100% Heavyweight (100g) Spun-Bonded Polyester

·         Machine wash warm. Tumble dry low or dry clean. No bleach.

·         Inkjet printer and sewing machine safe    Available in White & Black”

100 g Heavy weight by the yard

70 g weight by the yard. Notice the difference in the transparency

C & T publishing describes Lutradur from their 10 sheet – 8 ½ x 11” package as “A Versatile Cross Between Fabric & Paper

–Revolutionary new material for sewing, crafting and mixed media arts. –

- Ultra-strong sheets are easy to print, fold, cut, stitch, distress, and embellish

- Perfect for ink-jet printers or all-in-ones

 -Create delicate translucent effects with paints, inks, dyes, and stamps

-Use for art quilts, scrapbooks, ATCs, bookmaking, altered arts and more

-Acid Free”

Mixed package of 70 g and 100 g Great for putting though your printer. 

My description is to sewers that it looks like non-woven interfacing. The other descriptions are much better.

Keep the above descriptions in mind as we explore some of my favorite of the 27 ways that Leslie Riley writes about in her book.

When I agreed to present this topic I wanted Leslie to know that I had used her book and was going to use her book as a basis for my experiments. I asked her if she would be willing to answer some questions and she generously said yes! I sent Leslie 10 questions about working as an artist and with Lutradur. She replied with the answers to the questions, some photos, and her bio. So I am going to put up the questions as they become relevant to the conversations we have this month as “Hints from Leslie.”

Today’s "Hints from Leslie" are to share her bio and the first three questions I asked.

Bio

Lesley Riley wears many hats. She is an internationally known artist, art quilter, teacher, writer and Artist Success coach and mentor who turned her initial passion for photos, color and the written word into a dream occupassion.

Her art and articles have appeared in too many places to keep count. As former Contributing Editor of Cloth Paper Scissors magazine, Lesley developed a passion for showcasing new talent in mixed media art. Her first book, Quilted Memories, brought new ideas and techniques to quilting and preserving memories. A second, Fabric Memory Books, combined fabric and innovative ideas with the art of bookmaking. Two more books, Fabulous Fabric Art with Lutradur

and Create with Transfer Artist Paper, introduced versatile new materials to the quilt and mixed media art world. A fifth book  Creative Image Transfer will debut late summer 2014. Her 2013 self-published, Amazon best seller, Quotes Illustrated, will be expanded and republished November 2014 by F&W Publications as Inspiring Quotes Illustrated.

In an ongoing effort to find the best ways for quilters and mixed media artists to get permanent photos on fabric, Lesley introduced Transfer Artist Paper™, named the Craft & Hobby Association (CHA) 2011 Most Innovative new product.

Lesley is the former host of BlogTalk Radio’s Art & Soul show, recording over 75 podcasts on art and the creative process through in-depth interviews with contemporary artists. Her passion and desire to help every artist reach their creative dreams and potential has led to a growing specialty as an Artist Success coach and mentor where she draws from her own experience, insight, and a knack for seeing the potential in everyone to provide guidance and solutions for artists of all levels.

Lesley creates her magic on an idyllic horse farm in Frederick, MD, where she lives with her high-school sweetheart husband and two of her six children. You’ll find her in her studio from sunup to sundown unless, of course, any of her seven granddaughters come to visit.

Stay connected and inspired! Sign up for Lesley’s free bi-weekly dose of inspiration and motivation at lesleyriley.com

Then the first three questions.

1. Can you explain a bit about how you became a fabric artist?

When I was pregnant with my first child the wife of my husband’s college baseball coach took me under her wing and introduced me to quilting. It was also the beginning of the art quilt movement. I was hooked and fell in love with fabric, quilting and expressing myself with fabric.

It wasn’t until 1999 when, after a long interruption (and 5 more children), that I found my voice creating small fabric collages with photos and quotes. I called them Fragments because they were made with fragments of fabric in small fragments of time. It was the beginning of my career as a fiber and mixed media artist.

2. Beth Berman (resident artist of the “and then we set it on fire” blog) would like to know

     how you learned about Lutradur and all the properties of the fabric?

I discovered Lutradur through a bookmaking article quilter Virginia Spiegel wrote for the 2004 inaugural issue (#1) of Cloth Paper Scissors magazine. I fancied myself a “natural fibers” snob but this spun polymer “fabric” caught my attention. I had to check it out.

3. For those who have never used Lutradur, could you explain what are your favourite properties of this product?

As Virginia showed in her article, you can create beautiful organic shapes by melting Lutradur with heat. A heat gun held to it will create what I call a lace effect. A heat tool (think soldering iron) will melt edges resulting in a beautiful organic, irregular

 edge.

**Just to note that the material and things that I am presenting has been largely based on the work and book of Leslie Riley author of Fabulous Fabric Art with Lutradur. C&T Publishing c.2009

Other books I own have also influenced my experiments and will be noted in a bibliography available on my blog Jo' Blog. As I go through the month I will add suggestions from those sent in and the ones I use.

What’s up next?  Gather your colouring tools. For the next few posts we will be looking at putting colour on our Lutradur. 

Created at a play day by one of my friends.