No Strings Attached Shibori - Part Deux

As I mentioned in my previous post, I planned an over-dye session, so I wasn't really concerned when three turned out kind of boring.

This becomes much more interesting after a second trip through.

The patterning is so much better after the over-dyeing.

These were half yard cuts of my usual mercerized cotton fabric.  I mixed up a half cup of dye for each with about a teaspoon or less of dye powder.  I soaked the fabric in soda and wrung it dry in my washer before I wrapped the poles.  The fabric was still slightly damp when I added the dye -- I've found that this works better with damp rather than dry fabric -- the dye seems to spread more easily.

I laid the pipe with scrunched fabric on a plastic surface (the lid to a large plastic tub) and slowly poured the dye over the fabric.  I rolled the fabric in the dye that pooled on the surface and rubbed with my gloved hands to make sure that the dye was fairly evenly distributed. 

I would have gotten much different results had I dipped the pipes or used stronger dye solutions -- something to try on a different day.  And another trip through the land of wrapping and dyeing for these guys is not out of the question.

Karen - No Strings Attached Shibori - Part 1

I'm sure someone else has already thought of this -- but it's a new idea for me.

Usually when I do shibori, I wrap the soda-soaked fabric around the PVC pole, wrap string around it, sometimes a rubber band at each end, scrunch it down, dip in or drizzle over with dye, batch, remove rubber bands, untie string, unwind string, unwrap fabric, rinse, wash, iron, and enjoy.  Phew.  I'm tired just writing about it.

But there has to be an easier way.  Right?  Since most of the work is in the prep, what if a couple of the steps were eliminated?  Like the string.  It's a hassle.  And, I've discovered, not really necessary.

I took my soda-soaked fabric, wrapped it around the pole, secured one end with a rubber band (I recycle the ones I get on broccoli and asparagus), scrunched, then secured the other end with another rubber band.

Then I rolled it in dye.  I mixed my dyes a little less strong than usual because I wanted to over-dye with a second round.

I like this one just the way it is.   I used one of the smaller diameter poles for this.













The one wrapped around the largest diameter pose was not that interesting -- a perfect candidate for over-dyeing.

Next: The over-dye results

Thread and Samples

This is my first attempt at thread sketching.  I took a photo and traced an outline onto a piece of hand-dye from the "needs more" pile.

This is the back side -- I used a piece of Decor-Bond for stabilizer.  There are lots of issues with thread tension here -- I can't remember if it was the needle, tension, or just inexperience.  I used 50 wt Aurifil thread.

This is a self-portrait I did for another group.  I took a bit of Golden Threads paper and traced the outline from a photo with a Sharpie, then went over that with my machine.  I ripped off the paper and filled it in with more 50 wt Aurifil in gray.

I make samples for bigger pieces -- it's good to get the thread, needle, and tension issues out of the way on a sample.  For this one, I fused a piece of cotton on top of more cotton with a wool batt. I did exactly the same thing for my sample -- same fabrics, batt, and fusible web.  I auditioned the threads -- I had trouble deciding which colors to use and this made it much easier.

This is a detail shot of the pelican that shows the finished threadwork.  I'm not sure whether this qualifies as painting or sketching.

And this is another example of sketching/painting -- I used 50 wt thread for the trees and leaves in the background and 40 wt variegated quilting thread for the fused tree -- the dark brown one on the right.

The fused tree was done first with batting only, then I layered the whole piece and finished the background.  This way, the fused tree stuck out from the rest of the piece.

The owl was done separately by hand, then attached after I finished the rest of the piece.

Threads and Needles and Stabilizers, Oh My

First, let's get the business out of the way.  I can tell you what I use, but I heartily encourage everyone to chime in with what works for them.

I like thin thread.  My favorite is Aurifil 50 weight.  I like it because it's thin, strong, and comes in any color I can dream.  My only problem with it is that it is in short supply in my small town and I have to acquire it at quilt shows or drive an hour or so to obtain it.  And I have done that drive.  More than once...  but I digress. I do use other manufacturers and weights but I like the thin thread because it's forgiving.  If I scribble-sew all over, mistakes aren't obvious.  With a thicker thread, it would be.  But thick thread has its place.  I like to cover things with thread because I think it gives an organic look.  My favorite subjects have hair or feathers.  But thick thread is really great for trees.  And for less organic things.

With my thin thread, I use small needles.  I like 75/11 or 80/12 sizes.  I usually use Schmetz jeans/denim or Microtex.  The shop where I purchased my machine suggested a new brand, Inspira.  I have been using their denim and Microtex and sometimes their titanium-coated needles and they seem to work pretty well- they're cheaper too.  I change my needles a lot.  When they make that popping noise, it's time for a change.  Sometimes I will notice nests or loops on the back -- time for a new or different needle.  I don't change my machine tension a lot after I make my sample.  Just the needle.  When using thicker thread, a larger needle is in order -- without a lot of blather about technical stuff, I suggest 90/14 Topstitch needles.

As for fabric, I use anything I can lay my hands on.  My favorite stuff to use is hand-dyed cotton, but I'm not proud.  I'll use anything that suits the project.

Which brings me to stabilizers.  I have been using Decor-Bond for a while now -- it's fairly lightweight and doesn't feel too crinkly inside of a quilted project.  A friend recommended Sulky Totally Stable recently, so I'm going to be experimenting with that this month.  I have a project that I abandoned because I didn't use any stabilizer before I started covering it with thread and it puckered.  I'm going to see if I can reclaim it with stabilizer.  Sometimes I use batting and sometimes I don't.  I like thin batts when I do use them.

And don't forget feet:  I use my freemotion foot with the feed dogs down.  Sometimes I forget and leave them up -- I usually don't notice until I remove the piece.  So I'm not sure it's all that important.

Next: thread-sketching and the value of making samples

May: Sketching and Painting with Thread

I was at a quilt show a couple of years ago and in the little sign accompanying a certain quilt, one of the techniques given was "thread-painting."  My friend and I looked all over that quilt and didn't see anything we thought would qualify as thread-painting.  It was a modern art quilt, composed of beautiful hand-dyed fabrics and artfully quilted, but we just didn't see any actual thread-painting.

I am not enough full of myself to think that I can provide the definitive definition of thread-painting, but I think that a lot of what I do qualifies as such.  So this month, my month, I want to explore the art of painting on fabric with thread.  Because it's really just another form of my favorite thing: putting color on fabric.

Here are a couple of examples to get the creative juices flowing:

Ellen Anne Eddy does some fabulous work with thread.  Here is a link to her website: http://www.ellenanneeddy.com/   and her blog: http://www.ellenanneeddy.com/weblog/

Terry Aske has a nice portrait of a thread-painted dog here:
http://www.terryaskeartquilts.com/Studio/2013/04/13/on-my-design-wall-dog-portrait-finished-2013-04-13/

Shannon Conley has a nice thread-painted dog here:
 http://imworkingonaproject.blogspot.com/2013/04/woof-woof-dogs-are-out.html

and for those who are not necessarily fans of dogs, Quilting Arts is offering a free ebook on thread painting and sketching here:
http://www.quiltingdaily.com/blogs/quilting-daily/archive/2013/04/25/thread-sketching-and-thread-painting-new-free-ebook.aspx


Next up: the basics.  Threads, needles, fabrics and stabilizers, oh my...

Getting Started - Karen S

I was waiting for the weather to improve -- but I'm running out of month.  I did these in my kitchen yesterday.  I used lemon yellow, golden yellow, red, and deep purple.  

Now on to the cutting and pleating!

Karen Weighs In

I have been very quiet this month, I know.  I have been reading the other posts and nodding to myself, yes, yes, I use that.  And yes, those are some of my favorite tools.  But I didn't want to just rehash the other posts.  My favorite thing is putting color on fabric --  I use paints, dyes, inks, and thread.  So I decided that my favorite tool is my stash -- not just the fabric, but all the stuff I use to make it colorful.  I am not particularly keen on sharing my personal space with the cyber-world; however, I am going to show a tiny bit of my solutions for storage of said stash.

I keep most of my fabrics on racks of wire shelves that I purchased at Costco and assembled myself.  I didn't put the wheels on them, but I saved them so if I move someplace where there isn't carpet on the basement floor I can attach them and roll them around -- wouldn't that be fun?!

I like plastic boxes for separating paints, dyes, inks, and all the other apparatus that I use to put color on fabric.  I store the boxes on the same kind of racks as my fabric.  I know this looks like a mess in the photo -- it's not.  Every box is labeled and while the arrangement isn't optimal because of space shortages, I know where everything is and it's all easily accessible.

 I'm not crazy about my thread storage.  I have these boxes that hold large spools neatly along side of smaller ones and they're all arranged by color.  But I keep running out of space and having to purchase more boxes.  And then (soon) I'm going to run out of space for the boxes.  I like these because they keep the dust off and they're clear, so I can see what's in them.  So they're fine for now.  But if anyone has a better solution -- I'd love to hear it.

Scrunch and Snow

I thought I would take advantage of Judy's scrunch dyeing technique this month and use it for some snow-dyeing.  

Most of the snow-dying I have seen involves setting up a rack and screen for the snow and dye to drip through the fabric.  I've never done that -- I just let the fabric sit in the soup of melted snow and dye and I have always achieved really interesting fabrics that way.  But I hate wasting dye.  So I thought: what if I folded up fabric and put it under the scrunched fabric to act as a kind of rack and absorb some of the melted snow and dye?  I figured I would get some pastel coordinating fabrics to go with my snow-dyes.  

So I scrunched up fabric on top of the folded fabric (all of it was soda-soaked), added a layer of the powdery dry snow from my front garden, and poured on dye concentrate.  

I brought all of the containers inside to batch overnight.

Of course, I got beautiful snow-dyes.

But the real surprise was underneath.  No pale coordinating fabrics here.  I got some great stuff with light and dark areas.  I think that some of these will benefit from further over-dyeing to really bring the colors together.

I also tried sprinkling some dye powder directly on top of the packed snow.

I really like the results.  And it was much quicker than mixing up the dyes into concentrate, then pouring them on the snow.  I think that the best color is achieved by the folding and/or scrunching of the fabric before adding the snow.  The one in the middle has a nice effect because I loosely folded the fabric in a fan shape, then scrunched the ends.  So for "school nights," when I am pressed for time, this is a great option for me.

Beading with Karen

 I enjoy using beads to highlight fabrics or other kinds of embellishments.  Used ColorCatchers that I painted and cut out in leaf shapes were tacked to this little bag with beads.

I was going for a fall/grape kind of feel with this, although the beads are way too small to look like grapes.

This was a piece of fabric from my very first foray into marbling.  I call this little piece "Heart Like a Wheel" and it's a work in progress.  I get it out and add more beads every so often.

I particularly like the look of beads "marching" across the fabric.



"Winkin', Blinkin', and Nod Set Sail" was created for a nursery rhyme challenge.  I beaded the entire sky inside the first border with tiny sparkly seed beads.

And I hunted for weeks for tiny silver fish for the net, but couldn't find any.  I wound up using wee silver bugle beads to fasten the net (painted cheesecloth) -- I think it's probably fortuitous that I couldn't find any fish because I think the beads look better anyway.

Day 2: And the Winners Are...

Just in case anyone thought I was joking about drawing names from a hat...

I traded some hand-dyed fabric with a friend who knits for this hat.

Sue's book and sketchbook go to:

Robin Walston said...

Thanks for the review. I think about doing an art journal but so far have lacked the discipline. My favorite medium is fabric

Melanie's book goes to:

 Colleen Kole said...

My medium is textiles and I love to dye my own and make all kinds of marks. My favorite book I purchased this year is a used copy of Julie Caprara's book "Exploring Colour".

And the sketchbook with my handmade cover goes to:

Katherine said...

would love to win any other these

I want to thank everyone who commented -- all 53 (!) of you.  I'm glad I used the hat because there were so many kind and encouraging comments I would have loved to have sent stuff to all of you.

I will let Sue and Melanie know who won and they should be contacting you shortly.  

Day 2 Book Review and Giveaway

 Having kept a writing journal on and off since grammar school, I am well-versed in the advantages of keeping those little snippets of inspiration together in some kind of book form.  I have been art-journaling for a couple of years and I was really excited when two of my favorite artists, Sue Bleiweiss and Melanie Testa, both released art journaling books.  Even though the subject is ostensibly the same, the books are very different.

Sue's book, The Sketchbook Challenge, springs from the Sketchbook Challenge blog, an idea that came from a "resolution to keep a better, more consistent sketchbook."  It uses monthly themes as challenges to inspire ideas "to move visual concepts and brainstorms off the pages of your sketchbook and into finished pieces of art."

One of the real strengths of this book is the many contributing artists who illustrate over and over that there is no wrong way to keep a sketchbook.  From the many how-to techniques and tips interspersed throughout and the wonderful photos and informative writing by the artists, this is an inspiring work.  It is sized a bit smaller than many art books and with its rounded corners, it is perfect for tucking in a bag and taking along.  However, with the small size, comes my only real negative criticism: some of the print is tiny -- especially the captions.  I would have liked larger photos of some of the techniques also.

Melanie's book, Dreaming from the Journal Page, is a big, bold work of art.  The photos are large and colorful.  It's more of a how-to-use all of the tools available to the art journalist.  Melanie offers extensive information on paper, pens, pencils, paints and more.  She provides exercises for getting warmed up and exercises in drawing.  My favorite part is the "Triple Technique Challenges" where several techniques are combined as "a means to layer and deepen your journal practice."  I've been playing around seriously with watercolors since reading the chapters on paint and color.  However, this book also suffers from tiny print -- again, my only negative criticism.

I am finding that these books actually work together in my personal little art journaling/sketchbook world.  Both are informative and inspiring and I am delighted to have them together.

Melanie and Sue have agreed to give away a copy of each of their books to readers of this blog and Sue will also throw in a Strathmore 5x8 mixed media sketchbook.  The winners will be chosen from the comments on this post.

I am giving away a hard-bound plain paper sketchbook (in my favorite size of 5 1/2 by 8 inches) with a cover hand-made by me.  I have a blog post on my personal blog (here) outlining in exhaustive detail the making of this cover.  I was inspired by both of the books above.

Leave a comment on this post telling me what your favorite art book or medium is and I will send this journal to one lucky person.  Make sure to leave an email if you're a no-reply commenter.

Tune in tomorrow to see Beth Berman's review and giveaway!

Texture to "Finish" a Piece

I made this little art quilt from paint, Mul-tex, thread and batting.  But it was missing something.  It has texture from the gel medium and the threads, but it's still a little blah.


Enter Extreme Texture Technique!  I took some of my hand-dyed cheesecloth and wadded it up and draped it across the bottom.  Then I used my walking foot and a zigzag stitch to stitch it down.

I left some of it hanging over the binding.  Much better!

Stones and 3D Shibori

Well I was all excited about doing this month's technique and eagerly scouted the local thrift stores for  polyester scarves.  Sadly, it's the wrong time of year for that here in Wisconsin.  I thought that with all the Halloween stuff, I would find all sorts of poly scarves, but nooooo  (although I did score a lovely navy blue silk one that I plan to use in a discharge experiment).  I did find one scarf of dubious origin and some sheer curtains that I thought might work.

I was thinking that some mushrooms would look really good on a piece I've been working on, so I took some small river stones that I have been hoarding and tied them up in a chunk cut from the curtains.  I also tied some up in the suspect scarf and boiled them up together.

And it worked!  I only tied up a small corner of the scarf, thinking I might try some other shibori-style tying if it worked.

Here is a close up of the scarf and its lovely bubbles.  It's still wet in the photo.

And here is the sheer curtain.  The scarf seems to have bled and turned it a soft shade of blue.  Not sure what is going on here -- I'll have to try it again without the scarf.  But I love the shapes!

Dye Painting Stuff from Karen

I took a class with Hollis Chatelaine a few years ago and did this picture of my daughter and our dog.  I like it, but I never finished it because I wanted to make it bigger and never could decide how best to do that.

Hollis had me mix the dye for my daughter's skin darker than I would have, assuring me that "it will come out much lighter than you think."  She was right about that.  But I hadn't really worked with portraits and/or pre-mixed dyes much.  I'm not crazy about DD's eyes, but Hollis assured me that a lot can be "fixed in the quilting."

Lately, I have been working on a series of quilts for a show this winter with Madison Contemporary Fiber Artists.    This was painted with thickened dyes on cotton.  I just finished the quilting.  I used a bit of foil over MistyFuse to make the beetle shiny.

And this is the fourth piece in the hibiscus series.  I mentioned it here earlier -- here is a link to the process: http://cre8tivekick.blogspot.com/2012/08/tell-all-scoop-on-resistdye-painting.html

I used a flour resist and painted the thickened dye over it.  Again, I used the foil thing for the beetle.  

Third Time's a Charm

 It took me three tries to get this right, but I really like the results.  The first time, the syrup was too thin and I schmeared it all over the fabric and got really light, non- resisted stuff.  Unlike Judith, I didn't save them to show -- I immediately over-dyed them and now I love them.

The second time, I boiled it too long or too hot and got some delicious caramel.  Great for eating -- not so great for this project.

 The third time it was just right -- I set a timer and didn't leave the kitchen to do other things while it was simmering.  The top two photos show the sugar syrup drizzled over the fabric and the third is the result after everything was washed out.
 

This shows the sugar syrup before I applied all the dye.

This is the syrup and dye before batching and rinsing.

This is a close up of the syrup mixing with the dyes.  I love the way the syrup and the dye run together.

And the finished piece.  I found that fat quarters worked well for this.  I took a piece of heavy plastic -- the stuff I use for covering my tables for my projects -- that was only a little wider than the fabric.  I rolled up the fabric as I finished and then let the fabric/plastic sausage batch overnight in a bucket outside.  The nest morning I just filled the bucket with water, removed the plastic, and let the syrup and excess dye run off.  No -- I didn't have any problems with ants.

 This one was done with drops of syrup and dye from pipettes.

I like the backside of all of these best -- you can see the patterning from the dyes running together with the resist.

I like this -- it's easy and there's no waiting for stuff to dry before dyeing.  The results are quite different from the flour resists I'm so fond of.  I did some resist/dye-painting recently that is here on my own blog.   Very different....