water refections

Beginning with a photo of reflections of a red canoe on the water. I took a workshop from Kerr Grabowski in 2011. A great opportunity since I had watched her DVD on deconstructed screen printing about a zillion times and yet still wanted to be able to ask questions and listen to her comments and encouragement to everyone in the workshop.

 
Her screens looked more experienced!  She never washes them because she likes the serendipity of stray bits of leftover color and there's less risk of the frames getting soggy and rotting. 




 





So after letting the screen dry overight, I printed it several times on a length of my handwoven cotton.  There was more texture in the image than I got using commercially available "quilters" cotton. The dye sat proud on the fiber unless I used a lot of print paste and pushed hard with the squeegee.    Several repeats filled the fabric.



Unfortunately, what I had envisioned as red turned out to be hot pink.  I am not a fan of fuchsia dye; I should have known better!



Oh, well, when life gives you fuchsia, you make fruit punch. 



Deconstructed Screen Printing with pink commercial fabric, embroidery on a denim background. 

with a little help

I get by with a little help from my friends ...

Hi, Diane here, with an intro to the month of May - Deconstructed Screen Printing.  Some friends will be contributing their work and posting with me.  Every year in the spring, I get together with artsy friends in the Hill Country of Texas for Art Camp.  We used to plan a single workshop and hire an instructor but for the last dozen years or so, we've just each done our own thing!  This year I'm leading them astray with mono-printing on gelatin plates. Another time, I introduced them to dyeing with mud or earth pigments.  One year I decided to demonstrate deconstructed screen printing and one of the campers has been actively printing since then. Nancy will be showing her work here this month

Then at a regional weaving conference, I taught a seminar on printing with dye on handwoven cloth.  I'm still walking down that pathway - I have a lot of handwoven cloth! 

This one has a border woven into the bottom and several layers printed from two different screens.  I plan to do some embroidery on it next.  Who knows when it will be "complete."

Lately, I've been taking part in a Surface Design sample swap online.  We have an international membership and it has been fun to get 12 inch square of fabric in the mail each month.  Some of the techniques have been new and some are old favorites reinterpreted.  That's how I met Luann who has prepared a week of posts this month from her perspective.

 So, while I am working away writing blog posts for you, picture me here, relaxing in the country away from the hustle and bustle of the maddening crowds - but with an excellent wi-fi connection.

Seeing these two photos together - maybe I should title my piece "Bluebonnet Meadow"...

Diane - yarngoddess

Book Reviews - It's all about paint

Hi, Lynda here. I love dyeing. However, there are times when I just don't want to mess with all the steps from prep to clean up.

In my library I have two books that focus on painting instead of dyeing. I wanted to share them with you today and then for the following two Fridays I'll be showing you some techniques from these books.

The two books are Fabric Surface Design by Cheryl Rezendes, and Intentional Printing by Lynn Krawczyk.

Intentional Printing is a brand new book from Interweave.  When I received this book to review, I questioned whether there could be anything new that I didn’t already have in my library. I was pleasantly surprised!

I really love Lynn’s writing style. I felt like I was in Lynn’s studio sitting around talking about printing. An easy read, I devoured the book in one sitting! The title describes what is in the book: Intentional printing.  It’s not about printing as much fabric as you can in one session. It’s about setting your intention. Lynn’s approach to printing really opened my eyes and made me think of how I was creating my art. While reading I was nodding my head. She was talking to me!

After that first chapter she moves into the nuts and bolts of printing including tools and setting up the workspace.

Printing Tools

The next three chapters include her fabric-printing techniques, handstitching, and layered printing. Even though some of this information was not new to me, her approach was different.

Fluid Printing

I absolutely loved her chapter on layers. I love layers, but I’m often afraid to push myself to add more. She takes the reader step-by-step through the process showing her fabric as she adds more layers. She gives her readers much needed tips to push through the anxiety.

She ends the books with nine projects including this Reclaimed Intentional Banner.

I really love this book. If you'd like to win it, comment on my blog post at http://www.bloombakecreate.com/2014/04/blog-hop-giveaway-intentional-printing/
before 8 am CST Saturday (that's tomorrow!)

Fabric Surface Design by Cheryl Rezendes has been out for a year. With fabric paint the process is so much simpler than dyeing and Cheryl believes you can get similar results. She was really going to have to work hard to sell me on this.

On her  “Designing with Original Fabrics” pages, she includes pictures of clothing she has made using these techniques with paint.  For each piece of her wearable art, she explains in detail the fabric used and her techniques. They are absolutely beautiful like the one below.

For each project she gives a supply list, step-by-step directions, detailed pictures, and additional ideas for exploring the technique. Here are a couple sample page spreads.

Basic Fold and Color

Stenciling with Shiva Paintsticks

She includes a helpful list of textile paints and how each can be used (sunprinting, spray painting, etc). A great resource for beginners.

Interspersed between the chapters are artist profiles and samples of their work. Several of the artists are new to me, but many are my favorites. I love being introduced to fabric artists! This book is an encyclopedia of fabric surface design using paints. I was amazed at not only all of the techniques, but the beautiful results.


So for any of you who have not wanted to tackle using dyes or maybe you want to introduce your kids or yourself to fabric surface design using fabric paint, both of these books are great additions to your surface design toolbox.

I'll see you next Friday for the first of two posts on painting on fabric. I look forward to hearing about your experiences too.

Round Robin anyone?

Round Robin Fabric - 2009

How many of you have participated in a “Round Robin” project?  I have been involved with two, and they were a very interesting way to collaborate with others in creating a unique piece of fabric using various Surface Design techniques.  The downside is that, even though each group only had about 6 members, it took about 6 months for the fabrics to make the rounds and return back to the originator.

So, I thought instead of doing a Round Robin in the usual way, I would do something slightly different:  a self-challenge to use at least six Surface Design techniques!  Sound like fun?  Well, let’s see what happens, okay?    I will be using a piece of cotton, probably bleached muslin or Kona cloth. It will be laundered to remove all sizing, brighteners and impurities to prepare it for dyeing.  I will post about each technique as I use it, and will let you see the fabric as I progress through the various techniques.  I hope you will join me during the month of July, 2014!

I will post about each technique as I use it, and will let you see the fabric as I progress through the various techniques.  I reserve the right to determine the order in which I apply each technique – some are best left until the end, such as foiling, and some are better to start with, such as dyeing.

What I would love is to have you join me in this challenge, and I would love to get e-mails from you showing me your results!  I will be happy to post them on the blog if you are comfortable with that, so all our viewers can see.  You can e-mail me at tiedyejudy @ yahoo dot com (convert it to the format needed first) to let me know if you are going to join this project.  If you want to use the same techniques that I do, that is fine.  Or if you want to do your own Round Robin selecting your own set of techniques, that works too!  Not sure how to do a particular technique?  I invite you to delve into our archives and search on the technique, or post a comment asking for assistance, and I’ll do my best to create a mini-tutorial.