Print and Collage

A new group of students joined the ranks of screen printers this weekend in the Print and Collage class with Sue.  (Elizabeth is in North Carolina to care for her uncle who had knee surgery).  We were a small group but able to explore and discuss techniques in a bit more depth than usual. 

Students were particularly interested in the various techniques Sue used to create these mini quilts and canvases.

Our morning was spent on instruction and practice printing.

After lunch, we talked about how the elements and principles of design are incorporated into collage/art quilt design.

Though "rules" are not hard and fast, being familiar with them helps to intuitively put them into play when designing.

Lawrence is creating the base of his collage with commercial fabrics that he adds printing to in the photo below.

Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of the completed print.  He very cleverly completed the money plant print on the purple strip with discharge instead of black.  Discharge takes color out, so that part of the print is greyish-white.  He clearly likes to play with opposites.

Marianne worked on a piece using the tree bark screen as the background. 

Grace is perfecting her technique.

Sandy's birds, above, give her options with different fabric and paint color selections.

Her money plant print turned out great, ready for a future piece.

If this piques your interest, watch for our next session of Thermofax Screen Printing in the new year and join us to learn this fun surface design technique.

Penni Domikis - Cabin in the Woods Quilters

Last night Sue's local guild hosted Penni Domikis for a trunk show of her "All Scrapped Out" quilts.  Penni is a quilter/teacher/designer whose business name is Cabin in the Woods Quilters.  Sue and Elizabeth have met Penni and gotten to know her through the Creative Arts Business Summit and also took a class with her when she taught for VCQ.  Her trunk show covered her journey as a quilter beginning with her quest to use up/tame her scraps.  In the process she has published 3 books - All Scrapped Out, Still All Scrapped Out, and What a Load of Scraps, as well as individual patterns.  In addition, she produces her own line of templates and English Paper Piecing patterns.  Here are some pictures from the trunk show, with apologies for the poor view, but I think good enough to give you an idea of Penni's work.

This one includes string quilting and crazy quilt blocks around the border.

Here Penni combines the traditional spool block with strip pieced centers.

In this basket quilt, Penni made it unique by using ric-rac for the basket handles instead of bias strips.

This is Penni's interpretation of combining scraps in a more modern design.

This red and white quilt is stunning.

Penni used aprons from her grandmother and great grandmother to create this charming apron quilt.

This is one of her more recent designs using her petal templates to create a layered look.

Here is her version of pickle dish.

This is the third of her 3 books of scrap quilt designs.

Penni is a very entertaining speaker so if your guild is looking for someone for a program, we highly recommend her.  She is based near Fredericksburg, VA.  Check out her website and blog for more information about Penni and her work!

Upcoming Classes

We have 2 classes coming up at the end of the month.  On Saturday, Oct. 27, we will be teaching Print and Collage with Thermofax Screens at Artistic Artifacts.  In this class we teach the basics of thermofax printing in the morning, creating a stash of printed fabrics using our collection of original screens.  In the afternoon we will use those screens to create a 12 x 12 inch art collage.  Check out the complete description and supply list on the Artistic Artifacts website.

On Sunday, Oct. 28, we will teach a kid's class at Herndon ArtSpace, block printing on tote bags.  We will do some practice printing first to learn the technique and then the kids will plan their design and print their bag.  We will have a large selection of foam stamps and wooden printing blocks to choose from.  The link above will take you to their page for more info and registration.  If you know any kids you think might be interested, please share this information!

 

Eco Dyeing

Yesterday Sue took an eco dyeing class with Elizabeth Woodford at Artistic Artifacts.  The class has been taught several times over the last few months and always fills up, so she decided it was time to give this technique a try. It's a slow but interesting process that requires some knowledge about which leaves and flowers contain enough tannin to produce a print on fabric.  We started off the morning with 3 sample pieces on silk (all our dyeing was on silk) to find out how various leaves transfer before designing our scarves in the afternoon.

These were the morning samples.  Some of the leaves with the best results included eucalyptus, rose, coreopsis, plum, oak and sweet gum.  The silk is first soaked in an alum/water solution; the alum serves as a mordant for the tannin molecules to bond with the fiber.  Then the silk was placed on thin plastic and leaves were arranged after being dipped in an iron/water solution.  This sandwich is topped with a piece of cotton that is also soaked in iron-water (known as an "iron blanket").  Then the whole thing is wrapped tightly around a dowel, rubber banded at the ends and wrapped with cord for the length of the dowel to keep it all tight.  Then the bundles must be boiled for 1.5 hours.  A turkey roaster works well for this task

A brick was used to weight the bundles down so they would stay under the surface of the water.

After lunch, the samples were ready to reveal and then we went ahead with preparing our scarves in the same manner.  The cotton iron blanket also is "printed" in the process and can be used in quilt making, or can be washed and reused for more eco dyeing.

Above is Sue's scarf with the leaves arranged on top, and the rolled bundle ready for the steamer.

Here is the reveal after steaming.  On the left, before the cotton and leaves are removed, and the silk scarf on the right.  Some of the lighter areas are supposed to darken as it dries.

These are some closu-ups of different sections of the scarf.

My table-mate, Susanna, did a wonderful job on hers with a grapevine that extended the entire length of the scarf.  You can clearly see the vine down the whole length.  She also did a great job filling in with other leaves.  And her cotton piece turned out great as well.

Lots of hands make light work.  As we revealed each scarf, more of us joined in removing the leaves to reveal the results.

These are close-ups of other students' scarves.  It's really fun to see how the leaves print so clearly and the colors they produce. 

Fall Guild Retreat

Sue spent last Thursday to Sunday at her local guild's fall retreat.  It was great to get away for some dedicated sewing time, though it was touch and go whether or not she would be able to go.  The week before she scratched the cornea of her left eye and it was questionable whether her vision would clear in time.  Fortunately it did, though bright sunlight was (and still is) hard to tolerate.  That meant staying inside and sewing!

Each retreat has some sort of charity project.  This time we made blocks for quilts that will be donated to Facets, a Fairfax County non-profit that works to provide emergency shelter and secure safe and affordable housing for families in need.  These are the 3 blocks Sue made; she is curious to see what the layout will look like.

The next project was actually garment sewing - not typical for a quilt retreat but it was one of those projects sitting around for over a year, so it was time to tackle it.  It really is a simple t-shirt pattern, both front and back in one large piece, so it was pretty quick to sew.

Here's the pattern, "Simple, Elegant Tee" by CNT Pattern Company.  And the finished shirt below.

The fabric is a hand-dyed rayon purchased from a vendor called Fabrilish at the Quilters Unlimited quilt show.  I couldn't find a website but there is a Facebook page at the link above.

Then, it was on to a wallet pattern (again, a non-quilt item).  Sue seems to be on a mission to try out various wallet designs to determine which might be most functional and/or meet her needs.  This is the Mini Diva wallet by Sew Many Creations.  There is also a Diva Frame Wallet which is longer (Sue has that pattern as well!).

The picture below shows the open view of both the outside and inside of the wallet.  Sue added the strip of cork on the outside.

Now it was time for work on some quilt projects. This is a block for a quilt that has 20 blocks, that seems to only get worked on at retreats.  At least she is finally over half way, with 12 blocks completed.  Progress!

Another charity project that the guild works on is making preemie quilts for the NICU at Children's National Medical Center in DC.  This top was sewn together at home, so it just needed to be quilted and bound.  All the fabrics are animal prints.

Then it was time to start the final project of the weekend.  While in New Hampshire in August, Sue and Elizabeth went to the World Quilt Show in Manchester.  There she bought the pattern and materials to make a jelly roll rug by RJ Designs.  For those not familiar with the term "jelly roll", it is a set of forty 2.5" width of fabric strips.  The jelly roll rug is currently an internet sensation; there are 2 versions - oval and rectangular.  Sue chose the rectangular version and a Moda jelly roll of black, white and grey prints.  If you search "jelly roll rug", you will also find the original oval pattern and lots of tutorials. The other thing needed for this project is strips of batting.  A company called Bosal makes rolls of precut batting (2.5") that match the width of the fabric strips. It is available from a number of sources on the Internet. The fabric and batting are layered together, long edges folded to the center, and then folded in half and stitched.  Sue raced the clock to get all the strips stitched, but ran out of bobbin thread on the next to last one.  Sigh.  At that point it was time to pack up and go home, so the final 2 strips still await.

Here are a couple pics of the retreat sewing room; we had about 75 members in attendance.  It's always fun to see the projects everyone is working on.

We have been holding these retreats at a Hampton Inn in Winchester for several years, but the hotel is closing for renovation so next spring we will be traveling to Martinsburg, WV to try out a new venue.