Virtual Quilt Camp 2020

If you've followed Elizabeth and Sue for any length of time, you know they usually have a summer "quilt camp" at Elizabeth's New Hampshire summer house where they spend time printing, dyeing and trying out other new techniques.  Circumstances did not work out last year for quilt camp, and now the 2020 train wreck of a year with the corona virus has put another crimp in the best laid plans.  So, like everything else, we decided to try a long distance, VIRTUAL QUILT CAMP!  We are both going to carry out the same techniques in our separate studios and share results.  Not as much fun as doing things in person, but we'll try to make it inspirational at least. To start with, our studios.

Here's Elizabeth's garage studio in New Hampshire.  A big plywood table provides lots of room to spread out and not worry too much about being messy!

This is a corner of Sue's home basement studio in Virginia.  Print table to the right, sewing machine to the left, cabinets full of the fabric stash and other supplies in the background.  One major difference - Elizabeth's air conditioning is all natural, Sue's is canned air and it gets very cold in the basement! (She wouldn't mind the alternative.)

So what are we going to work on first?  We decided to run through some printing techniques/products based on our sampler printing class.  First up is the difference between opaque and transparent paint.  We chose to use graphic screen designs from our Etsy shop and each did prints with the 2 types of paint. Opaque paint blocks whatever is in the background. Transparent paint allows some of the background to show through.

This is one of Elizabeth's prints using the gear screen.  The top print is opaque, the bottom is transparent.  You can clearly see that the top print blocks the background color, whereas the bottom allows some of the color to show through.

Example number 2, again opaque at the top and transparent below.  If you click on the photo to enlarge it, you can easily see the print of the fabric showing through the paint of the bottom print.

For this example, you really will need to enlarge to see the subtle differences.  This is Sue's first sample, using grey opaque on the left and gun metal transparent on the right.  The background fabric has some metallic gold in the print.  When you enlarge the photo, you can see that the grey paint blocks the gold, but the gun metal allows it to show through.

Print #2. Again, there are subtle differences here that are hard to see unless you enlarge the photo. The left is opaque turquoise and the right is transparent turquoise. As with the gold, the black lines in the background are blocked on the left and visible on the right.  

Elizabeth's paints were both from Pro Chemical and Dye.  Three of the 4 paints Sue used were also from ProChem; one was a Yudu screen printing ink.  While there aren't huge differences between opaque and transparent, it is something to keep in mind when selecting your paint.  Sometimes you want the background to show, other times you don't, its an individual choice but one to be aware of.  

Do your own experiment.  See if you have both opaque and transparent paint in your supplies and do some sample prints to see how they differ.  Share your results in the comments!