Quilt Camp Week 8 - Deconstructed Screen Printing

Have you ever tried a technique called Deconstructed Screen Printing?  It can also be called Breakdown Printing.   It has been a long time since we have done any but this week, we went back to try it again.

It takes a standard screen in a wooden frame.  These can be bought at the big box craft stores or online at art supply sources.  After taping the wood part of the frame, so it doesn't get wet and swell, you are ready to start your process.

We mixed dye with a product called print paste which is purchased from a dye house or art supply store.  Print paste is mixed with water to create a thick medium which is used to hold your dye in a viscose suspension instead of a watery one.  This can also be called thickened dye.  First you mix the print paste and then save out about a cup to add dye to.  You will use the remaining paste to squeegee across the screen later.  

Into the saved cup of print paste went some dye powder and it was stirred well.  On the flat side of the screen, this dye mixture was spread evenly over the screen and laid paste side up over a rack sitting in a clean cat litter box.  Once the dye mixture is starting to set, you can add items of interest which will leave silhouette outlines when you pull your final prints.  We have used thick foam stamps in the past and this week tried with some shredded paper from the mechanical shredder.  No one is ever going to read those documents again!  When we used the foam stamps they went into the dye infused print paste when it was starting to set up and left until it was nearly or quite dry.  With the shredded paper the screen with the dye infused paste was completely dry because truthfully it has been sitting in the litter box for a LONG time!  Once your screen is ready, you can start the printing fun.  First though, soak your fabric in soda ash just as you would for tie dyeing or liquid dye techniques.  The fabric we used was old pieces of hand dye that wasn't very inspiring and needed something more.

For this piece the shredded paper was sprinkled over some previously dyed fabric and then the screen was placed dye side down on the top of the shredded paper and fabric.  Clear print paste was poured into the well of the screen and gently spread to cover the screen.  As this piece had set so long, it was very solid on the side next to the fabric, and the clear print paste was allowed to sit on the screen for a few minutes to soften the reverse side.  With a squeegee drawn over the print paste in the well, the negative space between the shredded paper was printed onto the fabric.  As you move the screen to cover the fabric you may want to rotate the orientation of the screen.  When the dye infused print paste is all used up or begins to get very light you are likely done.

After a few days of sitting so the dye could bond to the fabric, the piece was washed out and hung to dry.  It needs a good wash as the soda ash as well as the print paste will make it feel stiff.

This piece looks a lot better now than when it was just rainbow dye colors and now can be envisioned cut up in some other project.  What would you make with it?  

QC6 Day 7

July 6, 2014
I finally got to wash some things out today and see the results!  Yesterday's post included a picture of applying color magnet to some yardage - I actually did 3 pieces of fabric, plus I had the t-shirt I started last week and then had to redo.  Here are the results.  First, the shirt.

I thought the color magnet was completely washed out after the soda ash soak, but you can see from the shadowing that it was not.  But still, not a bad result.  Especially because the shirt is 45% polyester and 55% natural fibers - I wasn't sure how well it would take the dye, but it did better than I expected. Now tofigure out what to do on shirt #2.

These are the 3 fabric pieces.  All are printed with thermofax screens.  Top is tree bark, middle is a mustard flower, and the bottom combines a sewer cover image and circles.  I'm really pleased with how they turned out, so I think I will be using more of this product.  I'm already incorporating tree bark in a project that's underway.  I wanted the mustard flower to be an all over pattern, but it was really hard to see where I had already printed so I missed some spots.  The base fabric was a pale blue/green and the color magnet is yellow so it really blended in as it dried.

Another thing I did today was breakdown   printing.  This was prepared a few days ago on a wooden framed silk screen.  The screen is painted with thickened dye and objects are placed on it to form impressions as it dries.  I used stencils to make the impressions.  Of course I forgot to take pictures of that part.  To print, you use a clear print paste on the screen to soften and release the dye.  The more you print, the more you loose the image, hence the name breakdown printing.  Why take the time to do that, you might wonder?  Well, you can get some really interesting, unique prints, and its fun to see what you get.  This is the best print.

And that's it for day 7.  Aren't you glad I didn't mention the bug swarm last night?

QC5 Day 4

July 3, 2014
Today started off similarly to the last two; a trip to the library to print some order receipts, followed by the post office for mailing orders.  The post office happens to be right next to Geez Louise, so of course we had to stop in and look around!  I found a set of 8 linen napkins that will be good for dyeing, and the real treasure, an old ledger dating to 1899!  Just look at the penmanship!

Yesterday I shared my sun printed fabric; today I added another layer with screen printing.  On the left is a sample Elizabeth printed on commercial fabric. On the right is my piece where I used the fern and pine cone screens that we made yesterday.  This is what it looks like now, although I don't think it is finished.  I think more layers are in order.

I also shared a picture of the t-shirt I started.  Well, I'm back to square 1 with that project.  It needed to be soaked in a soda ash solution before dyeing, so I did that this afternoon - forgetting that the warm water would wash out the color magnet!  So its been drying the rest of the day and I will have to redo the color magnet tomorrow.  (Soda ashed items cannot go in the dryer - they can catch on fire!)

Meanwhile, I put another piece of fabric in the dye I had prepared and couldn't use for the t-shirt.  I did some gelli plate printing and more screen printing, and prepared a silk screen for breakdown printing - that has to dry completely so at least 24 hours, maybe longer because of humidity.  So far I am really happy with the new screens we created yesterday.  More pictures of those prints tomorrow.

Ended the day with a late afternoon swim in the lake - it was like bath water, but still refreshing.  After dark the rain storms moved in - lots of thunder and lightening to go with the fire crackers being shot off all around the lake.  I'm sure there will be lots more of that tomorrow.