The end of Quilt Camp 2021

Sue left this morning so it is the official end of Quilt Camp 2021.  Oh, we will still create; just not together and there is a lot to be said for working creatively in a pair or group.  Luckily, we will be back together in Pennsylvania for a Red Thread Retreat at the end of September.

Often after someone leaves it feels empty and quiet and so a walk is a good way to get over that feeling.  Here are a few photos from Elizabeth's walk after Sue left.

A nearby pond is covered with water lilies.

A small island is a canoe ride away but today the lake was a bit choppy for canoeing.

We don't stay empty here for long and a new friend arrives for dinner and the long weekend.

On the creative front, Molly has another new shirt.  She likes how the white polyester thread didn't dye and is left white on the bodice and around the hem.

Quilt Camp Day 9

Our last day of quilt camp, it is always sad to see Sue clear off her workspace.  Henri robbed us of two extra days of camp as we both thought it might be too rainy for Sue to drive up during its trip through New England.  We surely didn't do the driving around and taking mini field trips that camp usually includes but decided staying close to the studio was best during the pandemic.  Hopefully, future camps can include some side trips and other types of fun.

We did work on a few new screens for the shop and watch for a new newsletter in the next week.  If you aren't subscribed to our newsletter you can do so here.

This is our new birch bark screen printed with navy acrylic fabric paint.  It makes a very effective textured background.

Another new screen is cat tails as seen here printed on three different background colors.

A third new screen will be what we're calling Becky's Ginkgo, because they were drawn by Elizabeth's sister Becky.  You may have seen these previously on some of the T-shirts Elizabeth dyed.

Sue did another cyanotype experiment, this time coating previously painted postcards, then setting them out to print along with another notecard.

And so another quilt camp comes to a close.  Stay tuned as we make an effort to do a better job keeping up with the blog!

Quilt Camp Day 7

Day 7 was busy with lots of time spent washing out dyed fabrics and another round in the indigo pot.

Another ice dyed t shirt for Molly but this time the dye is on top of the ice instead of under it.  Watch for the results in a few days.  Two blends of yellow and one of red.

After refreshing our indigo bucket, we did quite a number of indigo pieces today, many of them over top of other techniques such as "not so stellar" dyed pieces and some over rust too.  It feels like a very satisfactory way to improve those dud pieces you sometimes end up with.

Along with washing out some dyed pieces and the indigo above, Sue also did  another sun print and cyanotype prints.

Molly got a new shirt with hand drawn ginkgo leaves screen printed around the hem and on the pocket.  It was ice dyed with a color called Marine.

Molly sure does like watching the sun set.

More fun things to unveil tomorrow.

Quilt Camp Day 6

We were saying to each other today that it doesn't seem like we get as much done these days as we once did!  What's up with that?

If our math is right, this is the tenth time we have had quilt camp.  The number of years is higher  because we had a few years when we couldn't get together.  Probably somewhere around 14 years we have come to the garage here at Merrymount on the shores of Lake Winnipesaukee to stir our creative juices and work on our business selling Thermofax screens through Etsy and promoting them on social media.

Today Elizabeth rinsed out the excess dye from this lovely vine flower Thermofax screen done with Color Magnet and Coral MX dye.

And her pole dyed piece.  Not sure why this year the white lines from the string isn't as prominent.  Perhaps oversoaked, not wound and scrunched tightly enough or too few layers on the pole.  It is still ok, just a faint glimpse of texture.

You saw a sneak peek at Molly's new shirt the other day on the blog but not the vine flower around the hemline.  The t-shirt was first screened with the design using Color Magnet, left to dry and then ice dyed.

Elizabeth also screened this hand drawn ginkgo leaf, onto a long piece of previously dyed fabric, using a blue acrylic fabric paint which sparkles just the slightest amount.

And this green piece was screened with a new screen made from a photo of birch bark.

Sue has some pieces that didn't get included in yesterday's post.  One is this piece of rusted fabric that was folded and dipped in the indigo pot.

In an effort to make some ugly fabrics more palatable, they were also dipped in the indigo pot.  The left photo is "before", the right photo is "after".  A small step in the right direction.  Looks like another dip in the indigo pot is called for!

We didn't have much sun today, but there was enough to put out a quick sun print with some stencils.

The best ending to the day was that Bob drove us to Wolfeboro and treated us to an ice cream at Bailey's Bubble.

Quilt Camp Day 4

Day 4 of quilt camp - it was a cool, cloudy day so not the best for sun printing.  We did some more shibori/indigo dye of the pieces prepared yesterday, and washed out some other dyed pieces.  Below are: left, Sue's pieces after one dip in the indigo pot; top right, Elizabeth dipping one of her pieces; bottom right, pieces awaiting a second dip in the pot.

Below, Sue's pieces after rinsing.  Top left is a rust dyed piece (not from the indigo pot); the other 3 photos show the pieces she dyed today.  The 2 stripey ones were wrapped around poles.  The one with the light background was a triangle fold with plexiglass circles clamped over the corners.  The one with the light blue circles were made with buttons that were rubber banded into the cloth - the rubber bands served as a resist to create the circles.

Elizabeth decided to experiment in the indigo pot with some fabrics which were less than successful from other dye projects and see if they could be improved upon.  Here are some as she unwrapped them.  The pink and mottled green were clamped with wooden blocks and the lime green was folded like a flag.

Below is the bottom piece of fabric (from above-the one with the circles) on the right side after unfolding and the remainder of the "less than successful fabric" is what it looked like before the indigo pot.  

She also overdyed a piece of rusted fabric with the spiderweb pattern and is quite happy with the results.

This set of pictures shows Sue's dyed/washed fabrics.  Top left is spring green; before dyeing, the fabric was printed with a birch bark Thermofax screen using Color Magnet which is a dye attractant, creating the textured pattern.  Top right is a piece dyed with a color called parakeet.  The bottom 2 are the same piece of fabric.  This was dyed with "new black".  To give it some texture, Sue used a discharge product called deColourant to remove some color through a Thermofax screen - this was also a birch bark screen, though a different one than on the green fabric.  Click on the photo for a better view.

With some new screens for playing Elizabeth decided to see what they might look like if they were screened on white fabric with Color Magnet and then dyed.  We will reveal them later in the week.

Elizabeth set out a piece of fabric prepared for Cyanotype.  As the day was cloudy, she used the wet cyanotype method and first spritzed the fabric with a solution of vinegar and water.  The white areas you see are actually the reflection of the sky and the darker areas are the shadow from a tree.  It will be interesting to see what happens after 24 hours of exposure.