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.

Experimenting with Sunprint Paper

Today was a sunny fall day here in New Hampshire when the sun isn't very high in the sky for long.  So, at about 11:30 Elizabeth decided to try an experiment using some recently purchased blueprint paper.  She purchased the paper at the science center in Holderness, NH, but it comes from the Lawrence Hall of Science in Berkeley, CA. 

Not really sure why the paper is for a refill kit but it has been treated and although the pieces were quite small, they sufficed for this experimentation.  

First, she decided on two items, one a small piece of fern and the other some wild strawberry leaves.  The tiny size was to be in proportion to the paper which is only 4 inches by 4 inches.  The first test was to use the paper following the directions on the package.  Exposure was 3 minutes under glass, the paper was dry and then rinsed in cool water for 5 minutes.

The second trial or test was exposure of 3 minutes under glass.  First the fern and leaves were lightly sprayed with soda ash using a mister and then rinsed in cool water for 5 minutes with a second rinse following dunking the paper into hydrogen peroxide.  It is amazing how fast the color changes to a deep blue when you use the hydrogen peroxide.  Prior to rinsing the light and dark spaces are reversed.

Trial number three was again 3 minutes of exposure to the sun after the addition of water on the background plastic and another misting of soda ash, the rinse was cool water and hydrogen peroxide.  All the trials used the same leaves.  This would qualify as a #wetcyan print.  The trials are number one on the bottom of the photo below, two in the center and three on the top  What's the red on the tip of the fern in trial three?  Well, the canvas work surface under the papers must have had a few specks of a red dye on it and the dampness of the paper picked it up.  Notice also that since these photos were taken about 2 hours after the experiment, the color of trial one (the bottom) has darkened significantly from what it was right after rinsing.

Trial four was the same as trail three except that instead of a 3 minute exposure it was left in the sun for 3 hours.  Here is how it looked.

Most of the blue cyanotype was washed away from overexposure and or the amount of liquid as it baked under the glass cover.  Prior to the hydrogen peroxide being added you couldn't see any of the blue at all.  Here are the four prints together.  The top row left to right is trial one and two and the bottom row is trial three and four.

This was a fun experiment and I still have four pieces of paper left in the package to play with on the next sunny day.

Quilt Camp 7 is Underway!

Quilt camp on Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire has begun.  For the past 6 summers Sue and Elizabeth have spent several weeks creating our own fabrics and, for the past 2 years, working on our Etsy shop by creating new screens and tending to the business side of the shop.  It is our time to work on our creative muse, try new techniques, and also spend some time relaxing.  Below Sue is about to make some prints with a  head of cabbage.

This summer we are off to a bit of a slower start as we both had difficult winters and need some time to unwind and relax.  A local friend, Terri, who we met at the Creative Arts Business Summit  in March, came down on Monday to see our studio (umm…the garage) and to play a bit with us.  We showed her what a thermofax screen is and how to print a screen.  Otherwise, we chatted and caught up on all the things we have done since attending the summit.  

Setting up the garage has taken some of our time and we have gone for a daily walk where we have spent some time collecting plant materials growing by the side of the road.  So, yesterday we really got a start.  It was a sunny day and we decided to begin with some sun printing.  To sun print we use Pebeo Setacolor textile paint (available from PRO Chemical and Dye) which is a thin liquid, easy to brush on to a white or light colored fabric.  We place the fabric on a piece of foam core board which has been covered with a plastic garbage bag or a piece of an old plastic table cloth, spray our fabric with plain water from a spray bottle and then brush on the Pebeo Setacolor  paint completely covering the fabric surface. 

Next comes deciding what you want to put on top to make the print and if you want a composition or something random.  You want to be sure to place your items as flat as possible so that you don’t create a shadow with your print and it is best to plan to do this in the middle of the day when the sun is high in the sky creating fewer shadow opportunities.

 Above, Sue is setting up her prints.

We cover the whole board with a piece of tulle, thumb tacked in place, to hold things down in case a breeze kicks up.

Put it in a sunny spot until the paint is dry, usually a couple of hours will do.

Here are the finished prints from this group.  Not bad, but not great either.  They could be better if the plant materials were flatter; and fresher - we gathered things Tuesday and then had to wait 2 days for full sun.

Elizabeth tried some other masks in addition to plants.

Here she's got ferns, as well as little wooden trees, wooden stars, and tongue depressor type sticks.   Here are her results.

Maybe we'll cook up some more prints on another sunny day!