Harrisonburg Quilt

Over the weekend, Virginia Consortium of Quilters (VCQ) sponsored a "slumber party" sew-along in support of the Virginia Quilt Museum.  Wendy Sheppard created a pattern for one of the museum's historic quilts that is for sale on the museum website.  It has been named the Harrisonburg Quilt and served as a fund raiser for the museum, which also sponsored a sew-along.  You can find the pattern here.

Sue participated in the VCQ sew-along and now has 4 blocks completed (2 sewn during the sew-along).  It is not a difficult block but does require accurate piecing. The slumber party included visits/interviews with Alicia Thomas, the museum's executive director, and national quilter Pat Sloan who provided video tutorials for construction of the quilt, and Wendy Sheppard, the pattern designer.  They were all very informative and provided excellent tips.  

The photo above shows the steps in the block construction.  Top left, sewing half-square triangles to the center square.  Top right, adding more half-square triangles to the center square.  Bottom left, strips including half-square triangles are added to two opposite sides.  Bottom right, final strips added top and bottom that have 2 half-square triangles on each end.  

So far there are 2 green blocks and 2 pink blocks.  Sue's plan is to make 20 blocks (4 x 5), slightly smaller than the pattern.  More colors will be added, with 2 blocks of each color.  Below are the ones cut so far.

The slumber party was very fun and capably led by Kelly Zuber.  There were some fun contests for prizes and polls as well as show and tell of completed blocks.  It's always fun to see everyone's fabric choices.  VCQ has plans for upcoming in=person and virtual meetings/classes and other special events including our Celebration retreat next spring at Smith Mountain Lake.  Check out VCQ's website for more info.

DIY for Chair Arms

Sue recently got new chairs for her family room.  Much to her surprise, they did not come with covers for the chair arms - the part most susceptible to wear.  So she decided to try a do-it-yourself project to make some. Some fabric store remnants of cotton duck and linen-like fabric seemed suitable for attempting to dye something that might work.  The last vestiges of elephant gray dye left in the jar would have to do.  If it didn't work, nothing lost; just come up with another plan.

Two half yard pieces were put in the dye bath.  One was white, the other a beige color.  The dye bath looks purple because that is one of the component colors of elephant gray.  After sitting in the dye for 24 hours, the rinse process started. 

Here it is soaking in the laundry tub.  You can see here it looks more gray than purple.  

Here are 4 shots of different areas of the washed & dried fabric.  Some areas are gray, some more blue, some purplish.  Not enough dye to come out solid, but homogeneous enough to give an overall impression of gray.  Sue decided it would well enough with the new gray chairs and set about crafting the arm covers.

She made rectangles long enough to cover about 5-6 inches of the front and most of the top.  After clean finishing the edges, she fit each one on the chairs, folding in triangles at the corners for a snug fit.  After stitching the triangles in place, they were ready.  Sue is satisfied with the result.  What do you think?  

Altering Cyanotype Prints

This is a repost from October 2021 when we attended a Red Thread Retreat with Lesley Riley to learn more about cyanotype/botanical printing.  

At the Red Thread Retreat, we enjoyed learning ways to alter our cyanotype images by using different chemicals and techniques. Serendipity is also a big part of the process. Even though you change things up from a traditional blue and white cyanotype print, you never know what you will get when you start adding other components to the experiment.  There is a lot you also don't have control over such as the amount of sunshine, the humidity and the angle of the sun.  You can somewhat control other additives to the botanicals placed in your design.

To end up with the image above, a piece of watercolor paper which had been treated with the Jacquard Cyanotype chemicals was used. Once the botanicals were added some turmeric and then Ferrous Sulfate was sprinkled around the edges of the plants.  The very interesting results on the left of the paper was from a leaf that had many holes in it having fallen on a gravel parking lot and been run over by cars.  The piece was also lightly misted with a vinegar and water solution.

For an October day we were fortunate to have warm temperatures hoovering in the high 70s to 81 with lots of sunshine so the paper. with plants and chemicals incased under a piece of glass, sat out in the sunshine of the parking area for at least half a day to "cook".

When the botanical materials were removed, the image looked like this but it still needed rinsing off in cool water to remove all the chemicals.  Before rinsing it looked like this:

The development process can still continue for a day or so, the final image looks like this now.  It might get cut up to put into a new collage and likely that geode looking area on the left will be a highlight of a new piece.

More Cyanotype Experiments

This week's experiments included some less successful additives to the process and one complete transformation.  Two prints were set up as before.  This time the additives were line juice and dry mustard on one (left), vinegar and turmeric on the other  (right).  

Prints during exposure above.  After exposure but before rinsing below.

These 2 fabric pieces were previously treated with the cyanotype solution - with an excessive amount, which is why they are such a dark blue compared to the pieces shown last week.  Most of which got washed down the drain in the rinse process, so a word of caution if you do this yourself, don't overdo the amount of solution!  Below are the 2 pieces after rinsing and drying.

You'll notice that there is very little effect from the additives used on these 2 prints.  Maybe because of the amount of solution/darkness of the blue?  Just guessing here. So Sue decided to try both a soda ash solution and a washing soda solution on one to see what would happen.  Both of these act like bleach to take color out.  She started by adding drops with a small paint brush, and then also using a fan shaped brush to try to add streaky swirls.  Since it takes a little time to react, it's hard to know if you've added enough, and very easy to add too much.  And of course, the too much is what happened.  

But it's all an experiment, right?  The idea was to try to make a speckled background but the spots where the fan brush was applied turned out more solid than streaky.  So the next option was to take out all the blue by submersing the whole piece in the washing soda solution.  

And this is the result.  What do you think?

Cyanotype Experiments on Fabric

To continue with cyanotype, Sue decided to make some fabric prints last week and try a little experimenting.  Nothing outlandish, just some simple additions.  Her usual go to for altering backgrounds is to spritz with water and a soda ash solution.  This time the solution must have been pretty strong (or the chemical coating for the cyanotype was thin) Because it worked almost like bleach and completely took out the color in places.  Or maybe she was too heavy handed with the spray?

Above are the 2 pieces set out in the sun.  The places that appear yellow in the photos are where the soda ash solution was sprayed.  The brownish spots are sprinkles (or clumps) of turmeric.  

These are the 2 pieces after a few hours in the sun, before removing the glass and plant material.  The plants, by the way, are a mixture of ferns, nandina leaves, money plant seed pods, and an unopened blossom from the nandina.  

Here's what they look like after removing the plant material but before rinsing. It takes several rinses in cool water to rinse out the cyanotype solution.  Continue rinsing until water runs clear.  Usually, Sue lets them soak overnight.

Above are the two prints after rinsing.  You can see in the one on the right how the soda ash solution took out the blue background instead of just giving it some texture.  The gold-brown spots are from the turmeric.  Overall, both pieces turned out well.  Note to self, go easy on the spray next time!  And perhaps some more experiments with other substances to come.  Looks like we're in for some sunny, hot weather this week.  

Cyanotype Experiments on Coffee Filters

Update 7/17/2023. This is a repost from 2 years ago that gives you some background on cyanotype printing and experiments we did with prints on coffee filters to alter the outcomes. It's a fun way to experiment without a big investment in supplies.  Note that coffee filters are made of a substance that works well in mixed media projects and can be stitched on.  If it can stand up to hot water, it's pretty sturdy stuff!

For several years at Quilt Camps, Sue and Elizabeth have experimented with Cyanotype on fabric.  The availability of ferns and other interesting botanicals in New Hampshire make them fun to do.  Of course, we also have made some at our homes in Virginia and Elizabeth has done some in the hot humid weather in Mississippi. Heat and humidity certainly affect the results as does the directness of the sun on any given day and if the sky is cloudy.  So many variables and it is the serendipity that makes it interesting.

Cyanotype is actually an alternative photography process developed in 1842 by English Astronomer, John Herschel who was interested in ways to copy his manuscripts and notes.  It was Anna Atkins who in 1843 used the process to catalog botanical specimens.  

In preparation for a paper collage workshop in a few weeks, Elizabeth has been experimenting with some cyanotypes while still in New Hampshire where it certainly isn't hot or humid and the sun seems to get weaker every day.  Even so, experimenting is fun and helps to build up a supply of papers from which to choose when the workshop begins.

Round coffee filters are an easy way to experiment.  They are quick to dry after applying the chemicals to the paper and you can treat many of them at once.

Following some instruction from the dharma website about Jacquard products (Jacquard is the company that makes the chemicals needed for cyanotype) she started bleaching and toning some of the exposed samples to see what the results might be.

Only a Soda Ash rinse for this one, you can see how it really bleaches out the cyanotype chemicals.

Here are some rinsed with Borax then with Soda Ash water and a final rinse in plain water,  Here she got a bonus print.  Coffee filters are very thin and she hadn't noticed that two were stuck together until they separated during the final rinse.   The lower filter was the one on the bottom.

This one was rinsed with Borax followed by Soda Ash and then a Hydrogen Peroxide rinse.  The hydrogen peroxide brings out more of the blue as it speeds up the development process.

This piece was rinsed in Soda Ash which bleached it out and then followed by Borax.  The brown streak in the middle is explained below.

These were swished in Borax, then a mix of Hydrogen Peroxide and water, followed by a dip in soda ash and another rinse in Hydrogen Peroxide and water.  Her scientific methods aren't quite as firm as they should be as measuring was loosey goosey, but approximately 1 part Borax to two parts water, 1/4 cup of soda ash to 1 gallon of water, and a glugg of hydrogen peroxide in a cat litter pan full of water.  Surely, on different days with different amounts of chemicals, different temperatures, different types of treated papers, results will vary a lot.

The brown streaks on the prints above came from hanging them over a drying rack.  Previously a tee-shirt which had been soaked in soda ash had been hanging on the rack and the residual soda ash bleached out the streaks in these two pieces.

There are other toners and bleach you can also use.  Let us know if you have done any experiments with cyanotype.

Screen Printing with League of NH Craftsmen

Elizabeth and her sister, Becky, took a class at the Center Sandwich League of NH Craftsmen shop last week and learned a lot about screen printing an image.  The League is a group of juried artists who sell in dedicated shops all over the state.  Their work is beautiful and of the highest quality.  Our class was with  Master Printmaker, William Mitchell who was also a master teacher.  Please check out his website at the link and take a look at his beautiful prints.

Bill introduced us to the screen and drew his design directly on the polyester sheer fabric with a dull pencil.

He had each class member draw a block on his demonstration screen, then we filled it in with the screen drawing fluid using a small paintbrush.  This would be the design we would see when printed.

Once drawn he advised us to hold the screen up to the light to be sure the design was filled completely as any areas that might be too thin wouldn't make for a good result.

Next we learned how to squeegee on the screen filler which would block out all the background areas. He used a piece of cardstock as his squeegee for this part of the process, instead of the large rubber squeegee.

Here is the demonstration screen with the blue areas being the design and the red areas the background where no paint should go through the screen.

Elizabeth's sister, Becky, decided to draw a variation of a Zentangle design she once did. It is reminiscent of a fern unfurling. 

Elizabeth drew a modernized version of a flower.

Once each step was dry, Bill showed us how to remove the blue ink, leaving only the red ink in the screen.  Remember that where the blue ink was is going to be the print.

Bill had a great clothesline for hanging pieces without having them touch each other.  Straws on the line kept the paper from touching as the clothespins were evenly spaced.

These are Becky's designs after being screened on paper and hung on the line to dry.  This class was a one color process but we hope to take a class in the future where we could learn to make images with more than one color.

This is the final print that Becky made.

This is the final print from Elizabeth's screen.  It is printed on Pacon 80 weight paper from Staples.