Sometimes once is not enough! Don't you agree?

Started out with muslin pieces that I hand dyed. 

First group all received a black stencil. These will be for my December group swap. 

Then I used shaving cream and Tsukeniko inks to lay down an initial marbled color layer on the second set of pieces. 

This one only is rec'ving this layer, as I am pleased with it presently. 

Not like this one!

I put a stencil over the marbled color and I am not pleased at this point. So, more shaving cream and some Crown Jewels fabric paint. Again using marbling as the focus these five got another layer. 

These all have a metallic look within them as the paint was that type. 

Next step will be to heat set them.  Then I will decide if they are ready to mail out or if they need something more. I don't want to overdo them, but if I do, I can start over. 

I will try to get some better pictures tomorrow, during good daylight!!

For now,

Let's Create Today,

Luann

Painting with Thickened Procion mx dyes

Here are some snapshots of my experiment with painting using thickened procion mx dyes. I tried a lot of different mark making ideas. Learned that you CAN get it too thick but adding some soda ash water helped with restoring fluidity. 

I only used three colors and a portion of each was shaded with some jet black from Dharma Trading Co. Love those people and their lemurs and kangaroos! If you place an order with them, you'll understand about the animals. 

Next up are pieces that I soaked in soda ash, scrambled (a Candy Glendenning word), and poured some dye stock over the tops of each. I then, as Candy would say, massaged them quite a bit, as I wanted no white spots. 

I lined them up on my steps and shot this picture. I wee puffy cloud must have been floating overhead! I totally love how these came out. 

I used the same dye colors on both sets of fabric. I think I could cut portions of all of them, add one more distinct color, and put them together in a quilt block. Black would be such an eye popper! But I think a deep burgundy would be more to my liking. 

It's been a very busy week:

I finished making and mailing all of my ATCS(3) and fabric Postcards(6) for 2014. If I use the above two sets of fabric for my StitchFingers swaps, I have Nov and Dec done. I may choose to do more to them,,,,  I also finished 2 book pages. I emailed one out. The other  is waiting for a postal strike to be over. 

On a decluttering note, I emptied 4 containers of stuff, most of which was delivered to various places in town. Under the guest bed is now 50% emptied. 

I have gift bags set up for collecting my Christmas gifts for each family. A list attached to each bag will keep me aware of where I am in filling them. I think this year may be "the year of the pillow case CHRISTMAS". I love making them. They  are quick and easy. Useful for most everyone. And I can personalize them for my special people!  

My house was kept neat, dishes done, sink shiny (thanks to FlyLady.net and using routines!), and our menu plan worked well. Laundry was kept up to date and the ironing had a one day delay was all! 

This week has been very productive for me. I am taking today, Saturday, and going just a bit slower. But then, posting to my blog is one of those things on my list so I guess I'm still getting things done! It's hard to think of things as "work" when I enjoy it all. Yes, even getting ironing done is pure enjoyment for me. My Mom would do ironing for others when I was a kid, so it's kinda nostalgic for me. 

With all this being said, I think it's time to;

Let's Create Today!

Luann

Creating fabric from fabric,

Using an ink jet printer and specially prepared fabric I made a copy of one of my mini art quilts. 

A few 2" squares and a portion cut from another fabric came together for this Out Of Africa book page. 

Original fabric was a 5 inch square that I enlarged before printing. I wish I could find more of this fabric. 

Let's Create Today,

Luann

Burgundy and Bronze, oh my!

 

I am really liking the bronze thread on top of the burgundy in this fabric book page. 

I will be using these two colors together in some fall gift items. 

Let's Create Today,

Luann

Whiffle Balls and Ice Dyeing

Have you tried whiffle balls the size of golf balls as a resist when ice-dyeing?

This piece is drying on my screen porch. I used rubber bands to secure those little plastic gems. If you look at the picture above, you can see that some of the bands were tighter than others. Looser ones allowed more of the dyes to penetrate. 

How I did this:

Soaked fabric in soda ash solution overnite, usually I only soak for 30 minutes. 

Squeezed out the solution, saved it for next time. 

Secured my golf balls with rubber bands. The piece is narrow, so I just placed them down the middle. 

I then put them into a 1 gallon plastic pitcher I use in my dye studio experiments. 

Next came ice cubes.  I wanted my dye powder to break and give me lots of colors. 

It was then time to sprinkle on the dye powder, after putting on my particulate mask!

Now they needed to go out in the sunshine, and after 3 weeks of dreary days, I was anxious!

As the powders started to combine with the water from the melting ice, I chose to use my fine mister and keep the dye flecks off the walls of my pitcher. This also aided in getting the ice cubes to melt. 

Then came the process of waiting, cold rinses, cold soaks, hot rinses, hot washes, hot soaks, well I'm sure you get the idea. I find it very important to be sure all dye particles are taken care of. I don't want surprises later on. 

What did I take away from this experiment?

I will try it again, with these changes:

rubberbands will be snugly secured. 

longer batching time. 

use a raised platform in a rectangle pan so I have a single layer of ice. 

find a "sugar" shaker for applying my dye powder, to have better distribution across the entire piece. 

AND,

I will make another batch of dye powders. Perhaps even tweaking the mixture a bit!!

This one was made up of equal parts of watermelon, orange crush, Sahara, daffodil, azure, sea glass, baby blue, hyacynthia, & bougainvillea. These were from Dharma Trading Co., Spring 2014 Pantone inspired collection. 

If you have any questions or comments please contact me. Until then,,,,

Let's Create Today,

Luann

Sun printing with Setacolors

The weather forecast was for some sunshine between 10am and 2pm. I got things ready shortly after 10 and had a go at it with Setacolor fabric paints. Some were opaque, while others were transparent.  They all ended up mooshed together in the end. My colors aren't showing up very nicely, as they are a beautiful array of blues, silvers, and one has copper. I think I need to wait for daytime lighting for my best colors to show. 

This first picture is where I used whifle balls and tried to put color where I wanted it. 

 

I like this one, it reminds me of sunflowers, so I will move forward from there. 

These next ones had bulldog clips, or rubber bands dropped on them. 

 

This one had a rubber door mat put on top. 

These next two pictures are of my favorites of the day. I used some 12" square stencils that I purchased while I was at The Quilt Expo in Madison, WI  at the beginning of September. 

The one above is just the previous one with the excess fabric folded back. 

I used a black on white print fabric that I have done several different techniques on since the beginning of 2014. I had ordered a full bolt thru My Favorite Quilt Shop in Green Bay, WI. It came in with a more open weave than we had anticipated, so instead of using it for the original purpose, I have been experimenting with it. 

Well, that's it for today's creating adventure. 

What have you been up to?

Remember to enjoy the journey. 

And,

Let's Create Today. 

Luann

Lola Jenkins Workshop: Totally fun!

While I was in Green Bay, WI at the beginning of the month I took a workshop with Miss Bubbles.  Lola Jenkins is one of the most interesting and fun people I've met. This is the fabric portrait piece that I worked on. I will tell you more about my trip in future posts, but for now, I just wanted to get this picture posted for you to see. 

Awesome teacher indeed!