Portrait Quilt

My friend John had one of those birthdays this year - you know the sort I mean.  I was tempted to play a cruel and horrible joke on him, but then there would be nothing unusual in that.  Instead I made him a portrait quilt.

POLE DYEING & MANIPULATIONS - PART FOUR

Not everything I dyed this week has turned out as expected, and this piece ended up being very disappointing.  I wondered what would happen if I kept changing the orientation of the pole wrap and just kept on overdyeing.  The first wrap, using lemon yellow looked like this.  I turned the fabric orientation on the pole and over dyed with Turquoise.  I thought it would give me a lot of green, but in fact I ended up with turquoise and only very tiny dots of green.  I reasoned that I could carry on doing that to build up interesting layers of colour.

POLE DYEING & GENERAL MANIPULATIONS - PART THREE

Inspired by Iris' manipulations, I tried a few ideas out to see what other effects I could achieve.  I can't lay claim to the idea of using masking tape, I got the idea from Janice, who did it when I visited her.  My mind tells me that as this is paper tape, it ought not to make much difference to the dyeing as it would not form a very effective barrier between dye and cloth.  I suspect however, that it is the glue that forms a semi-waterproof barrier.

Dye Class

This week I held a small dyeing class for my friends.  This was just to go over the basics of dyeing and then trying out a few manipulations and a two colour gradation.  

This photo is either of me explaining the safe use of dyes and mixing containers, or demonstrating just how difficult it was for me to drink two glasses of wine with the face mask on!

POLE/TUBE DYEING PART TWO - WHAT IF?

I really loved the result of the tube dyeing in the last post, so I decided to try a couple of other ideas using the tube.  First I over dyed this piece of lemon yellow fabric, but instead of soaking it in dye, I painted the fabric with Boysenberry dye.

GRADATION, TWIST & POLE/TUBE DYEING - PART ONE

I finally got around to finishing up my 6 step gradation dyeing for all the different colour dyes I have.  These three colour were all recommended by Linda Johnson in her book, Fabric Dyers Dictionary.  Interestingly, it is easy to see how the two different blacks I used, have quite a different outcome.

Dharma's New Black, Black & Kelly Green

Fame At Last!

Life is sometimes all about the surprises that come our way.  Well I had a great one land at my feet last Friday, in the form of an invitation to be the guest quilter for Sewing Lovers Mag!  What me??!

Latest From Tom & Jerry

The latest antic from Tom was too good not to tell you about, though he may kill me if he see this.

Kiln Formed Glass Workshop with Louise Truslow

Now we all know that I love nothing better that trying my hand at something new, so when I told Alan I was going to take a class working with glass and that I would be working with a kiln, I could see the poor guy mentally calculating how much this was ultimately going to cost him!  I am not sure whether that look is despondent or resigned.  Ok, that was unfair, but only just!

Three of us took the class, with Robin and Jennifer doing one project and I another, utilising different methods.  Our teacher was artist Louise Truslow.  If you want to see some beautiful glass (as well as paintings) go take a look at her website.

I was surprised at just how labour intensive the class was,  We started at 9am and left about 6pm!

ISSUU

No, it isn't something nasty that I caught over the weekend but I did pick it up ISSUU on my daily blog stalk today.  I suppose it is a magazine, self publishing forum.  I don't know what you would call it, but there is a lot of good stuff on there, so take some time and go explore it at issue.com.


I am now the proud owner of a 'stack', a pile of publications that I think will be interesting to trawl through on a wet afternoon, when inspiration may seem scant.  I haven't had a chance to go through them all myself, just a quick flick.

My need for a Whiz Freedom

I know it is a bit early, but I know what I want for Christmas, do you?  Well before I tell you what it is, let me ask you this.  Have you ever wondered if women pee more than men?  Okay, okay, that resounding yes, from my husband apparently answers my question, I do at least!

In a moment of holiday boredom, I picked up a magazine that had been left behind in our house and found a funny article on female urinary devices.  No, not a giant cork as my ever supportive husband has suggested I use, but funnel shaped contraptions.  What a fantastic idea!

International Quilt Study Centre & Museum

For anyone interested in broadening their knowledge about quilting, IQSC offers up their podcasts (both audio and visual) via both their website and iTunes University.  I am now undertaking the mammoth task of downloading a whole slew on them to take on holiday with me.  Oh happy days!

DVD & BOOK REVIEW: BREAKDOWN PRINTING BY CLAIRE BENN & LESLIE MORGAN

In my review about Tray Dyeing, I said that there were other Committed To Cloth publications, more worthy of your money.  Breakdown Printing is it.

Breakdown printing, in its simplest form, is laying colour onto a screen, letting it harden, then removing it onto fabric, using paint, printing paste, discharging agents etc.  If you are just starting out along the surface design route, this would be an excellent first DVD to watch.  Claire takes you through why certain chemicals are used and how to mix them.  When I was making print paste by myself, I could't clearly see how it should look when first mixed and how runny or solid it should be when used.  This DVD clearly shows these sort of things.  The dvd also takes you through preparing your screens and cleaning them up at the end, as well as useful tools.  There are clear demonstrations on how to do the screening and the information and advice are really useful.  I can't wait to get started!

The DVD is available from Committed to Cloth for £14.50 and $25.20 from Dharma.  I recommend this as a really useful resource for your book/DVD library.

DVD REVIEW: TRAY DYEING WITH LESLIE MORGAN & CLAIRE BENN

After my enthusiasm  for Morgan & Benn's book/DVD combo Making Your Mark , I ordered another couple of their publications.

Tray Dyeing is a 44 page book with a 45 minute DVD.  My first feeling having watched the DVD was, is that it?  It really wasn't terribly inspiring.  I think the book is better than the DVD, especially as it contains a few colour recipes, but when it comes down to it, this method does seem a bit of a one trick pony, so there isn't much to tell.

The book costs $25 from Dharma, in the US and £16 direct from Committed to Cloth.  If you have a limited amount of money to spend, they have other publications more worthy of your money.

Horse riding in Bangkok

I could not resist snapping a surreptitious photo of this woman, standing on the MRT bridge at Central Chitlom.  What is she wearing??!  There cannot be many horses galloping around the MRT.

Also, I saw the front view and she is no spring chicken.  The fringed handbag is a nice touch and though you can't see it from this view, her shirt collar is turned up to frame her face.

Gel Candles

I decided to make some this scented candles this week.   I had some of the candle gel mixture at hand, so thought I would try that for a change.  I added orange oil to the gel and some orange colouring to complete the look.  In one of the containers I put a few seashells for decoration.

LAYERS

This is my latest quilt 'Layers' (well, the one that is actually finished) and as you can see, it is completely and utterly different to my other quilts.  

The quilt is based on some images that have been floating around in my head for some time, since seeing the work of photographer Martin Eisenhawer, whom I have been privileged to meet and whose monochromatic wildlife photographs really spoke to me. (Click here to see some of Martin's photographs).  I was intrigued by Martin's photographs that had an element of colour in an otherwise colourless environment.   

Mono Printing With Plastic Sheeting

Pat and I spent Thursday afternoon using plastic sheeting to print on fabric, an idea I got from the book and dvd by Claire Benn and Leslie Morgan, called Making Your Mark

First let me warn you, if you decide to have a go and are using red dye, make sure your test that the mixing container is watertight BEFORE putting the lid on and shaking it. My kitchen looked like a sniper had gone mad!  Thankfully as there wasn't any soda ash in the mix, the clean up was relatively painless.

DVD REVIEW: MAKING YOUR MARK WITH CLAIRE BENN & LESLIE MORGAN

If you want to take up surface design but don't want to buy every book and DVD out there (er, does that sound like me?!), buy Making Your Mark.  Sorry scrap that.  Forget the reasons, just rush to Amazon or Claire and Leslie's website and buy this book.  You won't regret it, not for a single infinitesimal moment,  Yep I love it!

DVD REVIEW: EXPRESSION SESSION WITH ALICIA BURKE

This is a Quilting Arts Workshop DVD.  It costs $19.95 and is 62 minutes long.  The link is here.  

Subtitled making vivid mixed-media fabric, they may as well call it, playtime for those of us who can't really paint.  Using acrylic paint, fabric paint sprays and shoe polish for goodness sake, Alicia swipes, stamps and dribbles paint across the surface of the fabric or paper she is working on.  Clearly a 'more is more fun' sort of girl, she aims to get as many techniques on the surface as possible.  

For those who are looking to get into mixed media or just colouring the fabric surface, this is an easy way to do so.  There is nothing she shows you that takes any fancy tool or any great skill, in fact the skill may be in when to shout "ENOUGH!".

I really enjoyed this DVD.  I have been inspired to just grab a doily off the cake stand and spray a bit of paint through it.  And finally, thank goodness, someone has shown me a fun way to use shoe polish!

Thai Massage

Well at least you will be under no illusions as to how sickening the masseuse will look!

BIRTHDAY BOY BAZ

What do you get a coffee addict for his birthday?

What can it be?

Latest on Unc!

I have been asked for an update on Unc, and I have been scratching my head for stories that are repeatable, or rather, won't get him into trouble with my aunt, should she happen across this post!

Unc likes railway models.  He restores old toy trains.  Actually I'm not sure if technically they are toys, since it appears to be grown men who spend hundreds of pounds on them.  Maybe I should call them models!  He also makes those set ups, where a train track is built into an interesting environment.  I am sure you know what I mean.

He has been working on a couple of such set ups, which are often used for various shows.  He builds the models, moulds figures to go with the set up etc.  This is a model he has made recently.

Fabric Dyeing

I spent last week dyeing fat quarters, about 72 if my maths are correct.   I am so pleased with my new stash!  Oh, and the fabric is sitting on a large piece of fabric that I dyed when I lived in Africa, which I now use to cover my print table when it isn't in use.

Print Paste

Alternative studio, aka the top of the dishwasher!

You know I thought the hardest part of doing surface design was going to be getting the table set up.  Actually I didn't think that would be hard.  Hum, I should have thought about that as I blithely set about trying to make my print paste. Okay, maybe I should roll back a step and explain print paste.

I want to print, draw, stamp etc on fabric, using dyes rather than fabric paint.  In order to do this the dye powder must be turned first into liquid, and then thickened up, which is where the print paste comes in.  If you don't thicken the dye, it will of course run all over the place, not hold shapes or marks and just, well dye the fabric with a big splodge (which may be what you are trying to achieve anyway).

I used what appears to be the standard print paste recipe.  First I made the chemical water.  This consists of two optional chemicals, ludigol and metaphos, neither of which I could get hold of, so it was a good job they were optional!  The non optional element is urea.  That's sheep's piss to you and me!  This stops the dyes from drying out too quickly.  This is mixed approximately 1 lire of warm water to 100g Urea.

IKEA PRINTING TABLE

I think it fair to say that IKEA was not in my best books this week.  I bought this table because the trestle legs (purchased as a separate item) allow you to easily raise and lower the table and tilt it at an angle.  For some bizarre reason however, the trestles do not actually connect to any of the table tops they sell, as indicated in the instructions.  To cut a long moan short (yes I can if I want!), I searched the internet and managed to find someone who had had the same problem (and probably like me, didn't own a drill to make some holes in the table top).  Apparently in the UK, IKEA secures this top with velcro!  So armed with my staple gun and a load of velcro, I have done the same thing.  It remains to be seen whether I end up with broken toes, if when I tilt the table, the whole thing falls on my foot!

ACCIDENTAL LANDSCAPES - THE BEACH

Last weekend found me with my nose firmly in The Quilt Show's open access to all their shows (they were celebrating International Quilting Weekend).  One of the shows I watched and really enjoyed was Karen Eckmeier talking about her Accidental Landscapes.

Karen's easy technique inspired me to try it out, so I made this very small quilt (16.5"x14")

Dancing With The Stars

On Dancing With The Stars this week, we have Tom doing the Asiatique rumba!

Sadly Jerry was still quaffing in the green room, so was not available for this dance.  Being the trooper that he is, Tom went on alone.

ANOTHER CONFETTI QUILT: THE LAKE

I know I keep saying that I won't do another confetti quilt, but every time I open the drawer and spot the pile of left over confetti, I think to myself, maybe one more.  I also wanted to make a larger, brighter looking confetti quilt, so it was a bit of an experiment.

Iris gave me a wonderful piece of green misprinted fabric, which was the start point for the quilt.  I have to say though, by the end of the quilt, as I got more and more carried away with that darned confetti, most of the background fabric was covered up.  This was not the initial intention as I really liked the fabric.  Luckily for me, generous Iris, when she realised how much I liked it, gave me some more!

Flights Of Fancy

I didn't really set out to make this quilt, it just happened.  I have an idea in my mind at the moment, for a quilt that just needs a lot of free time to play around with.  To fill my time until I could start on it, I started playing around with stitching animals, and before you know it, this parrot just, well spoke to me!

DVD REVIEW: INSPIRED VELVET WITH ANGIE HUGHES

This DVD is produced by COLOURICIOUS.  It runs for 97 minutes and costs £18.  It is available from other outlets including Amazon.

I purchased this dvd, having been inspired by the trailers for it on the COLOURICIOUS website.

Given my lack of access to velvet, I know I am not going to use the techniques on this DVD exactly as shown, but it was immediately obvious that you could do everything Angie talked about on other fabrics.

Angie's work is rich in colour and texture and she uses a lot of really fun stuff that makes you want to go out and play.  She touches on painting, printing, foiling, using glitter (at last a use for it).  I am sure the sweet wrappers she uses are something I won't have trouble finding and for the pyromaniacs amongst us, she gets out her heat gun too!

Like other COLOURICIOUS DVDs, the format is a classroom setting with a few people sitting around watching and occasionally participating.  It did feel rather fake, as they tried to look engaged in the process, but this is just a small niggle about that type of format.  

On the whole I found this DVD a good way to learn about how you can start a surface design picture, and had me eager to get something shiny out and stick it on some fabric.  If you like shiny, and you like to play, this is the DVD for you.

DVD REVIEW: TEXTURE TRANSFORMATION - STICTH, ALTER, RECYCLE

If you long to use up your old dryer sheets, get out your pencils and do some colouring, oh and maybe throw in a bit of computing, this is the dvd for you.

Natalya Aikens sets about showing the techniques she uses, in a very straight forward manner.  She doesn't waste time with silly catch phrases or have her pet cat running around the set.  She has information to impart and she does so with no frills.  I have to say - I like that!

This dvd is produced by Cloth-Paper-Scissors a sister publication to Quilting Arts.  It is 67 minutes long and costs $19.95.  The link is here.

Now, you do not make a project with this dvd, it is an ideas format, something to get those creative juices flowing.  So if you want your hand held as you make something, this isn't the dvd for you.

DVD REVIEW: REBEL QUILTING - THINKING OUTSIDE THE BLOCK

On my quilting journey, I have not had a lot of opportunities to take classes with real live teachers, so last year I decided to invest in more quilting/surface design dvds and online classes, to expand my skills.  One thing I've realised is that not all quilting dvds are born equal and that just as the usefulness of a class may vary, so too will a dvd.

Today I am looking at Rebel Quilting - Thinking Outside the Block, with Jamie Fingal.  The dvd is a Quilting Arts Workshop dvd and costs, at the time of writing this, about $20.  I always try to buy my Quilting Arts dvds in their sales, so I probably paid about half of that.  To link to the dvd, click here.

I chose this dvd because I liked the look of Jamie's quilts.  They are fun and funky and brightly coloured.  Watching the dvd also made me realise that they are really simple to make, and that you could easily make yourself a quilt in a day or two.  I didn't like the whole 'stick a zipper in the middle of your quilt' idea, but then you could just leave it out if you hate it.

FAMOUS QUILT EXHIBITION PART II: NORIKO NOZAWA

Noriko Nozawa is a Japanese quilter.  Wow!  Her quilts are amazing and inspirational.  I spent a lot of time looking at these.  I think just about all her quilts on show had been in Houston or in the Yokohama show in Japan.  It was easy to see why they were in the shows.  Sadly, there was no information available about her in English.

This quilt is titled,  METRO, Where Do You Go From Now On?

This is a wonderful quilt.  Like most of her other quilts on display, it has so much hidden away.  Each time Iris and I went back to look at it, we saw something else.

Luckily I had Iris with me, so she soon worked out that the coloured lines were the New York subway, and that the black and brown background, is a map of Manhattan and er, well other places in New York (sorry I forget and don't want to say the wrong ones!).

FAMOUS QUILT EXHIBITION PART I: SHIMA MICHIKO

Surely only in Asia, could a quilt show be called Famous Quilt Exhibition! 

Shima Michiko was one of the two Japanese quilters, whose work was on display at the Janome offices in Bangkok.  Her quilts are typically Japanese, with the use of kimono and obi fabric as the main fabrics.

The Coven On Weber Canyon Road

The first quilt of the new year, or should that be the final quilt of the last year?!

The Coven on Weber Canyon Road, is based on the holiday I took with Janice and Mary in Utah last year.  Weber Canyon Road is up where Janice & Roger's cabin is, and the quilt is based on an actual barn.