Kate Themel's "Tattooed Boy"

Kate Themel recently completed her fiber art piece, "Tattooed Boy"! Kate's son was her inspiration; to read more about the sweet and tender backstory to the design please read Kate's blog ! I was honored to create the custom fabric for the background and to be part of such a wonderful project.

Kate wanted the text behind Tattooed Boy to represent the background noise or mindless messages kids receive in their lives. Go to Kate's blog to find the secret message quilted into the background!

Tattooed Boy - full size

Texture with Clips!

I tried my hand at using clips on the fabric to keep the folds in place before dipping in the dye bath. The results are intriguing and I'm already thinking about ways to tweak the process for different textured results!

Imperial Purple and Raspberry

Thermofax Screen + Decolorant = More Spirals!

I always do this... I get excited about a technique or product and it takes over my thoughts! This is happening with a challenge from The Printed Fabric Bee and my recently designed Thermofax screen. Terri Stegmiller produced the screen and I strongly encourage you to visit her site and explore the other totally awesome products and designs she creates!

I used a decolorant by Jacquard to remove the color with help from the Thermofax screen. The discharge paste is a little thinner than typical fabric screen paint and very easy to use. You place a dollop on the screen and using an old credit card I pulled the paste across the screen. You need to be careful not to drip the paste onto the fabric or the color will come off in unexpected places!

 

The discharge paste needs to be dried completely before you can heat set. It's a little like magic because once the paste dries it becomes invisible. Using a steam iron begin slowly pressing the fabric until the areas with the decolorant start to reappear. The longer you heat set the fabric the stronger the design will be. It was really fun seeing how crisp the colorless spirals looked but after placing it on the design wall for a longer look the fabric needed more action.



Taking Seta Color fabric paints I swirled the paint through the spirals. The fabric was damp to encourage the paint to meander and blend together. Once the fabric was dry I heat set with a dry iron to ensure the paint won't wash. I'm not sure what this fabric will become in it's next life... any ideas?!

Blue Spirals: The Printed Fabric Bee!

It's getting close to the big reveal for the second custom fabric collection of The Printed Fabric Bee artists! Julie B. Booth asked for "blue spirals" with little direction leaving it wide open to interpretation for each artist. Her request for spirals was challenging for me and I do LOVE a challenge!

I started with cotton fabric and confetti dyed using orange and yellow. Julie asked for blue spirals so I wanted to get contrasting colors in the background.

Next I printed large blue spirals using a custom created thermofax screen by Terri Stegmiller.

I wanted to add more contrast so using the ice dyeing technique I added green to the background. The large spirals were a little overwhelming so I carved a stamp with a smaller spiral to add more movement and interest.

As I mentioned this was truly a challenge but it was fun to push myself to work with an element that I don't usually connect with. Below are the tools used to create this design that just wants to party!

The artists participating in The Printed Fabric Bee will be mailing their custom pieces to Julie no later than next week and she'll announce the big reveal on our Facebook page in early December.  Remember each collection reveal means YOU have a chance to win a fabric pack of the "Queen Bee's" fabrics!

 

Flour Resist - Julie B. Booth's Technique!

Julie B. Booth has a blog packed full of surface design techniques utilizing things from your own kitchen! Julie's perfected her ideas and is getting ready to have a book published due out next fall... I know... it's hard to wait! Check out her blog for a head start on producing one of a kind fabrics! Her current blog is titled, "Carrots, Turnips and Pears... Oh My!". Come on... don't you just HAVE to take a look?!

I followed her flour resist directions. I've tried this is the past but there were gaps in the directions so it was difficult to achieve the results I wanted. With Julie's directions I was able to cruise right through the process and happy with the results.

I started with a piece of multi colored ice dyed fabric. Following Julie's directions I mixed up a paste of flour and water spreading a thin layer across the surface of the fabric. Next I dragged a comb through the flour and then added circles with a fork.

Once the flour dried I crinkled it to create interesting lines in addition to the comb and fork designs. I used a Seta Color fabric paint per Julie's directions and painted over the flour allowing the paint to seep down into the design in the flour.

Once the paint was set and the flour removed I had a true one of a kind fabric. The fabric seemed like a good fit with my coveted Ethiopian fabrics brought back by my friend Leila who traveled there. I made a large table runner which will remind me of Leila's journey each time I see it.

Here is one more little shot of the table runner. It's headed for a special project and I'm unable to show the complete view just yet... stay tuned!

WIN - WIN - WIN: a custom fabric collection from THE PRINTED FABRIC BEE!

To win this one-of-a-kind collection of 6" X 6" fabrics all you have to do is leave a comment on Lynn Krawczyk's blog OR on our Facebook page beneath the picture you see above! The comments from both places will be combined into one drawing (one chance per person) and the winner will be announced on Monday November 11. Just leave a comment, any kind of comment and you’ll be in the drawing!

Each month there is a new "Queen" with her own custom theme request. The "hive" will create unique fabrics inspired by the Queen and we'll have another giveaway! This month Julie Basseches Booth chose BLUE SPIRALS so be sure to keep checking back for progress updates and more chances to win a gorgeous custom fabric collection!  

There may be some follow up pieces to the official giveaway. Life gets busy and if a member is not be able to meet every deadline we will mail the additional piece as soon as possible.

Participating Artists:

Lynn Krawczyk:

http://smudgedtextilesstudio.com/

Julie B. Booth: http://www.threadbornblog.com/

Gerrie Congdon: http://www.gericondesigns.com/
 

Leslie Riley: http://www.lesleyriley.com/
 

Carol R. Eaton: http://carolreatondesigns.blogspot.com/
 

Jackie Lams: http://www.studiolams.com/
 

Lisa Chin: http://somethingcleveraboutnothing.blogspot.com/
 

Susan Purney Mark: http://susanpm.com/
 

Lynda Heines: http://www.bloombakecreate.com/
 

Pokey Bolton: http://pokeysponderings.com/