It's time... the SAQA Fiberlandia Conference is This Week!

Come say "hi" on Thursday, April 30th at the vendor mall! I'll have piles of hand crafted fabric for your pleasure and of course fabric fondling is encouraged! 

Don't forget to enter to win my awesome giveaway! 

Some fabulous and generous artists donated their wonderful products so we could have even more fun... books, DVD's, screens, stencils, TAP, fabric packs, a tee shirt and tote - come down to enter before 5:00!

Giveaway items donated by Lesley Riley, Lynn Krawsyck, Julie B. Booth, Terri Stegmiller, Deborah Boschert and me! 

I look forward to chatting with you about your work and of course what's new in fabric design. The vendors will only be available Thursday between 12 - 5:00 so make sure you allow time to shop. 

The conference will be awesome with lots of activities, workshops and speakers. I'm looking forward to all of it! 

See you there!
Carol

Doubletree Hotel, 1000 NE Multnomah Street, Portland, OR 

Fun With Silk & Sharpies!

For the longest time I've been waiting for the right moment to pull out the Silk and Sharpies again! It's a technique that forces you to slow down and embrace the process; until now my life hasn't allowed that luxury! The whole project reminds me of Mark Lipinski as he advocates for the Slow Stitching Movement... enjoy the journey! So... here is the journey! 

The last time I posted about this technique I was mumbling about using a larger piece of silk and wondered how I might stretch the surface. My buddy Julie Booth (the Queen of using practical supplies you already have on hand in surface design!) suggested I use an embroidery hoop --Bingo! I happened to have a large quilter's hoop and it was a fabulous suggestion.

It's all quite simple for such a cool end result! I stretched the silk in the hoop keeping it taunt. Next I colored random dots using permanent Sharpie markers. Now for the magic - using a small tipped squeeze bottle I dropped Isopropyl Alcohol onto the dots. Immediately the marker reacts and starts to spread across the silk. Now for the slowing down part - you need to keep moving the hoop around the surface until the fabric is filled in. TIP: fold the silk in half so you can cover a larger surface with each stretch! The marker will run onto the underside. 

Once I covered the surface and the silk was dry I restretched and dropped more alcohol randomly across the surface. The second round created more depth to the overall design. This piece is 44" X 43" which is by far the largest piece I've done with this technique. I'm definitely going to keep going as it was fun.... slow but fun! 

My next curiosity is in mixing colors and creating circles inside of circles... if anyone has suggestions I'm all in! 

Freezer Paper + Thickened Dye = Leaf Fabric!

I had fun using freezer paper to create a leaf design. Have you tried this technique? Freezer paper can be purchased at any grocery store. It's easy to find and very inexpensive to add to your studio stash!

Here is the finished piece. It had an interesting journey - please read on! 

I started with plain white fabric. Tracing a leaf from the yard I created a plastic template. I placed the leaf under a silk screen and pulled 2 colors across the screen. 

Next I ice dyed the fabric blue to complement the design. Using the same plastic leaf I created a stencil using the freezer paper. I ironed the paper onto the fabric to anchor it in place. This is the beauty of using freezer paper - it's so easy to manipulate!

I'm ready to go - deep breath... will it work... will it flop?! 

Using thickened dyed I covered the exposed fabric.

Once you start pulling the freezer paper off you can see if the results are what you expected - yeah!  

Here is a detail of the finished leaf. I like the flecks of red embedded in the purple color! 

What have you tried with a freezer paper resist or stencil?

Judy Sall + Soy Wax = Great Tips for Batik!

Batik leaves by Judy Sall

Last week I posted about a batik project I was working on and mentioned I had trouble getting the wax off the fabric. Judy Sall came to my rescue! In addition to batik Judy is also proficient at fabric dying, fabric coil bowls, hand dyed scarves and more! As many artists are kind and generous souls Judy raised her hand and offered tips on getting the wax out. She not only shared her process with me but agreed to write a tutorial on her approach to batik. Below are Judy's tips for getting the wax out but please click HERE for Judy's complete tutorial on the batik process using soy wax!  

Judy says...
This is a follow-up regarding the final rinse/launder to remove the wax and set the dyes.  I have heard some people comment that they have difficulty getting the wax out, and compared to paraffin and bees-wax, I find soy wax to be a lot easier.  Short answer... hot water.  I do the standard pre-rinse with cold water to remove the soda ash, then wash with synthrapol and hot water, followed by multiple rinses with warm water.  If I can still feel or see wax, back into more hot water.  I plan on shrinkage, so I'm not concerned if I have any, but this is my magic formula, whether I'm working on fabric or cotton clothing.  I use the washer if I have several pieces, or a bucket with hot water if not.  And it is okay with the septic system, both according to the manufacturer as well as my own experience.  Hope these instructions help you to explore the wonderful world of soy wax batik!  Enjoy!

For a complete tutorial visit Judy Sall's blog! 

Judy's piece is ready to mount! 

Mola Inspired Fabric Giveaway - The Printed Fabric Bee!

This month's "Queen" of The Printed Fabric Bee was Julie B. Booth - artist, author and teacher extraordinaire! Julie has a passion for the reverse applique technique of Mola. I too never tire of looking at the beautiful and intricate work. I enjoy the contrast and bright colors - so bold and dramatic. It was intimidating to develop a fabric design that would represent this technique. I share my process below but first... how to win your own 6" X 6" custom fabric collection! 

Hop over to Julie's blog and leave a comment or go over to The Printed Fabric Bee blog and leave one there. Julie will choose a winner Wednesday, April 15th! 

I had a few false starts on creating my piece but ended up using a freezer paper resist. First I drew a design on the paper and cut it out. 

Next I lightly touched the iron  to the non-shiny side of the paper to tack it to the screen.

 Now for the fun! I held my breath and picked up the screen to see if my concept worked.

All right, all right, all right... it worked! None of them were "perfect" so I kept going and filled up the fabric (ice dyed). 

 I settled on a couple that were decent and cut them out. 

 I added some design details to try to capture the essence of the Mola stitch work.  

 Here is the 6" X 6" piece I created for the giveaway. Hurry and enter to win! Please check out the other artists blogs as they share their inspiration and processes. The unique approach will give you lots of ideas for your own work! 

Jackie Lams

Lynda Heines

Gerrie Congdon

Susan Purney Mark

Deborah Boschert

Jane Davila

Lisa Chin

Lynn Krawczyk

Leslie Jenison

Judy Gula