One Color Palette + Paint Brushes, Plastic Balls, Ice Cubes & Bleach = A Variety of Results!

A fellow artist asked me to create some fabric in a specific color palette for an upcoming project. She was also looking for foliage and water colors. That just happens to be one of my favorite palettes so I was excited to get started! 

I choose 2 soft blues and 3 greens for the project. Since I wanted to offer a variety of designs to choose from I decided to incorporate low immersion dyeing (sort of!) and ice dyeing.The thing I'd like you to remember is that in every piece I used the same color combination yet the outcomes are very different from one another. 

Once I mixed the dye and water I opted to paint the dye onto the fabric surface.
After I washed the dyed piece I went back and discharged some color for a more "watery" feel! 

For this piece I tied small plastic balls randomly in the fabric. I painted the dye across the very lumpy surface! 

Detail of the "lumpy" fabric

This fabric was the most mellow in the project. I scrunched the fabric and brushed the tops of the raised surface with dye. 

Now you can see how the colors seem to shift.
This piece is ice dyed and the colors are deeper.

The exact same color combinations are being used but with the ice technique there are more unpredictable results! 

This is another ice dyed piece. Just like one of the other fabrics after I washed it I went back to discharge some color. 

We shall see if any of the fabrics catch the clients eye... and if not that's OK too! Each project is a challenge and allows me to stretch myself and grow as a surface design artist! 

Hope you are enjoying your summer and getting OUTSIDE to create beautiful art! 

A Chance to Win One of a Kind Fabric!

I am the guest blogger for The Printed Fabric Bee during the month of June. Each week I had an opportunity to interview a guest and introduce a unique surface design technique with a focus on working in Plein Air! 

Week 1: Creating an Outdoor Work Space + Ice Cube Fabric Painting

Week 2: Cyanotype & Heligraphic Printing with Sue Reno

Week 3: Rusting Fabric with Maggie Vanderweit

Week 4: Fabric Painting, Dyeing & Discharging Fabrics from a clothesline ~ Finding Creative Inspiration with Lorie Hancock McCown

Hop over to The Printed Fabric Bee blog and leave a comment for a chance to win a pack of fat quarters for each technique discussed in June. The winner will be announced June 30th! 

Week 5: FABRIC GIVE AWAY! 

Only one more post before the Working in Plein Air Series is over and The Printed Fabric Bee moves onto our next member's inspirations and techniques for the month of July!

Summer Studio Workshops~ Registration is Open!

     Have Fun * Get Messy * Take Home Fabulous Fabric!

I will be hosting a fabric PAINTING workshop August 27th and a fabric DYEING workshop September 10th in my Shelton, CT studio. I'll share my experience from over a decade of experimenting and fine tuning my approach to surface design.

Registration is open - only 10 students per class - so let me know quickly if you'd like to come play! Click on the workshop title to register.

Fabric PAINTING Workshop

August 27th / 10:00 - 2:00

Learn a number of unique ways to paint the surface of your fabric. We’ll use the sun to print images, we'll create a textured appearance on fabric and you can try my new painting with ice cubes technique... and more! 

Each student will create and take home 4 yards of fabric.

Fabric DYEING Workshop

September  10th / 10:00 - 2:00

Learn the secrets of three different surface design techniques; ice dyeing, confetti dyeing and free-motion dyeing. Each method yields very diverse results – all fun and distinctive! We'll be using ice cubes, shakers, spray bottles, silk screens... and more! 

Each student will create and take home 4 ½ yards of fabric.

Windham Textile and History Museum
411 Main St. and at 159 Union St
Willimantic, Ct. 06226

June 11th / 10:00 - 4:00

VENDORS 

Carol Eaton – Hand Dyed & Painted Fabrics - STOP BY AND SAY HELLO!  

MJ Fiber Art – Unique Hand-Dyed & Painted Fabric 

Michele Palmer – Vintage fabrics including Toile,  Barkcloth & Americana. Her books on textiles, which include some of the fabrics she has for sale. Michele will be on hand to sign books and answer your vintage fabric questions. 

Schiller’s Sewing Circle – Sewing & Embroidery Machine Demo’s 

Catherine Whall Smith - Quilt Art
Stitch Chicks - Quilting Fabric and Notions 

Allison Wilbur – Vintage Quilting & Fiber Art Embellishments

DISPLAY HANGINGS (Dugan, Rear - Union St.) 
Catherine Whall Smith – Fiber Art 
CT Studio Art Quilt Association (SAQA)
Spool Quilt Barbara Barber – Hand painted “Mill Girls”

MUSIC 
Heartstrings – Melanie & Mack Johnston, mountain dulcimer, mandolin & guitar 1-2 pm 
Sally Rogers – Folk & Mill Music

DEMONSTRATIONS (Dugan, Rear - Union St.) 
Ongoing:
Schiller’s Sewing Circle – Sewing & Embroidery Machines 
Carol R. Eaton Designs – Designing Fabric for a Quilt 

Scheduled:
12 pm Hand Quilting – Catherine Whall Smith 
1 pm Folk & Mill Music Sally Rogers 
2 pm Printing Images on Fabric – Catherine Smith and Joan Johnson 
3 pm Working with Pre-Cut Fabric Stitch Chicks Quilt Shop

LECTURES in Main Building (second floor) 
11 am - SAQA Trunk Show - Hope Barton 
11:45 am – Modern Quilting - Rita Hannafin 
1:15 pm - Quilt for Change - Allison Wilbur 
2:00 pm - Mill Girls – Barbara Barber 
2:45 pm – Anatomy of Appraisal Lois Palmer, Certified Quilt Appraiser