The Printed Fabric Bee > Custom Fabric > Sneak Peek!

As a reminder The Printed Fabric Bee is a printed fabric exchange between 10 professional textile artists. Each month a member of the hive chooses a theme, making her the Queen, and the members of the Hive create a piece of fabric based on her choices. In the end, each member will have a collection of custom made fabric created by all the members of the Hive.

Coming soon... you will have an opportunity to win the same beautiful customized fabric being created for the Queen. Each month the "Queen" will give away the same fabric she receives with each piece being 6" X 6".

 

Lynn Krawczyk from Smudged Textile Studios was the first artist to determine the theme and she chose – Orange Circles! This is a little sampling of what I created. The FaceBook page has snippets and sneak peeks of fabric the artists are working on and in early November Lynn will reveal the entire collection!
 

 Please visit our FaceBook page!

 

Combining Techniques: Ice Dyeing, Stencils & Fabric Paint

I'm turning my thoughts to the upcoming winter and the colors we see during that season! I think of sparkling whites, many shades of grey, lavenders, blues, browns and even black. I've been experimenting with ice dyed fabric to capture the right intensity of colors to "read" as winter. I had a grey and lavender piece that stayed on my design wall waiting for more inspiration to come along.

I decided to trace leaves from the yard to create stencils. I lightly stenciled the fabric with shades of brown, gold, beige and white. I wanted just enough color for the illusion of faded leaves left over from autumn.

Next I painted the entire surface with a blue wash of fabric paint. I manipulated the surface and left to dry. I had some other techniques in mind but given the overcast and cool weather I stopped there!

Winter Leaves
1 yard - $30 -100% Cotton

 

Freestyle Dyeing!

It's fun to let go of "control" over how the dyes behave! In this experiment I hung damp fabric on the line. I took squeeze bottles filled with dye and began to drip the dye across the top of the fabric. How fun to see the dyes mingle and meander together.

Giving it my first try!
 

Feeling more comfortable!

In my happy place!
Don't forget to place fabric below the line to catch the wonderful drips
as the dye rolls off the fabric.
 

One of the finished pieces... just for fun!

Sun Prints for My "Leave Only Footprints" Fabric Series!

My passion for woodlands is only surpassed by my obsession for creating art influenced by nature!

I started with a yard of PFD cotton fabric and painted greens, browns and a touch of red across the whole surface of the fabric. My all time favorite fabric paints are made by  Setacolor diluted with a little water.

I picked some large ferns and laid them on top of the wet fabric. The ferns had firm round stems so I ended up pinning them here and there to “assist” them in laying flat. I added some Kosher salt around the edges to help the paint migrate and left the piece in the sun until dry.

 

It’s hard to be patient and not peek at the progress but the more you leave the natural materials undisturbed the stronger the sun print will be!

 

If you'd like more detail about this piece please visit the "Leave Only Footprints" fabric series page located in the right hand column.

Under the Sea series - well "near" the sea!

I've added another panel to my "Under the Sea" hand crafted fabric series. Although it's not technically under the sea it is a beach scene! The weather was glorious today and I spent the whole day painting fabric outside and taking full advantage of some late season sun printing. If you'd like more detailed information about the piece please visit the "Under the Sea Fabric Series" under Fabrics for Sale. 



Beachside Panel
43" X 44"
 

The Printed Fabric Bee - Custom Fabric Collections!

The Printed Fabric Bee is a printed fabric exchange between ten professional textile artists. Each month a member of the colony chooses a theme, making her the Queen, and the members of the Hive create a piece of fabric based on her choices. In the end, each member will have a collection of custom made fabric made by all the members of the Hive.

We will post the fabric we create on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/theprintedfabricbee. 

 

Please follow our progress and watch for ways you can win a special collection created by the following fabulous surface design 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/