MORE FABRIC PRINTING

I had such a good time doing a presentation for the  Plymouth County Cranberry Quilters in Massachusetts last week. What a fun group. (Thanks to Phyllis for inviting me.)  

 

I wanted to bring along a few new things I was working on.

 

 Canvas printed with handmade stamps & found objects.

 

 Mobile made from leaf prints

 

 

 

 Wallhanging (strip pieced using hand dyed fabrics & machine quilted)

 

FABRIC PRINTING WORKSHOP

I did my

 "Tons of  Time-Tested, Tried & True, Terrific Textile Design Tips & Techniques for the Timid, Trepidatious & Truly Terrified"

workshop a few weeks ago with the Northern Lights Quilt Guild

in Lebanon,NH.

 

As always I learned as much from them as they learned from me. That's how it is when you get a group of creative people together and you explore all the things you can do using some basic supplies and simple, easy techniques.

 

Here's a sampling of some of the cool fabrics they created.

 

Click on image to see larger view 

 

This was a really fun day!!!!

ANOTHER CLASS

Another great class 
We put the TEXT into TEXTiles
Stamping - Stenciling - Printing
A wonderful exchange of ideas & techniques

Aren't these fabric postcards cool ?

( I really must stop & take more pics -

 I got caught up in things & just barely got this shot as we were packing up )

********

This week's class will be FABRIC PAINTING
I can't wait to see what the participants will come up with.
I must say particpants NOT students because we all learn so much from each other
 - I always leave with lots of new things to try.  

MY CLASS AT THE LAC

Look at the cool stuff that the women in my stamping & printing class did !!!
I was so excited with the way they just picked up on the techniques
 & then just let their creativity fly.

These techniques & tools are so simple that everyone can unleash all kinds
 of new ideas and ways to use their creations.


 I was having so much fun that I forgot to take pictures until the end
 and some of the pieces were already packed away & out the door.
They were all so unique & gorgeous.

What I loved was how we all kept discovering new ways to play
 with all the crazy found objects.  
  

Leslie brought these great lunch bags to print on - aren't they wonderful?

 

 

Everyone seemed to gravitate toward their own personal color palettes
 - very interesting how the same techniques produced such uniquely different art.

And, as always, I get as many new ideas from everyone else as I hope I give to them.
 It's all about sharing & bouncing things off of each other.
 Creative energy at it's best.

 

 

 

Thanks girls - I had a BLAST.








P.S. Don't forget to check out the exhibit at the Newport Library Arts Center (www.libraryartscenter.org).
 The Written Word show opened on Friday - the pieces are so interesting. I'm thrilled to have a piece in the exhibit.

SHE'S AN ARTIST

I've always loved the words to this Bob Dylan song (from She Belongs To Me - 1965 ) - so when I heard that the upcoming exhibit at my local art center was going to be 

 The Written Word, works influenced by books,writing & text, I knew I wanted to do this.

I've had this rattling around in my head for awhile so it was really fun to work on.  

I used a tie dyed fabric from my abundant outta control stash 

Had fun with some freehand wavy quilting - Love this kind of quilting -  throw on some

 Dave Mathews and just get a rhythym going with the quilt.

Opening reception is this Friday night, July 27th, 5-7PM at the Library Arts Center, Newport, NH.

The show runs through Sept 7th - stop by and check it out. More info www.libraryartscenter.org

ALSO.... WORKSHOPS
 I'm teaching a few workshops there this summer - my first class, Creative Exploration in Fabric Surface Design is actually tomorrow night (Thursday, July 26th 6:00-8:30 ) - a few spaces are still open - go to the website (above) for sign-up info. I'm teaching my fast, fun and frugal fabric printing and stamping techniques. There will be tons of tried & true, time-tested, terrific textile techniques for the timid, trepidatious and truly terrified !!!  Hope to see you there. BRING FABRICS TO PRINT ON (pre-washed cottons recommended for class)


AND ....
 Coming soon ... Thurs, August 9th,  TEXTile class - fabric printing with the focus on using TEXT.  Personalize those wearables, home dec items and unique fiber art pieces that you see in all the catalogs & shops, using words & phrases that have special meaning to you.


Weds, August 15th, Innovative Fabric Painting - This class will focus more on fabric painting techniques.  We will be using Setacolor paints - which create gorgeous watercolor effects on fabric. I will show you how to use salt & the sun to give the look of texture to your fabrics. You will also use these techniques to create a beautiful silk scarf - I will provide one scarf and will have more scarves available for purchase at at reasonable price.

Click on the SURFACE DESIGN tab under the header

 to see a sampling of things we'll cover in the classes.

FOR ALL CLASSES:

 PLEASE WEAR OLD CLOTHES/APRONS. 

 BRING LOTS OF FABRICS TO MAKE SAMPLES OF ALL THE TECHNIQUES.

YOU WILL BE GOING HOME WITH LOTS OF EASY USEFUL TECHNIQUES AND IDEAS FOR COOL THINGS FOR YOU, YOUR HOME AND GIFTS FOR EVERYONE.

THE GIRLS

Art dolls made from fabric that I've dyed and stamped.

The stamps are handmade, super simple AND FUN. This doll pattern was in Quilting Arts Magazine Issue #8  Winter 2002

I've been dinkin' around with paper clay and air dry clay and these cool face molds. Very easy - just glued onto the dolls. The clay & molds can be found in most craft stores (ie. Michaels or JoAnn's ) usually with the Fimo clay stuff.

*** The face on the 3rd doll is pewter from Artchix  www.artchixstudio.com

SPRING IS ON THE WAY

Well we finally have some snow-just in time to usher in the first day of March.

A good time to hunker down and do some projects

I just mailed this out to my sister for her birthday

hope she doesn't see my post today.

I've been stamping up a storm

These are a few of my handmade stamps

Notice that I'm taking close up photos - I don't want you to see the total mess that I create when I'm working.

This is a more realistic view here. I haven't eaten a meal on a real table in years - Isn't that why they invented TV tray tables anyway?

I'm always in awe of those perfect studios in magazines. How does anyone get anything done in those studios ?  I mean REALLY!!!! The only place that I ever saw a studio that I could relate to was Robbi Joy Ecklow's in STUDIOS magazine (Spring 2010) in an article called "Disorganized Organization"