Batting and Bags

Here are a few projects that I finished up in the last couple of weeks. My Fibervison group had a dye day using Rit liquid dye. A variety of items were dyed and over-dyed, fabric, lace and batting were the most popular. I dyed three different types of cotton batting: Warm & Natural, Soft Touch and Mountain Mist.

They all dyed equally as well, however, the rinsing was a little rough on the batting and a few thin spots developed. Mountain Mist was my least favorite going in to the experiment, but it held up the best. The papery outer layer protected it. A surprise was waiting for me when the Mountain Mist dried. One thickness of batting separated into two pieces.How cool is that? Two for the price of one! (The photo below shows the layers pulled apart.)

If you want to give this a try, we followed the directions in the Dec/Jan issue of Quilting Arts by Judy Coates Perez.

I made these shopping bags for my kids (grown adults really) for Christmas. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a photo of Jason's before he went home.

Sean likes anything abstract and the fabric for this bag was selected with that in mind.

Rachel's favorite color is orange. I figured this tropical fabric would make her happy . . . and it did.

Thanks for hanging out with me this year, it's been a lot of fun. I hope you all have a Happy and Healthy New Year!

Painted Fabric

This piece was painted with Dye-na-flow and scrunched until it was dry.This base of this fabric was screen-printed with construction fence under the screen. Once dry, the whole piece was painted with Dye-na-flow. The paint filled all the areas that weren't already painted. I didn't really like this piece until I added the final layer. You just never know.
The first layer was black textile paint through a thermofax screen, second layer was yellow Setacolor, the third layer was Dye-na-flow.
I grew up in MA where there are plenty of old apartment buildings and fire escapes, but there aren't many in Santa Barbara. This one is part of the historic Hotel Santa Barbara. This building is 3 stories high; the tallest in town is five stories. The building codes are very strict here, both size and style are scrutinized. It generally takes about 5 years to get a building permit. Patience and deep pockets are required.

Fun with Soy Wax

Here's my latest experiment with soy wax, Dye-na-flow and found objects. Each piece started with fabric that was previously colored in some way. I figured another layer of color couldn't hurt.
I hope you can see the waxed images that were stamped on the fabric. I used a pool noodle extender to make the largest circles, the medium circles were made with plastic thing that held a roll of paper. The smaller circles were thread spools and the smallest circles were made with the end of a dowel.This photo shows the piece with wet red, blue and purple paint. The wax will resist the paint and leave the original color showing.

Here's the final piece with all the wax removed. Very fun, lots of movement.

This piece uses the potato head masher and thread spools. I was really anxious to see how this piece turned out.
Orange, red and yellow paint was added. You can really see the wax impressions now.Dry fabric with wax removed. I love it! The colors are very happy.

I always put another piece of fabric underneath to catch any excess paint. No sense wasting good paint. Again, it's usually a piece that needs a little something.

Here's my final piece. I used the pool noodle and thread spools again. This time, I purposely cracked the wax to see what would happen.
Red paint added. You can see the red seeping into the cracks.
Here's the dry fabric with the wax removed. This is what happens when you start with a dark background. It's a bit moody, don't you think?

This was a lot of fun and easy too. I'm sure I will be doing more.

De ja vu?

If you've been following my blog for a while, you've already seen a similar photo of junk on my curb. We're at it again. This time we're landscaping the back yard. The first step in any landscaping project is removal and that's what we did here.

Those bags are filled with a 20 feet of bamboo roots. I think we got most of it, but we'll find out for sure in the next couple of months. The canes have been cut, stacked and taped into bundles for the trash men to haul away. Bamboo is so tough it breaks the chipper, so we can't recycle any part of it as green waste. Good riddance!

I've been having a lot of fun with dye, soy wax and paint. I'll take some photos and post them next time.

I'm So Lucky

I'm so lucky to be surrounded by supportive people. My family is always there for me, no matter what. My like-minded fiber friends feed my soul in a way that nobody else can. The Internet has allowed me to meet many wonderful artists that are willing to share their lives, work, ideas and techniques. It truly has become a very small world.

My friend, Linda, surprised me with a large bag at our last Fibervision meeting. Inside was a lot of hand-dyed fabric (over 5 yards) that she dyed herself. Beautiful, saturated colors, very moody and mysterious,

and a gallon Ziploc bag full of thread balls. OMG . . .what an impressive collection of thread balls.

My jaw dropped, I couldn't believe my good fortune. Only someone that knows me very well

would know that this messy pile would be a cherished gift!

I've been saving these ends from washed fabric for years and bet I have one of the largest collections in southern CA. I think I've posted photos of things I've made in the past. Here's one piece that uses a number of these knotted beauties.

I really love this piece, but don't own it any longer. I really should make more, it was a lot of fun to work on.

Here's another gift I received in the mail. I admired the rusted fabric Elizabeth was making and she was kind enough to sent me a beautiful piece.

A huge thank you to Linda and Elizabeth for their gifts and many thanks to all of you out there for all your support and comments. Keep them coming!