Where did November Go?

I can't believe how quick the time is flying by. As I get older, the time between Halloween and Christmas seems to get shorter every year. Of course, it was quite the opposite when I was a child. I'm sure it was the same for you too.

This year, I was really fortunate to have a wonderful group of friends and family at my home for Thanksgiving. I hope that all of you also had a lovely day. It's been an amazing year for me both creatively and physically. Regaining my vision was life changing. After the surgery, I made a major change in my life. I began eating healthy and exercising A LOT. It was not easy. . . every muscle in my body screamed loud and often. But, I've lost 50 pounds and I feel so much better. I'm really grateful that I was able to dig deep and find the strength to stick with it. If you're going though this and need some encouragement, let me know. I'll be your #1 fan.

Here's a little quilt that I started quite a while ago in a workshop with Esterita Austin. My sister-in-law saw it in my studio and fell in love with it, so I finished it for her.

This is the back view, showing the quilting through the top and batting. Once it was quilted, I added a backing using the pillowcase technique.

Here's the front of the quilt. I added the shadows in the doorway using 2 colors of tulle. I think the finished size is around 20 x 22".

A good friend hasn't been feeling well lately, so we gifted her with a pretty scarf from Houston. Of course, I had to have some fun decorating the gift bag. 

I screen-printed both designs onto the bag using the water soluble crayons, extender and the screens shown. The screen of the wild child is a thermofax and the random shape screen was made using a sheer curtain and blue glue as a resist. Surprisingly, these screens will last for several printing sessions if you clean them using cold water.

Let me know if you have any questions, I'm happy to share.

Printing with Water Soluble Crayons

If you are looking for a new way to add a layer of color, try water soluble crayons. They are easy to use, cleanup is a snap and they deliver great results. All you need is a thermofax screen, Jacquard extender and water soluble crayons.

Place a padded surface on your table, place the fabric with the pretty side up and put the thermofax on top. Color all over the screen with the water soluble crayons. If you want saturated colors, press hard while coloring to make sure a lot of crayon is applied. Add a line of extender across one edge of the screen, like you would if it were ink or paint and drag it across the entire screen. I used a bondo applicator tool from the car store, but the best tool depends on the surface you are working on.

This photo shows the fabric before it was printed (left), what the printed surface like as I peel the thermofax back (center) and the thermofax as it's being removed (right).

Here is a section of cloth that shows two pulls. You can use one solid color or mix and match whatever way you choose.

This piece shows the same design printed many times using different colors. I started printing with the lime green color, added some blue and printed, added some red and printed, and then I added some yellow and printed. Each additional color mixed with the color below it to create new colors. You should always work quickly and keep your screen good and wet. Fun experiment, great results!

UFO or WIP?

I love it when people leave a comment. It's nice to know somebody is actually reading my blog. There were several comments about (UFO's) UnFinished Objects! It seems like everyone has them . . . the difference is their attitude about them. Some refer to them as Works in Progress (WIP). To me a WIP is different than a UFO. If it's on my design board, it's a WIP. If I lose interest and it comes off my board, it's a UFO. Out of sight - out of mind. Once that happens, I'm ready to move on to something else and I have a difficult time going backwards. And that applies to everything. I can't even do a back dive or roller skate backwards! Sad but true!
Here's a photo of one of my design boards. It's the typical wall insulation covered in felt. WIP's, inspiring pieces of fabric, comics, photos & quotes are among some of the things found there. The piece in top right corner is a hand-painted piece of fabric that has lots of inspiring shapes. The bottom left is a WIP that uses a photo made into a thermofax and then printed, an abstracted photo that was printed on fabric, hand-painted fabric, deconstructed screen printed fabric and commercial fabric. Quite a mix. The bottom right is screen printed fabric that's waiting to be made into a bag. The top left is a quilt made by a friend. It's amazing how good it looks with my own work.Here's the same design board a few days later. The WIP in the bottom left has changed quite a bit, but it's still not finished.

Here are two more UFO's. Both are completely finished tops, well constructed, interesting to look at, approximately 40-45" square. Why are they unfinished? I don't know. I love circles . . . that in itself should be enough to get me to finish them. The top one is completely pieced, the bottom one is machine appliqued.

Patty Ashworth has a system that might help get these projects finished. One year she made a resolution to finish one project a month before she could start anything else. It worked for her . . . It might work for you. Anybody game?

More Thickened Dye Experiments

Here are the final two pieces I created during our Dye Day. I used another bath mat to create the repeating squares. It had a strong architectural feeling, so I decided to add to it with a thermofax of a building. At the moment, this is my favorite piece.

This piece was created by drawing lines across circles on a screen, letting it dry and then printing with different colors of dye. Do you like the circles on the white background? It seems like the contrast is too much, I think it may need to be overdyed.

Experiments with Thickened Dye

I had a really fun play day in Arroyo Grande with Andi and Rene. I love playing with friends as much now as I did when I was five! Playing . . . that's the perfect frame of mind, no expectations and lots of surprises. I finished five pieces of fabric, all but one are a fat half-yard; I'll share three of them with you today.This colorful piece uses a thermofax screen made from one of my photos, one of Rene's screens that have three squares, a screen of a splat, a BBQ pan with holes, and extruder drawn circles.I put a bath mat behind the silk screen and pulled yellow dye across the surface and let the screen dry. Once dry, I used clear paste for the first couple prints, then added turquoise dye.

I used a piece of construction fence behind the screen for this print. I wasn't happy with the way it was printing, the texture was very blotchy, probably because it was printed on canvas. Andi thought it looked like graffiti and suggested that I add writing. I put thickened dye into an extruder and added a layer of handwriting. I still don't like it much; it may need more layers.

Deconstructed screen printing is what Kerr Grabowski calls this technique. She has a DVD that explains all the steps. Both Rayna Gillman and Jane Dunnewold have instructions in their books.

I would love to hear from you if you've ever tried this. It's definitely a technique that is full of surprises. I really enjoy dyeing fabric a lot more than I ever expected. I think I'm going to have to buy some of my own.

Writing on Fabric

Last year, Rayna gave me a curved syringe similar to the one she uses to write on fabric. I put it away and never actually tried it. Then Sue wrote an article in Fibre & Stitch using the same tool. Again, it looked intriguing and I knew I would try it someday.

A couple of my thermofax prints didn't turn out well, because the design was too busy, so I figured I would try using the syringe and add a layer of writing on top. What did I have to lose? I was going to throw both pieces away anyways. The first couple of pieces felt a bit forced. I was trying to figure out how to hold the syringe and how hard to press it. And what the heck was I going to write about anyways?

By this third piece (larger than what is shown below), the technique felt pretty natural and words just came spilling out. Every once and a while you can read a word or two, but for the most part, it is illegible. I think it adds a nice layer of texture though, don't you?

Originally, the syringe was used by vets to administrator medication to animals. Some creative person had a "what if" moment, ran an experiment and discovered a great new paint technique.

Thermofax Prints

My friend and artist extraordinaire, Andi Perejda, make six thermofax screens for me. I'm not sure why, but I only used one of the images from the last post. I'm going to be sending you more Andi. Anyways, I learned a few things along the way. The most important one is that heavily textural graphics do not make good screens; they are just too confusing. I had two images that didn't work out too well, one was a cactus and the other was rocks. They were so bad, I won't even show you. Another important item is the thickness of the paint; thin = bad print! The third thing is that almost anything can be saved! I also did some painting and writing, but didn't get a chance to take photos. Next Post. Here are some of the prints I made today.

Last week I had the opportunity to be a guest at the Magic Castle in Hollywood. It was fabulous! The magicians we saw were top notch and each one has their own unique style. Everything from Red Skelton style to Las Vegas showman. I am friends with the owner of the Magic Castle. Her husband is a retired Hollywood writer and she is a retired costume designer, however, they don't seem to retire well. He wrote the musical Pizzazz and she is designing 180 costumes for the musical. Pizzazz will have its world debut at the Granada Theater in Santa Barbara in June. After that, the show will be on the road for 2-3 years. I'm helping her with the finishing touches on the dresses, beaded fringe, sewing on lace, etc. The costumes are amazing, completely over the top. It's really exciting to be involved with this.

I also went whale watching on the Condor in the Santa Barbara Channel. I saw Gray whales and Humpback whales. It was a lot of fun but the ocean can really churn up your stomach. Mike and I was fine, but my daughter didn't fare too well. I never realized how difficult it is to get a good photo of a whale while your boat is rocking. I have new respect for the photographers who manage to get amazing shots.

High Contrast Images

I have been busy, but I don't have any finished projects to share. I've been working on some high contrast images that I will use to make either a Photo EZ or Thermofax screens. I'm curious to see what the difference is between the screens, so I'm going to make both types of screens from one image and print a sample of each. Sounds like it will be a fun project.
Here are few of the many possibilities I've come up with. I have no idea how these will come out. The screens I've made in the past were very simple, bold and graphic, nothing at all like these images.
Which image do you think will make the best print and why?

I love the pattern and textures in these old doorways.

The bars on these windows provide a wonderful linear pattern.

Nature always provides a wide variety of interesting textures.