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Thursday 28 August 2008

Screenprinting

These are my first attempts at screen printing, i made the first stencil from newspaper this was the wavy lined one , the frog stencil I made from freezer paper as I wanted to be able to wash the screen and do another colour.The colours faded after washing although I had wrapped the fabric in plastic to keep it wet for 24 hrs, before rinsing.



On the left is the silk screen with 3 different colours of thickened dye with bubble wrap and other items pushed into it to make marks as it drys.

At the FOQ I bought a book on breakdown printing by the committed to cloth duo, well worth a look at their website of the same name. You put the thickened paint on the screen leave it to dry about 2 days and then print off with manutex & urea, not a very controlled process, but they get some great organic effects.




This is the result my first attempt at breakdown printing, I love the way the colours merge in some places and a halo effect in others





Well the onion and shallot crop was a success and I have strung them up just like my Father used ,to he would be proud of me, it was always me who peeled the shallots for pickled onions, so I do not have any problems peeling onions I think I am immune. The fabric below has been dyed with onion skins in reality it is a lovely orangey yellow.




Friday 22 August 2008

My first award

I received this award from Sharon at Sharon o Young blog,I was so pleased,she is such a kind and helpful blogger.
I would like to nominate, MagaretR at Digital gran. Liz at Dreaming spirals,Sue at Travel fibre and Thread, Shirley Anne Sherris, and Lynda at Purple Missus as I have had great fun reading there blogs and learnt so much

Monday 18 August 2008

Festival of quilts

the day didn`t start too well, when the train pulled into the station it had 2 broken windows and was packed,I did manage to find a seat with a carriage full of welsh football supporters on their way to Doncaster! All knocking back can after can of lager and effing and blinding at the top of there voices all this at eight in the morning.When Madi got on at Cheltenham there was hardly any standing room left,I had prebooked my ticket and so had the football fans so why hadn`t British rail put on another carriage.I asked one of the fans what time they would be coming back and he had a little smile as he knew what I was getting at but no way did we want to be on the return journey with them .What is still puzzling me now is they put all their empty cans into a black bin bag,had they brought it with them or had the guard given it to them?the tidy behaviour didn`t go with the rest of them, mind you we all had to step over the bag to get off the train .But the great sights waiting for us made it well worth while.
This is the work of Dorothy Caldwell, impressive if a little sombre.



These are details from quilts made by Jacqueline Heinz the colours are much brighter in real life and her colour combinations were superb the one on the left should be a limey green.She had sold a lot of her work and it was very reasonable about 500.00 for a quilt with hours of work in it, hers were definitely my favourite










Details taken from some of the quilts on display the pink and the black were so tactile.






I have wanted a play with a thermofax image for a while,so to find a stand at FOQ was a treat,I bought this image of a feather it comes in its own screen so you can use it at once, very easy to use with clear instructions, their site is http://www.thermofaxscreens.co.uk/ you can order the screens they have already or get them to make one from your own designs, well worth having a look,there is a lovely one of cow parsley and having tried to make a stamp of this and failed I think I may be getting another one





This is what I achieved with my stencil on the left using discharge paste on procion dyed calico,it bled a little so not as well defined as the paint which I did on calico dyed with cochineal, all those poor little beetle bodies I felt like a mass murderer.It is pink the camera has just bleached the colour out.








Thursday 7 August 2008

Sculpture trail

I have been faffing about with this cushion for ages it has photos of a walk we did through the woods last winter it is quilted in places and finished at last thank goodness.

Went to Compton Verney with a friend to see " The fabric of myth" which was quite thought provoking I enjoy going with Madi as she has a great view on life and is great to discuss the exhibits with.No photos allowed so just photos of the female lions and the parkland.There was pieces by William Morris,Burne-Jones, Alice Kettle,and a great tapestry on the Three Fates by Henry Moore.We were most impressed by the work of Ray Matterson who taught himself to embroider whilst serving a lengthy prison sentence in the States. Considering he was using an old plastic coffee cup as a hoop and an old pair of socks as yarn they are fantastic quite small and very detailed, he is now out of prison ,married and selling his work so a happy ending




These sculptures we happened upon by chance in woods near Dursley,they have been made by mainly school children people with learning disabilities and a day centre for the elderly they were very quaint and a joy to come across, the 2 caterpillars were made by local school children out of fired clay and they had left a message to ask people to look after them as they were fragile, luckily so far it has worked.
















Friday 1 August 2008

Ernie


Dear Ernie in Sydney, have a fantastic date, hope that all your dreams come true.

Angie Hughes workshop

The pictures below are of work by Angie Hughes,who gaves us a great talk before doing a workshop on Icons,Angie is a lovely lady and an inspirational and generous tutor.



The picture of an icon is glued on to the back of a piece of velvet which has been stabilised with vilene before sewing

Angie slaving over her sewing machine notice the Ferrera Roccha that we had to eat to get the foil! Some of the EG members NOT working so hard.



The icon shape is stitched round from the back to outline the shape, then the bondawebbed foil is stitched in place then ironed down




On the left the halo and main body has been bonded down ,I love this one below the striped dress is just superb.











My finished icon,I was pleased with the face the black chiffon covers a multitude of sins,but i don`t think I will be making any more.