Sylvia Naylor Workshop

Last week I had the good fortune to take a class from a well known Canadian fabric artist. Sylvia Naylor has used fabric and thread in her work for many years and just happened to be teaching at a nearby quilt shop in Ottawa.
The topic was houses and we began by ripping coloured papers and glueing them down onto brown paper into a house design we liked. I made a design of three bright primary coloured houses with white trim. We then cut and ripped fabric onto a background and stitched it down. My piece needs lots more stitching and I think I'll add some paint washes to soften the background. But I have to wait until I get home next week for that.
Check out Sylvias web site at http://www.sylvianaylor.com

Stamping Monday on holiday!

I'm on the road for the next few weeks with travels and teaching in Ontario (I'm there now), teaching on a quilting cruise from Hawaii (poor me) and then attending Quilt Market. So I'll be taking a break from posting Stamping Mondays but will begin again later in May.
In the meantime, I'd love to post more of your stamping pictures and I'll keep you up to date with this and that! So check back again, or better yet, sign up for the Feedblitz and my posts get sent directly to you! Check the button to the left and down a bit.

Dyeing Day

I spent some time over the past couple of days sorting through a collection of fabrics, linens, laces and threads to create little "Textile Artist Packs". They are all hand dyed and have coordinating bead packs with them. There's enough in each pack to make a small project or add some of your own stash to be even more creative. I've just put some up on Etsy for sale but I have many more colour ways to tempt quilters, embellishers and more. Check them out at www.susanpm.etsy.com or email me at info@susanpm.com
I'm preparing the instructions for this technique, if you are interested email me for a copy.

Shattered Angles

Last fall I was in Cookstown, Ontario teaching my Shattered Angles class at Country Concessions http://www.countryconcessions.com/ and we had a wonderful 2 1/2 days! One of my students, Maureen Banks, sent me some pictures of her finished top. She used the Flower of the Month fabrics from Northcott.
Great Job, Maureen.
I'm also teaching this class at http://www.quiltuniversity.com

Celtic Twist

I have an article in the latest May 2009 issue of McCall's Quick Quilts. The quilt uses my Give and Take Applique technique which is a quilt and simple way of getting two designs from one applique motif or design. Its fun and an easy way to use up just a little bit of fabric. There's lots of different layout options to play with as well.

Earth Layers

I just finished a piece that'll be going into a show in April and May at the Firbreworks Gallery in Pender Harbour BC http://www.gunboatbaylodge.com/fibreworks.html
I'm a member of the Fibre Arts Network http://www.fibreartnetwork.com/ and our show is entitled Elements. I chose to interpret two of the "traditional" four elements, earth, wind, fire and water. Earth Layers was inspired by an article in a recent National Geographic magazine that discussed the degradation and erosion of soil in different parts of the world. Some of the photos showed cut-aways through the layers that feed and nourish the pplants above.


I used hand and machine stitching, hand dyed fabrics that had been discharged and then painted. There are beads in the piece as well have distressed fabrics. All in all, I am pleased with the work.

More Stamping Friends!

Judy Sall, from Flagstaff Arizona, sent me a few of her images that she has used. Judy says "Most of my stamps are made from sticky-back foam, but I also dabble in 'found object' stamping as well as carved stamps using various soft mediums. The last picture is of a piece of fabric I created during a class on surface design techniques, when I first began to learn to use stamps to embellish fabric. I created a simple fish shaped stamp and discharged fabric I had previously dyed... still love the colors I got from the discharge!"




Judy....I can see that Southwest flavour in your work....what fun! Thanks!
Judy is also part of my Complex Cloth Round Robin exchange. Five of us are rotating a one yard piece of fabric from each participant and adding colour, texture, design and pattern. Each yard will visit all five participants over the coming months and then go home to its owner full of exciting surprises! the Complex cloth group is a wonderful way to learn and explore. You can join at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/complexcloth
visit Judy's website here: http://www.tiedyejudy.com

More Stamping Ideas

Here's a picture of a sweet little bag made by Jackie Bowcutt of Hampshire, UK. Jackie says: I used your idea of stamping with an apple and onion, and pleated the material a numer of times. I then washed over with fabric paint, before stamping again with two shades of gold acrylic.
I think I want to make one of these for the spring! Maybe you have a bag or purse that is just waiting for a little sprucing up?!

Check out Jackie's blog at: http://stitchworks-jackie.blogspot.com/
I'd love to have some more stamping ideas and images....send them to patchworkstudio@shaw.ca

Celia Darbyshire has sent in some stamp images of her work. She says: I have just finished a month in which I made a stamp almost every day and blogged about them. Mine all had an ecclesiastical inspiration - mostly medieval tiles in Winchester Cathedral.....also inspired by a bit of graffiti in Salisbury Cathedral
The cat stamp was a bit of a very large eraser - but during the month I also used string, fun foam, polystyrene, the stuff you can buy for carving, and paper resists.


Check out Celia's blog at: http://cheshirecheese.blogspot.com/
If you are interested in doing a "month of stamps" I recommend Jane Dunnewold's book "Creating Your Visual Language". Its available at her web site: http://www.artclothstudios.com/

Stamping Monday

Hi there again...the week has flown by and I'd been meaning to post earlier but now I'll play catch up for a few days. So check back tomorrow too!
Todays stamp maybe right under your very feet or at least under your rug. The cushioning pads for rugs and carpets come in a variety of different textures, this one is a checkerboard, perfect for stamping.

Cut out a shape that you like. If you aren't mounting it onto a support then work with a small, 2" or less, size; its easier to manipulate.
Brayer your paint onto a plexiglass plate and then run the brayer over the back of the stamp.

Stamp onto your fabric, usually I can only get one impression with each stamp, but this time, becasue the foam is softer I got one clear impression and then a softer image the second time.

Play around with the pressure you use to find what works for you. You can use just part of the stamp, create repeating patterns or overall design.

The fabric in the pictures is a lovely silk crepe that I have dyed, screen printed and stamped. I'm planning to cut it up and then hand stitch it into a scarf. perhaps I can get it done this week :)
I'd love to have more stamping images from you so send them along with your name, a brief description or your product and method and your web site or blog address to: patchworkstudio@shaw.ca
Cheers!

Stamping Monday

Todays stamp is another little gem from the Dollar Store. They're called "stainless steel scrubbers" and although I use plastic ones for my dishes, I suppose they'd work just fine in the kitchen.
I made a random stamping (up and down motion) in some paper with two colours and I think it would be just great if I cut it up into shapes for collage. Perhaps with some matte or gloss medium and then layering paint over top. that would create some interesting textures and layers of colour.
Then I used the "scrubber" with a set of circle templates that are avaible in your local office supply store. Just look in the section for drafting and landscape planning. They come in all sort of unusual shapes!

This time I used some dyed fabric and stamped with the scrubber on top of the templates. You could have all different types of designs with these little gems. Think of using different colours in each of the circles, using discharge paste to remove colour in the circles or create your very own "crop circles". What fun! Got any more ideas to share with others?