The Printed Fabric Bee

I'm a bit late with this post, my apologies! I've finally succumbed to a head cold and did something I rarely do......I went to bed! Much better now!

The Queen of the month is Lesley Riley, a teacher and coach who has given so much inspiration to the fibre world! Thanks, Lesley! Lesley's fabric request was for mosaic designs with a Gaudi colour scheme:

I decided to focus on the circles and use my "Blue Glue Batik Blast" technique. I began with white fabric and Elmers Blue Glue Gel:

I squeezed out circle designs onto the fabric, but they are a bit faint in the picture. I let the glue dry:

Then I diluted Jacquard Dye Na Flow to about 50% with water and painted into the circle areas. I always loved working these designs ever since I was a child, not sure why....

 

Once the paint is dry, then I heat set with a hot dry iron (I use a piece of muslin overtop to protect the iron) it won't damage the dry glue! Then a soaking in hot water will soften the glue and you can wash it out in the machine.

 



Here's the full piece of fabric that I sent to Lesley:

And here is an image of all the participants 6" squares. If you'd like to win these squares then enter for the drawing at Lesley's blog: http://networkedblogs.com/UpVWt or on Facebook at the Printed Fabric Bee: https://www.facebook.com/theprintedfabricbee

International Quilt Market

I'm in Salt Lake City attending Quilt Market, visiting friends, seeing fabric, checking out the new products and doing a little bit of buying.
Normally Daphne and I would have a booth to showcase our new patterns, demonstrating for shop owners and meeting with business associates. In the last 6 months we've been focused on writing books and writing magazine articles plus a lot of travelling.
So I'm at Market on my own and experiencing it in a whole different way, I can take more time talking with vendors, investigating new products and getting a sense of the flavor.
I spent this morning in a class with Lesley Riley http://www.lesleyriley.com/ learning about TAP-Transfer Artist Paper......a polymer coated paper that can be run through the ink jet printer for photos, painted and stamped on with inks, distressed and then ironed onto fabric, wood, paper, glass and more. Its a very versatile product and while I've done a bit on my own, its great to learn right from the person who developed the product.

Lesley demonstrates her Transfer Artist Paper

Lesley shows a book that is featured in her upcoming book from C&T Publishing

It will be available next month and is called Create with Transfer Artist Paper

Here are some samples that I made in the class and I'm looking forward to using them in some of my mixed media work!

Tomorrow....meet some of the vendors!