The Printed Fabric Bee....Not So Late!

I'm catching up now to everyone else and getting ready to do my fabric for this month!
But now, I've got a series of photos to walk you through the latest one I've completed, for January! So the theme for January was turquoise and orange colours with Petroglyphs as the image theme. Well, since I live in the Pacific Northwest I decided to use art for this area and found a wonderful richness of images left behind by ancient people....check out this website: http://www.gabriolamuseum.org/petroglyphs.shtml
So here's how it happened....I found some fabric that was turquoise and purple and then forgot I had it...so overdyed some blue and got a nice mottled turquoise.

I remembered just the perfect stamp for a border image and when I found it, it had broken....so I carved another one....

Then I made four separate Thermofax images to use from the Petroglyphs. First there was the "Salmon", printed in a salmon-y red colour .....

Then came the "Killer Whale"...... chasing the Salmon!

And then "Dancing Man" and "Bear"

Now you can see the entire layout. I had fun, learned something about the culture of my local area and created some cool fabric!

The Printed Fabric Bee.......late, late late!

Where did January go? I'm late getting my fabric done for the Bee exchange, so sorry everyone. So Lisa Chin has been patient and I will pop it into the mail first thing tomorrow! Lisa's chosen theme was Old World Maps and I'm quite pleased with my results. It didnt take long to make but quite a bit of waiting for paint and paintsticks to dry.
I used a piece of pale taupe fabric, thinking it looked a little old! Truth be, it was an Ikea curtain that I no longer used...
I traced a pretend coastline onto a folded piece of freezer paper because I needed to use both the positive and the negative image, you'll see why later....... Then I cut out the coast line and ironed part of it to the fabric:

 My next step was to use paintsticks and colour in the edge of the paper.

 Next was to stencil some ocean waves with indigo colour textile paint

 I took the freezer paper off.....

 And used the mirror image of the paper to cover up what I had just completed. Then used a map stamp and back textile paint. The green edge of the paper came from a piece that I had used previously.

So here is the final step, I drew around the coastline with a reddy brown marker to emphasize the edge. I think it turned out well. Now onto the next fabric for the Bee!

It's Printed Bee Time!!!

I love December, not only is it Christmas, but its also my birthday on Dec. 7th (and I'll be 60 this year!!!) but best of all, its my month for the Printed Bee! Golly, it's just so exciting!
My theme was sunflowers, with their rich colours and cheerful disposition, they seemed like a great choice to challenge all the Bee artists!
So, here's the picture of all the fabrics made for me.....

I'll add the missing ones as they arrive.
As usual I'll be sending out a selection of 6" squares from all the artists to one lucky winner. All you need to do, is to add a comment below and tell us how you would use the squares in a new project for 2015! I'd love to hear from you, and I'll draw a name on Dec. 15th......
BTW, did you see the great article about the Printed Bee and our inspirations in the latest issue of Quilting Arts Magazine?

The Printed Fabric Bee - Science

This month all the busy Bees made fabric for Jackie Lams with the theme of "Science". Now thats a pretty wide open subject so I had to narrow it down somehow! So what does fabric and surface design have in common with science....well, its some of those chemicals that we use to make the water, dye and fabric get to know each other....chemicals such as soda ash, urea and sodium alginate!
I made Thermofax screens from those formulas:

And them printed them on a beautiful clamp dyed cotton. I think I had used a combination colour of brown and black but its pale and sets off the printing very well. But I decided to use the reverse side of the fabric, its a bit softer!

I also drew on a science symbol.......any idea what its called? Plus a few dots and stuff! Generally I'm pretty happy with it!

If you'd like a chance to wine a package of the 6" squares then trot on over to the blog and make a comment. You can find the blog here: http://theprintedfabricbee.blogspot.ca/

The Printed Fabric Bee - The Winner IS:

Drum Roll, please! I'm pleased to announce the winner for the Industrial theme is Gabriele DiTota! She said "Venice" in her comments and my husband chose that as the winner......
It just so happens that we'll be there next October! Hey, Gabriele, do you live in Venice? I could deliver the squares in person!
Be sure to email or Facebook message me with your address!
Thanks everyone, I hope you have a great summer, it sounds like you all have wonderful plans for your creative energies....

Here's a peek at some of the fabrics I've received so far:


Enjoy, Susan!

Printed Fabric Bee - June

Hey, everyone! What a perfect way to start summer, with a giveaway! If you've been following my blog or the Printed Fabric Bee, then you know that part of the celebration of creative talent is giving a 6" square away to one lucky person who leaves a comment on my blog here or my Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/susan.purneymark
I chose the theme of Industrial, so it was about old buildings, rust, decay and more...I made a Pinterest Board for inspiration. You can see the images here:  http://www.pinterest.com/SusanPurneyMark/the-printed-fabric-bee-industrial/
I'll be announcing the winner on July 10th! Leave a comment telling us what kinds of creative ideas you'll be working on this summer!

The Printed Fabric Bee

Here is the latest information from the Printed Fabric Bee, have you been following along? Don't forget that you have a chance to win nine 6" x 6" hand dyed, designed and painted squares from wonderfully talented surface designers!

 

All you need to do is visit this month's Queen, Carol R. Eaton's blog:

http://carolreatondesigns.blogspot.ca/2014/04/give-away-starts-now-colors-and.html

and comment to win!

 

 

Here are some pictures of my fabric and the process:

I started off with hand dyed fabric:

 

 

Then I screened on some discharge paste with a thermofax screen with an Echinacea pattern:

 

Then I printed again with a rich brown paint and offset the design slightly:

 

 

And also painted the centres of the flower with a cobalt blue paint for some highlights. I also added trios of mini dots all over the fabric. they are hard to see but show up better in the fabric sample that will be part of the Giveaway! So don't forget to enter!

 

 

 

 



 



 



 

 

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

Latest from the Printed Fabric Bee

I'm a bit late in posting this but here's the sample of swatches that was won on Gerrie Congdon's blog
http://www.gericondesigns.com/weblog/?p=13228
I promise I'll be more up to date with the next one!

 

What have you done with your fabric lately?

More Good, Better, Best.....3 Easy Steps to Fabulous Fabric

Here's another post about Good, Better, Best and it ties in beautifully with our ongoing Printed Fabric Bee! I hope you've been checking the progress in our Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/theprintedfabricbee

This month Julie chose blue spirals in an 8" x 18" format. And I admit that I did start with a fabric that I had soy wax resisted and dyed. But I remember that I wasn't terribly pleased with the results and it had been tossed into the proverbial pile for some reason. But, you know sometimes things just need a second look and I hauled it out and fell in love again!

 

 

So, I admit that I sort of took the easy way out and screen printed some blue spirals on it:

 

 

Well, not quite there, is it? so I screen printed more blue spirals:

 

 

Now, I'm in love!

And I have a couple confessions...... I didn't have enough of this fabric to include it as the 6" x 6" giveaway.....so sorry!

Plus, I think I had a head start because I started with a resist and dyed fabric.....sorry again!

 

But I think if you check out the other fabrics below, I have very unique spirals????? (they're the top middle one)

 

Don't forget to enter for the giveaway here: http://www.threadbornblog.com/2014/01/starting-new-year-with-fabric-giveaway.html







The Printed Fabric Bee

Sorry that I'm a day late in posting the latest information about our Printed Fabric Bee, I hope you've been having fun seeing all the great fabric designs that the "workers" have been making?
It's Julie's turn for the "giveaway" so you'll need to pop over to her blog and leave a comment. Julie will choose a winner for the 6" squares and they could be yours!
Visit her blog at: http://www.threadbornblog.com/2014/01/starting-new-year-with-fabric-giveaway.html

Here's a picture of the squares:

 

 

Tomorrow, I'll show you how I made my fabric!

The Printed Fabric Bee

So, its the first BIG REVEAL today! Are you excited to see all the wonderful fabric that Lynn Krawczyk got from the other bees? I sure am!
First, I'll show you how I made my fabric for Lynn. She had requested:

I'm choosing ORANGE CIRCLES. And for fabric size I'd like a rectangular shape - 10" x 14" (just under the 144 square inches but I'm good with it.)About the only thing I don't like color wise is pastels. I like neutrals (greys, browns, blacks) and strong vibrant colors. I'm a contrast junkie. And for the record? Light red qualifies as pink. I do like the 70s color vibe of brown, green, orange, gold. If that horrifies you, though, feel free to flee from it.

I began by dyeing a 1/2 yard of PFD. I used an orange with some bronze in the dye bath:

I sewed the fabric into a tube and put it on a PVC pipe with a rubber band at each end to hold it in place. I painted on some soy wax to keep the orange colour and then painted on an MX dye from Dharma Trading called Caffeine Buzz! 

I let that batch and also stamped soy wax circles on another 1/2 yard that I'd dyed. I thought that might be my back up plan! Here are the two fabrics together:

The next step was to use some of my Thermofax screens and print multiple circles on the yardage with black paint:

Finally I screen printed an image of tiny dots within a circle shape in deep mauve. Its a little difficult to see them:

 

Finally, I put it in  an envelope and sent it on its way!

Now, all the "bees" put a little something extra in their packages....... so that maybe you can join in the fun! You could win a 6" square from each of us and have some creative time with our fabrics. Here's what you need to do: 
Hop on over to Lynn's blog:  http://smudgedtextilesstudio.com/blog/ and leave a note for her in the comments section. You can visit our Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/theprintedfabricbee and get more information and news! Be sure to "like" us....

The Printed Fabric Bee

It's officially started! And I'd love it if you would join our Facebook page and read about all the exciting news....the bees are buzzing!

The Printed Fabric Bee is a printed fabric exchange between ten professional textile artists. Each month a member of the chooses a theme, making her the Queen, and the members of the Hive create a piece of fabric based on her choices. In the end, each member will have a collection of custom made fabric made by all the members of the Hive.

We will post about the fabric we create on this Facebook page. Thanks for joining us! :)


See us at: https://www.facebook.com/theprintedfabricbee

Please visit our members at their websites:

Lynn Krawczyk: http://smudgedtextilesstudio.com/
Julie B. Booth: http://www.threadbornblog.com/
Gerrie Congdon: http://www.gericondesigns.com/
Leslie Riley: http://www.lesleyriley.com/
Carol R. Eaton: http://carolreatondesigns.blogspot.com/
Jackie Lams: http://www.studiolams.com/
Lisa Chin: http://somethingcleveraboutnothing.blogspot.com/
Susan Purney Mark: http://susanpm.com/
Lynda Heines: http://www.bloombakecreate.com/
Pokey Bolton: http://pokeysponderings.com/