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/

Print a Pair - New Thermofax Screen Sets

I've been busy this week designing new screens to be used as single screens with great designs or as a set to create even more exciting images.
You can start with Dandelion Stems and repeat them over a dye printed background:

Or you can take the Dandelion Blossoms and sprinkle those over a sky fabric:

Or combine the two screens for Dandelions waving in the breeze:

 Think of the design possibilities!!!

How about Tree Tops:

 Then perhaps some Cherry Blossoms:

Put them together and what have you got:

Its spring time in the orchard!
These screens and other designs come as sets of two screens in three different sizes...so much fun, so many possibilities! Check them out at: http://fabricimagery.com/category/print-a-pair/
Why not try one or two?

Create Beauty in my Soy Wax Workshop

This seems to be the week that many people are heading back to school. I used to love packing all my new school supplies and starting fresh with my pencils and notebooks. How about you?

I've scheduled an exciting  workshop on Vancouver Island where we can devote two entire days to creating beautiful fabrics with dyes and soy wax. I hope you will join me!

 We'll be covering topics such as:

• Layering Wax and Dye – plus Value Gradations
• Using Thickened Dyes – with Screen Printing
• Pattern Resist – Pole Wrapping and Clamp Resist
• Stitch Resist – a Surprising Technique! 
•  Using colour and pattern in new ways with sponging, stamping, drizzling and dabbing.

You will get a comprehensive supply list prior to the workshop, the supplies are all easy to find and I will bring all the necessary dyes, paints and chemicals.
The workshop is in a lovely 1200 sq. ft. studio space so there will be plenty of room for everyone. If you are coming from out of town, there is a Best Western nearby and we have ar5ranged a corporate rate for you.

Please join me on November 5-6, 2013 for this workshop! You can register and get more details here: http://www.studiogart.com/workshops/

Good, Better, Best

When my children were teenagers they would often play a game at youth group called "Good, Better, Best". The idea was to start out with an inexpensive item,  and by visiting neighbours, try to trade up for a better item. By the time they had finished the game they had acquired intriguing and often fun items to show at the group. The winner was chosen by which team had traded up to the "best" item. A well known variation of this game can be found here: http://oneredpaperclip.blogspot.ca/
What does this have to do with my work? Well, I had made a piece of fabric with soy wax resist, dye and textile paint. I had envisioned a vibrant and exciting result. What I got was this:

Not too impressive! My vision was very different from my outcome. But I always remember my textile design tutor telling me "when in doubt, do MORE" and I carry that thought often into my work. If a piece of cloth or quilt just doesn't excite me, very often it just needs MORE.
So back to the wax pot and a more intense layer of colour.

Once I washed the wax (remember, its soy wax, so cleaning is easy) and dye out, it was much better. But not quite good enough, it needed MORE!

This time I went back into the fabric with textile paints and a thermofax screen. I printed in bright magenta and then rotated the screen and printed again with vivid pink. This is the screen design I used:

Now I'm happy, I think the fabric is the best it can be. I think you'll agree that doing MORE is worthwhile. When have you found that doing MORE gives you MORE than you expected?

From My Sketchbook - Stamps from Photos

The picture below was taken when I visited Chicago in April and went on a Design Tour. This is a very simple design which reminded me  of a few of the Stained Glass designs I have done for quilt patterns. I’ve printed it out and done some alternate sketches of it which you can see below left.

If you are not sure where to start on your Design Journey, begin with something simple. Look at designs around your house, a piece of china, the pattern on a chair or table. Trace it out and repeat the image two or three times and see where it might lead you. There are no rules and you don’t have to share with anyone until you feel ready.

 

Make a couple of copies of the photo you have taken or do a rough sketch.  

Carve a stamp from Speedy-Cut with lino cutting tools.

 

Use paint or stamp pads to create layers of colour and play with different ways to arrange the images. Try different colours or multiple colours, turn or rotate the stamp for different effects.

August Blog Give Away

Well, this is the last blog give away, sadly the month is almost at an end. Its been a wonderful summer, lots of sunshine, my garden has been so productive and I've certainly enjoyed sharing with you!
This last giveaway is a package of photo printer sheets, one of my favourite brands. I teach at class on using photos on fabric, the description is here: http://susanpm.com/2011/07/15/sheer-illusion/ We have so much fun in this class and its inspiring to see what the students create with their photos.
So, to win this package, tell us what summer pictures you would like to print on the sheets and use in a quilt. The winner will be chosen on Friday!
If you would like to order a package of the sheets, you can go here: http://fabricimagery.com/category/printer-sheets/

From My Sketchbook - Continuous Line Drawings

Continuous line drawings are one way of improving your drawing skills by observation. You may do many drawings before you produce anything you actually like. As with other art exercises, you are not ‘making pictures’ so much as being part of the process. Don’t be stuck on the idea that you are ‘making art’ and must produce something worthy every time you put pen to paper.

You can make these drawings almost anywhere, at a café, playground, shopping mall or sitting in your home. Have a large pad of paper and use either a pencil or marker/pen. Sit comfortably and look at the subject, start on one side and work to the other without lifting your pencil or pen. You can look at your work if you wish, but its often helpful to keep your gaze upon the subject and not trying to ‘improve’ your work while creating it.

Try this on a daily basis and see what gradually develops as you work. Consider drawing the same subject from different angles every day for a week.

Check out this website: 

http://www.drawandpaintonline.co.uk/blog/drawing-exercise-continuous-line-drawing/

From My Palette

If you asked each quilter and artist “what is the most challenging aspect of designing and making quilts?”  I think the answer would be colour– don’t you?

Understanding and using colour is a lifelong journey through our senses. I’m not going to try to teach you in this little column but I am suggesting that you can learn a lot by creating a little self study course of your own. Buying a book about colour and working through it is one good way to learn. But here are some little exercises that you can do as well.

I’ve chosen blue as my focus, but you can begin with any colour. Get a small sketch book; 8” x 10” is a good size and use it for the full colour spectrum.

· Make a list of every thought and feeling that uses blue: blue moon, feeling blue, royalty (blue blood), sky blue,  are some possibilities. Ask friends and family to add to the list.

· Take snips of all the blue fabrics in your stash. Glue them in your sketchbook, arranging them in order of value (light to dark). Or arrange them in two groups; ones with a yellow (blue-green) cast and the other with a red (blue-violet) cast.

· Cut blue paper strips from magazines and glue them in your book. Arrange them in value or cast . Play with different orders, name the groupings, create other arrangements, put them into nine-patch blocks.

The idea is to play with blue and get to know it well. Understand your feelings about the colour and how you use it in your work. 

· If you use paints, then make little colour studies of blue by adding white and then black to sweeps of colour. Then try adding yellow and red and finally other colours to see how they act with blue. If you don’t have paints, then use crayons or pencil crayons.

I'm Happy, I'm So Happy!

Those who know me, know that I'm not one for self-aggrandizement (boasting or exaggerating) but I was checking my Soy Wax Inspirations DVD on www.amazon.com and found four wonderful reviews! As an author and teacher, the worst thing that can happen is to have my workshops or books to be found lacking anything. So to my utter delight the reviews were all FOUR stars ****

One review said: I wish I could give it 6 stars. Yes, it is THAT good! This is not the usual, simple stamping of fabric with soy covered objects. Many ideas presented were a first for me. 

Another said: .... this DVD gave clear instructions on layering dyes and soy wax which builds a gorgeous softly blended richness on the fabric that you can't easily get with regular wax! 

And another: Susan covered the subject completely.

Thank you all so very much, its wonderful to know that you felt the DVD was good! So to celebrate, I will include one soy wax resist fat quarter for any orders of the DVD, until the end of August. Don't delay, do here to order: http://fabricimagery.com/soy-wax-inspirations-dvd/

Thank you, Thank you!

From my Print Table - Summertime Printing

Summer is a great time to take advantage of all the wonderful shapes and textures in our gardens. Pick and few leaves and grasses and come play with me!

You will need: a couple of acetate or plastic sheets (plastic page protectors are good), fabric paints, a brayer, some fabric and your greenery!

1. Pour some paint onto you plastic sheet and spread it out with the brayer.

2. Lay the leaves onto the paint and pat down so all areas are touched by the paint.

3. Lift the leaves carefully and lay down onto the fabric (remember it doesn’t have to be white fabric).

4. Pat gently on the leaves and then lift them off. 

5. Repeat for multiple images. Let dry and follow the manufacturers directions to set the paint.

I like to use either the Jacquard or Setacolor paints. Look for the glittery ones if you want a bit of bling or the opaque so the images show up on darker fabrics.

Here are a couple of blog posts about Monoprinting:

 http://www.designmom.com/2012/04/diy-monoprint-fabric/

 http://andthenwesetitonfire.blogspot.ca/2012/05/layered-monoprinted-fabric.html

Maybe there's some other posts that you like?