Chance Boutique and Thermofax Screen Printing

Thermofax screen printing is so much fun.  I have had a 3M machine for a while, but done make that many screens. I invited over Haley Smith, owner of Chance Boutique.  She had brought over her own images that she created on illustrator.  The picture above is her peeling her first screen.

To the right, Haley is just finishing using one of her own screens.

 The images to the right and below are her designs. I cannot wait to see them on pillows, bags, t-shirts and whatever else she chooses to put them on!

Painted Fabric

 Painted fabric is such a relaxing way to spend a Sunday.  I typically work on muslin or canvas.  I love to die fabric, but the impatient side of me doesn't want to work with a ton of chemicals.  So I tend to use acrylic paint that is watered down. Typically this results in a fabric that is slightly firmer, but still flexible enough to sew.

This color palette of yellow, red, black and green was inspired by a piece of art that I saw on a TV show. It was on the screen for a split second, but definitely spoke volumes.  The background was hand painted. The X's and O's were hand painted with a smaller brush.

This fabric was painted with just washes of color. Very solid broad strokes provides a great base in which to add drawings, small sketches and words.  These pieces of fabric are the base for many additional layers that will be placed once they dry.

Create Retreat Words from the Heart

Words from the heart was a 3 hour class, shorter than most of the others that I have taken. This class was fabulous as I learned how to stamp words into metal.  There were many great tools for stamping, embossing, and etching.  The hearts are adhered with brads, nails, screws,  and jump rings. These will become great additions to my art quilts.

Create Mixed Media Art Retreat DAy #3 Shibori Fabric

 

Cindy our instructor showing off one of her Shibori dyed fabrics.

Shibori Dying was such a great class. Taught by Cindy, this was 6 hours of pure fun. We learned many different methods. This included Arashi, Itajemi, Kanoko and Komo. We used this beautiful deep blue dye similar to indigo.  These prints were extremely fun to make.  There will definitely be more of this fabric dying in my future!

Create Mixed Media Retreat Day #2 Machine Needle Felting: Layered and Textured

Today my good friend Patty and I took the Machine Needle Felting Class. It was 6 hours of pure heaven.  We were able to make two felted art quilts. We still have the option of adding beads, sequins, and hand stitching. So these are our works in progress.

Patty was working towards a landscape above. I was working towards abstraction.

Each piece contained a wool background, silk roving, wool roving, sari ribbon, yarn, cheese cloth, organza, chiffon and even paper.

 This is the entire class during show and tell!

Patty and I with Jane Lafazio--one of my favorite artists and instructors.  What a pleasure to take two her classes, two days in a row.

Create Seattle

Finding the balance between life, travel and art has been a challenge. But this week I have combined all three. Getting back to my favorite art pursuit…..Art Quilting…this time in Seattle.

This is day one of the art retreat spent with one of my favorite fiber artists, Jane Lafazio. These projects take a significant amount of time, so  instead of posting just the completed project, I will post the project as I progress through the various stages.

This course was called Free Spirited Free Motion Art Quilting.  Fabric, paper and free motion drawing with the sewing machine.  What more could you ask for?

This is the project, with still many hours left to go to finish…..

Recycle 8 Screen Printing Recycled Fabric Samples

Some projects just take time. This one doesn't! I had taken a course from Lynn Krawczyk. Worth every penny. She is a thermofax screen printing goddess. She also is the model for using everyday items when leaving her mark. She has a new book out called Intentional Printing. I strongly encourage anyone interested in trying this technique to get this book.

I use a variety of screen printing inks and paints. I like the speedball paints. Due to their thickness, they leave a definitive mark.

Each of the two screen printing fabric swatches are made on recycled fabric samples. The fabric is upholstery fabric and I was able to get these samples for $.10 a piece. It makes messing up so much easier!  I used a combination of thermofax screens and recycled objects.

The found objects are old ribbon spools, thread spools, pool noodle and the top to a small round box! Happy printing.....I will be using these fabric pieces in up coming projects.  Relove it!