Finishing things. . .

I have decided to enter the Australia Wide quilt exhibition which closes in 3 weeks so thought I needed to finish a few things from my UFO pile. I also wanted to have some Show and Tell for tomorrow's meeting of the sewing club.

The first thing I finished was the stitchout of the design we developed last Friday at the computer workshop. I am quite pleased with the result - now I have to find someone who likes purple so I can give them an embroidered teatowel.



Then I attached the fabric butterflies to the embellished background and the organza ones to the painted felt. I quite like both of these, but the photos are dreadful!! I am not sure what I will do with these - possibly frame them.



Then I finished off a piece that has been at least at least 2 and a half years in the making. I had made a flower on copper shim in a workshop with Carol Redlich back in April 2005 (actually on the day we started moving into this house). Last month's Machine Embroidery was on using metals in embroidery so I cut out the flower and applied it to a painted and crumpled tissue paper background along with some purple and copper yarns and another flower piece. Today I enamelled the centre of the second flower and used the piece to cover a notebook.


This is the front - the back is below.

Hidden Treasures

I cleaned up the sewing room today. The table is almost bare - two piles of works in progress/ UFOs and lots of vacant space.

Unfortunately, I also discovered a couple of piles of old magazines and I have spent most of the afternoon paging through them. I remember exactly how I acquired them: a gold coin donation at sewing club accounts for some, Dale donated a pile to Designing Women and we had a sort of auction then, a friend gave me a pile to be passed on - but I have to look at them first, don't I?, the Embroiderers' Guild had 4 for $1 at the last meeting . . .

I have found the single issue that I was missing from my collection of the Australian magazine Machine Embroidery and Textile Art. Looking at the back issues, I wonder why I am still buying it - the older issues had so much more interesting stuff than the latest ones. And I am due to renew my subscription - I suppose I will, but perhaps I should write a Letter to the Editor first.

I also need to decide whether I will renew my subscription to Threads. I have been a subscriber since 1991 and I have kept every issue. I often find stuff in old issues that is relevant to current projects, but I am finding that I am becoming less and less involved in each new issue as it arrives.

I love books and magazines, but maybe I should stop collecting, let the years of accumulated ideas percolate through my brain and thereby immediately become a creative dynamo. . . .

"Tell her she's dreaming " - an apothegm from the movie "The Castle" ("Tell him he's dreaming"). And what is an apothegm? Look it up.

Rainy Day and Housework

It bucketed down today - lovely!

I had thought to do a bit more on the blue butterfly piece, but when I actually looked at the house I realised that there was some major cleaning up needed in the kitchen/dining area (which is where I do most of my planning, note writing etc) and the laundry (the painting, heat gunning, soldering iron area - and I do do the washing and ironing there too occasionally), not to mention the state of the floors. So I sorted all the piles of papers and filed a lot of them, paid some bills, and the dining area looked almost tidy! Then I tackled the laundry. There are still piles of stuff on the bench, but the paints and tools are back in their allotted places and I can now see some actual bench. I really need some shelves so I can get stuff off the benches for more working room and (hopefully) greater tidiness.

By the time I had done all this and swept and mopped, I didn't feel like attacking the sewing room. I have spent the rest of the day revisiting the computer design work we did on Friday and finishing the partial stitchout we did. I have fluffed out the fringes and hooped up for the second part of the exercise. I will take it to Club day on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Judy next door has just come over with some birthday cake and a bottle of bubbly as thanks for letting us park their kids' cars here overnight so there was more room on their drive and lawn for the guests . It really wasn't a hassle, especially since we can't close the garage door and the cars offered another line of defence against possible villains. The party was amazingly quiet. Everyone should have neighbours like this.

Finished

I put the label on at 11.45 after stitching a few more butterflies to fill in some of the gaps. Then off to Booragoon to deliver it.



I decided to reward myself with some sushi and a leisurely stroll around Garden City. Best laid plans . . . Kev rang me on my mobile to tell me the garage door had cacked itself and would have to stay open. Knowing he had planned to go out too, I gave up the plans for shopping and instead headed to Phoenix for more mundane stuff like meat and prescriptions.

Until the door is fixed, probably on Monday, we think we need to have at least one car in the open garage at all times . . . no cars equals nobody at home, and while we think this is a good neighbourhood, there is no sense in setting ourselves up for opportunistic villains.

Taking a Break

I ran away from working on my Art Award pieces today and did a 4D workshop with Pam at Bestway. We digitised a floral fringe design and border, then stitched out the border part using the Endless Hoop. I learned heaps as usual, especially about the digitising. And I really should use the Endless Hoop more - it has enormous possibilities for more than just adding a border.

I have two new books which Dale sent to me and which arrived yesterday. I haven't had time to do more than just flip through them, but I'm really looking forward to some indepth reading. One is "The Painted Quilt" by Laura and Linda Kemshall. There doesn't seem to be anything new, but there's some great eye candy and it's good to see how people use various techniques.

The other one is by Jane Dunnewold, Claire Benn and Leslie Morgan. I copied the blurb below from the Thread Studio catalogue.

A transatlantic collaboration between Jane Dunnewold, Claire Benn and Leslie Morgan, this books aims to help those who are seeking a surer artistic voice by providing practical exercises and guidance on different ways forward.

The book is divided into four key sections:

How to Get Started: whether you're full of ideas or running on empty, how do you begin the process of designing?
How to Move Forward: getting to grips with the principles, tools and language of design, plus strategies to solve design problems.
How's It Going: everyone gets stuck now and then. Here we offer a strategy to evaluate the problem, contemplate the solutions and make the needed changes to get going again.
Going Deeper: exercises to do when you're seeking to make your work purposeful, or seeking to push through to a deeper place.

Both an inspirational and 'how to' book, the 64 pages work hard to act as a guide to accompany artists on their journey. Each exercise is clear, written in Plain English and well illustrated with photographs and examples. We feel it's user-friendly enough to encourage beginners to get started and help more experienced artists to re-focus.

I think I will get a lot out of this book. I have long admired Jane's work and have both "Complex Cloth" which is still one of the best and most comprehensive textile "How -To" books around and her earlier "15 Beads". And goodness knows I really need to work on my almost non-existent design skills.

I have decided which piece is going into the Awards - mostly because the deadline is 1pm tomorrow, and I will be able to finish this one without enormous stress! I have painted a readymade frame for the painted nappy liner/distressed felt/digitised embroidered butterflies piece, layered the bits and cut it to size. Tomorrow I will put it all together, add a hanging wire and take it to the Council offices. I WILL take a photo first, I promise. And I intend to finish the other one too - it will go better, I am sure, without the pressure of a very imminent deadline!

Work in Progress

I have ended up with two possibilities for my entry in the Melville Art Awards.

I started with just a title: Wings. I decided to work with digital embroidery and spent some hours customising and digitising butterfly designs and images with the 4D software. It is so easy to use that I ended up with about 20 designs that could be stitched out.

I made a couple of backgrounds. Wings suggested blue skies. The first is painted felt. The second has strips of organza and wool fibres needle felted onto pale blue felt with the Pierrot embellishing machine.


While playing with digital butterflies, I customised multiple designs from an embroidery card by Margit Grimm, removing backgrounds, and positioning and overlaying the various elements. I thought I would use this as an overlay, so I stitched it out in mostly metallic threads on cream bridal tulle, using 3 layers of Vilene 541 as a stabiliser. Though there were more than 65000 stitches in the complete embroidery it worked fine. However, the darker metallic threads did not, and I spent many hours rethreading. The end result was good, but was not exactly what I had envisioned.


OK, put it to one side, stitch out some of the outlines I had digitised. The silver metallic thread worked like a dream and several designs were stitched onto pale blue organza, then the same designs were stitched onto a fabric sandwich: threads and Angelina fibres layered between 2 pieces of organza. Cut out the sandwich pieces with a soldering iron. Nice results.





Now, put it all together. Ugh! The organza dulled the backgrounds and the designs stitched on it could not be positioned in an effective way.

Back to the stitched butterflies on tulle. Could I use them if I made another background?

I rubbed Shiva sticks on to a nappy liner and ironed it onto acrylic felt. Not the result I wanted. So I zapped it with the heat gun and turned the whole bit into a sort of distressed lace. Tried some metallic fabrics behind it - copper lame looks good.


So - what piece do I take to a conclusion?

I have a workshop tomorrow, so I can't do any more till tomorrow night. Entries are due in on Saturday - deadline 5 pm. I should make it, which ever piece I decide to finish.

Computer Printing on Fabric

I gave a demonstration today to the Contemporary Quilt Group on printing photos onto fabric. I did not actually do any printing - the printer I wanted to use had died and I didn't want to use the new one without at least a couple of prior prints. The demonstration was well received and I had several requests for notes so I am going to put them on this blog. I do not claim any extraordinary expertise in this area so please don't flame me if you don't get perfect results when you first try this fascinating technique.

1. PRINTER
* Inkjet, not laser
* Straight through printing path is preferable - fewer rollers and places for the print to be caught.
Apparently some newer printers use dye, not ink, and don't need pretreated fabric - I know nothing more than that.

2. IMAGE
* Acquire by scanning or download your own photos.
Be aware of copyright. Don't use images that are not copyright free.
* Adjust image in a photo-editing program (there is one sold with every digital camera). I use PhotoShop and adjust size, brightness/contrast and colour balance. You need a strong image for most purposes. You can also use filters to modify the picture to achieve various effects.
* If you cannot add text in your photo-editor, copy picture into a Word document and add text there.
* ALWAYS DO A TEST PRINT

3. MEDIA
a. T-shirt transfer.
First method developed. Final image is reversed, so if using text, mirror image on the computer. Some printers let you select 'Tshirt transfer' as a media option, which mirrors the image automatically.
ALWAYS do a test print on paper first.
Ironing: Follow packet instructions. Leaving sheet till cold increases amount of transfer, so fabric will feel plasticky. Never iron directly on top of a transfer.
COST: approx $3 sheet

b. Ready to Use Fabric sheets
Various weights and fibres from silk organza to homespun. Availability: some quilt shops, mail order from Punch with Judy, Australian Country Quilts, the Thread Studio.
COST: from Craft Show special ($29.95 for 10 sheets cotton) to Extravaganza (silk organza 5 sheets for $45)
Note: Since these sheets usually come from the US, they measure 9-1/2" by 11" - a bit wider and shorter than A4.

c. DIY - Prepare your own fabric
* Bubble Jet Set is essential to prevent ink running [example below of a print on silk that was not pretreated]
* Natural fibres only - silk, cotton, wool
* Directions on bottle are very clear. Follow them. Use gloves and a clean tray.


METHOD:
i. Cut fabrics slightly larger than A4 (I use a file envelope), place in tray and saturate in BJS. Leave 5 minutes, drain off BJS back into bottle. Leave to dry. In a hurry? Roll in a towel, use a hairdryer.

ii. Iron on to carrier sheet. (Freezer paper from quilt shops approx $1/metre - iron onto shiny side, heavy sheets -US letter size from Punch with Judy $17 for 50 sheets, Celcast sticky (really good for organza) $3 sheet - packet of 5). Make sure edges are secure, iron both sides.

iii. Rotary cut to A4. No whiskers allowed. Slightly smaller is OK. Do this immediately before printing.

4. PRINTING
Be prepared for failure. ALWAYS DO A TEST PRINT. Mostly use plain paper setting, but envelope setitng may work better.
Wrappers for photocopy paper (provided they have a shiny inside surface) can be used instead of freezer paper. I don't think they work as well - a bit too thick.
No whiskers - trim sheets immediately before printing. You may need to do this to purchased sheets too.

FAQs
* Shelf-life. BJS - 5 years+, Treated sheets - supposed to use immediately, I have used months later with no apparent difference in results.

* BJS rinse. I never use this. If there seems to be excess ink on fabric (after 24 hours) rinse in plain water or a solution of 1 drop dishwashing detergent to 1 cup water.

* Costs. DIY is much cheaper, but needs time and effort.

* I have read on the Internet that you can use fabric conditioner instead of BJS. I have never done this.


I hope this information is useful to someone.

[Sunday, 19th August. Annie (thank you) sent me a link to a blog with details of using fabric conditioner instead of BJS and I just got round to looking at it. Something else to try . . . ]

Planning a design

Before we went away I sent in my entry form for the Melville Art Awards. Fortunately no detail other than a title and medium was required - no pernickety requirements for size or (shudder) photographs. My entry is in the textile and mixed media sections and is titled 'Wings'. The finished piece is due on or about the 23rd August - I will need to check the exact date.

When I sent in the entry form I had no idea what I would be doing, but I thought the title was so vague that I could do almost anything. I still don't know exactly, but after several hours of Googling I am beginning to develop a couple of ideas.

One involves layers of organza printed with winged creatures - angels, birds, butterflies.

Another also involves layering, but this time the wings would be separate pieces constructed using various techniques attached to a printed or painted base fabric.

I have started sketching and note making - tomorrow I may start collecting bits of usable materials. I will keep you posted.

Claremont Craft Fair

Dorothy and I headed off to the Craft Fair this morning. I had a wonderful time - not just looking at the stalls, but meeting heaps of people I know. I think Dorothy got a bit bored with meeting new people and hanging around while I talked, but she said it gave her plenty of time to look at stuff.

I caught up with Dijanne Cevaal for a short natter, and intended to go back, but we had to leave a bit earlier than anticipated. I loved the quilts in the Across Australia exhibition and would have liked to take some photos.

Once again I went without my camera. After three weeks of carting it around I decided this morning that it made my bag too heavy - silly girl! I did use the camera on the mobile to take a few shots of the Art to Wear. It was really great to see the work from school students - the stuff they are doing is advancing in leaps and bounds. I wanted to spend a lot more time there than I could manage. Because of our time pressures we did not go to any of the workshops, which was a pity. And I did not buy much - just some silk threads from Dale and some great wooden beads.

I intend to write a bit more about the US trip, but not tonight. I think this will be another early night.

A wonderful day for a fibre freak

Jen and I headed off to Portland this morning, leaving Kevin behind. We had a fabulous day visiting every advertised store in Portland's Fibre District - yarns, fabrics, beads and needlework (cross-stitch etc, the only store we didn't spend much time in.) In addition we found a gallery that had work from 76 NW artists. While the quality was a bit patchy, there were enough interesting items to make a visit worthwhile. I particularly liked some multimedia collage and some funky felt hats. There were a number of fish sculptures using metal found objects which I am sure Kevin would have liked. Unfortunately for blogging purposes, no photography was allowed.

After we had exhausted the delights of the Button Emporium, we went to the Museum of Contemporary Craft which has just reopened in new premises. We thoroughly enjoyed this visit. Again no photography, but I have scribbled some notes that may eventually result in a project or two. The gift shop had some great stuff and Jennifer bought a funky felted ring.

Then we headed out of town to Selwood where we had a very late lunch at Curds and Whey, a speciality cheese shop. We shared a grilled Serrano ham and cheese panini accompanied by cornichons. The ham was superb and I now have yet another food item to try to find in Perth!

Our last shopping stop was Mill Ends where I bought the silk velvet devore fabric I mentioned before. Tuesday was Seniors' day so I got 15% discount!

Tomorrow we are sightseeing along the Columbia River valley. We hope to see Mount Hood at last - it has stubbornly hidden itself in clouds all the time we have been here.