before the Melville Textile Art Project has its official public presentation.
Juliet finished the bindings on the blue panels yesterday. They look great and no-one (who doesn't read this blog!) will know that these are in any way different to the rest. I brought one of the blue panels home to modify the wagyl section so it finishes before the edge. In its previous incarnation it would have ended up in the binding.
A fairly simple job - unpick the previous stitching, tack a new cutting line and cut with the soldering iron, then restitch. Not so simple. I had tacked with black polyester thread and the soldering iron melted it as well, making ugly black bits along the edge. Freehand cutting was needed to get rid of them, but it's finished now.
Today we cut and tacked the edges of the red panels, and tacked the orange ones we cut the other day as well. Juliet reckons these are straightforward and she should finish them tomorrow. Four of the five panels almost finished.
The next major task is the bias binding to outline the wagyl. Juliet will make these strips, then I will help her pin them in place for stitching. I think this will be Sunday's job.
I went to aquarobics this morning for the first time in over a week. I thought I had hurt my back, but I now think I may have had a virus. Feeling good now, though.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Fan background finished
Since I last posted about this I have changed my ideas again but the overall concept is still related to "Place". The two fans I made in the workshop both have this as a unifying link. I wanted this fan to relate to an iconic part of WA - the karri forests of the South West - so I based my background on some photos we took some years ago.
The background started out as monoprints, which were not all that successful. Then I started to slap paint on it. I was planning to cover this with a layer of free motion embroidery on organza, but decided that the embroidery should be on the background. There will still be a layer of organza. Here is the piece at its present stage.
And a detail
I was able to finish the embroidery today because Dorothy is ill and couldn't make the Art Gallery. If Juliet doesn't need me tomorrow I will do the organza layer.
The background started out as monoprints, which were not all that successful. Then I started to slap paint on it. I was planning to cover this with a layer of free motion embroidery on organza, but decided that the embroidery should be on the background. There will still be a layer of organza. Here is the piece at its present stage.
And a detail
I was able to finish the embroidery today because Dorothy is ill and couldn't make the Art Gallery. If Juliet doesn't need me tomorrow I will do the organza layer.
Monday, March 17, 2008
On the edge
Juliet and I tackled a very important step in the project on Sunday. The finished panels have to have the edges cut straight and then be hemmed.
We carefully pinned the two green panels together, measured not once but three times and cut. They looked good. The process had taken nearly three hours though.
I took some of the offcuts home along with one of Juliet's samples to test settings on my machine to see if I could replicate the required hem. I was able to obtain the required depth quite easily, but had problems keeping it straight. I probably need to use a walking foot because Juliet has a Pfaff and is not having any problems.
Today we did the orange and blue panels. Pinning, measuring and cutting the orange one went well and was accomplished in far less time than yesterday. However the blue panels were a major problem. They were the first ones done and have quite narrow edges - too narrow for the hem allowance we are using. What to do? We decided that there was just enough fabric that the hem could be substituted by a binding and that this wouldn't be too noticeable. So we cut the edges. Amazingly all the layers were included, though it was by the barest whisker in a couple of spots.
We tacked to hold it all in place and called it a day. Only 5 and a half hours, but we did have couple of breaks - for lunch and for a quick trip to Textile Traders for some T-pins. Somehow we managed to buy some fabric too. Silk chiffon at 50% off. We are going to do some nuno felting once this project is out of the way.
Juliet is going to work on the panels tomorrow. I am going to the Art Gallery with my sister. Guess who will have the easier time?
We carefully pinned the two green panels together, measured not once but three times and cut. They looked good. The process had taken nearly three hours though.
I took some of the offcuts home along with one of Juliet's samples to test settings on my machine to see if I could replicate the required hem. I was able to obtain the required depth quite easily, but had problems keeping it straight. I probably need to use a walking foot because Juliet has a Pfaff and is not having any problems.
Today we did the orange and blue panels. Pinning, measuring and cutting the orange one went well and was accomplished in far less time than yesterday. However the blue panels were a major problem. They were the first ones done and have quite narrow edges - too narrow for the hem allowance we are using. What to do? We decided that there was just enough fabric that the hem could be substituted by a binding and that this wouldn't be too noticeable. So we cut the edges. Amazingly all the layers were included, though it was by the barest whisker in a couple of spots.
We tacked to hold it all in place and called it a day. Only 5 and a half hours, but we did have couple of breaks - for lunch and for a quick trip to Textile Traders for some T-pins. Somehow we managed to buy some fabric too. Silk chiffon at 50% off. We are going to do some nuno felting once this project is out of the way.
Juliet is going to work on the panels tomorrow. I am going to the Art Gallery with my sister. Guess who will have the easier time?
Sunday, March 16, 2008
So slack
I haven't posted for nearly a week. No excuse either.We went to the Sculpture by the Sea exhibition yesterday morning. There were some very interesting pieces. Kevin has a series of photos on the family blog.
I loved the wagyl made of knitted wire that twined through a group of trees and was particularly taken with the seashells made of felt. They were nestled amongst the rocks of the groyne and fit beautifully into the landscape. I don't know who made them because the kiosk that sold the catalogues wasn't open. We also didn't get to see the sculptures inside the Surf Club, as that didn't open till 9am either, so I don't know what else we missed.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
I've been tagged
Erica has tagged me so I guess I need to respond.
These are the rules...
1. When tagged, place the name of the person and URL on your blog.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write 7 things about yourself.
4. Name 7 of your favorite bloggers.
5. Send e-mail letting those bloggers know they have been tagged.
Here are 7 things about me:
1. I am a champion procrastinator. Almost anything will serve as an excuse for not getting down to whatever I need to do - uni essay (fortunately long in the past), exhibition item, workshop sample . . . Cleaning the toilet, sweeping up leaves, doing the probably unnecessary washing are all excuses not to buckle down.
2. With a deadline looming I become more creative. Whatever ideas I had tend to be discarded or modified and a new concept demands attention. Unfortunately these ideas are often too complex to carry out in the available time!
3. My favourite time waster is reading, though the computer comes a close second.
4. I am still going to water aerobics and trying to do 10000 steps a day. Not too successful with the steps.
5. I love cats, but have not yet found one to take the place of Squeek who died at 17 and a half years of age a couple of years ago.
6. I am currently spending a lot of time on the Melville Community Textile Art Project. The deadline is March 28th - see item 2 above. Fortunately I am just an assistant: Juliet and Iris have to come up with the ideas.
7. I have just unearthed a quilt top that resulted from an internet swap in 1996 (or 1995 - I think I still have the details somewhere). I will put on some borders and display it at the Scquilters' Retreat in May. Could be the oldest UFO!
I am supposed to tag 7 other people. I mostly lurk on other people's blogs so I hope I will be forgiven for tagging Annie, Andrea, Brenda, Dijanne, Linda, Maureen and Pam .
This post has taken me ages - I hope I don't get tagged again any time soon!!
These are the rules...
1. When tagged, place the name of the person and URL on your blog.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write 7 things about yourself.
4. Name 7 of your favorite bloggers.
5. Send e-mail letting those bloggers know they have been tagged.
Here are 7 things about me:
1. I am a champion procrastinator. Almost anything will serve as an excuse for not getting down to whatever I need to do - uni essay (fortunately long in the past), exhibition item, workshop sample . . . Cleaning the toilet, sweeping up leaves, doing the probably unnecessary washing are all excuses not to buckle down.
2. With a deadline looming I become more creative. Whatever ideas I had tend to be discarded or modified and a new concept demands attention. Unfortunately these ideas are often too complex to carry out in the available time!
3. My favourite time waster is reading, though the computer comes a close second.
4. I am still going to water aerobics and trying to do 10000 steps a day. Not too successful with the steps.
5. I love cats, but have not yet found one to take the place of Squeek who died at 17 and a half years of age a couple of years ago.
6. I am currently spending a lot of time on the Melville Community Textile Art Project. The deadline is March 28th - see item 2 above. Fortunately I am just an assistant: Juliet and Iris have to come up with the ideas.
7. I have just unearthed a quilt top that resulted from an internet swap in 1996 (or 1995 - I think I still have the details somewhere). I will put on some borders and display it at the Scquilters' Retreat in May. Could be the oldest UFO!
I am supposed to tag 7 other people. I mostly lurk on other people's blogs so I hope I will be forgiven for tagging Annie, Andrea, Brenda, Dijanne, Linda, Maureen and Pam .
This post has taken me ages - I hope I don't get tagged again any time soon!!
Friday, March 7, 2008
Progress
on the panels for the Melville project. I needed to hand sew a backing patch to three of the pieces on the blue panel to stop the Wagyl print showing through. I finished that, then pinned the fabric I cut out yesterday to the two panels. Juliet is going to bring some of the invisible thread the project has been using to the DW Group meeting tomorrow.
I finished just in time to shower ready for the annual gathering of female teachers and ex-teachers from John Curtin College of the Arts (formerly John Curtin Senior High School) for International Women's Day. It was as enjoyable as ever to catch up with ex-colleagues. It is noticeable that more and more of them are joining the ranks of us retirees - I hope that Maria will keep it going even when she retires - or find someone else to carry on.
I finished just in time to shower ready for the annual gathering of female teachers and ex-teachers from John Curtin College of the Arts (formerly John Curtin Senior High School) for International Women's Day. It was as enjoyable as ever to catch up with ex-colleagues. It is noticeable that more and more of them are joining the ranks of us retirees - I hope that Maria will keep it going even when she retires - or find someone else to carry on.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Working . .
The background fabric piece for the fan is finished. I cut out a window of paper to look at it and I think it's really good. Monoprinting the organza overlay hasn't worked so well so I will have another go. I have starting the stitching for the top layer and so far all is well.
I finished writing the instructions for the workshop project on Saturday and went to OfficeWorks to photocopy them and the workshop notes. Also did some photocopying of images to try a technique in the latest Cloth Paper Scissors magazine of using transfer dye to transfer photocopies to fabric. Don't know when I 'll get around to that!
Then I went to Juliet's to pick up two of the project panels and the fabric she has dyed for the Wagyl pieces. She found some plastic webbing and it has worked so well as a resist for Genesis dyes. The fabric is a polyester so it can be cut with a soldering iron so the edges are sealed and don't fray.
When I came home I got right into it. I cleaned the outdoor glass table which gets really dusty, Kevin found me a large piece of particle board for protection and I was away. It was a bit fiddly pinning the pattern to the fabric to ensure it wouldn't slip, but the cutting was a piece of cake. Now I have to stitch the cut pieces to the back of each panel with invisible thread.
I can see a bit of multitasking happening over the weekend.
I finished writing the instructions for the workshop project on Saturday and went to OfficeWorks to photocopy them and the workshop notes. Also did some photocopying of images to try a technique in the latest Cloth Paper Scissors magazine of using transfer dye to transfer photocopies to fabric. Don't know when I 'll get around to that!
Then I went to Juliet's to pick up two of the project panels and the fabric she has dyed for the Wagyl pieces. She found some plastic webbing and it has worked so well as a resist for Genesis dyes. The fabric is a polyester so it can be cut with a soldering iron so the edges are sealed and don't fray.
When I came home I got right into it. I cleaned the outdoor glass table which gets really dusty, Kevin found me a large piece of particle board for protection and I was away. It was a bit fiddly pinning the pattern to the fabric to ensure it wouldn't slip, but the cutting was a piece of cake. Now I have to stitch the cut pieces to the back of each panel with invisible thread.
I can see a bit of multitasking happening over the weekend.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Getting down to it
I have discarded all my previous exercises for the Fanning Creativity exhibition to be held in July in Brisbane.
Today I did several different monoprints on some silk dupion and silk organza. It's starting to look good. Tomorrow I will do some more. This will be the background.
I have drafted the design that I intend to free motion embroider as an overlay.
I was panicking that the deadline (end of February) had passed so I emailed Janet de Boer. A very gracious response - no problems, deadline whenever.
I have established my own deadline: the fans will be in the mail next week.
Today I did several different monoprints on some silk dupion and silk organza. It's starting to look good. Tomorrow I will do some more. This will be the background.
I have drafted the design that I intend to free motion embroider as an overlay.
I was panicking that the deadline (end of February) had passed so I emailed Janet de Boer. A very gracious response - no problems, deadline whenever.
I have established my own deadline: the fans will be in the mail next week.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Workshop Sample
On Saturday I am doing a workshop for the DW Group about using computer printed images on fabric. I was asked to develop a project, rather than just having people make samples.
I have done several demonstrations/lectures on the techniques before, but this is the first one where people will be using their own images to print on fabric. We will be using both transfer sheets and prepepared fabric sheets.
The logistics are a bit scary. I will have 2 laptops with printers attached, but I am not sure that I can let people loose on them without supervision. I have tried to minimise fiddle time by asking for images to be emailed to me so I can adjust them ready to print. Only a third of the group has done this. I also asked for images to be sent by snail mail so I had time to scan and modify. No-one has taken up this offer.
I really hope that lots of people don't turn up with stuff on Saturday that needs to be scanned and modified. Printing is easy (though always keep your fingers crossed). So is modifying images, but that takes a bit more time. I have some of my own images ready to go just in case.
Anyway, this is the sample I have prepared. It's a basic shopping bag, but a bit more upmarket than the generic green bags. I took the photo in Mauritius in 2005.
I have done several demonstrations/lectures on the techniques before, but this is the first one where people will be using their own images to print on fabric. We will be using both transfer sheets and prepepared fabric sheets.
The logistics are a bit scary. I will have 2 laptops with printers attached, but I am not sure that I can let people loose on them without supervision. I have tried to minimise fiddle time by asking for images to be emailed to me so I can adjust them ready to print. Only a third of the group has done this. I also asked for images to be sent by snail mail so I had time to scan and modify. No-one has taken up this offer.
I really hope that lots of people don't turn up with stuff on Saturday that needs to be scanned and modified. Printing is easy (though always keep your fingers crossed). So is modifying images, but that takes a bit more time. I have some of my own images ready to go just in case.
Anyway, this is the sample I have prepared. It's a basic shopping bag, but a bit more upmarket than the generic green bags. I took the photo in Mauritius in 2005.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
4D Embroidery Software on a Mac
We bought a new MacBook before I went to New Zealand in September last year. The justification was to make it easy to connect to wireless hot spots to access the Internet. It had proved too difficult to set up my PC laptop for wireless. Once we got back the MacBook was rather on the shelf.
However it has an Intel duo core processor which means it can run both Mac and Windows programs. Fine. But you have to decide how you are going to do this. There are various programs, some free and some expensive. I asked a question on an Internet mailing list and got a heap of replies from people who are using Macs to run the 4D embroidery program.
As a result we installed Parallels and I then installed the 4D Embroidery Pro programs. Success. Everything works fine, except 4D Sketch which requires a graphics tablet. The tablet that came with the 3D Sketch program only has a Windows driver. I did a lot of googling and couldn't even find the model for the tablet on the Wacom pages, so I emailed customer service and got a really prompt reply (Well done, Wacom!)
I downloaded the suggested driver but couldn't get the tablet to work on either the Mac or Windows side. Our own computer guru thought that the problem could be that the tablet just wasn't designed to work with Macs. Maybe a new tablet that WAS? I rang the major Apple reseller and the guy there was gloomy about the prospect of it all coming together.
Today I went to another, closer retailer and bought a new graphics pad. I was assured that if I couldn't get it to work I could take it back.
It has taken about three hours in all, and quite a bit of a work around, but now the tablet works with the program. I have written myself notes so I can replicate the accomplishment!
However it has an Intel duo core processor which means it can run both Mac and Windows programs. Fine. But you have to decide how you are going to do this. There are various programs, some free and some expensive. I asked a question on an Internet mailing list and got a heap of replies from people who are using Macs to run the 4D embroidery program.
As a result we installed Parallels and I then installed the 4D Embroidery Pro programs. Success. Everything works fine, except 4D Sketch which requires a graphics tablet. The tablet that came with the 3D Sketch program only has a Windows driver. I did a lot of googling and couldn't even find the model for the tablet on the Wacom pages, so I emailed customer service and got a really prompt reply (Well done, Wacom!)
I downloaded the suggested driver but couldn't get the tablet to work on either the Mac or Windows side. Our own computer guru thought that the problem could be that the tablet just wasn't designed to work with Macs. Maybe a new tablet that WAS? I rang the major Apple reseller and the guy there was gloomy about the prospect of it all coming together.
Today I went to another, closer retailer and bought a new graphics pad. I was assured that if I couldn't get it to work I could take it back.
It has taken about three hours in all, and quite a bit of a work around, but now the tablet works with the program. I have written myself notes so I can replicate the accomplishment!
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