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Archive for February, 2008

Discharging

Friday, February 8th, 2008

I finally got a nice batch of alginate paste. I mixed up some thiox with the paste and added some turquoise dye. I wanted to practice on something before I hit the beautiful silk art cloth. I made a curvy line design on a silk screen and did some pulls on one of the silk scarves.

dischargedscarf.jpg

I ironed it with steam to activate the discharge, but didn’t get a photo, yet. It looks pretty cool.

Remember this piece of fabric from my soy wax batik session with Ginger last fall?

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It has been sitting in my studio, still waxed, waiting for the next thing. I brushed it with the turquoise discharge paste. I can’t wait to iron it and see the results.

dischargedsoybatik.jpg

This afternoon I went out and bought the largest silk screen that I could find so that I can do a larger image on the 2 yards of fabric that I am working with. I will do a design with masking tape and pull the discharge paste in a few areas. I want to test the turquoise on the scraps of fabric that I have. I think I might like to add another color to the cloth.

I am behind in Lizzie’s class because I was too busy with the discharging to sit down and do my homework. Mr C is at a retreat this week-end so I am free to play in the studio, uninterrupted — except for walks with Miss Maggie.

Studio Work

Thursday, February 7th, 2008

I wish I could show you how gorgeous the art cloth piece is after I dyed it in the strong orange. I accordion folded it lengthwise and then folded it again into a bundle and secured it with rubber bands.

artclothorangedye.jpg

I also threw the scarves in the orange dye bath. They look like this and are ready for some discharge, screen printing or soy wax batiking.

orangedyedscarves.jpg

I mixed up some alginate thickener with thiox so that I could do some discharge testing on my small samples. I didn’t get the paste thick enough so I have to mix up another batch tomorrow. Here is my discharge test result. I think a bit of discharge on this piece will add some nice interest. With thicker paste, I can control it better.

artclothdischargetest.jpg

I also won another length of Japanese fabric on E-bay. I got an even better price on this one. Pam asked what I will do with the fabric. I will cut some up to use in collaged quilts. Perhaps, I will use some to back those quilts. I might use some for a table runner for my dining room. I could make some gorgeous pillows. I have to see what the quality is once it arrives here from Japan.

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It was a pretty nice day in Portland. Some rain drops and lots of long sun breaks.

The Good, The Bad, The Sublime

Wednesday, February 6th, 2008

THE GOOD: I did the washout of yesterday’s dyeing. I like all the results of the overdyeing and had one favorite. I am going to show my test projects, but I will not show the work on the actual length of fabric. So here are my samples. Each one is photographed with a piece of pfd silk that was dyed with it. Here is a helpful hint. If you are experimenting with different dyes and want to keep track of what you have done, make labels from tyvek mailing envelopes and write on them with waterproof pen. These are all clickable to see larger. The first sample, with strong orange overdyed, is my choice for the final project. It is the first photo.

strongorange.jpgrustorange.jpggoldenyellow.jpg
basicred.jpgavocado.jpgbrightgreen.jpg

Here are the scarves that I dyed. I think I will do another overdye on these or perhaps some screenprinting.

multicoloredscarves.jpg

I also fit in some time to do some more exercises for the design class.

THE BAD: My weight was back up at WW today.

THE SUBLIME: Today is Ash Wednesday. Tonight, we had soup and salad at church before attending a beautiful Ash Wednesday service with the “Requiem” by Maurice Duruflé. The mass was written in 1947 so it had a bit of a modern tone to it, even though it was in Latin. The music was sublime. This was followed by sherry and an array of cookies, fruits and crackers and cheese.

It’s A Tie

Tuesday, February 5th, 2008

So far, my Chocolate Love quilts are in a tie so I am just going to let well enough alone and keep the original one in the 12 X 12 challenge. Someone, in the comments, mentioned that number 2 was pieced. Just want to make clear that this was a totally photoshopped whole cloth quilt. No piecing was done.

And, it looks like a tie in the Super Tuesday voting. What an exciting evening. I am feeling that Obama has lots of momentum going in to the remaining primaries.

Today, I spent some time planning the art cloth piece that I am doing for Jane Dunnewold’s challenge. I can’t show you what I am doing, but I will tell you. I received a 2 1/4 yard length of silk that was dyed blue with some circles that had been tied in the fabric before dyeing. Today, I cut off 1/4 of a yard and cut it in to 8 pieces which I tied and clamped.

bluesilksamples.jpg

I mixed up orange, rust orange, red, bright green and avocado. Tomorrow, I will wash them and try to decide which overdyeing color I want to do.

While I had dyed mixed up, I put some in squirt bottles and dyed some silk scarves.

scarfsquirtdyed.jpg

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I put them in my furnace room to cure because the temperature is warmer in there. Hope I have some good results tomorrow.

I also ordered some vintage Japanese textiles for a commission piece. I won this auction 3 hours after I found it on E-bay. Isn’t this gorgeous.

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I also did 3 exercises for Liz’s class. This week our topic is Movement, Size/Scale and Pattern/Texture as design elements.

Please Vote!

Monday, February 4th, 2008

If you are a Democrat and you are in a state that is part of Super Tuesday, please watch this amazing video and then please vote for Barack Obama, tomorrow!!

Then, you can vote for your favorite Chocolate Love quilt. In fact, all the rest of you can vote for your fave. These are clickable to see them larger.

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Thank you very much!