Last Art Quilt Class and Shrinky Dinks

February 24, 2007

Jane LaFazio and me

Well, hard to believe that six weeks of my Art Quilt class with Jane LaFazio have come and gone! That was way too fast! Thanks, Jane for a great class! We had a fun group, and I knew every Friday I was guaranteed some good laughs with these ladies!

Didn't get a finished piece done, but had a lot laid out to discuss--the hand-dyeds, the heat-distorted pieces, etc. After everyone shared, we got to play with Jane's new "Shrinky Dink Oven!" We used colored pencils to draw whatever we wanted onto the Shrinky Dink plastic sheets, and then we cut it out and "baked" it in the oven! Here is my experience:

Colored and cut out shapes ready to bake!

Pieces are laid onto an index card and put in the oven

Pieces begin to curl and shrink

Finished work (all in about three minutes)!

Today I spent the morning working in my sewing room--taking things off the design wall, cleaning up, pressing fabric, etc. I'm ready to start something new! Actually, I made a list of all the smaller projects that have been started in the classes I've taken since January. I 'm going to choose several to take to completion, in some form or fashion. Some just need a border, others need quilting, and some need to have "the works!" My next class is not until mid-March at the Glendale Quilt Guild Show, so I've got some three weeks to re-group and do some sewing.

Last night a group of high school friends and I went to Dream Dinners. One of the friends has a husband in Iraq, and we decided to treat her to some fun and some meals! I came home with eleven meals ready to go with minimal effort! We had our first tonight, and it was so easy!

Dream Dinners night

Does this mean I have more time to work on art?

Silk Organza Art Quilt Class Project

February 22, 2007

It's a work in progress all right! Here are some of the components of what is to evolve as my last Art Quilt Class project with Jane LaFazio!

Various hand-dyed fabrics: silk organza, silk dupioni, cheesecloth. A few rows of knitted boucle'.

Hand-dyed cheesecloth and cotton pearl thread, along with a heat-distorted crocheted metallic eyelash yarn.

Jane gave each student a half-yard of silk organza to work with. I decided to hand-dye most of it. Our local art store had a sale on the little 2 oz. jars of Procion MX the other day, so I bought a jar each of gold, bronze, rust and black (see top photo for results). I had hoped for a more mottled look, but I think the organza and the cheesecloth were just so highly absorbant, that it didn't take much to dye them full-strength! I'm still learning here!

Additionally, I used some black PRO-Fab textile paint to stamp bubble wrap to the silk dupioni. Hmmm...not sure what I'll do with that, or if I will stamp some other things to the silk, etc. As you can see, this is totally a work in progress! AND, I have less than 24 hours to "Make it work," as Tim Gunn (Project Runway) says! (By the way, I've been recording all of the shows from the previous seasons--Bravo cable channel has been running them back-to-back on Wednesday afternoons). So, I will be off now to "Make it work!" I don't want to go to our last class empty-handed!

Before I go...here's a photo of how Jane used some "Lutradur." I would like to incorporate this--once I find my piece of it (it must be hiding behind all the Timtex and Pellon stuff I bought last week!). Jane hand-dipped the Lutradur in acrylic paint, and let it dry. She then stitched the Lutradur to fabric in a grid shape. Jane then used a heat gun to burn away the Lutradur to show the fabric beneath! Love this!

Ok, enough inspiration! Time to get to work!

"Making Faces" Workshop with Ann Turley

February 22, 2007

Last Saturday I decided to take a "just for fun" class! While researching classes, instructors and guild-offered workshops last month, I came upon one by Ann Turley called, "Making Faces." It sounded like pure, whimsical fun--just what I needed!

Ann Turley, class sample, and me

Our first assignment was to brainstorm at least ten words we would use to describe ourselves. Then, we had to pick a background fabric and two fabrics for our face. Ann provided a kit we purchased in class, which included directions, several face-shaped templates and various types of noses, ears, lips, noses and some fun accessories. We used fusibles to adhere our faces/parts, and then we were to satin stitch each of the pieces. It was fun watching each person's face take shape! Here are some other classmates' faces:

Below is my almost-finished face! I'm really happy with it! Ann showed us how to use a heat gun to melt/distort various sheer fabrics and other textiles. I had some gold sheer with me, and I cut a big piece, distorted it with the heat gun, then cut it up to look like blonde-flowing hair! Now, I'm still working on attaching the hair! Trying to figure the best way to make it look good! I decided to make a part on top by folding back one layer of the hair to one side, and another to the other side. My big question now, will be how to attach the last layer so it looks good (how to stitch the top row?). Any suggestions out there?

My Face

Any suggestions on how to attach the last row of hair on top for the best-looking results? Here's a close up:

Tomorrow is my last Art Quilt class with Jane LaFazio. The past six weeks have flown by! It has been a good experience to experiment with various different techniques! Our last project is to work with a half-yard of silk organza Jane provided! We can do whatever we want with it. My youngest has been home sick the past two days, so it's slow going here!

Almost forgot...Ann gave us some "Tyvek" to play with! I had heard the buzz about Tyvek on various quilt art boards, but had never tried it... Got home, used my heat gun to melt/distort from the opposite side (paper side or outside of the envelope). Then, I used some Jacquard Lumiere paints to paint the "rocks" (as Ann calls them). I applied a bit more heat to the same areas, and this is what I got:

Tyvek (material in certain mailing envelopes) distorted with heat gun

Art Show

February 15,2007

Last night, before a family Valentine's dinner at a local Mexican restaurant, we all attended our youngest son's Gustav Klimt-inspired art exhibit! Every week when I would pick him up from class, he wouldn't say too much about what they had done--short descriptions (when, of course, I was looking for a beautifully-painted verbal picture!). Well, we were very pleasantly surprised at the outcome--great artistry for an 11-year-old boy! Here's a photo of one of his finished piece, and a close-up of the skirting:

Gustav Klimt-inspired art

Close-up of skirting

As you can see they learned and executed a number of various techniques! Beautiful! Now, I've got to figure out how to get him to print on my fabrics!! :)

Now, on to the post script of the Trials and Tribulations of Fabric Dyeing! I went on to Round Two of the Mottled Browns! All was well as I pulled my second batch (if you'll remember the first batch went military green after rinsing), and began rinsing. Well, I got tired of rinsing and rinsing and so I did the soak. Instructions said to pour warm water with some dish soap detergent, with no bleach, into a bucket. So, I did this and ran to do some other things. Came back, and it was military green again! I think I'm meant to do something with this color!! I was so bummed! Well, I saved the dyes, and I put in a swatch of cheesecloth into each of the five quart-sized tubs. I rinsed in only cold water, and nothing else! Wha-La! They are BROWN in color (2nd generation/lighter, but BROWN!). So, in all my sleuthing, it must be the warmer water (all my other fabrics with red dye were fine). Below are photos from Round One and Round Two, and the cheesecloth in the middle!

Well, now, off to finish my Art Quilt class homework assignment due in the morning! I will post pictures when I'm done. I think I'm finally back in commission here!

Happy Valentine's Day!

February 14, 2007

Happy Valentine's Day!

Is it already February? Time is flying!

Have been busy these last three weeks, and I apologize for not getting more up on the blog. Here are a few tidbits I've worked on in the art quilt class with Jane La Fazio. Our assignment was to work in a journal-quilt size with wool. The first piece was my first go at it, and it is still in need of some finishing touches. The second piece needs another round of stitching to the sun/moon (your choice!), and a border.

#1

#2
My favorite of the two would be the second one (directly above). I actually would move a few things over to the left, or add a couple taller pieces on the left to balance it out--somehow it ended up with the one piece too much in the middle. I enjoyed working with the felt, and using the hand and machine stitching on it.

Last week in class we worked with soap erasers (I hear you can buy them at Dick Blick Art Supply). We used an X-acto knife to cut a stencil shape into it. Then, we stamped onto freezer paper. We then cut out the design, and used it as a stencil for the Shiva paintsticks we were using. So, the eraser acted not only as a stamp, which could be stamped directly onto fabric with inks, but also as a guide for cutting a custom stencil! 2-in-1! Fun trick!

This week's assignment is very different! We are using Timtex/Peltex (latter has fusible on it) to build a 3D house! Most of the samples in class were whimsical in nature. I'm going to take mine to a different place, and try and replicate our home lost in the Old Fires of 2003. I'm starting this morning, and need to be finished by Friday morning. I made a sample last Friday right after I got home, so I feel pretty comfortable using the materials. Happened to have the perfect fabric for it, so I think I'm ready to go! I will post a photo later today, after my youngest son's ipod nano is done charging (it says I cannot "disconnect" it from the computer! I have no clue what will happen if I violate the rule, and I'm not willing to find out!). The above Timtex link is to the Timtex Store--a fun website showing a lot of different uses for Timtex (fabric bowls, is a great example!). By the way, I found Peltex at Wal-Mart for 50% less than the local quilting store! I couldn't believe it (From $10/yd to $5/yd!).

Tonight we are off to my youngest son's Art Exhibit (he's 11) at the local Art Supply store. They have been working for five weeks ala Gustav Klimt style--monoprinting, sketching, etc. Will be fun to see what they did! After the show, it's a Valentine's dinner out with the family!

Here's our sweet Kuc, who will be celebrating her (and our) first Valentine's without our dear Sassy (was taken by a coyote in October).

Our kitty "Kuc"

(pron. Kutch in Latvian)

Kuc and Sassy