Wordless Wednesday

DeColourant and Discharge

Janet Pray of Islander Sewing Systems conducted a day and a half workshop at the January meeting of NTGM

The piece she is holding was one that was discharged with bleach and then dyed.

After providing the participants basic information on discharging with bleach and using the DeColourant products. With a single application DeColourant products remove color from fabric and then add a new color.  Some also worked with bleach and/or bleach pens to remove color from the fabric, taking them home to wash hem.  On the second day we continued to experiment with various, stencils, screens and stamps to create designs.Some used painters tape to create grids on their yardage.  I spent the time playing with small pieces; however, some brave souls plunged right in and worked on large pieces with the possibility of using the fabric to make a jacket.

This is one of my small pieces made using a stencil of calla lilies and stems using fushia and emerald green Decolourant on navy blue. Not sure what I will do with it, but,  with a 2-3 inch border of coordinating fabric, it has potential to be an exquisite pillow.

 These were created using bleach to remove color from the fabric.

The creator of this piece used painters tape to create the grid and then bleach was spritzed all over the fabric creating the background.  After washing and ironing, the allover design was printed using a screen and one of the Decolorant products. Unfortunately I didn't record which DeColourant product was used, although I believe it was one of the metallic colors.

Free Form Basket Weaving

On Wednesday January 8th I met with a group of women to play with basket weaving, but not the structured type.


After a brief introduction to the technique we all choose a material to work with.  It was fun, but it reminded me why I had never been able to conquer weaving in the distant past. I created a small free form basket and am pleased with it.

It has a few loose ends which I will eventually correct by soaking it and hiding them or perhaps make them a design element  by curling them. 

Below is a small 16 x 16 inch art quilt I made many years ago in which the hearts were made by weaving strips of fabric.  I never used this technique in any of my subsequent work.

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I think that it is safe to say that while I had fun making both of these items 12 years apart, weaving is not really in my past and I assure you not in my future.

Wordless Wednesday

Fiber 5K to Fight Cancer.

 

Mark your calendar for January 15, 2014 and join me as I run the Fiber 5K to Fight Cancer. OK, I won't actually be jogging around a race course, I'll save that for later in the season when the weather is warmer.  But I will be joining the fun as Fiberart For A Cause's virtual race kicks off with a goal of donating $5000 directly to the American Cancer Society.


Generous Prize Sponsors for drawings means there will be many winners at the 1K ($1000) mark, 2K ($2000) mark, etc., plus a Grand Prize drawing when we cross the Finish Line.According to Race Director, Virginia Spiegel, "Fiberart For A Cause likes to have fun while raising money to fight cancer, so, of course, there are going to be more "race" details revealed as January 15 draws closer. 100% of donations are given directly to the American Cancer Society through Fiberart For A Cause. Fiberart For A Cause has already donated more than $230,000 to the American Cancer Society thanks to the generosity of fiber artists and patrons."

More information: http://www.virginiaspiegel.com/Fiber5K2014.html

My contribution  to the prizes include a hand dyed habatoi silk scarf (8x72 inches) in shades of light magenta, yellow and lavender. The second one is the same size and is a light brick red and blue with an allover screen print of calla lilies.

The second one is the same size and is light brick red and blue with an all over design of calla lilies

 

A close up of the lilies.