Thanks to my several posts my blogger pal Robbie shared on her blog, the Fiber Junkies jumped on the bandwagon of 'string art'. None of us began with high exceptions but we all agreed at the end of the day that it was fun, yet with somewhat limited results.
The premise is simple......coat string, twine, cording in some form of dye, ink, or in my case acrylic paint. Place on your print surface.....here I used a piece of National Nonwoven's Woolfelt.
Fold the fabric over the string, place in a heavy book and pull the string free. DO not stand on a book and try to pull the string out!! (The blue mop up cloth was a precaution to avoid getting paint on Judy's floor). It turns out that was unnecessary....guess I weigh too much to allow the string to come free!
Putting pressure on the top of the book while pulling the string worked best.
This approach yields mirror images.
I continued adding more designs with gray and then a metallic paint.
This was my 2nd attempt....more is not always best...a real mess in my opinion.
I added dots with the tip of a paint brush to provide a little more interest for this my 3rd one.
Here's my best attempt. Gen was having great success with her designs by working on paper and carefully looping the string in circular shapes.....while arranging it in as much of a vertical placement as possible. When I followed her method on my wool felt, the prints were more defined...less messy.
Denny worked with disperse dyes on paper, then ironed it onto "Peach skin" fabric.
This is one of Gen's.....she used felt marker applicators to add the dye to her string.
Our results varied not only by the placement of the string but the diameter and type of cord/string etc. used as well.
I love how Judy overlapped these two colors that were printed onto fabric. Will the Fiber Junkies do this again...probably not....but it was a really fun day.
Western North Carolina's Blue Ridge Mountain area is known for its stunning scenic roadways, including the famous Blue Ridge Parkway. Thrill seekers gravitate to "The Tail of the Dragon" at Deal's Gap with 318 curves in 11 miles. It's dubbed America's #1 motorcycle and sports car road.
"The Rattler", Hwy 209 outside of Hot Springs, NC. has become increasingly popular. We've driven it many times...all 33+ miles of it. We joined our Appalachian PCA (Porsche Club of America) for their breakfast 'run' this weekend.....good food and lots of car talk.
Here's more examples of the unique, high quality fabric my friend has collected. This is Liberty of London's highest quality fabric. They are best known for their small colorful prints. Pairing those prints with a regular quilter's solid fabric may be problematic since L of L fabric is much lighterweight. The big problem is finding a place to purchase solid color Tana Lawn, especially more than 1/4 yd. which is how the majority of this material is sold. So, if you've been hunting for this very special fabric, here's are some options for you to consider. Keep in mind retail runs nearly $40 a yard.......here's your chance to get it at $10.00 per yard!
Batch #8 - SOLD - solid blue colors Measurements from top:
2 yds + 32" @ 54" wide
2 yds + 10" @ 35 " wide
Batch # 6 - SOLD
Measurements from top:
2 yds + 11" @ 55" wide - navy
23" @ 53" wide - grey/blue
30" @ 35" wide - apple green
40" @ 35" wide - pale yellow
Batch #7 - SOLD
Measurements from the top: (colors are my descriptions not L of L)
23" @ 53" wide - dusty pink
40" @ 35" wide - pink
40" @ 35" wide - grey/blue
27" @ 35" wide - melon
Batch #9 - SOLD
- 4 pieces on left are smaller scraps - smallest piece is 6" x 14" - other 3 are bigger. - 7 pieces on right measure appx. 22" x 35" *there's a small spot on the pale green, & the olive green is slightly smaller (21" x33") and has several slight fade lines. These flaws are priced in.
Payment and Shipping: PayPal payment within 12 hrs. of receiving my invoice. Your items will ships via USPS flat rate priority @ $7.25, the next business day if possible. Smoke free home. email me with your Paypal address to claim any item. US sales only.
After nearly 3 months, I continue to spend most of my time finding homes for the quilting treasures of my dear friend Helen. Her eye for unique fabrics yielded fabrics I've never seen before. This is one example.
When I came across them....there were the typical indigo prints....and I assumed they were Japanese Ikat....but then as I dug deeper into the bin, browns and reds appeared. Still I thought...hey more Ikat.
Upon examination, I noticed the manufacturer's imprint on the back.....what?? They aren't Japanese at all....instead it's stamped - "Three Cats", made in England! A few are marked "W", I have yet to find this company.
If you are interested in the history of this unique cloth....click here....or read the 'cliff' notes below. I gather from my research that most of this fabric was produced before 1992, but I suspect these were even earlier as my friend traveled to England frequently in the 70's and 80's.
I'm undecided whether I should keep these goodies for myself....or find homes for them since I also have a small tub full of the indigo style. The only resource I could find outside of South Africa to purchase this fabric is in Canada....which includes duty, shipping, handling, and I assume a big hassle. If anyone is especially interested in these pieces.....email me.
Shweshwe which gets its name from the Sotho kingMoshoeshoe [Moshweshwe] I after French missionaries presented him with some of the indigo printed cloth in the 1840s. The cloth was further popularized in the Eastern Cape (South Africa) when German settlers in the late 1850s often chose to wear the blue cloth which echoed the German Blaudruk. Xhosa women gradually added what they termedUjamanito their red blanket clothing. Shweshwe clothing is traditionally worn by newly married Xhosa women, known as makoti, and married Sotho women.
The first indigo cloth was introduced to the Cape (South Africa) when it became a seaport. At that stage the indigo dye was made from natural material and most of the cloth came from India via Holland. The printing technique used was known asblock and discharge. The block refers to the woodblock out of which the patterns were gouged before being soaked in dye and pressed onto the fabric. And the discharge refers to the bleaching of the indigo to produce the white areas. In the early 1860s a German developed a synthetic indigo.
Da Gama designs www.dagama.co.za/product-category/home-sewing/three-cats/The copper rollers with the pattern etched into them. Source: Da Gama textiles
By the 1930s the cloth was being made in Lancashire, England. There were several factories making the cloth. The largest was Spruce Manufacturing which produced the brand name, Three Cats – the one which was exported to South Africa. In 1992 Da Gama Textiles bought the sole rights to Three Cats and the original engraved copper rollers were shipped to South Africa. Da Gama Textiles uses cotton from Southern Africa, mostly from Kwazulu Natal. The traditional block and discharge process is still used (although the woodblock is now a copper roller). The fabric is fed through copper rollers seen on the right, which have patterns etched on the surface, allowing a weak acid solution to be fed into the fabric, bleaching out the distinctive white designs.
Starched stiffness – signifier of authenticity
Isishweshwe has a distinctive prewash stiffness and smell which is very much part of its appeal and popularity. During the long sea voyage from the UK to South Africa, starch was used to preserve the fabric and this gave it its characteristic stiffness. After washing, the stiffness disappears to leave behind a beautiful soft cotton fabric. Apparently at one stage the fabric was no longer starched but when sales dropped, it was reintroduced.
Since there is literally no sewing still going on in my life at the moment....I decided to share another event that has made me smile!
We met our son/DIL and the two grand kids at Disney World near Orlando, FL. It's been over 50 years since I attended Disneyland in CA....oh my what a change. Our very competent and generous son arranged everything......including our corner hotel room with these two views. Awesome...I felt very pampered.
It was just as beautiful at night.....though my camera didn't capture it.....we could enjoy fireworks just above this lighted building from our balcony.
It felt like we were being personally welcomed as we entered the Magic Kingdom with all the dressed characters on stage singing and dancing.
The youngest grandchild, only 2 1/2 is an escape artist.....though I'll only share these 3 examples....you can see we were all kept very busy monitoring him!
Oh to own a stroller company.......everywhere your eye could see there were strollers and conveniently, stroller parking!
The Disney characters sure provide such delight to the little ones...heck, us big ones too.
We came home pooped but with so many wonderful memories......
The Fiber Junkies meetings have been less frequent as our "6-some" is now down to 5. We miss Val terribly and hope her health will one day allow her to attend meetings again.
With all the fabric I'm dispersing, four of us got together and like a well oiled machine, made 10 kits for our guild's community quilt committee. Our PTA (Professional Textile Artists) group will meet in early fall and have a sew-in to assemble the quilts. That's what quilters do...don't we?!?
I arrived with 3 bags - 20 pounds each of fabric.....somewhat sorted. Judy's beautiful and well equipped studio was the perfect setting for our job! Of course it all had to be pressed in preparation for cutting with the 3 die cut machines we had on hand to use.
After pressing, each station got various pieces according to how we wanted it cut.
Here Kate is cutting some tumbler blocks.
This is Denny's impressive electric cutter.....it's magic!!
She had dies that cut various widths of strips and other configurations. That sure made fast work of creating kits!
Kate is a whiz at coordinating such diverse selections of fabrics AND figuring out the math. We start by choosing the backing....which sometimes required piecing. Next we cut squares or tumbler blocks....often times we included border fabric as well. AND, each kit also got precut binding strips!
Assembly notes are added to the packaged kits when necessary...we ended up with 10 kits. I came home with one bag of fabric that probably weighed 35+ pounds. Guess we will be doing this again......
At the beginning of April I was entrusted by a dear friend to disperse her lifetime of quilting treasures which came my way enclosed in a 7' x 7' moving pod. Yup, you read that right a 7' x 7' pod....filled!!
This was a 24-7 task which included unpacking, sorting, measuring and organizing, and finding homes for everything. The entire upstairs of our home was nearly wall to wall fabric.
Every surface was covered.
Bins filled with fabrics covered the floors.
This is the look today.....my studio area has only 1 bin left...and the stacking shelves on this side of the guest room contain far less fabric.
Other areas like this still have more than what meets the eye at first glance...but I'm getting there. So I'm coming out of my self-imposed hibernation and hopefully new work will begin to appear back on this blog! Stay tuned.....
