GIRLFRIEND ART CAMP IN AZ

I'm fortunate to have such a generous friend who has now offered her home for the 5th year in a row for our "Girlfriend Art Camp". (Thank you Nan!!)  We planned to do some ice-dyeing one day, but ended up doing two trays the first day and one each the next two days.

 I've shared the steps involved with this technique several times in the past so this is only a brief overview.  After soaking our fabrics in soda ash, squeezing out the excess after 24 hours, we layered them in plastic trays.....one layer on the bottom to catch the extra dye, then added raised racks to hold the remaining fabric.  

I had recently read that soaking for 24 hours achieves better color......so we tried that approach....frankly, the color was worse. So we went back to doing just quick soaks instead.

 The fabrics were covered with ice.

Dye powder was applied (wearing masks and gloves).

Then encased with black plastic and left out in the warm AZ sun.  We waited till the next morning to view our creations.

 In the meantime, we made personal pizzas......way too much good food is consumed in these couple of days.

 Here's the biggest success.  Nan had purchased a never worn wedding dress in a resale shop. I think she paid $10.00.....all silk......lots and lots of laces and pearls.  So we decided to cut it into sections and ice dye it.  Here are some drying on her bushes......FABULOUS RESULTS!!!

 Our first day of ice-dyeing was fairly disappointing.....we still can't figure out why.....the wedding gown fabrics were wonderful, but none of these cottons and rayons had much color or interest.  

Of course that only meant we could spend another day enhancing them with paints and even redying some........stay tuned.....

NEW WOOL WORK - PART 3

I expect most of you are familiar with the wonders of water soluble stabilizer....simply stitch on it.....cut the excess stabilizer away and dissolve the remaining in warm water.

The leaves are soaking in a sink that's filling with water.

With the stabilizer gone, the leaves are left to dry.

Though I made the leaves specifically following the design pattern I drew on the overlay.....it didn't translate into a pleasing piece.

I had a stack of leaves to work with so I began auditioning new placements.

Though I rejected this one layout, upon reflection, I rather like it now.  However I didn't then, so check back tomorrow and I'll show you what I did do!

NEW WOOL WORK - PART 2

….Continuing the saga of this new wool piece........

The colors and texture of the fabric gave the impression of fall.  So I set out to create leaves to enhance the design of the fabric.  A clear piece of plastic and a magic marker allowed me to preview the shape and placement.

Normally I use a dry erase marker when auditioning motifs, but because I wanted to transfer the design, a traditional marker worked better for this approach as it stays fairly wet.

I placed a piece of lightweight paper over the leaves drawn on the plastic to transfer their shapes.....they will now be my templates.  Sure they are rough shapes.....but for my purpose; to make needle lace leaves, that was fine.

I retraced the shapes onto a piece of water soluble stabilizer.

Okay, I know what you are thinking....Mary doesn't like to free motion stitch....and you'd be right.  But it had to be done.  So, the shapes were outlined and then filled in using rayon embroidery thread.

Well......that wasn't too bad.....I did it!  But, yikes.....it took a lot of time and I had how many more planned???

Come back tomorrow and see the progress........  

NEW WEEK - NEW WOOL PROJECT

This post should probably be titled - The 7th Time May Be The Charm......
Normally, my preference is to show the process and conclusion of a project in one post, assuming that doesn't get overwhelming. But, because of all the steps involved, I'm breaking up this 'story' into several posts.

It all began with a piece of garment quality white wool.  I love working with felted wool, but as is often the case with dress goods, it wouldn't felt.  I had a lot of this fabric so I decided to work with it anyway.

The first step was to ice dye it.....but as seen in this photo......it's rather dull. So when two friends and I were playing with acrylic paint, I wrapped it onto a large pvc pipe. 

And painted the folds using a foam brush. (My buddy Judy Simmons can be seen in the background painting one of her pieces.)

......Hummmm.....it's still ugly!

Several months later the Fiber Junkies spent a day experimenting with microwave ice-dyeing....so I overdyed it.  Good grief....it's still homely.

Time passed and the Fiber Junkies met again for a mono-printing day.  I was doing a happy dance after transforming the fabric by applying numerous layers of thinned acrylic paint with the aid of several really interesting stencils a member shared.

Trust me....it's so much better in person.  The challenges are that it is far darker than it appears in the photo and has a VERY BUSY appearance.  

With that said......after picking it up a dozen times and replacing it, I now have a plan that hopefully will be successful.   Check back....won't you?

WHEN QUILTS FIND NEW HOMES

Yes.....it's a happy day when quilts find forever homes.  That might sound a bit overstated......we think of children and pets seeking 'forever homes'....not wall art!  

However, as an artist, who is now focusing on creating work to sell.....yes, it's a great feeling to know someone else appreciates your designs and wants to live with them!!!  I'm stepping a bit more gleefully today.



WILDFLOWER SILHOUETTE TRIO
Artist microwave ice-dyed and mono-printed
felted wool, hand embroidered, bead embellished.

If you are a collector or one who just appreciates being surrounded by new pieces as inspiration......perhaps you will find a piece that 'speaks' to you too....visit my gallery shop here.

MICROWAVE ICE DYEING RESULTS

So....the results are in.....  In my opinion, microwave ice dyeing is a good option for cotton when quick results and small amounts are desired.  However, our group will need to do more experimenting to develop more predictable results.

Mine are a bit disappointing....NOT that I didn't have a grand time.....the Fiber Junkies meetings are one of the highlights of my month...no matter what we do!  

I purposely experimented with mostly non-cottons....which I suspect affected the outcome a lot.  But, a gal wants to know....'what if'.

 BEFORE - a hunk of peachy/pinkish Easter egg color National NonWovens WoolFelt.  This was a 80/20 blend....not intended to be washed and dried....much less boiled in hot dye!  I really dislike this color.....

......So....I had nothing to lose.  This is the AFTER.....cooled off but still not yet rinsed.  Not wonderful but it had potential.

AFTER - AFTER - yuck....rinsed, washed in synthrol, and dried.  The surface is now very pilled, distorted, pale, ugly.  But....what a challenge, right?? 

BEFORE - This pitiful piece of 100% light weight wool (dress good quality which doesn't felt well) had been previously dyed....I "think" it may have been ice dyed in the traditional method...or perhaps tray dyed.  Does it matter how?? Nope....

Another day I added the brown lines during an acrylic painting marathon that my friends Kate and Judy and I had.  Now I really hated it....honestly, this photo is much better than the piece is.

 AFTER -  It was microwave ice dyed using blue Procion MX......unfortunately, it's still ugly.

AFTER - BACK SIDE -  Now...perhaps this has more potential.

BEFORE - on left - AFTER on Right....not much difference is there?  I placed this loosely woven cotton.....almost linen looking but it isn't.... beneath another piece of fabric which was sitting on a plastic strainer.  The idea is that as the ice/dye melts.....it strikes the first piece of fabric, and the liquid works its way to the bottom layer.  Often yielding some really great designs.  Unfortunately, not in this case.  I'll redye it for sure.

BEFORE - LEFT - A piece of pale celery green silk noil....

AFTER - right......well now we are talking!!!  I love this one!!!