OH DARN!!

I've probably got a week plus into the preparation for my Bansky inspired quilt. Yesterday, as I was thinking...yeah....I'm now ready to make good progress.....I hit a brick wall....

Get it? Brick wall?? Sorry, I couldn't resist. It was time to start the stenciling....and that's where it all went wrong.

Because I had done a test sample of the stencil technique I planned to use, perhaps over-confidence set in. ALL the stencils were made, my background was prepared and my work surface all set up.

After stenciling the first one, I let it dry before removing the freezer paper.

However, on close inspection when I removed the freezer paper, I noticed some areas that needed a bit more paint. That was my downfall......I tried touching it up and when that application dried it became sort of milky/shiny looking. My analysis now is that the new paint just sat on the previous layer which caused this mess.

After pouting most of the afternoon I came up with a solution....to fuse my original sample of this motif over this messed up one. Well......that didn't work because they didn't match exactly....the result of having to make a new stencil each time it was painted.

But then after more sulking.....my next idea was to paint the cow on the fabric anyway, cut it out and fuse both of these motifs to a new background......since this background was already runined. It was a difficult decision because I have very little of this fabric which I designed years ago for my Kona Bay collection. In fact, just enough of this color way to do another piece this size.

Now I'm past pouting and am really annoyed.....stamping my feet annoyed if you want to know the truth. The cow required two applications of paint to get it to cover correctly......and though it went on evenly....it's wayyyyy toooo white.

I don't give up easily. But, it's obvious to me the technique has to change. Screen printing would be the answer, unfortunately I don't have the equipment for this kind of detailed printing. So the execution of the design will need to change or else I'll ditch the project entirely.

I RARELY do not complete something I start....stubborn? Yes I am! Despite the frustration and even disappointment, this is how one learns and hopefully something worthy will result.

PREPARATION

This new 'Banksy' project has been one of my longer design/planning/experimenting preparations that I can recall in recent memory. Since beading isn't going to be the feature, in fact, may not even have an appearance.....I've had to shift my technique focus.

That's a good thing as it keeps me engaged and growing. Though of course, like most of us....I just wanna sew.....esp. since patience isn't one of my virtues!!

My 'drawing' (created by someone who can't draw) is pretty much finished.

After overlaying it on my fabric, I realized that it was out of balance. Additionally, instead of seeing just a solid brick wall, the viewer might get a better understanding of the piece if I added a sidewalk on the lower portion. So now I have to figure out how I want to do that.....hopefully some painting/stitching can begin soon.

HERITAGE DAYS

Spring, summer, and fall......small towns all over the mountains host various types of festivals. Today, Waynesville had their Appalachian Heritage Days. It's a chance for local crafts people to show off their skills and sell their wares.

Such as....wood carvers...

Knitters & weavers who use their own wools

And.....we got to see where these various wools came from....

Hummmm and how we can survive in rural America if our grocery stores closed down.

A 96 year old woman made the most beautiful pine needle baskets..... The center of this one came from some kind of tree nut that was sliced into thin sections.

Even local authors were there to educate attendees. After seeing the sign, I had to go see what they were selling.....a novel about growing up here in the mountains.

Live music.....a well known musician, David Holt was playing his banjo when I snapped this photo.

And...kids of all ages had play time areas.

NEW PROJECT

It's always such fun to begin to translate a new idea. Our entire PTA group has been so jazzed about our 2011 'artist' challenge....where we make a small wall quilt inspired by a famous or infamous artist.

My piece, (though still not quite finished yet Kay) has already been sold and though the buyer has graciously agreed to wait for delivery until after its planned exhibit in Feb., I got to worrying about that and started thinking about making another piece for the show.

BESIDES.....one of my other original ideas was still tickling my creative spirit. The artist is Bansky. He's a UK graffiti artist. Now I know what you are thinking......I did too when I first learned how graffiti artists were becoming famous and even well respected.....with gallery shows and all. I don't condone graffiti....commissioned outdoor work has its place.....but not ugly blight.

Banksy began making his is mark on the graffiti world by making huge stencils which he could quickly paint in the middle of the night, thereby avoiding detection. I'm not a fan of political or social statements in quilting, and many of his pieces fall in that category so in a way I was sort of turned off by him. Ya, I know that's the mission of some artists, it's what makes us all individual....but that's just not what I want to do.

With all these opposing thoughts running through my mind.....I was still intrigued. Art can and perhaps even should, invoke emotion. It'd be nice if it was always positive emotion.....but that's not always going to happen.

Also, I guess another reason the subject drew me in was because of the large bin of architectural fabrics I designed years ago for Kona Bay Fabrics. Bricks, wood grain, shingles, cement, etc. What a perfect theme for their use.......

So....I begin again using Bansky as my inspiration....not sure where this will take me.....basically it's taken all week just to experiment with ideas of how to translate my idea.....

Here are a few pictures of his work that I especially liked.....the first was one of his stencil style of graffiti.....cute, harmless, and a nice addition to that cement wall.

Here's mine....

Since I don't draw....it's taken me days just to develop my motifs. At first I was going to applique the figure but 'the husband' suggested that really didn't give the right feel of Banksy. He was right, so instead, I dug out some fabric paints and added some blobs of paint on bottom left to see how they'd cover. It worked fine. Next, I moved onto making a stencil of one of the figures that will be featured & painted my 'graffiti'. This has been done on a scrap of fabric....just in case..... I hope to move onto the real thing when I finalize my design and construction approach.

Hang with me on this journey......

EYE CANDY

Good morning everyone.......

I received a package of goodies yesterday which I can hardly keep my hands off of...... National Nonwovens has come out with 10 new fabulous colors of WoolFelt!! My mind is spinning....

A FEEL GOOD

I generally avoid following internet links that folks send to me....youtube, facebook (which I have consistently vowed not to do), Linkedin....gad, that could suck up one's entire day.....

But, 'the husband' who continues to recover nicely...and a bit more rapidly now......has had lots of time to surf the web and found this.....a sort of flash mob with music and a purpose which isn't apparent till the end. It's truly a feel good and ya gotta wonder how on earth they coordinated it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPjjZCO67WI&feature=player_embedded

QUILT ART EXHIBIT

Our fiber group, PTA, spent the afternoon viewing Lake Logan Reflections - Quilt Art by the Shady Ladies. This is their 8th annual quilt show and each one gets better and better. The most anticipated part of the show in my opinion is their annual challenge.

The theme this time was PHOTO FINISH. The work was to be an interpretation of any photo taken by the quilt-artist. Any quilting technique was allowed except photo transfer. The pieces were appx. 20 x 30 inches and have no borders. Each piece must be made entirely by the quilter; from taking the photo, to interpreting the design, to stitching and quilting the piece themselves. I know you will enjoy seeing just some of their results:

GIRLS DAY OUT

Our PTA (Piecers Talkers Appliquers) June meeting began with lunch at a local Mexican restaurant....hey we are quilters after all.

Here's a view of our fashionable members.

After lunch we headed to a quilt exhibit....more on that tomorrow......

Remember....we are quilters...... Member Connie Brown thoughtfully surprised us with picnic goodies during final gab sessions before he headed home. It's unusually warm in our mountains so we were thrilled with the bowls of sherbet she dished out!

After being in her hot car, the cookies tasted like they just came out of the oven.

For those members who stay away from sweets.....Connie brought string cheese.

Surprises are such fun!!

This is the only show and tell photo that turned out....as I was shooting into the sun. Kate hand appliqued and machine quilted this piece for one of her daughters.

FIBER JUNKIES MAY MEETING - PART 3

Oh ya......the agenda for our meeting also included screen printing..... We had so much fun during our last deconstructive screen printing day that we decided to do a repeat.

We all brought items to use for our motifs......everything from string, textured cardboard, stencils, bubble wrap etc. It's best to use items that are less than 1/4" thick.

Carol cracked us all up......while on a kayak trip she found a bunch of construction fencing.....packed it up and brought it to share with us!!

Here's the arrangement of items I used for my first screen. I cut circles from cardboard and gathered foliage from Val's garden.

Judy and Val had pre-mixed all the dyes the day before and to make our choices easier....Judy brought fabric samples of each of the colors.

Here's Judy pulling dye through her screen......her 'design motifs' are beneath the screen.....

Once the dye dries on the screen.....retaining the shapes of our designs, print paste is pulled through the screen which releases the dye onto fabric we place beneath. We got about 4 prints from each screen. The first one is usually my least favorite because less dye gets transferred....meaning a lot of white remains. But...in this case, I actually very much like this first print (#1 on the left #2 on the right).

#3. on the left #4. on the right

We were all crazy about some flat tin gear looking items.....not sure who I should credit for them.....sorry.... Sometimes we use two or three colors of dye on our screens but for this one I used just one, called 'bark'.

The printed fabrics were rolled in black plastic and left to 'cook' (cure) in the sun......and in my case for 2 days before I got a chance to take them out, rinse them and wash in Synthropol. Now I can't wait to CREATE!!!

FIBER JUNKIES MAY MEETING - PART 2

Member Nancy always has fantastic show and tell to share......

I love her felted water bottle carrier.....she actually forms the case by felting hand dyed roving. Then she embellishes it with dye cut woolfelt which has been hand embroidered and beaded. It keeps her water ice cold and the sweat from the bottle is contained.

Nancy took a workshop at the nearby John C. Campbell Folk School where she began this handmade book.

The pages, made from hand made papers, fabrics, and other paper sources were inspired by 'found objects' at the school......

....and also incorporated treasures brought from home....

This 'fold out' treasure was made from a rubbing of tree bark....which Nancy enhanced with inks. Who thinks of these things??? Soooo very creative!!

In her spare time, Nancy played with gelatin printing, which again she painted and inked to add more design details.....

She has gotten quite interested in book making, a popular subject in this area. Here's a book we all found inspiring.....lots of great ideas for 'theme' book covers/shapes/styles. She found it in her local library, authored by Jeannine Stein.