Craft Foam Stamps

A few days ago I was cutting some random shapes from sticky back art foam to create an overall design for use in background printing on fabric and came up with this stamp.

Oooo, I liked it and couldn't leave well enough alone so I sorted through my original silk screens and found this bird that I thought might look good superimposed on a print with these wavy lines.

I merely wanted to see what my idea would look like so I set about pulling out of my stash the first piece of pre-cut fabric hat I laid my hands on.  Since red Speedball screen printing ink lay on the worktable, I used it to make the first print of the wavy lines. 

Ooops!  I got a smudge of the red ink below the lines.  Time to get creative.  A couple of pieces of cardstock were right at hand and I covered the smudges with stenciled red lines and then echoed those lines at the top. 

 Mmmm.  I did like the way it looked and had a hard time waiting for the print to completely dry.  After it was dry and heat set, I laid the embroidery hooped screen on top of the wavy lines and pulled white Speedball printing ink across it.  Yes!  I liked that, too. 

Still, I couldn't leave well enough alone.  Dharma Trading Company had just delivered a bottle of Setacolor Silver Glitter Finish.  After the white Speedball ink was dry and heat set, the bird form received a coating with the paintbrush of the glitter finish. 

Then came the completely spontaneous act of quilting of the top design atop batting and another fabric that heretofore had not found a proper use. This was good but the design needed to be set off somehow.  Out came the glass beads and the handwork began, bead by bead and, hoorah!  A 15" x 15" finished piece.

Here is a closeup of the quilting, the stamping and the beading.

...and the backing...

A few more stamps were created that day, but they will be posted at a later date.  Until then, I must get this listed on Etsy.

Flight - A New Art Quilt on Etsy

Flight

If you follow my blog you will notice that this piece started a few weeks ago with the background.  The next stepo was the silk screening of the bird figure.  After I discovered that I could apply handwriting without "bleeding" on the fabric, this work developed.    It can also be found on Etsy at:  http://www.etsy.com/listing/81239864/flight-art-quilt-wall-hanging.

Close-up of Silk Screened Bird and Apple Stamped Circles

 Full View of Front

 Close-up of Stylized Sky Elements

Close-up of Handwriting 

Full View of Reverse 

Close-up; of Reverse 



Print with an Apple

My first printing experiment with fruit from the produce department was with an orange and now I've tried an apple.  The orange prints are being worked into a quilted work and will appear here when it is completed, but, for now, here is the apple print.

Dancing to the Stars - Screen Print

A friend presented me with a negative print of a photograph she took of a sculptural work against a clear sky. From that print, I made a silhouette on an embroidery hoop frame that was stretched with sheer curtain fabric. I then masked the design with very old, thick latex fence paint and double checked that no pinholes of light showed through the masking.

After the mask was thoroughly dry, I printed the screen with opaque silver silk screen ink. I then cut a star shape from a scrap of clear vinyl and stenciled multiple stars with gold fabric paint above each screened image.

The fabric at hand allowed space for printing six 13" x 13" repeat images.

Since these prints will ultimately be incorporated into a quilted work, I documented the image in a journal entry.

Design Preparation for Embroidery Hoop Screen Print

If one is new to screen printing, it is important to recognize that a design must be created in reverse and is, therefore, somewhat counter intuitive. Thus, the instructions that follow are based on a very simple design that looks the same, even if it is reversed. If lettering is to be screen, letters must be written in reverse; otherwise, the image will be like trying to read words in a mirror.

The simple design chosen was the outline of a dress form.

MATERIALS:
Embroidery hooped screen (see instructions in blog entry dated 5/26/2010)Paper
Heavy leaded pencil
Duct tape
Scissors

1) Sketch a design with pencil on paper.

2) Place the embroidery hoop screen on top of the sketch with the screening material touching the sketch.

3) Trace the sketch onto the screening material with dark pencil. In this example a stand shape has been added to the design after the original sketch was traced. This was drawn freehand and directly onto the screen. In the next view arrows have been drawn to add visual interest to this very simple design.

4) Cut 4" to 5" strips of duct tape. Press the strips around the entire edge of the screen and up the sides of the wooden hoop. This process creates a barrier between the hoop frame and the area that will be masked and silk screened with ink or paint. If not tape is affixed, wayward mask and/or ink may become caught between the screen and the fabric and this can compromise future screens with cross color contamination.

4) After the edges of the screen and the inside of the hoop have duct tape securely finger pressed in place, use scissors to cut away the excess duct tape that extends above the rim of the hoop. Note: Use all purpose scissors to cut the tape. Do not use good, fabric scissors.

5) Turn the hooped frame over. Once again, cut 4" to 5" strips of duct tape and affix them around the entire edge of the screen and the edge of hoop.

6) There is no need to carry the tape up this wooden side of the hoop. After the duct tape has been securely finger pressed to the screen and wooden edge of the hoop, use craft scissors to trim away excess duct tape.

7) After the excess tape has been cut away, the hoop will look like this on the reverse side:
8) Turn the hooped screen over.

9) Use fabric scissors to cut away the excess screening fabric. This may remain uncut; however, the excess material tends to become unwieldy when masking out the image.

10) . The top of the screen frame will look like this:

11) The reverse of the screen will look like this:
The embroidery hooped screen is now ready for masking. More fun lies ahead. Check back tomorrow for an update and instructions on how to mask a silk screen with ordinary exterior latex house paint.

Quilts on the Wall