Koi Drawings

As I continue developing my work for a 40" x 40" "Crossings" challenge, the red circles on the background fabric suggested bubbles to me (see  Step #1, Step #2,, Step #3, Step 4, and Step 5) .   My thoughts turned to fish.  I first conceived of salmon going upstream to spawn, but the faces of salmon seem almost mean to me.  When I think of lovely fish, koi always seem to come to mind. Koi swim over and under each other and cross through ponds of lily pads. That idea stuck with me so I set about sketching a couple of these fish. The images that evolved were from my memories of koi fish.  They are not meant to be anatomically correct. 

I first pencil sketched a couple of koi images on paper and then poster printed the sketches. 

The koi that was to become orange was printed on a 2x2 poster print setting.  The pages were then taped together and color was added with Inktense pencils.

 I also printed the koi that was to become red in the same manner; however, because of it's curve it needed to be printed in a 3x3 poster setting.

Tomorrow I will post about transferring the drawings to fabric and painting them with Setacolor fabric paints.
Note:  These posts are my participation in the 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge.  If you, too, would like to participate, link to Cheryl Sleboda's:  http://muppin.com/…/inde…/the-31-day-blog-writing-challenge/

Until tomorrow...

Always remember, never fear to experiment.  

Sometimes wonderful things happen.

© Linda Friedman 2015.  All rights reserved

Block Printing with Foam #5

Adding Salt for Texture

(For those who are just now joining in you can follow along from the beginning by linking to:  Step #1, Step #2, and Step #3  and Step 4.)

While the fabric was still saturated with layers of Setacolor fabric paint washes, I took out my improvised shaker of kosher salt that had been a taco sauce bottle.

Converted Taco Sauce Bottle

To make the bottle into a shaker I used an awl to punch holes in the lid.

Bottle Cap Top with Punched Holes

I then sprinkled salt all over the wet fabric.

Shaking Salt onto Wet Paint Washes

I usually do this step with the fabric in sunlight, but it was night and I wanted to see if the salt would draw up color without the benefit of the sunlight magic.  It worked, although not as dramatically as if the sun had been on it.  For the purpose of this work, the result was fine.  Yay!  Hard "edges" of color were softened and visual texture was created.

Close-up:  Result of Adding Salt to Paint Washings

Tomorrow I will post about a couple of images that I want to applique to this block printed,  painted background fabric.
Note:  These posts are my participation in the 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge.  If you, too, would like to participate, link to Cheryl Sleboda's:  http://muppin.com/…/inde…/the-31-day-blog-writing-challenge/

Until tomorrow...

Always remember, never fear to experiment.  

Sometimes wonderful things happen.

© Linda Friedman 2015.  All rights reserved

Block Printing with Foam #4

Three Layers of Transparent Wash

The first picture in this post is the printed fabric with three overlays of color.  It's rather like eating dessert first and then having dinner.  What follows is how the wash overlays were accomplished.

If you have been following along with my series of 31 Day Block Writing posts about block printing with foam, please bear with me as I reference earlier steps for those who are just now joining in.   To follow along from the beginning link to:  Step #1, Step #2, and Step #3 here.

Step 4 of using the block prints in a large work involved using simple tools.

Tools

Spray Bottle with Clear Water

 

Inexpensive Brushes from a Home Improvement Store

I first sprayed the entire piece of fabric with clear water to make it quite damp.  In a canning jar I then made a mixture of Setacolor Lemon Yellow a very few drops of Setacolor Bright Orange transparent fabric paint, and then mixed it with clear water in a 1:1 ratio of paint-to-water.  Then the paint brush was dunked into the paint/water mixture and washed across the entire fabric.

Partial Overlay of Yellow/Orange Wash

Once the fabric was completely washed with the Yellow/Orange color, the fabric was quite wet.  That actually turned out to be a good thing because it allow the next wash of Setacolor Cobalt Blue to migrate in a serendipitous manner into the Yellow/Orange wash .  I mixed the blue fabric paint in the same 1:1 paint-to-water mixture as I did with the yellow/orange fabric paint.  Here it is, ready to use, in a canning jar.

Jar to Mix and Store Fabric Paint

Partial Wash of Setacolor Cobalt Blue over 1st Wash of Setacolor Yellow/Orang

Here is what the two transparent layers of washes over the block printed fabric looked like.

Setacolor Cobalt Blue Randomly Added

Note:  My work surface was not wide enough to lay out the entire fabric, so I covered 2" thick insulation board with a plastic drop cloth, put that on top of my table and it was a perfect size to work on.

I failed to mention in my earlier posts that because of the to-be-announced theme, I believed that there needed to be intersecting lines.  To achieve this, I taped 3 pieces of 8.5" x 11" card stock together lengthwise, cut out a 7/8" strip with a craft knife and used it as a template to paint black strips to visually define the levels

Tomorrow I will blog about the finishing touches to this background piece.

Note:  These posts are my participation in the 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge.  If you, too, would like to participate, link to Cheryl Sleboda's:  http://muppin.com/…/inde…/the-31-day-blog-writing-challenge/

 Until tomorrow...

Always remember, never fear to experiment.  

Sometimes wonderful things happen.

© Linda Friedman 2015.  All rights reserved

Block Printing with Foam #3

Auditioning Color Overlays

If this is the first time you are visiting my blog about Block Printing with Foam, you can find the beginning stages of step #1 HERE and step #2 HERE.

Today I am going to take you through the process of auditioning colors that I might use as washes over the initial printing.  I first printed 4 blocks that would be used solely to determine colors for the 40" x 40" piece that I am creating.

In each instance Setacolor transparent fabric paints were used to make washes with a paint-to-water ratio of 1:1. On all but one of the blocks I first laid down a wash of Lemon Yellow.  No picture is shown for that. 

Option #1

Lemon Yellow with a Swath of Cobalt Blue

Option #2

Lemon Yellow with 3 Drops of Bright Orange and Cobalt Blue around Circles

Option #3

Yellow with Light Wash of Cobalt Blue and Denser Diagonal Swath of Blue

Option #4

Cobalt Blue Wash--No Underlay of Yellow

Ultimately, I chose to work with a combination of the colors in Option #1 and Option #3.  When I am able to show the finished work in the future, it will become evident why I chose those colors to augment expression of the theme.

Darn it.  I wish I could tell you what the theme is so that you might better understand what influenced my choices. Ah, such a mystery.  I assure you that the final work will be shown in the future.  For those of you who follow along, you will know exactly how it came to be.

Note:  These posts are my participation in the 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge.  If you, too, would like to participate, link to Cheryl Sleboda's:  http://muppin.com/…/inde…/the-31-day-blog-writing-challenge/

Until tomorrow...

Always remember, never fear to experiment.  

Sometimes wonderful things happen.

© Linda Friedman 2015.  All rights reserved

Block Printing with Craft Foam #2

This post is a continuation from yesterday's post.  Here I have made multiple printings from the three blocks cut from sticky backed craft foam.  To see the process for cutting the blocks click HERE.

These are the tools used in printing the blocks.

 

In the past I have used a brayer to apply the paint, but recently I have been using a foam roller from a home improvement store with good results.  The tray onto which I poured the paint is a hard plastic one that I salvaged from a food product package.  The paint is contained within its raised edges and it rinses off very easily.  

I marked off a grid pattern with soft pencil lines on a large swath of white fabric. Then I printed multiples of the circles block with Cardinal Red Setacolor fabric paint.

Next I printed the broad striped block over the circle block with Black Lake Setacolor fabric paint.

When that printing was dry, I printed over the circle and broad striped blocks with the narrower, diagonal strip block with Light Green Setacolor fabric paint.

I then cut rows of blocks apart, lined up the prints and sewed the rows together.  Because I am creating a work to address the challenge theme of "Crossings", I cut a 3/4" wide and long stencil  from card stock and stenciled the horizontal lines with  the same Lake Black Setacolor fabric paint that I had used  for the broad striped block prints.

Tomorrow I will post about auditioning colors to use in over-painting.  These posts are the beginnings of my participation in the 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge.  If you, too, would like to participate, link to http://muppin.com/…/inde…/the-31-day-blog-writing-challenge/

Until tomorrow...

Always remember, never fear to experiment.  

Sometimes wonderful things happen.

© Linda Friedman 2015.  All rights reserved

Block Printing with Craft Foam #1

As I was putting things away in the studio after my day of playtime thread sketching, my hand fell upon some sticky back craft foam.  Instead of continuing to straighten up, I started cutting circles and strips from the foam.

From this seemingly mindless activity emerged four 6" x 9" printing blocks which are being used to create a 40" x 40" themed challenge.  I won't be able to show the completed work until it has gone through a jurying process, hopefully making the cut, and finally being exhibited.  However, here is the beginning of this particular block making technique.

Tools Used for Cutting Sticky Backed Foam

Foam, Ruller, Compass, Craft Knife

Use Compass to Mark Circles and Cut with Scissors

(Block #1)

Circles Ready for Mounting to a Board

Note:  The school of experience has taught me that one layer of the forms is not high enough.  When drawing a paint roller across one layer, or even two layers, often paint will get onto the mounting block and print onto the fabric.  This is definitely not something one wants. So I always make three layers of foam shapes.  See profile below.
 

Three Lays of Foam Shapes

Block #2

Three Layers of Thick Stripes

Block #3

Three Layers of Thin Stripes

(Ultimately I needed a fourth block, but that will be addressed later in this series of blog posts about creating printing blocks with craft foam.)

In order to make somewhat permanent, rigid blocks to make printing easy, I cut 3 6" x 9" plywood blocks onto which I affixed the foam shapes.  I attached he first layer of each foam shape to the plywood with Weldbond glue so that the block would withstand multiple washings without coming loose.  The sticky substance on the back of the foam works well for affixing the foam layers together but it is not strong enough to permanently stay on a wood block.

Plywood Block

 Tomorrow I'll show how I used these blocks to audition the colors to use when printing.

Always remember, never fear to experiment.  

Sometimes wonderful things happen.

© Linda Friedman 2015.  All rights reserved

Masks - Picking Up A 31 Day Challenge

After reading  Cheryl Sleboda's Muppin.com post it seemed like a brilliant idea to join in a challenge to post to my blog every day for 31 days.  If you would like to participate, go to this LINK and sign up. 

 

And here is the content of my post today.  This time it is not about quilts.  It is about masks.  It's a continuation of my blog post yesterday about the positive  impact that playtime has on the creative process.

Sometime ago I found that I had accumulated cardboard of various ply that I was hesitant about tossing, so I set about constructing and painting some cardboard masks.  Several sold at an Open Studio event.  Some I gave to my granddaughter who was in elementary school but who is now all grown up and away at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.  Her mama, my daughter, must have liked the two masks that I gave to my granddaughter because they suddenly made a reappearance a few days ago as decorations on a dress form that she is storing for me.

                                          Here are a few more that I have kept stored away.

Creating fanciful items has always seemed to play a front stage role in my creative process.  A touch of zany is good for freeing up the mind.  I'm thinking that I might like to create something like these masks in dimensional fiber.  Hmmmm.  Wonder where that will take me next.

Always remember, never fear to experiment.  

Sometimes wonderful things happen.

© Linda Friedman 2015.  All rights reserved

Reflection - Thread Sketching and Play Time

As I was pondering a maze of thoughts about how I was going to approach a new themed quilting challenge, my mind became a swirling mass of disparate ideas going nowhere.  A swath of white, voile fabric lay on my work table, so I picked it up and started free motion stitching--all without direction.  I was allowing myself to play without an objective.

This led to a day not only of creating this 12" x 12" work but also to a day of pure and simple playing.  By the end of my play day I had come to a direction for the non related, large work that would evolve.  That work will need to be shown later.  This post will show the process of how this particular piece evolved.

I first backed the small swath of voile fabric with water soluble stabilizer, inserted it into an embroidery hoop, lifted the free motion foot, put the embroidery hoop under the needle and started stitching with a narrow zigzag stitch.  Much to my surprise, a figure evolved.

The wonky hat seemed to define this figure as a male and the cloak seemed to me to have an Asian feel.  To define this idea further, I stitched something that looked like bamboo.  Because the eye line was looking downward, I stitched a flower shape to convey that this was a positive moment, not a depressive one.  I then used a red Sharpie marker to color in the flower.

My original thought was to merely stitch on the voile to make a transparent image.  When I held it up to the light coming from a window, I did not like the images that came through.  If this were a very large work, it might be spectacular, but not something this small.

As I looked at the stitching, it almost miraculously it reflected how I had been feeling when I was trying to figure out what I was going to create for the larger themed work.  Although the stitching could have been finished at that juncture and put away as merely an exercise, I had begun to identify with it and wanted to document this.   I lightly penciled in the word, "Reflection", and set about stitching it.  To underscore an Asian feel I stitched a little block at the bottom right that contained my initials in script.

By this time I was unwilling to stick it in a drawer as an exercise.  I liked it and needed to make it permanent so I laid the stitched voile fabric atop batting and white, cotton backing fabric and set about quilting the piece.  The quilting reflected the black stitched bamboo shape.

This was no time to stop.  To confirm the permanency of this work it needed the edges to be treated.  I did not want to bind or face it.  To bind it would have visually boxed the image in and I wanted to maintain a somewhat limitless feel.  To face it would have reduced the size.  I chose to edge it with a cording that I made from Gala mixed fiber "yarn".

This was done, as follows.  I first cut three lengths of the yarn that would go clear around the work and then zigzag stitched of the bundle of three yarn lengths with a cording foot.  The cording foot is shown in the picture below.

Starting at the middle of the bottom of the work I laid the cording next to the edge of the piece and zigzag stitched the cording to the fabric.  It was completed with a 4" hanging sleeve and a label.

                           And here it is--"Reflection"--playtime that opened mental doors.

                                                            My thought for today:
                                                 Always give yourself time to play.
                         It's good for the mind and body and creates a fertile ground for creativity.

Always remember, never fear to experiment.  

Sometimes wonderful things happen.

© Linda Friedman 2015.  All rights reserved