Day #5: Fabric Printing at Home Blog Tour

Today is Day #5 of the Fabric Printing at Home Blog Tour. Thank you all so much for your sweet comments! I've had a great time putting this all together and am so lucky to have thirteen VERY artistic friends helping me out!

The Tour heads to Carol R. Eaton's blog today. I had the pleasure of meeting Carol last year at a SAQA conference in Virginia...she is a delight and a very talented artist. Her forte is gorgeous hand-dyed fabric...especially ice and snow dyeing (and since she lives in Connecticut there's been a great deal of the latter going on!).

Carol R. Eaton is a surface design artist who has been creating original, one-of-a-kind fabrics for the past 10 years. Inspired by the natural world her designs are filled with warm colors, balance and an unexpected variety of textures. Eaton’s work is made using only the highest quality fabric and incorporates unusual techniques such as dyeing with ice, manipulating dyes and the use of decolorants. Each art cloth in the collection is signed by the artist.

Stop by Carol's blog today and leave a comment for a chance to win a copy of Fabric Printing at Home. AND Carol is also giving away 4 fat quarters of her hand-dyed fabric...how great is that!?

TIP: Using Folded and Cut Paper as a Design Tool

I love the graphic look of folded and cut paper designs. They are also so easy to make. Use them as a jumping off point for designing stencils and carved print blocks.

When I'm using folded and cut paper as a design tool, I usually either make paper cuts that are the specific dimensions of a print block (e.g. Speedy Carve) or use shaped templates such as a margarine top or the inside diameter of a tape roll (see below).

Once I've traced and cut out the shapes, it's time to fold them before cutting out the details. 

I usually cut freehand using small sharp scissors. I love the thrill of opening up the folded and cut paper to reveal an unexpected design!

Next, I glue these designs to black paper. The contrast enables me to see how the design would look printed as a stencil or print block. From there I can trace and transfer the design to the final stencil or print block material. Chapter 5: Recycled and Repurposed in Fabric Printing at Home shows you how to turn these bold, graphic designs into stencils.

Here is a fabric I designed using stencils. I call it, Nanny's Flower Garden in honor of my grandmother. You can see that I used a number of folded and cut paper designs as a basis for the stencils.

Today's giveaway is a pair of Non-Stick Fiskars scissors. Use them to cut intricate paper designs. Leave a comment for a chance to win. I will choose a winner at 11:00 PM Eastern USA time. Check tomorrow's post to see if you are the winner. Your comment also enters you in the final drawing on February 15 for a free copy of Fabric Printing at Home: Quick and Easy Fabric Design Using Fresh Produce and Found Objects. 

And now for the winner of yesterday's giveaway (two Detailer Writers)....congratulations to Sue Andrus! Please email me with your contact information (threadborn@cox.net) so I can send off your prize.

Tomorrow, the Tour stops at Judy Gula's blog. Judy owns Artistic Artifacts...a fiber and mixed media artist's dream shop! I drool over the hand-dyed threads and beautiful batik fabrics every time I visit!
 
Be sure to visit all the stops on the Tour:
February 2: Lisa Chin
February 3: Lynn Krawczyk
February 4: Jane Davila

February 5: Carol R. Eaton

February 6: Judy Gula

February 7: Susan Purney Mark

February 8: Teri Lucas

February 9: Jennifer Coyne Qudeen

February 10: Deborah Boschert

February 11: Lynda Heines

February 12: Cheryl Sleboda

February 13: Terri Stegmiller

February 14: Jackie Lams