All Caught Up! The Printed Fabric Bee Architecture Theme Challenge

I'm finally all caught up with my Printed Fabric Bee fabrics! It's been a great two years of learning, stretching and making new virtual friends. I've now also had the pleasure of meeting some of my PFB buds in person! What a treat! This has been an awesome group and an awesome experience! Some of us have agreed to continue and, as I mentioned in the last post, we are coming up with a new format. All of this will start in January...so stay tuned!

I just finished the Architecture theme fabric for Deborah Boschert. The winner of the fabric collection was chosen on September 15...congrats to Nancy Roberts...I'll be sending the 6" square off to you this week.

Here's how I made the fabric...

Deborah requested blues for her fabric color. I mixed up a couple of blue transparent fabric paints and free-hand painted the background.

To give the piece a bit of texture, I slipped one of my hot glue on cardboard texture blocks under the fabric and did some brayer rubbings using a couple of blue opaque fabric paint colors.

For the architectural motifs, I researched on Pinterest and found some column and arch designs which I enlarged and traced. I then transferred the designs and carved a number of Speedy Carve print blocks. I also created some adhesive fun foam blocks in the shapes of some of the motifs. I had such a great time playing with layering that I ended up creating two pieces for Deborah.

Here's the second piece I designed for Deborah.

And here is the 6" square that will be heading Nancy's way.

This theme stymied me for a while...but I'm finally happy with my solution.

Another Printed Fabric Giveaway...Architecture!

It's been a while since my last post and I have a bit of "housekeeping" to do. The Printed Fabric Bee is having another fabric giveaway. This month, Deborah Boschert was Queen Bee and her theme was Architecture...12"x 12" and all blues.

Above are the 6" giveaway fabrics so far...many more to come...including mine! If you want to be eligible to win, be sure to leave a comment on either Deborah's blog or The Printed Fabric Bee blog. She'll be picking a winner on September 15th!

I've been a busy bee myself...I'll be heading off to Cleveland, Ohio in a week and a half to tape two TV segments for Quilting Arts TV! I'm very excited....and a little bit nervous! What an honor to be asked! So...I've been spending many hours in the studio painting and printing fabric in preparation. A big box full of samples and supplies headed off to Cleveland yesterday.

Today, was the first day of my Healing Cloth workshop...I'll be posting about it tomorrow...such promise so far!

Day #10: Fabric Printing at Home Blog Tour

We've made it to double digits! Welcome to Day #10 of the Fabric Printing at Home Blog Tour! 

Today it's off to Deborah Boschert's blog. Deborah is a fellow member of The Printed Fabric Bee. I always enjoy seeing her approach to each month's fabric...she is also fond of using simple materials to create beautiful fabric designs.

Deborah Boschert is a fiber artist living in the Dallas area. She loves to incorporate words, sheer layers, hand embroidery, surface design and found objects in her art quilts. Her work is published in many books and magazines and in many international quilt exhibits. Deborah has lived in twelve states and takes inspiration from the variety of places she’s lived and people she’s known. She is always seeking creative spirit, new ideas and a great cuppa coffee. Read about her life and art on her blog DeborahsJournal.blogspot.com and check out her art quilts at www.deborahsstudio.com

Stop by Deborah's blog today and leave a comment for a chance to win a copy of Fabric Printing at Home.

TIP: Make a Record of Your Printing Explorations
Here are some quick tips I used when exploring the materials in Chapter 2: Kitchen Textures and Found Object Printing in Fabric Printing at Home.

• There were so many choices and layering possibilities using flat kitchen textures (such as shelf liner, textured placemats, gripper pads and netted bags), that I found the best way to keep track was to make a series of samplers testing them out. On each sampler, I wrote notes with a permanent marker to remind me which texture I used and the order in which I layered them. 

 

• I also "took an inventory" of all the found objects I printed (e.g. bottle caps, batteries, pencil erasers, kitchen utensils). I took a close look at each object and asked myself, "Can I print with the top, bottom or sides of it? Can I roll it across the fabric? Is one part of the object more visually interesting than another?"

 

Having a printed "record" of how I used these kitchen materials and taking notes makes these samplers a great reference that I can come back to again and again.


Today's giveaway is (2) Pigma Micron Archival Marking Pens. These pens are great for making notes on your inventory samplers or adding a finishing touch to a fabric design. 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 (disappearing ink marking pen)...congratulations to Mary Ann of Blue Sky Dreaming ! Please email me with your contact information (threadborn@cox.net) so I can send off your prize.

Tomorrow the tour stops at Lynda Heines.  Lynda is an accomplished writer and fabric designer, I look forward to introducing you to her tomorrow.

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