Day #14: Fabric Printing at Home Blog Tour

Happy Valentine's Day! It's the last "official" day of the Fabric Printing at Home Blog Tour. I've thoroughly enjoyed myself...thanks for all your great comments, discussions and ideas! Today, we're heading over to Jackie Lam's blog. Jackie is also a member of The Printed Fabric Bee. Every month, I'm so impressed by the artistry of her fabrics which often contain beautifully hand-drawn elements. Recently, I found out that she is also the mother of 3 and now 4 young boys! I hear that they had a hand in her blog post today.

I have been a mixed media artist for 10 years and a graphic artist for almost 20 years. My non-traditional cloth and mixed media creations incorporate hand dyed, recycled & vintage fabrics. I love drawing & painting, hand & machine stitching, Thermofax screen printing, and whatever else sparks my imagination.

The fundamentals from which I create my pieces are a studio art degree from Michigan State University and a graphic design degree from Lansing Community College. For the last several years I’ve been busy combining my art world with a growing family which provides me with a wealth of inspiration for my work. You can see more of my creations and adventures at my website www.studiolams.com. 

Be sure to stop by Jackie's blog today and leave a comment for a chance to win a copy of Fabric Printing at Home.

The XOXO Scarf
In honor of Valentine's Day, I'm going to show you how to print a "hugs and kisses" silk scarf using one of my favorite types of print blocks... hot glue on cardboard (see How to Make Hot Glue Blocks pp. 80-81 in Fabric Printing at Home) . For this project you'll be making hot glue brayer rubbings (see Printing Three Ways on p.30 in Fabric Printing at Home).

To make the blocks you will need: Corrugated cardboard, pencil, clear gridded ruler, self-healing cutting mat, craft knife (I used an X-acto), hot glue gun, extra glue sticks.

1. Use the craft knife to cut two squares of corrugated cardboard the width (short side) of the scarf. The scarf I used for this project was 8" wide so I cut two 8" x 8" cardboard blocks.

2. Draw designs on the cardboard. I came up with two variations on  XOXO designs.

3. Insert a glue stick into the hot glue gun and turn on the gun to melt it. Be very careful not to touch the tip of the gun or the hot plastic "glue."

4. Follow the drawn designs on the cardboard. I usually hold the glue gun approximately 1/16" off the cardboard. Squeeze the trigger of the hot glue gun and release it at regular intervals to keep the heated plastic "glue" flowing.

To print (brayer rubbing) the blocks you will need: The hot glue blocks, silk scarf (I used a 8" x 54"  12mm silk satin scarf), flat work surface that can accommodate the scarf's dimensions (cover with padding and plastic) 2 colors of transparent fabric paint (I used red and blue), plastic containers and plastic spoons, glass or plexi-glass palette, dense foam brayers (I like Rollrite), paper towels.

1. Lay the scarf on the covered flat surface. Place one of the hot glue blocks under the scarf.

2. Spoon 1/4 teaspoon of red transparent fabric paint onto the glass palette. Roll the dense foam brayer over the paint until it is evenly coated. Add paint to the glass palette a little at a time as needed.

3. Carefully roll the paint-covered foam brayer over the silk covering the block. Shift the block to another spot and continue until this first design covers the entire scarf.

4. Repeat the process using the other hot glue on cardboard block and the blue paint.

For more ideas and Valentine's scarf designs go to Issue #25 of Julie B Booth Surface Design News, my free monthly online newsletter. For projects using the kitchen as your surface design on fabric resource, please sign up and the newsletter will appear in your email mailbox once a month (sign up in right-hand column of this blog).

Today is the last chance to leave a comment to be eligible for the book drawing. I'll take comments until midnight (Eastern USA time). Tomorrow at noon, I'll do the final drawing 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 (one yd of Kona PFD)...congratulations to Kathy Davis! Please email me with your contact information (threadborn@cox.net) so I can send off your prize.

Be sure to visit all the stops on the Tour. Please note, I've added the deadlines to enter the giveaways at each stop:

 
February 2 (winner: Emily Vanderlinden): Lisa Chin 
February 3 (winner will be chosen noon Feb 15-book and stencils!): Lynn Krawczyk
February 4 (winner will be chosen end of Feb 13): Jane Davila 

February 5 (winner of book and fabric: Monica Weidmann): Carol R. Eaton

February 6 (winner will be chosen end of Feb 13- 2 book copies!): Judy Gula 

February 7(winner: Deb Clarke): Susan Purney Mark 

February 8 (winner will be chosen on Feb 15): Teri Lucas 

February 9 (winners: Pam (Stashbee) and Alison): Jennifer Coyne Qudeen 

February 10 (winner will be chosen on Feb 17): Deborah Boschert 

February 11 (winners: Carole Gold and Dawn Jones): Lynda Heines 

February 12 (winner will be chosen 5PM on Feb 16): Cheryl Sleboda 

February 13 (winner will be chosen on Feb 15- book and fabric!): Terri Stegmiller 

February 14 (winner will be chosen on Feb 18): Jackie Lams

The Printed Fabric Bee: Art Nouveau Collection Giveaway

It's the beginning of the month and time for another fabric giveaway from The Printed Fabric Bee. This month's queen bee was Jackie Lams and she asked us to interpret the theme, Art Nouveau.

Had some trouble with this one. I spent hours on Pinterest looking at images. In the end, I decided to do a piece that emphasized lines reminiscent of the period. I also decided to use the painting and resist techniques covered in Issue #18 of Julie B Booth Surface Design News. I go into more depth about the technique in the newsletter but you can get the gist of it here.

First, I ironed torn strips of freezer paper onto the fabric.

I then painted the uncovered areas of the fabric, alternating colors. I made sure I painted along the edges of the freezer paper so that the paint would flow and mix underneath the paper.

I drew designs with blue school glue gel and let them dry.

I ironed on another set of torn freezer paper strips, covering and exposing different areas of the fabric.

Another round of painting.

I wasn't totally happy with the result, so I mixed up a color that was a bit bluer and painted a few areas to better blend the colors.

Here is the finished 12" square and the 6" square for the giveaway.

To have a chance at the complete collection leave a comment on either Jackie Lams' blog or The Printed Fabric Bee blog. The winner will be announced on May 17th. Good luck!

And one more thing...
Two other members of The Printed Fabric Bee were in town (Alexandria, VA just west of DC) for the SAQA conference. I had the chance to meet Carol Eaton and (after too many years!) see Lesley Riley (mentor and friend). We had a great evening along with some other SAQA members and friends (including Judy Gula of Artistic Artifacts and quilt artist, Christine Adams). Lots of laughing and sharing. I got to see Carol's AMAZING fabrics in person (and of course had to buy a couple of yummy yards!). Hope some day we can get the whole Bee together!

New Blues and Other News

The final blue spirals have arrived! Such a visual treat!
Thanks to Lisa Chin, Lesley Riley, Susan Purney Mark and Jackie Lams of The Printed Fabric Bee for this beautiful selection of blue spirals.

Look for an announcement after Christmas about how you can win 6" x 6" versions of all the blue spiral fabrics. To see some of the other photos click here and here.

On the book front, I'm chugging along. Today is the official deadline for the rough draft. Needless to say I'm still writing and trying to finish up the very last of the fabric samples. Fortunately, there's still a bit of time before the manuscript moves onto the next phase...not too much time though. I'll be bringing my laptop along with me on my holiday travels.

I hope to do a bit of posting here as well, if time allows. It's been so strange to be out of the loop with my blogging friends. I miss stopping by all your blogs to see what you're up to...I have A LOT of catching up to do!!! Hope that you are all enjoying (or have enjoyed) your holidays for this time of the year. Hope too that you're taking good care of yourself...maybe a little bit of pampering and are not too stressed out by the holiday madness.

January will mean the reboot of Searching for Roy G Biv (the colors of the rainbow). Jennifer and I will announce a date soon. January also means I'll be back to writing Julie B Booth Surface Design News. I must admit that writing my book, Fabric Printing at Home, seems a lot like writing numerous newsletters! If you haven't signed up for it, the sign up is in the top right-hand column. It's free, comes to your mailbox monthly and has a fabric printing project inspired by kitchen materials. You can view past newsletters as well. I've been pleasantly surprised that in my writing absence I've had over 30 new subscribers! So somehow the word is getting out there...which makes me happy and grateful!

So...look for lots of announcements in the coming weeks...now back to book writing!