Those of you who read this blog know that sunflowers have a special significance to me...they remind me of my good friend, Martha Hill, who passed away a couple of years ago.
I decided to go a "homey" folk-art "ish" route with the design.
I started with a fabric I'd painted pale golden orange. For the first layer, I wanted to use one of my favorite "kitchen" resists...namely liquid dishwashing soap! I decided to do a rubbing using a hot glue on cardboard block.
I slipped the block under the fabric and rolled over it with the resist.
This was followed by a color wash using diluted Sienna Brown Pebeo Setacolor Transparent fabric paint.
After setting the paint and removing the resist, it was time to create the sunflower design. I often like to create stencil designs based on paper cuts. For this design I folded a circle of white printer paper and cut out the design with small sharp scissors. I then glued the design onto a piece of black construction paper so I could see what the final stencil might look like.
I designed three stencils using packing tape and manila folders. If you want to know how I made them, here is a link to an issue of Julie B Booth Surface Design News that explains the process. They are really very simple to make and you probably have all the materials you need to make them right at home!
I printed the large circular stencil design first. I mixed Pebeo Setacolor Opaque fabrics paints to come up with golden yellow and orange. I used the yellow first, and then very lightly daubed the orange to give the background a little more depth.
I used dark brown opaque paint for the stencil with the flower design.
I wanted a way to show the texture in the center of the sunflower. After a bit of trial and error, I opted to print with some textured shelf liner. I centered the small circular stencil over the center of the flower design to act as a mask. I rolled paint over the shelf liner and printed over the open area of the stencil. The first layer of paint was green, followed by black.
Here is the final six inch square that is part of the giveaway.
And here are the other fabrics that you can win!
All you have to do is leave a comment on either Susan Purney Mark's blog or on The Printed Fabric Bee blog and your name will be put in for the chance to win the complete set. The drawing will occur on December 15.
Be sure to visit the blogs of the other members of The Printed Fabric Bee to find out how their fabrics were created!
Deborah Boschert
Lisa Chin
Gerrie Congdon
Jane Davila
Carol R. Eaton
Judy Gula
Lynda Heines
Lynn Krawcyzk
Jackie Lams
