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!

Jazzy and Friends

Today, I taught back-to-back workshops. Both ended up being mom and daughter private lessons.

First was my, Jazzy class...

Miri's doll

Carrol's doll

Miri was ready to do many more dolls to add to her growing collection.


Next was my Wrapped Wire Animal class...

Marissa' pig with rainbow hair.

We had a laugh, especially about the rooster's beret!

Jennifer's rooster

Thanks for a fun day!

A New Newsletter Coming out Soon!

Hi all. Julie B Booth Surface Design News is alive and well. A new issue will be out next Sunday, April 27th.

Some of you may be asking...what is this newsletter that Julie's talking about?

Well...with each new issue I invite you into my kitchen for a look around at the surface-design-on-fabric possibilities! Sound fun? It is!!

This month's newsletter features playing with freezer paper masks, blue school glue gel and fabric paint. I really got into layering. Here's a sneak peek...

If you don't yet receive this FREE online newsletter, you can sign up in the right-hand column of this blog. After that, you don't need to do a thing but enjoy receiving and reading the newsletters when they show up in your email.

Thanks!

Searching for Roy G Biv III: Green Update #5

It's the third Thursday of the month and time to search for this month's color-- GREEN.

I had some wonderful helpers this month. My nieces and nephew turned the search into a treasure hunt...scouring my Mom's house for GREEN items. We got a bit imaginative, even attempting to take a photo through a kaleidoscope!

I hope that you'll join in the fun. Post up to five GREEN photos on your blog and leave a comment here or on Jennifer's blog so we can link back to your post. I'll be updating through Saturday.

 Be sure to check out Jennifer's blog post for more GREEN wonders.
Fiona at Paper Ponderings contemplates contentment and a lush GREEN garden.
Maya at Million Little Stitches has some interesting and appetizing GREENS this month.
Sharmon at True Adventures of an Art Addict has some grateful-for-spring GREENS.
Margaret at Charlton Stitcher has organic GREEN lines this month.
Lisa at arzigogolare has Florentine GREENS...love the gelato in mid-drip and the ever-changing Arno.
Jill at Recycled Daze is juggling blog hops! See her postcards and GREEN photos...love those cabbages!
Mary Ann at Blue Sky Dreaming has some arty GREENS as well as a plan for a new spring hairstyle featuring GREEN!

A late but worthwhile entry from Susan at Flying Dog Studio...spring GREENS inspired some beautiful works from her studio...check it out!

Roy is Coming! Get Going with Green

Can it possibly be that time of the month! I totally missed my reminder to you about Searching for Roy! Thank goodness Jennifer is on the ball.

This month's color is GREEN and this Thursday is the day to post up to five green photos on your blog for our monthly blog hop. If you post, don't forget to leave a comment here or on Jennifer's blog so we can link back to your photos. Good luck on your search. Green's a great color for this time of year...I know I've been longing for it for the last couple of months!

Tuesday Quilters and Veggie Fun

Jennifer's carrot patch

I'm posting this a week late but last Tuesday I gave my Beyond the Potato Print workshop to the Tuesday Quilters quilt group.

We had great fun chopping, cutting, carving and printing (and occasionally munching) fruits and vegetables. Here's a selection of prints from the group...

Ann H.: Onions, sprouts and carved radishes

Ann H. Brussels sprouts

Barbara E.: Snow peas, potatoes and onions

Donna R.: Potato tic-tac-toe

Janet W.: Cabbage and onions

Floris F.: Brussels sprouts

Melanie G.: Potato "leaves"

Melanie G.: Star fruit

Thanks for a fun day!!

Into the Woods (with The Printed Fabric Bee)

Yesterday afternoon I locked myself in the studio...I was determined to get Carol Eaton's woodlands fabric done!

I decided to go in a different direction than my original plan. I'd been working on Carol's fabric over the weekend and it was just not jelling (or is it gelling? blue glue gel joke :)) I was working with layers of blue glue gel and paint but it was just too much and not reminding me of woodlands of ANY kind.

I stepped back and went simple. I painted a light brown background and then pulled out one of my favorite texture blocks made out of broken spaghetti.

I printed with white paint to represent this unending winter.

Next, I used two stencils cut from freezer paper. I originally used these stencils for printing a theme fabric about my grandmother's garden. I chose what I considered to be early spring colors.

I added a few painted details.

Above is the final fabric. I rather like it!

Six-inch giveaway fabric

If you'd like a six-inch square of this fabric along with eight other lovely woodland-themed fabrics, don't forget to go to either Carol R. Eaton's or The Printed Fabric Bee's blog and leave a comment. The drawing is April 12th.