June Stitch-In!

Ann Z.

Just three of us at the Stitch-In today. It seems no matter what the size of the group, it is always a great exchange of ideas and thoughtful conversation.

Cheryl C. had a great idea for what to do when you need to step back from a piece to really "see" it.

Cheryl C.: Printed photo upper right, tracing upper left, Healing Cloth bottom center.

She took a photo with her I-Phone and then printed it (she said that she probably could have scanned her piece instead). Then Cheryl used tracing paper over the print out to draw stitching guidelines. Instead of transferring them directly to her piece, Cheryl decided to use the tracing as a guide and to freehand draw the stitching lines with a marking pencil.

Cheryl made a lot of progress and stitched these details in during our get-together.

Cheryl C.

Ann Z. is just about finished with the cat piece. Here is the piece so far (and see above for a detail shot).

Ann Z.

Ann also worked on the little dog piece today. She's planning to get these two done in the next few weeks before she heads to Texas to finally meet her granddaughter's foster children and give these pieces to them as gifts.

Ann Z.

I've been having a hard time "settling" on a stitched piece these days. I started working on a piece when I was down in Virginia Beach (more about that trip soon). But decided to bring along the handkerchiefs to see if I could finally get going on some pieces about my Dad. I did a bit of stitching (sorry no photos yet) white on white. I spent some time talking about my Dad and we all exchanged some interesting and funny family stories.

Thanks Cheryl and Ann for a fun and engaging afternoon. I'm looking forward to next month!

Off to VA Beach....

Laura and me during our time together in 2014.

Heading to Virginia Beach today for my annual "girlfriend" getaway! Laura and I have lots planned...including a bit of stitching... Looking forward to walks on the beach and exploring some place new. I'll report back when I return...Enjoy your week!

Searching for Roy G Biv #4: INDIGO Update #5

Ceramic dish

Hi all- a late start today in getting this post out.

For some reason INDIGO is always a bit problematic for me. I scrounged around a bit to find what I consider to be INDIGO. Hope you are all having better luck!

My favorite kimono style jacket..inside and out!

The Equinox Cloth in process

Detail from the Equinox Cloth

Tunic from the Unraveling Identity exhibit at the Textile Museum in Washington DC

If you are scratching your head...today is the next installment in the Search for Roy G Biv (the colors of the rainbow). If you'd like to play along...post up to five INDIGO (your interpretation) photos on your blog and leave a comment here or on Jennifer Coyne Qudeen's blog. We'll then link to your post. It's always so much fun to see what everyone discovers on their search so I hope you will join in.

I'll continue to update through Saturday, June 20...so you do have a bit of time to get your photos together.

Fiona at Paper Ponderings has a beautiful quote about the "in-between time" of dusk and a lovely photo of a rich  INDIGO sea.

Mary Ann at Blue Sky Dreaming has some 3 in 1 INDIGO!

Sharmon Davidson has a wonderful "chart" and description of elusive INDIGO! Her artistic examples are exquisite!

Susan and Elizabeth at PG Fiber2Art have some gorgeous INDIGO shibori examples from their play day of dyeing.

Margaret at Charleston Stitcher has inspirational INDIGOS!

Cathy at Bucolic Dreaming looked to the skies for her INDIGO.

Fran at At the End of the Day found some arty INDIGOS.

Maya Matthew of Take Diversion loves INDIGO so much that it's the color of her front door!

Sacre Bleu! Roxanne Lasky at Ideas in Cloth is really getting her hands into her INDIGO this month!

Linda Stokes has two gorgeous INDIGO shibori pieces this month!

Jennifer says INDIGO is one of her favorites colors to create with. Check out her selection this month.

We'll continue the Search for the final color, VIOLET and beyond through the end of the year:
July 16: Violet
August 20: Brown
September 17: Metallic Gold
October 15: Gray
November 19: Pink
December17: Blogger's Choice

Roy Reminder...Thursday is Indigo!

Here is your monthly reminder that the third Thursday of the month is this week. Time for some "Roy" (searching for the colors of the rainbow)! This month we search for INDIGO. This is always a toughy for me.

Post up to five INDIGO photos on Thursday, June 18 and leave a comment here or on Jennifer Coyne Qudeen's blog. We'll link to your  post for a colorful blog hop. The more the merrier...so pass the word along!

Looking forward to an INDIGO Thursday!

And Finally....The Petrogyph Fabric!

Do you know how it is when you get behind on something...but have to keep moving forward with other things...that thing that you didn't get to just "niggles" away at you (guilt?)!

Well, finally...I've finished The Printed Fabric Bee fabric for Lynda Heines. Lynda was the Queen Bee WAY back in January! So sorry Lynda. And...also so sorry to the winner, Janice! So these will be off in the mail to the two of you tomorrow.

Since I was feeling especially bad about the hold up, I did a bit of hand stitching on them to make them extra special. Hope you like them!

Here are the two images I referenced:

I also used a liquid dishwashing soap resist for the background.

Whew! Now to move onto other "niggly" things. Trying to get them all off my plate so I can focus on my summer art project plans. What are your arty plans for the summer (which has already started!!)?

I plan to...

--Get back to my hand stitching "roots" while producing some hand stitched book samples for my new Winter session class, Stitching, Printing, Mark Making: Developing a Personal Vocabulary with Hand Stitching.

--Work up samples for a special (wonderful!) something that is happening this fall (more about that later).

--Start working on some pieces about my Dad using cotton handkerchiefs.

Got to get back to work!!

Weekly Pattern Wednesday Week #4

Another Wednesday...another pattern. I'm playing Lynn Krawczyk's Weekly Pattern Wednesday.

Today's pattern is rather ap-peeling....isn't it? It's made using grapefruit! If you'd like to learn how to make print blocks from citrus peels, you can see Issue #24 of my free online newsletter, Julie B Booth Surface Design News. If you like what you see, you can sign up for the Newsletter in the right-hand column.

To see Lynn's pattern and the patterns of other players...visit Lynn's blog today. While you're at it...why not join in on the fun! Post a pattern and leave a comment on Lynn's post.

Spring Surface Design-- Wrapping Up

"Twiggy" by Janelle F.

The spring session of my surface design class wrapped up this week. I gave you a look at some of the work produced in class, here. I thought you'd like to see a few more photos of work from the final class.

One of the techniques I show students is how to take a high contrast photograph and turn it into a design for a carved print block. It's a step-by-step process and I talk about how it's possible to produce the "grey values" of a photo by carving different textures or line weights in the final block design. Janelle took on this challenge using a photo of the model, Twiggy. I love all the iterations of prints...very Andy Warhol!

"Twiggy" by Janelle F.

On the last night of class, I gave a Shiva Paintstiks demo. Here is what Janelle did using a cut freezer paper mask.

Janelle F.: Paintstiks and freezer paper mask

Lissette used Paintstiks to add details to some of the fabrics she created using resists. She slipped texture plates under the fabrics and made rubbings.

Lissette V.: Paintstik details on top of flour paste resist fabric.

Lissette V.: Paintstik details on top of glue stick resist fabric.

Amy continued to work on one of her stitched pieces about her trip to Israel. She added painted lace to the water section of this piece. I think this works really well...I'm reminded of light bouncing off  water.

Amy L.

In this close up you can see the dimensional applique treatment of the water.

Amy also brought in the piece that she started at the May Stitch-In. She completed it and will be giving it to her sister. The piece shows the two of them as youngsters on a tree swing together (I'm in love with this piece!).

Amy L.: Sisters swinging.

All in all.. a great group to teach! Hope to see some of you in a future class!