Pulling out all the stops weekend, part 1

My post from the 29th is about my decision to stay home from the craft show in Virginia. Since then I’ve spent a lot of time tidying and putting things away in the studio, so I have room to work. And most of the past three days I’ve been practicing and experimenting and learning more about some techniques I’ve underutilized. So here are some photos, just of the devoré so far:

This is a picture of a poly-cotton blend fabric. I’ve screened devoré paste on the fabric through a Thermofax screen, let it dry and then ironed it. Once ironed, I washed out the cotton portion of the fabric, leaving the poly behind.

Here’s the same fabric after washing out the cotton. It’s held up to the light because that’s the best way to see the resulting pattern.

Here’s a look at testing the pH of the devoré paste – gloves are a must! If you’re not up on your pH numbers, 7 is neutral, soda ash is alkaline, about 11 or 12, and vinegar is 2.4 – 3.4 according to this site.

And here’s the next set of samples. It shows two fabrics with devoré paste mixed with disperse dyes. The results should at least show up better than the second picture does. More later!

Thinking about Intent

This is probably my first completed art quilt.

It was made for a guild challenge in 2002, and won a prize for best original design, I think. The challenge, as you may guess, was to work with the Shoo-Fly pattern. I had also learned a little by that point about transparency and wanted to try using that in a quilt. I’m still proud of it – I accomplished what I set out to do: finish a quilt for the challenge – and I think it exceeded my expectations once I saw it all together.

Some months later I realized that the resulting quilt was also a piece of mourning for the events of September, 2001. The colors are somber and the quilting made me think of ashes falling. Not part of the intent, and the quilt stands alone fine. Is it art? Is it better for having a title? I don’t know, but I still like and am proud of the quilt. Thanks for looking – Lisa

The show that wasn’t

Recently I posted on some of the several lists and groups I belong to asking for feedback on whether or not to vend at a fine craft/art show. Here’s what I wrote:

I just got back from a fine craft show for which I wasn’t prepared. The booth cost $100 and I sold $55, and I slept at home. I didn’t promote it to my mailing list. There’s another one November 8-10; DH thinks I should stay home and I’m on the fence. I’ve already paid out $400, but if I go, there’s lodging and travel (which is painful for hubby) – say another $500, plus a door prize that I’d have to make. I can learn from my mistakes and advertise it to the folks on my mailing list – there are lots in the area – and go there anyway and take a chance. Will quilt show attendees come to a fine craft show?

I got a lot of great feedback on both sides of the question – 33 emails and a phone call. Thank you so much to everyone who took the time to reply. The bulk seemed to be on the ‘stay’ side; on top of which I went to the show’s website and Facebook page, which in my opinion didn’t do anything to instill confidence. Plus there’s another show with a similar name about 80 miles away that is competing head to head for a lot of the same attendees.

The final result – I decided to stay home and work. I told hubby he could feed me. (Is that just cashing in too much on his guilt?) Then I told him seriously – “let’s try another, bigger show that’s close to home.” And of course, we’ll be at Hampton, VA and Somerset NJ in the late winter again next year!

Here’s a view of my booth at the Lehigh Valley chapter of the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen show – the Holiday Marketplace at the Swain School. There’s a new look for me – a canopy frame with black drapes.

Here’s a new idea – matted pieces of fabric displayed on an easel. One of the good ideas I picked up at the Allentown show.

The show was very nice, and many vendors had good sales. Maybe next year I will too! Thanks again to those who responded, and thanks for reading!

Fabrics

In 2011 I had access to a photographing microscope, so of course I had to take pictures of fabric. The first is cotton sateen, and I think it’s very interesting. The rest are cool, too. My descriptions are not at all technical, and might be wrong. It’s just what I’ve picked up over time. I dye, I don’t weave.

Sateen front – selvedge is on the right. A sateen weave is ‘over several, under one, (or fewer than it went over.)’

Sateen back – selvedge on the left.

Broadcloth – the basic over 1 – under 1 plain weave we learned making potholders.

NuSuede polyester microfiber – the smooth back.

NuSuede front

Radiance cotton-silk sateen. This is the back cotton side.

Radiance – the front / silk / warp side.

Results from washout

Here's the result of my wash-out test. Everything had a cold rinse, and some were hung to dry. When all the fabric was dyed and rinsed, we filled the washing machine with the hottest water available, added Metaphos (water softener) and Synthrapol. Once it was full and had started agitating, we added the fabric. I ran the washer extra long - 25 minutes, then let it finish its cycle and dried. No backstaining -yay!

 

Pleased with myself

OK, Mom & Dad always said “Don’t break your arm patting yourself on the back.” But my deadlines for the week are over and I’ve made some good progress. Here’s a quick shot of the 25 or so fabrics I dyed for Kate. I hope she likes them.As always, I’ve learned a bit from doing them; some things I still can’t explain. I made good notes for next time.

My other deadline was for jurying into ArtsyShark. They base their decision on products that are posted on-line – both on the website and on Etsy. In the course of doing that I had the web guru update the look of my site, and then I added or updated 32 fabrics. None are solids like the ones I do for Kate. And then I learned how to add ‘Share’ buttons to product pages. The selection process has begun – they expect to notify us next week. And today the featured artist is Wen Redmond!

Got to talk/email/text with my sister a few times this week. She is in week 1 of retirement, and busy cleaning out the attic. Way to go!

Fan-fold pleater details

When I posted earlier about the Tale of Two Uglies, I showed a picture of green fabric in a pleater that I use. A couple people have asked me how I made it, so here are some pictures.
The first picture shows an over-all view with a yardstick for scale.The second picture shows a closer look at the back side.Here’s a close-up of the front. The red line is the center from end to end, the lighter blue lines are on either side of the center slot. That helps me start my fabric in the middle of the pleater if I choose, and, if I want to help keep it square, I can put a crease down the center of the fabric and try to keep it in line with the red mark as I pleat.The last picture shows an end view with the slats spread open.The wood I used was actually dollhouse siding, and hubby donated it because he was never likely to use it for anything. Any wood, including light (1/4”) plywood would work fine. You’d need to sand it well to smooth it. If you used plywood, it could be cut from a 4’ width of material.
The fabric I used for the back was canvas or a heavy denim. Again, it was what I had laying around, and it was old and 36” wide. I then glued and stapled it to the slats. The staples are in the bottom of the face of the board, rather than trying to staple into the skinny edge. The glue I used was probably Elmer’s, and I would change that to a silicone or rubbery adhesive. White glue dries too stiff.
When I use it, I push the fabric down into the slots with a plastic drywall spatula. A credit card or other flat squeegee tool would work.
PS – please help my with my business wish by voting at http://bit.ly/15nmMG8 . Totally anonymous, and it will helps towards a chance for me to go to the Houston shows in the fall. That trip will be so expensive that I doubt I could make enough money to break even.
PPS – if you haven’t, and want to, please sign up for the DippyDyes mailing list.