Together at Last

Here are the hibiscus series quilts hanging together in the Madison Contemporary Fiber Artists' "Wild Things" exhibit at Olbrich Gardens in Madison, Wisconsin.  

I think this is large enough to read if you click on the photo.

This show will end with an artists' reception on April 7, 2013.

Hibiscus 4

The fourth and final in the series (so far).  This one was painted with thickened dyes over a flour resist -- click here to read that post.

I used wool batting and cotton threads.

The beetle is black Misty-fuse under a bit of foil for sparkle -- because you can't get sparkle with dyes.  I used 50 weight cotton Auriful thread for the legs and around its body.

And the back...for Beth and Lynne.




The four quilts will be hung together on Monday at Olbrich Gardens in a show featuring work by Madison Contemporary Fiber Artists.  The show will run through April.  I will go next weekend and photograph the show and then share some of the photos here.

Hibiscus 3

The third in this series is painted with acrylic fabric paints (Setacolors) on cotton fabric.  I used wool batting and several different types of cotton threads.


I used wool batting and cotton threads.  I really like the colors in this one --  this one has the brightest colors and I find that most appealing.

The beetle was painted with metallic Setacolors -- I think I used copper and a bit of silver on the basic black beetle.  

The backside features my specially-dyed thread-boo-boo-camouflage fabric.


I am linking up with Nina-Marie and Off-the-Wall-Fridays... check it out here.

Hibiscus 2

This is the second in the series.  I painted the image with thickened dyes on cotton fabric.  There is a more informative (read: loquacious)  post about the dye-painting here.

I used a wool batt and cotton threads for the quilting. 

The beetle was pretty blah -- you can't get sparkle with dyes -- so I used a bit of black Misty-fuse and some foil to give it that shine.

And the backside.  I mentioned in a previous post (here) that I purchased some inexpensive cotton that's a bit heavier than the stuff I use for most of my dyeing and piecing (and other evil experiments...).   I dyed it especially for hiding stuff on backsides.  Pretty slick, huh?   Bwahahahaha....!

Hibiscus 1 is Finished

Over the next few days I will share photos of the finished Hibiscus series.  They will hang together in a show at Olbrich Gardens, "Wild Thing," beginning next week and through April.

Hibiscus 1 is 16" by 21" and features acrylic inks painted on cotton fabric.  I used cotton threads -- 50w and 40w for quilting.  I used cotton batting and cotton on the back.  The binding is a commercial batik -- a very dark green and black leafy kind of thing.

The Japanese beetle was painted with metallic acrylic inks and accented with black 50w thread.

And for Beth: the backside.  I left the hanger in the photo -- it's an aluminum stick -- about an inch wide and less than 1/4 inch thick so it can be screwed into the wall where it's hung.  Using white fabric on the back was a mistake -- you can see all the little thread nasties.   I debated hitting it with a roller full of paint, but I'm not sure that's such a good idea.  Still thinking about it...

Finished Quilting, But Oh Woe is the Thread

I finished up the quilting on the four hibiscus series quilts.  I will feature them individually in photos after they're bound.  I used mostly Aurifil threads -- the 50 weight spools -- for the leaves, flowers and beetle.

I had a lot of trouble with the background quilting.  I used some thicker threads and had skipped stitches, broken needles, and nests on the backside.  Not to mention the fraying -- arrrrggghhh!

I tried a series of different needles -- some worked better than others -- none was great.  The best was the 90/14 topstitch needle.  With a bit of silicon dripped over the eye.

But I still had trouble with fraying.  And I used threads from both YLI and Superior.

I've used the Superior King Tut a lot for quilting and this spool has been in my stash for a while -- it's not really old, but it's not brand new.  I was a bit horrified to see this little glob of fiber when I opened up the top to see what the spool was doing.  My LQS was happy to replace it, but they didn't have any in this same color; so it's on order and I just finished up using the rest of this spool... after I cut out the wee glob.

And here are the backsides of two of them.  I was sick of shopping in my stash and trying to decide which of my precious fabrics would be ok to "waste" on the back of my quilts.  So I went to my local Mega Fabric and Junk Store and purchased a bolt of inexpensive cotton that was a bit thicker than the stuff I use for piecing and my experiments.  I used a coupon, so it was pretty cheap.  I dyed the whole thing with leftover dyes and wound it back on the cardboard.  So now I have some special backing fabric that won't be "wasted" on the back.  And all that color hides anything I might want to keep quiet.

Three (mostly) Done, One to go

I've been  working on my hibiscus series.

This is the one that was painted with acrylic inks.   I used a cotton batt and cotton threads.

This was painted with thickened Procion dyes.  I used a wool batt for this one and cotton threads.
 

This was painted with Setacolor fabric paints and uses a wool batt and cotton threads.  I haven't finished the quilting here -- there will be more on the flower to highlight the petals.

And for Beth (who blogs here and to whom I owe a really long email) -- here is the backside of the acrylic ink piece.

I stupidly used a piece of white fabric -- it also features little white stars-- and so every stitch (and every mistake) shows.  I have had a lot of trouble with the thicker threads breaking.  I switched to a different type of needle late this afternoon and it was better.  Not great, but better.  I'll post about my needle troubles later.

I'll also post a picture of the backsides of the others -- but this will require a separate blog post, 'cause there's a secret back there...

My design wall looks the same as it did last time I linked up with Judy's blog, so I'm sharing these instead.  Click here to see some other people's design walls.  

Tell-All Scoop on Resist/Dye-Painting

As promised, here is the scoop about my resist/dye-painting technique.  I mixed up a flour resist (equal parts AP flour and water), poured it in a baggie, and sealed it.  Then I cut off a tiny corner of the baggie.

I had my dry soda-soaked fabric taped down over a plastic dry-cleaning bag on top of my pattern.  Using the baggie like a pastry bag, I squeezed a thin bead of resist around the outer edge of the flower.  I used my small putty scraper to scrape and smooth the resist toward the center of the flower.  I wanted the color stronger toward the center of the flower, so I used less resist there.  I set up a fan and let it dry overnight.  Then I rolled the dried resist-covered fabric up and flattened it to crack the resist before I taped it back down on the pattern.

I mixed the dye thickener with the dye powder (while wearing my mask!) directly in this plastic muffin tin.  I used a thin mixture of dye paste (one quart water, two teaspoons of thickener): to 1/4 cup dye thickener I added 1 teaspoon dye powder.  These cups hold about 1/8 cup so I reduced my amounts accordingly.  I found that I needed much less than 1/8 cup of any of the colors to finish my painting.

Using my synthetic brushes (the same ones I use for acrylic paints) I painted right over the resist with my thickened dyes.  I like the white plastic muffin "tin" because I can see the color I'm working with.  I can mix shades on the plastic in between the cups.  There is one cup full of uncolored dye thickener that I use to make the lighter shades.  Then I rolled up the plastic and let it batch in a warm place (outside on the front porch) overnight.  I have left these pictures pretty large, so click on them for a closer look.

Here is the finished piece after the resists and all the excess dyes have been washed out.  I have already added the foil on the beetle in this shot.  Now it's ready for layering and thread.

The dye thickener is available at Prochemical and Dharma Trading.  The brushes and plastic muffin "tin" are available from Dick Blick.  I like the Blick's student brushes -- they are good quality and not terribly expensive.  

Back to the Series

On this first Monday in August I thought I'd share a shot of three of the four hibiscus series that I've painted so far as they appeared on the design wall before I layered them in preparation for quilting.

I used a little bit of foil and Misty-fuse to make the beetle sparkle on this resist/dye-painted hibiscus.

And a bit here on this dye-painted one too.  I'll hit it with thread when I do the quilting.

I have nearly finished the quilting on the acrylic ink hibiscus.  I was a little stumped about what to do in the background; but after I examined the original photo I realized that in the greenery of the background, there were lots of buds among the leaves.  And hibiscus buds would be a lot of fun to quilt.

Then I had to decide what color and weight of thread to use.  I used a variegated green 40 weight King Tut thread here.  I'm still debating what color/weight to use in the black areas of the background.  I can't rip out thread on this acrylic ink-painted piece because the holes will show (guess how I know that).  So I have to get it right the first time.

No, you can't see the back yet...

Tomorrow I will post a tell-all about how I did the resist/dye-painted hibiscus on the left in the photo at the top.

Until then, there are design walls aplenty at Judy's blog (here).

Quick Monday Update

Just a quick update for Monday.  It worked!  Here is the dye-painted hibiscus.

I'm thinking of using foil to make the beetle sparkle.

And I've commandeered the kitchen table again -- this time for a rendering with Setacolor fabric paints.

For other design walls, check out Judy's blog here.

Taking Advantage of a Situation

As long as I had the table, I figured I should take advantage and do something else.  I haven't really ever worked in a series, but I like this photo and it seemed like a good idea.


I haven't done any dye painting in a long time.  I have lots of dye thickener in my refrigerator from some "...Fire" blog experiments.  And I have the table.

I have some fabric in the dye studio (AKA the NE corner of the garage) that was in a box labeled "soda soaked fabric."  I took a piece that wasn't too wrinkled and taped it down over the plastic protecting the hibiscus pattern.  

I hope this works.  I don't know how long that fabric has been in there.  I don't know if it is really soda soaked.  The dye thickener was on its last legs -- I tossed the remainder after I finished painting the fabric.  And the trouble with dye painting is that I haven't done it in so long, I had to get out my notes.  I hope I mixed it up right.  I won't know until after it batches and is washed out.  This is somehow worse than the usual excitement with dyeing.  I hope this works...

And instead of my design wall, the action is all under the needle today.  I have started quilting the ink-painted hibiscus.

To see what people who are using their design walls are doing, click here to go to Judy's blog.