Tag Archives: painting fabric

Crackle – Crinkle Technique

I mentioned in my previous post that I have been working on new painted fabric techniques. I’m sharing a one here, though for me it’s not new because I accidentally made a piece of this fabric a long time ago. Below is a short video that demonstrates just how easy it is.

A couple things I should say – First, it is best to use darker paint to get the most obvious results. And, unless you have large hands or a large handed helper, this technique is really only for making small size pieces of fabric.

Next week I’ll share another new technique and if time permits, an artwork using the two techniques.

Below is another piece of fabric I made using this crackle/crinkle technique. I used black paint and after I rinsed it, I had a sad feeling that it didn’t work (see left side below). But I should have known better… Just a hot iron and the crackle appears, like magic! In this photo the right side has been press completely flat (except for the little crease on the right edge).

Below, the fabric front is on the left and the back on the right. Any brown color is just from bad lighting; the piece is nice dark charcoal gray. I like the fabric back as much as the front and now I see plaster walls, cave walls, or rocks… Note to self – Must try in brown.

I look forward to sharing more painted fabric pieces and hope you’ll say tuned. Thanks for stopping by.

Work in Progress

I’m looking forward to sharing the photograph and fiber/fabric pieces, that other artists have given me permission to share, in an upcoming blog post. For now I’ll give you a little look in to the piece I’m working on for that blog post. I’m not going to show it with the photograph until the piece is finished.

After a good bit of time examining the photograph that will be a part of this piece I decided the direction I’d take my design.

I started by painting a sky using Jacquard Textile Colors (JTC).

After I ripped the fabric I realized it was too small for my frame and so I used pins to stretch it.

I painted a woodsy hillside using JTC and used NeoColor ll wax pastels for the lower half. I pulled off some silk threads from a piece of raw silk fabric to audition where I might add tree trunks. If this had been a collage without stitching I would have glued those silk threads using gel medium. I really liked how they looked.

A rough layout…

I embroidered knots. First I pulled threads from a piece of dupioni silk fabric because I wanted the simmer, shine, and the threads were thicker than the actually silk spools I have. Unfortunately, the knots weren’t looking good so I switched to regular floss. In the end, in the big picture, it isn’t really going to matter.

They hardly resemble a French Knots so I just call them knots.

More painting – this time a plastic edge tapped in JTC and pulled horizontally across the NeoColor area. After that I brushed a blue paint wash over that area to darken it. When it was dry it was still a bit light for what I was going for. At this point I have myself convinced that quilting it will make it right.

Pulled paint using sharp edge over NeoColor ll

I used the same sharp edge, (it was just a piece of plastic advertising that was a bit thinner than a credit card), to make the trunks. I was going to just quilt the trunks but was playing with the paint and couldn’t help myself. I think I will still quilt them or maybe not!

This was taken when it was wet, the lower area dried much lighter.

I always learn something when making any Photograph on Fiber piece, sometimes many things. They’re always a challenge but a fun one. We will see where this one takes me and what I learn.

A Reminder – Next post, June 16, I will announce the winners of the painted fabric.

Stamping Fabric

I’m happy to be out of my cast but recovery is going slowly with little arting going on. I have more drawer treasures to share, I only wish I could remember how I actually made many of the pieces I have rediscovered.

These are pieces that have been stamped using leaves and other objects. I need to move my wrist around some so after finding this old ivy print I embroidered a simple bird on a branch. It was a very quick and doable project for me right now but I may add more to it later.

This is a print I made ages ago using leaves from our Sienna Sunrise Nandina. It has one of my favorite leaves to use in art; they work great not just for stamping but for rubbings, and gel printing. There is what looks like a jellybean or small rock in the lower right area and I love that it has a shadow and dots on it that weren’t intentionally made. Sadly, I have no idea how I achieved that. The gold rectangles with thin ridges were stamped using a piece of composite decking board.

Below are two areas of a hand painted fabric with an underwater feel, I like it so much I can’t bring myself to do anything with. Stamped using a natural sponge, my recollection is that the turquoise color was stamped on wet fabric with a wet sponge and the sponge wasn’t as wet for the darker color.

This final piece is Fallen, one of my/our Photograph on Fiber series pieces. The leaf photo was taken by my son, who would say it’s nothing special, but it was fun to stamp, paint, and quilt the background fabric.

I’m trying to schedule my vaccination so I’m not sure what shape I’ll be in but I plan to announce a painted fabric giveaway next week.

Thanks for stopping by and stay safe.

Fabric Play

I was thinking about making some winter cards so I was playing, with sun-printing (again) using leatherleaf ferns and Setasilk and then painting with Neo Color wax pastels. The first three are from the same large piece, I’m floating a card stock “window” over it to find an area I like.

I’m not sure where I’m going with those but I know the Neo Color pastel poinsettia is crying for some thread play. The pine cone was really an experiment and it’s just okay. I may have to fix the stem because the branch looks like a stem shadow (more pine needles?). I should have done a wash around it too; I don’t like the white area on the right. Maybe that would be a place for some white (tone on tone) embroidery or maybe free motion quilting.

      

And below is a poinsettia card I made for my aunt. I posted a card similar to this in the past but this one is a little different in that the leave/petals hang beyond the edge. I like this one better and I think my fabric quilled beads with French Knots make the perfect flowers.

As I was writing this post my daughter gave a little holler saying “Sky!” and if you know anything about my family you know that is the signal to go upstairs and out on our bedroom deck. It was to see this…

Always makes me want to paint fabric!

Fabric Postcards!

For those of you who will be in San Diego, I will be teaching a class on Thursday, June 29, 2017 at Rosie’s Calico Cupboard quilt shop. The class title is “How to Make a Fabric Postcard.” We’ll use commercial fabric to make a basic postcard card and we’ll play with some surface design techniques to make our own fabric for another postcard.

Class cost: $45

TIME:  9 AM to 4 PM

You will need to bring a sewing machine in working order and the know-how to operate it. The machine needs to be able to make a straight stitch, zig-zag and/or decorative stitches, and free-motion quilting (i.e. feed dogs drop (or covered) and darning/hopping foot)

Complete supply list will be emailed after confirmation of payment. Payment must be made via PayPal (PP account or credit card). NOTE: If the link doesn’t work it probably means the class is full. If you would like to be added to the waiting list for a future class, please email me.

Payment must be made by June 25, 2017. If for any reason you cannot attend the class I must be notified via email on or before June 26, 2017 in order to receive a refund. After June 26, no matter the reason, no refund will be given. I reserve the right to cancel the class due to illness or personal emergency. If I have to cancel the class you would receive a full refund (or the option to be added to a waiting list for a future class).

Though this class is not affiliated with San Diego Quilt Show, their theme this year is Postcards from San Diego.  If participating in the class encourages you to make and enter a fabric postcard in the challenge – that would be great!

Please feel free to contact me with any questions.