The Long Road Home

After my original idea for this challenge for one of the internet groups grew to 20 X 20, I had to come up with a new idea in that theme.

This month my husband and I did a whirl-wind trip to Texas. Driving straight through there (1,100 miles one way) and straight through back (another 1,100 miles). The reason - my dad's memorial service. All this in 5 days. So Road Map was an appropriate theme for me this month. And due to this long road trip to my home state, to my parents land where my dad's ashes are now buried, I've chosen to title this piece:

The Long Road Home

So, I went quite literal this time. White cotton background (just like a real map) The roads, county lines, road numbers, railroads, rivers, etc are stitched. I then painted in the colors of the different roads and the river with Pigma Brush Pens.



Weekly Creativity - Week 3 - Sugar Resist

This week I tried a new resist technique I had read about on another blog (And Then We Set It On Fire). I've done resists with commercial products, flour, even baby cereal...but never sugar! So I just had to give it a try.

While the main emphasis was on sugar syrup that one makes with granulated sugar and water boiled, etc. I had limited time so I just found the other sugars mentioned by someone else on another post....pancake syrup, molasses, and corn syrup. Sounded like enough to give the technique a try and see what happens...and here are the steps and the results.

First I set everything out - vinyl work cloth, palatte for resist, fabric, resist printing tools, syrups, and Jaquard Dyna-Flow paints (on the original tutorial - thickened dyes were used but again - time constraints won the day)

All Set to Start



Then I applied the resists

Pancake Syrup / Computer part

Molasses / Commercial Stamp and Punchinella

Corn Syrup / Squiggly Straw and tray from package of glue sticks

Jaquard Dyna-Flow paints were applied with syringes. I used Violet, Periwinkle and Midnight Blue on all the pieces.

Pancake Syrup

Molasses

Corn Syrup





And here are the results

Pancake syrup

Molasses

Corn Syrup

So in the end, when I had hung the pieces up to dry, I had a very interesting design of paint left behind on the vinyl work cloth.  I decided to use it for a monoprint. My bonus piece from this technique experiment!

Bonus Monoprint

I really like the results from this technique. So much so that I'm sure I will give it a try sometime soon using the thickened dyes and maybe even make the sugar syrup!

And it grew and grew!!

This is the quilt top made from the map fabric I made last week.  It was supposed to be for a 12 X 12 art quilt but I was having so much fun adding in the fields, etc. that it grew to what is now going to be a 20 X 20 quilt!! This is just the top. It still has to be quilted and bound. It doesn't fit the size for any group quilt requirements I'm currently working on so I guess this one will just be in my collection!

And it came to mean a lot more to me after driving round trip to Texas in 4 days!! Maps maps maps.

Now, can you see the fun things I put in here?? 

A vineyard which backs onto a dirt road. (purple on lower left)

A forest just right of center on the bottom

A marsh near the upper left top (kind of a mottled green)

Two plowed fields (left edge just top of center and bottom right quadrant)

A corn field just up and left of center above the little pond in the center of the map

Two green fields - probably soy beans

A brown field which is fallow dirt this year

And finally, a golden field - waves of grain no doubt!

Oh and the river, of course

TAKING THE BACKROADS

I named it Taking The Backroads because whether it is on a photo safari or on motorcycles...I LOVE the backroads!!

Besides the map fabric I made, I used my own hand dyed fabrics, rusted, rouched nad painted fabrics. Only commercial fabrics used were for the roads (both asphalt and dirt). I chose them because they look like....well...asphalt and a rutted dirt road. Here is a detail photo so you can see what I mean.

I had a blast making this top. Of course, now I have to come up with another idea for the 12 X 12 challenge this was meant to be!

Weekly Creativity - Week 2 - WonderUnder Image Transfer

The 12 X 12 group that I participate in has a new theme for September - Road Map.  So I figured I would work with actual road maps! Hey, why not! I had seen this method of transferring images to sheer fabric and wanted to give it a try. So I'm doing something for my Weekly Creativity Goal and at the same time accomplishing an art quilt for the September Road Map Challenge Theme! MULTITASKING!!!

I happen to LOVE maps so I collect them from all kinds of publications. Glad now to have such a diversity. I picked out my favorites and arranged them to the size I need. It is larger than a 12 X 12 because I will need that extra for the technique I'm going to use in Step 2.

Then I covered it with a sheer silk. No idea what kind of silk it is...just found it in my stash and checked to be sure I could see through it.  First I ironed WonderUnder onto the maps, peeled off the paper and put the silk down onto the top covered in WonderUnder and ironed to down.



Next step is the big messy part. I turned the piece silk side down and thoroughly wet the back side of all the maps. Then the labor intensive process of carefully peeling the backs off the paper so only the images remained on the silk.

A final rinse to remove all the tiny tiny bits of paper still clinging to the back, and hung it up to dry overnight.

This morning, it is dry and while a bit more opaque than I had preferred, you can still see the maps through the silk. Hopefully this afternoon I'll get started on the next step of this art quilt!!  Got ya curious???





Creativity - Week 1 - Organic Stamping

It's done!! Final layer - I have a brayer that has a rubber band wrapped around it. Thought the piece could use some straight lines but needed a more random feel to it. So I used Jaquard Lumiere Pearl Blue paint and applied it with the rubber band wrapped brayer to get the random lines.  I'm happy with it now and it will go into my stash to be used someday when the time is right.  It always surprises me when I get an idea for an art quilt and so often find just the right piece in my stash...often one that was "made" even years ago!!  LOVE to have that to draw from.

Wanted to test both the technique and the paint color so I used the Wrinkled and Rollered small piece first.

Onion Stamping - completed



Onion Print - step 2

Figured out what I wanted to add to my onion stamped fabric! I used a bit of punchinella as a stencil. The paint is Jaquard Neopaque Violet applied with a stencil brush. Since I wanted it to look like the onions were printed on top of the punchinella, I took care not to overlap the onions.  Not sure if it would look like I wanted it to, I first practiced on the Wrinkled and Rollered piece. Liked what I saw and continued on to the onion piece.

Wrinkled and Rollered - Step 2

The test

Onion Stamping - Step 2

Still want to add another layer...just waiting to see what that might be...........

Creativity - Week 1

One of the goals I've set for myself recently, is to do one thing every week that I either haven't done at all before...or...a twist or tweak on something I'm familiar with.  So yesterday I did some stamping with a dried onion. This is something that Wil did on her visit here but I was doing something else that day and didn't get to play.  So now it is my turn.

I cut the onion in half and let it dry for quite a while...days and days. The background is a piece of my own hand dyed fabric. I stamped with Jaquard Lumiere Metallic Olive Green. I love the effect! Not sure if I'm going to add to it or not. Just living with this for a bit to see if it is fine as is or needs something else.



Then when I was finished with that piece, I had a bit of paint left so I grabbed another bit of my hand dyed fabric and wadded it up then rollered the paint over it.  Repeated this several times until I got the coverage I wanted.



Also made a print of the onion on paper. Thinking I might want to make a screen print of it soon.

I Miss the Snow

I know I know....many of you will think I'm crazy (well this might or might not dispell that concept) but I LOVE the cold and the snow!! A bit strange for a Texas girl transplanted to the frozen tundra of Minnesota. But it is true.  This piece was born this summer when we had WEEKS of upper 90s. Thought I would die. Thank heaven for A/C or I just might have. I so LONGED for the cold and snow. I know it is a lot to ask of an art quilt...to bring back vivid enough memories of several feet of snow and temps below freezing to vanquish the oppresive heat...but I had high hopes. And to some extent it does give me hope. At least living in Minnesota (aka the Frozen Tundra) I know winter and cold WILL come eventually. I long for the first nip in the air, the promise that fall brings of the cold, refreshing winter beauty soon to come. So I wait..........


The background is white dupioni silk quilted in a snowflake pattern with silver metallic thread. The snowballs are circles of muslin with layers of scrim, lace, cording, knotted fabric and mulberry cloth hand-stitched onto it. Then the circles were appliqued to the quilt and then painted with White Pearl Lumiere and white acrylic paint. The finishing touch was to stitch some white iridescent beads onto each snowflake. Is it just me or is it getting just a bit chilly in here??????

I Miss The Snow

10" X 20"

I Miss the Snow - detail