Lyric's Screen Printing DVD

Lyric converted me! I can hardly believe it myself. Generally, I avoid art techniques that seem too complicated or take too much time or require me to plan ahead. Thermofax printing definitely fell into this category, so I never tried it.

Until now...

My friend Lyric has a new dvd workshop out and she really wanted me to test it out from the point of view of a complete newbie. So, she sent me the dvd plus a screen and a frame for the screen.

Honestly, I would have no idea how to proceed, but I popped in the dvd and Lyric explained and demo'ed everything. Even putting the screen in the frame seemed complicated, but once I watched Lyric do it, I knew I could manage. Ta Da!

Actually, even before I received and watched the dvd, I read through the excellent tutorial on Lyric's website about designing images for your screen. And I was able to do that myself too! Who knew?! So, I sent her this pomegranate image and that's the screen she prepared for me.

Then I watched the printing techniques chapter of the dvd and was ready to print. Lyric's personality and professionalism is so likable and listenable. She's a great teacher and all of that comes through on the dvd.

Here I am ready to pull the paint through the screen!

Check it out! I am really pleased with these images. They are not all perfect and I can definitely imagine that more practice and experimenting with various paints and fabrics would yield different results... but I love these and I'm eager to use them in fabric collages.

The dvd is not just how-to technique stuff. There is also excellent info about design, layered imagery and using the screens with materials beyond paint! 

Thermofax 101: screen printing made easy

65 minutes of thorough instruction

Chapters:

Getting Started: what is a thermofax screen

Finding Images: find and design your own

How to Print: printing techniques and tools

Designing: creating cloth with layered imagery

You'll love the sweet story about the dragon fly, too! Don't miss that. Order it today and expand the techniques you use in your own artwork.

I'm giving away a copy of Lyric's dvd. So just comment here and I'll pick a winner on May 21. Plus, check out all the other artists who have made cool prints with the information on Lyric's dvd. They are all giving away copies of the dvd too. (But, you could just buy one today and start printing now. You won't regret it.)

April 24 Cheryl Rezendez  http://www.cherylrezendes.com

April 25  Leslie Tucker Jenison  http://leslietuckerjenison.blogspot.com  

April 28  Sue Bleiweiss  http://www.suebleiweiss.com/blog/

April 30  Judy Gula  http://www.artisticartifacts.com/blog/ 

May 1  Sue Price & Elizabeth Gibson  http://pgfiber2art.blogspot.com/

May 2  Judy Coates Perez  http://www.judycoatesperez.com

May 4  Linda Stokes  www.lindastokes-textileartist.com

May 6  Jane Davila  http://janedavila.blogspot.com

May 6 Melanie Testa http://melanietesta.com/blog/

May 7  Liz Kettle  http://www.textileevolution.com/index.php/our-journey

May 8  Carol Sloan  http://carolbsloan.blogspot.com

May 9  Kathy York  http://aquamoonartquilts.blogspot.com

May 11  Susan Brubaker Knapp  http://wwwbluemoonriver.blogspot.com

May 12  Desiree Habicht  http://myclothesline.blogspot.com

May 13  Jamie Fingal  http://JamieFingalDesigns.blogspot.com/

May 14  Deborah Boschert  http://deborahsjournal.blogspot.com

May 15  Sarah Ann Smith  sarahannsmith.com/weblog

Me and My Friends at the Dallas Quilt Show

I had a great time at the Dallas Quilt Show today. I've slapped a bunch of snapshots here into the blog post -- mostly of quilts made by me and my friends. Later I'll share some other quilts that caught my eye.

Here's my quilt Plentiful that I created as a sample for my Quilting Arts workshop dvd. I really love this small quilt... I entered it because it was one of the only pieces I had that fit the size requirements for the small quilt category.

Here's Blue Chair Mantra which has been seen hanging several places of late. It got an Honorable Mention in the Art Quilt catagory.

Here's Grow Abundant which has been rejected from several shows, but won a third place ribbon in Art Quilts. Hooray!

My friend Heather Pregger's Tuning Fork 12 won second place in Art Quilts.

My friend Lu Peters, who makes stunning garments, won first in the Garment category for her piece titled "Hiding in Plain Sight: The Cloak of Invisibility."

She calls it "couture camouflage." It's both brilliant conceptually and technically.

My friend Tonya was the featured quilter at the show and gave an excellent lecture.

Carol Morrisey's Spider Lillies are amazing! They won a Judges Choice ribbon (but nothing in the Pictorial category, which I may discuss more later. Or maybe not.)

Robin Williamson created this fabulous pieced quilt she titled Voldemort, because it originally refused to be named.

At the Dallas Show they hang the quilt info and artist statement from a ribbon pinned to the quilt. Above you see how the quilt looks at the show. And below I've tucked the sign behind the quilt so you can see the black and white section of Robin's quilt.

It really looks entirely different when you don't hide the black and white section, right? I really dislike how those signs hang over the quilt. I mentioned to someone when I was helping hang the show on Wednesday and I got my head bit off. I should have asked someone to take a picture of me without my head.

Sherrie Tootle won third in Art Quilts! Our small art quilt group, The Twisted Stitchers, issued a challenge for everyone to create a quilt with red in it. This is Sherrie's red contribution.

Here is Barbara Oliver Hartman's red quilt.

And here's Tonya Littman's red quilt.

With a sheer overlay of a horse for the Year of the Horse.

Another small art quilt group I belong too created a multi-piece collaborative work see in the background here. I was taking a tour of the show led by Marian Ann Montgomery. She highlighted this piece as a unique entry in the group quilt category.

Here's a wide shot of Tonya's special exhibit as the featured quilter at the show.

There were so many more quilts and more friends. It was a super fun day.

I came home eager to get to work on some new art quilts!

Diane's Digital Surface Design

I am thrilled to join in the Blog Hop and Give Away for Diane Doran's new Quilting Arts Workshop dvd, Digital Surface Design! 

It's awesome. Really.

Get this: I am NOT proficient at Photoshop Elements at all! I wondered if I really could watch this dvd and walk through Photoshop to create interesting digital images that might be good for printing on fabric. I know Diane is an amazing artist and teacher, but I still doubted by ability to take it all in.

Here's what I did. This is a picture of my computer monitor. I've got Diane's dvd running in the window on the left and I have Photoshop open in the window on the right. Even though she works on a PC and I work on a Mac, I was able to follow along easily. As we went along, I clicked pause or zoomed back to look again at what she was doing as neccesary.

I learned to use the motion blur filter to create something that looks like it might have been drip dyed. And then duplicate and play around with that image for more arty effects. I could even enhance and adjust the color to use that same arty image and create it in different color ways. Like this.

 By the way, those images originally came from this photo. Really. How fun is that?

Honestly, I had to pause the video and play around a bit to find the right screen or selection. It took me awhile to just find the plain-old-brush tool, but once I found it, I was able to follow right along with the video. If you're willing to be patient, play around, and experiment, this DVD is an excellent framework for learning lots of stuff.

I learned the very basics of using brushes. In the dvd, Diane used a leaf shaped brush, but I could only find a butterfly shaped brush on my Photoshop Elements version. No problem! Who doesn't love butterflies?

There's a portion of the dvd where Diane uses a pre-designed grass stamp... which I didn't have. I googled "free grass photoshop brush" and it took me seven seconds to get a new brush loaded. (I was feeling quite proud of myself in that moment.) Here you can see my Photoshop work on the right and Diane's dvd on the left. Pretty similar, right? (Remember, I was/am a complete Photoshop novice.)

I learned so many other little things about gradients, making brushes, easy tricks for working with layers and much, much more!

Here are a couple of the final images I ended up with after watching the whole dvd.

Of course, the dvd is full of stunning fabric that Diane created (Candy included lots of them on her blog). But, I wanted you to see what I created by watching the dvd and just imagine what YOU could create.

Here's your chance! Diane is giving away a copy of her amazing dvd. Leave a comment here on my blog before January 28 and you'll have a chance to win. Plus, Diane is giving away four fat quarters of her fabric created for this dvd workshop. It's beautiful!

Check out all the other blogs for more great reviews of Diane's dvd.

January 14 – Candy Glendening - http://www.candiedfabrics.com/journal/

January 16 – Sarah Ann Smith - http://www.sarahannsmith.com/weblog/

January 21 – Deborah Boschert - http://deborahsjournal.blogspot.com/

January 24 – Susan Brubaker Knapp - http://wwwbluemoonriver.blogspot.com/

January 28 – Diane Rusin Doran - http://oohprettycolors.blogspot.com/

Sarah's Amazing New DVD Workshop!

I'm so honored to join in a blog hop celebrating the release of my friend Sarah Ann Smith's new workshop dvd. I'm especially excited to offer a give-away of the fabulous dvd. Keep reading.

I had the pleasure of viewing the dvd and I want you to look at this picture.

See all that stuff on Sarah's work table? She does an absolutely incredible job of talking about every single item you see on the table. She offers tips, ideas, options, expertise and inspiration about how to use all these tools and supplies. 

You will not believe what she does with that iron!

But, in addition to all the tips and unexpected bonus info, Sarah also walks through a beautiful project that you could recreate with your own photograph, fabric and thread work. (It's the quilt on the cover of the dvd.)

Whether you're new to art quilting, or you've been creating for years, I promise you will learn something new that will open new doors for you in your studio.

Quick, quick! Go download it. Or check out Sarah's sales page.

Leave a comment here on my blog by Thursday, September 26 for a chance to win a copy of the dvd.

Lots more giveaways, reviews and info from all the other artists participating in Sarah's blog hop. Check them out too! There are even more prizes and giveaways on Sarah's blog.

September 19:    Jamie Fingal      http://jamiefingaldesigns.blogspot.com/
September 21:    Deborah Boschert    http://deborahsjournal.blogspot.com/
September 24:    Vicki Welsh    http://vickiwelsh.typepad.com/
September 26:    Leslie Jenison  http://leslietuckerjenison.blogspot.com/
September 28:    Terry Grant   http://andsewitgoes.blogspot.com/
October 1:          Gloria Hansen    http://www.gloriahansen.com/weblog/
October 3:          Diane Perin Hock    http://goingtopieces.blogspot.com/

November 14:     Marie Johansen   http://www.musingcrowdesigns.com/
November 16:     Brenda Gael Smith   http://serendipitypatchwork.com.au/blog/
November  19:    Jaye Lapachet    http://artquiltmaker.com/blog/
November 21:     Susan Brubaker Knapp   http://wwwbluemoonriver.blogspot.com/
November 23:     Lisa Walton    http://www.fibreinspirations.blogspot.com/
November 26:     Daphne Greig   http://daphnegreig.blogspot.com/

Can you imagine?

Ten thousand photos?!

That's right! There are 10,000 photos in the Flickr group for The Sketchbook Challenge. Actually, now there are many more than 10,000! But, earlier this month the artists on The Sketchbook Challenge came up with a secret plan to celebrate the 10,000th photo by sending that person a whole BUNCH of arty goodies! I love being one of the host artists on the blog so I was thrilled to add to the prize bag. I sent a copy of my DVD workshop Contemporary Fabric Collage: Design, Stitch and Finish.

If you want to drool a bit (or get some shopping inspiration), check out the post listing all the prizes from all the artists here.

Jane Prater was the winner. She's been blogging her prizes as they arrive. It's really fun to see how she's been inspired by the project.

Hey, by the way... my dvd is on sale this week! It would make a great gift. I'd even be happy to put together a "kit" of fabric collage goodies to go along with the dvd, if you like. Just email me and we'll work it out.

Creating My Art Box Share

Have you seen the super fun collection of art quilts in our new ArtBox CSA? It's a new concept in sharing and collecting art -- borrowed from the very successful concept of farm CSAs where you get a box of whatever veggies and other products are in season. An ArtBox includes a piece of art from eight different fiber artists.

I thought you might like to see the process of creating my share for the box. I created nine pieces for the ArtBox collection. I started with a few extras in case there were some ugly ones in the bunch -- it happens, right?

I started by cutting felt for batting a bit larger than the 8x8 finished size.

Actually, even before I cut the felt, I thought out my basic concept, style and technique. I decided on layered landscape collages similar to several other pieces I've created recently -- layers of cloth suggesting landscape elements, collage elements and shapes and stitches representing houses and flowers, leaves or trees.

Then I chose three fabrics for each piece, a foreground, middle ground and sky. (Sky is very loosely implied in some of these pieces -- as in the green leafy batik fabric.) Each piece has at least one fabric with some original surface design and at least one commercial print. This step took a long time and lots of swapping, auditioning and digging through my fabric drawers.

Next the foreground or middle ground sections were enhanced with some kind of interesting edge like a hillside, frayed edge or jagged cut. Plus everything got pressed and trimmed.

Then the fabric was fused to the felt. So, I had 10 or 11 pieces looking something like this.

Then I added a tiny focus-collage to each piece mixing in a house shape, some unexpected materials and sheer fabric.

Then I laid them all out and made some notes about the additional elements and techniques that need to be added.

I started by quilting graceful arches over every piece. I made several passes in a few different colors. I also machine stitched the collage elements to the background.

Each piece got a painted branch/twig/tree shape. I used freezer paper stencils created especially to fit the composition of each design.

Working assembly-line style can be really fun. It's so satisfying to finish each step. I like to work on 8 to 15 pieces ...  more than that and I can get bored and overwhelmed.

Then hand stitching of course!

I had the big stack of quilts and my collection of floss on the table in front of the tv for several evenings.

I originally thought the Ys might be enough on this piece, but it really needed more. So I added the trailing seed stitches. Nearly every piece got at least two different hand stitched motifs.

Creative chaos!

After all the pieces were completed, I fused on a backing fabric. (Not a very exciting photo. Also not a very exciting task.)

Then I trimmed to the finished size and painted the edges to add just a tiny frame of color and seal the fabrics. I didn't take a photo of that step. Next the pieces had to be mounted to 8x8x1.5 inch canvases. I did take a few pictures of that process, but the I inadvertently deleted them while I was preparing my camera for our upcoming vacation. Oops.

Here you can see the edge of one of my finished pieces.

You can see my whole collection here. It's kind of fun to look at that image and compare it to the early shots where you can see the beginning stages of all the pieces.

Hey, if you're interested in a bit more about this process, I hope you'll check out my dvd workshop Contemporary Fabric Collage. I discuss several of these kinds of techniques and walk through a very similar project on the dvd.

One of the other ArtBox CSA artists blogged about creating her pieces for the ArtBox too. Check out Jamie's process here.

Plus, you really should check out the rest of the art in the ArtBox. Maybe you'd like to start a collection. There are still some boxes available.

My Video Workshop is Released Today!

Video Workshop
My brand new video workshop, Contemporary Fabric Collage: Design, Stitch and Finish, is now available for download! I am so thrilled with this project.

It's just like taking a workshop with me. As I prepared for the shoot, I made long lists about all the tips, suggestions, ideas and directions I wanted to include. Plus, there are lots of visual aids and examples throughout the dvd. I think you're going to love it!

The video workshop includes chapters on fabric selection, composition, using sheer fabrics, stitching by machine and by hand, and unique finishing options.

Artwork from the Video
I created three fabric collages specifically for filming the video workshop. They each include the signature elements and techniques that are discussed in the workshop.

Verdant Vista, 14x11"

 

Ikat Gathered, 12.5 x 11"

Plentiful, 22 x 15"

Give Away
To celebrate the release, check out this fun give-away! I've created three "collage kits" inspired by each of the three collages for the video. Each kit includes several pieces of fabric, including some of the exact same fabrics I used in these collages, plus some fabrics with my original stamping and surface designs. There are sheer fabrics, cottons, unexpected and unusual items and vintage hankies. Plus, a couple of skeins of coordinating embroidery floss, one of my favorite needles and a spouncer sponge. (Almost everything you need to create your own collage.)

Verdant Vista Inspired Collage Kit

 

Ikat Gathered Inspired Collage Kit

Plentiful Inspired Collage Kit

 

How to Enter
To be entered into this give-away, just comment on this blog post. Tell me what you are looking forward to learning in the video workshop. Here are some extra opportunities to be selected for the collage kits.

• Mention and link my blog and video workshop on your Facebook.
• Sign up for my e-newsletter. (The link is at the top of the right side bar.)
• Pin an image of the video workshop or my artwork on Pinterest.
• Blog about the video workshop.

If you do any of these things, just come back here and add an additional comment saying "hey, I signed up for your newsletter/mentioned you on Facebook/pinned an image..." or whatever. Thanks so much for spreading the word about the video workshop.

I'll take sign ups through May 2, then I'll use a random number generator from all the blog comments and pick three winners -- one for each collage kit.

I'll leave you with this funny picture from the video production. Apparently, I was a bit surprised by sound guy.