Fabrications – Sand In My Shoes (part two)

August 4, 2007 at 7:47 am (Applique, Batiks, Beads, Embellishing, Fabric Manipulation, Fabrications, Fiber Art, Free Motion, Sewing, Techniques)

Batiks serve as the perfect fabrics for making these little flowers since they are tightly woven and quite colorful.

Once you have completed the free motion stitching on each of the circles, remove the Solvy from you hoop. Clip around each flower, leaving all the loose extended threads in place.

Circles Clipped from Solvy

Place each flower circle on a terry towel and spray with water to remove the Solvy. Spraying rather than soaking works well here because some of the melted Solvy remains in the fabric, adding a little stiffness to the bubbly texture.

Sprayed Circles

When you circles are semidry, center the small circles on top of the large circles. If you have used an assortment of colors, you may like to mix and match until you are pleased with the results.

Layered Flowers

Apply beads or buttons to embellish the flower centers. I used “tye dye” glass beads.

Tye Dye Beads

Take each flower and scrunch it into a little ball. Gently open the ball and shape it back into a flower.

Scrunched Flower

Allow to dry completely, and your flowers will be ready to add colorful embellishment wherever you place them.
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N. Rene West
Time Treasured

6 Comments

Fabrications – Sand In My Shoes

August 1, 2007 at 7:18 am (Applique, Batiks, Beads, Embellishing, Fabric Manipulation, Fabrications, Fiber Art, Free Motion, Techniques)

Batiks always make me think of summer vacations at the beach. If you’re like me, you probably have lots of batik scraps from past projects. Here’s a great way to transform them into beautifully embellished flowers.

For this project you will need some regular Solvy, a heavy variegated cotton thread (I used Valdani #35 “Autumn”), colorful beads, an embroidery hoop, circular templates, and assorted batik fabrics.

Supplies

First, mark large and small circles on your batiks. I used a mechanical pencil, which makes a very thin cutting line. For templates, I used metal eyelet charms that I found in the scrap booking department of my local craft store. These charms are quite thin, making them very useful around the studio. My large circle measured 1 3/4″ and my small circle measured 1 1/4″.

Circle Templates

Cut the circles out and press to flatten if necessary.

Cut Batik Circles

Hoop you Solvy and lightly spray the back of the individual large circles. Position them in the hoop.

Hooped Solvy

Set up your sewing machine for free motion work. Use a coordinating color and similar weight of thread in the bobbin. Drop the feed dogs and attach a closed free motion foot. Free motion stitch each of the circles, using meandering and circular motions. Allow the thread work to extend beyond the edges of your circles. Fill each circle with stitching, creating a bubbled texture.

Free Motion Stitched Large Circles

Repeat this process for the small circles.

Free Motion Stitched Small Circles

Your completed stitching should look something like this. Notice that the thread work extends well beyond each circle.

Free Motion Thread Work

We’ll finish these little batik blooms in part two.

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N. Rene West
Time Treasured

3 Comments

Felted Finery – Angelina’s Secret Cousin (part one)

March 13, 2007 at 9:44 am (Applique, Babylock Embellisher, Batiks, Beads, Embellishing, Fabric, Felted Finery, Felting, Fiber Art, Techniques)

Dragonfly

There’s definitely a family resemblance, although Angelina is the more flamboyant of the two. And when things heat up, Angelina experiences meltdown way before her cousin. Of course, Angelina by nature is “strung out” whereas her cousin flows with the warp and weft of things. Both like to put on a show and grab attention. For Angelina, it all happens so naturally. For her cousin, it takes a little more work (but it’s worth it).

This enjoyable fiber play requires simply supplies: a light weight stabilizer, some batik motifs, and (did you guess it?) – organza! To begin, hoop your stabilizer and place a cutout motif on top. If your motif has one side that is more pronounced, place that side face down. You could also use a hand painted motif. The important thing is that the fabric is double sided.

Cutouts

Using your Babylock Embellisher or needle punch machine/attachment, tack down the motif and then give it a more thorough felting.

Tack Down

Your motif should be covered with tiny needle holes. It’s easy to over felt some areas, so occasionally check the back side to make sure you are getting even results. At this point, some of the stabilizer should still be visible but the colors of the motif should also be coming through.

Next, cut a piece of polyester organza a little larger (about 1-2 inches) than the motif. When you needle punch organza, it tends to bunch up. I like to hold it in place with my fingers as I tack it down, slowly moving in a cross pattern followed by an “X” pattern.

Do a very thorough felting across the surface of your design. Pay special attention to the edges of the motif, making sure they are felted well since this will be your cutting line. Check the back to see if the organza fibers have felted through evenly. They won’t solidly cover the motif, but they should have an even appearance across the surface. Continue felting any sparse areas.

Thorough Felting of Organza

Peach organza on orange motif

When your motif is completely felted, remove it from the hoop and cut it out with a sharp pair of craft scissors. Next, sandwich it between two layers of parchment paper or a pressing sheet and iron at a “cotton” setting for about 6-7 seconds. Let the motif cool before touching it.

Cutout Dragonfly

Yellow organza on blue motif

You should have a beautiful non-fraying motif that can be used on quilts, pillows, hats, handbags, or whatever items you desire. Additionally, you have two sides from which to choose, both offering unique textures and some sparkle. These motifs can be used as stand-alones or embellished further with beads.

Bead Embellishment

Angelina is often mixed with other fibers (without being melted). The reverse side of these motifs bears a close resemblance to that technique. One thing is certain: the results are always one-of-a-kind and spectacular.

In part two, I will share with you how I made the shadow-dwelling dragonfly.

Shadow Dragonfly

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N. Rene West
Time Treasured

3 Comments

Fembellish Footnotes – March 12, 2007

March 12, 2007 at 8:22 am (Batiks, Bernina, Fabric, Felting, Fiber Art, Footnotes, Quilting)

Felted Flower

(News, notes, and fiber art related information that might be of interest to you.)

1. Bernina is celebrating their 75th anniversary. To commemorate the occasion, they have set up a special anniversary web site.

2. March 17th is National Quilt Day.

3. The March/April 2007 issue of Fons and Porter’s Love of Quilting magazine contains an informative article on the production of batik fabrics. “Behind the Batiks” by Bruce Magidson takes you on tour through an Indonesian batik factory, revealing the centuries-old practice of dyeing and waxing with complex designs.

4. If you do a Google search on “Carriff,” you will find several links to forum discussions on the 0.5 stabilizer that I use for my felting projects. It is my understanding that the Carriff Soil Separator (0.5 weight) sold at Lowe’s and Home Depot is essentially the same product. If you’re interested in trying this product, you might check these stores to see if they have it in stock.

5. The Eagle-Tribune (MA) has an article on the popularity of wool felting: Wool Whimsy Felting: A hot hobby for any age. Newspaper article links change quickly, so if you’re interested in reading it you might do so sooner rather than later.

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N. Rene West
Time Treasured

2 Comments

Quilting – In the Eye of the Beholder (part two)

March 10, 2007 at 6:34 pm (Applique, Art Quilts, Babylock Embellisher, Batiks, Embellishing, Fabric, Felting, Fiber Art, Fibers, Quilting, Quilts, Roving, Techniques)

Hummingbird Embroidery

The more I work with the Babylock Embellisher the more excited I become regarding the potential that these types of machines hold for fiber artists, quilters, and artisans. Every thread, yarn, fiber, and fabric becomes the basis for experimentation, producing unique results that cannot be produced by other means. But I digress. . .

In part one I promised to share with you a technique that I call “shadow felting,” since the resulting fabric takes on a suede-like appearance and renders a muted form of the original base fabric. Also, when used as a 3D object on a quilt or other project, it casts a shadow.

For the best results with this process, you will need a batik, a hand dyed, or a hand painted base fabric that has individual motifs you can use for appliqué. Using a one-sided commercial fabric doesn’t work well owing to the pale underside that obscures the original design when needle felted.

Additionally, you will need a very light stabilizer. I experimented with several and found two that worked quite well: Carriff .50 weight and Gerber EZ-liner disposable diaper liners. Here are the reasons why these work for this particular project:

1. They are both very lightweight.

2. The Carriff stabilizer will remain in the project, adding strength and a good foundation with which the fibers can mesh. Its non-woven wispy appearance also mutes the surface ever so slightly.

3. The Gerber EZ-liner provides a foundation for the felting process but afterwards is melted with an iron or heat gun, so it disappears. (If you cannot locate this product, call 1-800-4-GERBER for product availability in your area.)

If neither of these products are available to you, try a very light weight used dryer sheet (some are too dense) or a water soluble mesh stabilizer such as Vilene. I haven’t experimented with the wash-aways because they involve the extra step of removal, but they should work.

Begin by hooping your stabilizer and placing a cut motif on top. If one side of the design motif is more pronounced, place that side face down. Starting in the center, tack the motif to the stabilizer and needle felt the entire motif. It only requires a light felting.

Hooped Stabilizer and Motif

Next, place a small amount of roving on the surface of the motif. Again, start in the center and needle felt roving over the entire design motif. Use a roving that matches the color of your motif. You may also like to mix in other colors that blend well. For example, I added a darker shade of green on one of my leaves.

Roving Over Motif

Make sure you felt the edges of the motif adequately.

Felted Motif

Check the back side (which will be the front side when you’re finished) to see if more felting is required. The goal is a motif with a suede-like appearance. Make sure enough roving has meshed through to produce this look.

Suede Look Leaf

When your motif is completely felted, remove it from the hoop and cut away the surrounding stabilizer. Set your iron on the “cotton” setting. Sandwich your motif between nonstick pressing sheets (or parchment paper) and iron on both sides. Let the pressing sheet cool and then take a peak. The Carriff motif should be ready to cut. The EZ-liner may take a few more seconds to melt.

As an alternative, you can melt the EZ-liner with a heat gun set to its lowest heat setting. Do this outdoors if possible, but always in a well ventilated area. Do not place the gun too close to the motif and keep it moving across the surface until you see the liner begin to melt.

Regardless of which method you use, a quick pressing flattens the motif (to about the thickness of craft felt) and helps to set the fibers. Now you are ready to cut your motif with a sharp pair of craft scissors.

Felted Leaves

I placed my leaf motifs here and there on the surface of my quilt. I chose to appliqué two of the leaves, simply doing a few rounds of straight stitches. When the sewing machine needle punctures the edge of the “shadow felt,” a slight bit of fraying takes place.

Appliqued Leaf

Appliqued Leaf 2

However, on the leaves that I applied as 3D objects (with stitching on the interior of the leaves), there was no fraying.

3D Leaf 1

Notice the difference in appearance between the thread painted leaves and the appliquéd/3D leaves. They all share color and shape similarities, yet they each have unique properties that add visual interest to the whole piece.

3D Leaf 2

I hope you enjoy playing with this technique and discovering new possibilities for your work. Relax and have fun!

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N. Rene West
Time Treasured

5 Comments

Quilting – In the Eye of the Beholder

March 9, 2007 at 1:10 pm (Art Quilts, Batiks, Embellishing, Embroidery, Fabric, Fiber Art, Free Motion, Quilting, Quilts, Techniques)

Quilt

When I was seven years old, our neighbor’s teenage daughter taught me how to play the piano. Of course, I soon wanted my own piano. With a mixture of excitement and nervousness, I approached my father with my request and received the standard reply: “We’ll see.” I never cared for that answer because at best it meant a long time delay, and at worst, that nothing would ever come of it.

So with my seven year old mind, I came up with a little game that I actually thought held some merit. Every day as I walked home from school, I would look up into the clouds and scan the sky for the form of a piano, believing that on the day that an ethereal piano appeared, a tangible piano would be delivered to my house. Oh, to be seven again. I don’t remember ever seeing my cloud-piano, but the real thing did finally arrive one day.

I tell you this little story because I applied the same childlike vision to the batik fabric for this quilt. After cutting the fabric to size, I then studied the surface to see if any forms popped out that could be used as a basis for real objects. The most obvious forms were those of leaves, something the designer had planned. However, two unplanned forms also appeared: a butterfly and a humming bird.

Butterfly Form

Hummingbird Form

This same eye exercise can be used on hand-dyed and hand-painted fabrics. Wonderful shapes sometime appear that can be used as main themes or sub-themes in your quilts.

I began this project by stabilizing the fabric with Decor Bond. I then outlined with pencil the somewhat nebulous leaf forms printed on the fabric.

Pencil Outline

Next, I gathered all the thread colors I thought I might use to outline and free-motion embroider the surface designs. (I used Valdani cotton thread.) After thread outlining all the leaves, I began working on the leaf veins, using multiple colors.

Leaf Outlined with Thread

Then I lightly embroidered each leaf, using whatever pattern came to mind at the moment.

For the hummingbird and butterfly forms, I thread outlined the bodies and then did some simple fills. For example, I used a small feather design in the hummingbird’s wing area. I also gave him a ruby throat. The butterfly received some spots, more definition in the wing area, and antennae.

Hummingbird and Butterfly

The idea for this quilt actually came to me while experimenting at the Embellisher. Testing various fabric and fiber mixtures, I developed a technique that I call “shadow felting.” I was so pleased with the results that I decided to make a quilt to showcase my new discovery. Of course, I will share the technique with all of you in part two.

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N. Rene West
Time Treasured

7 Comments