Summer Happenings

This summer is getting wonderfully busy. I just finished printing fabric for costumes for a television production.

My quilt "Whirlwind 11" is part of "Higher Ground", an exhibition or Connections Fibre Artists at the Guelph Civic Museum, Guelph, Ontario, Canada. The show continues until Oct. 13, 2013.

"Whirlwind 11" quilt. Painted and manipulated with Colour Vie pigments. Machine quilted.

"Whirlwind 11" detail

From July 2 to 31 my piece "One Drop at a Time" will be on display as a part of "This is Life", which is an exhibition or work by the Faculty at Haliburton Summer School of the Arts at Rail's End Gallery, Haliburton, Ontario. This piece is inspired by a beautiful saying by the Buddhist monk Patrul Rinpoche:

Do not take lightly small good deeds,

Believing they can hardly help,

For drops of water one by one,

In time will fill a giant pot.

"One Drop at a Time". Discharged cotton with photo imagery,
stitching and glass beads.

I will be teaching an exciting five day workshop at the Haliburton Summer School of the Arts in beautiful Haliburton, Ontario The workshop starts on July 15. You can check out my "Irresistible Resists" workshop at 

http://flemingcollege.ca/continuing-education/courses/fabric-printing-irresistible-resists/013116

"Photographic Imagery on Fabric" is an information packed one day workshop on July 20: also at Haliburton  Summer School of the Arts.

Fabrics printed in one of my workshops in Haliburton, Ontario

In August I will teach a 3 day workshop at the Fibre Festival in historical Hastings, Ontario from Aug. 13 to 15. 

http://hastingsfoundersweek.com/fibre-festival-workshops/

To register and for more information please contact Skye Morrison at skyemorrison@gmail.com

And on Aug. 24 and 25 I will be teaching “Glorious Colour: Fat Quarters for Quilters” at the Windsor Modern Quilt Guild in Windsor, Ontario.

AND my cherries are almost ready for picking!!!

Super Easy Screen Printing Tutorial

This month I am honoured to be the guest blogger for the Canadian Quilters' Association's blog!

Check out the Super Easy Screen Printing Tutorial at http://cqacanadianquilting.blogspot.ca/

Another great screen print in my screen printing workshop.

I also have space available in my upcoming workshops:

“ADD AND SUBTRACT - Discharging Made Easy”

Unravelling discharged fabric

May 4, 2013: 10 a.m. to 4. p.m.

Learn to use household bleach in combination with pigments to create exciting one-of-a-kind fabrics. Explore immersion discharge and direct application discharge while learning in-depth techniques for clamped, tied and pole wrapped resists.

-Bring 3 - 4 yards of black 100% cotton fabric.

$89 (+HST)

“GUERILLA SCREEN PRINTING ON FABRIC” 

Screen printing workshop

May 11 - 12, 2013: 10 a.m. to 4. p.m.

Interested in home decorating, quilting , fashion? If you want to print your own images on just about anything, this workshop is for you! Create  and print simple motifs as well as designs with fine and detailed imagery, which you then can repeat over and over to create your own unique yardage.

This intensive screen printing workshop will take you from the basics to photo emulsion in two inspiring days.

- Workshop includes Colour Vie pigments, acetates and emulsion used in class, and one silk screen - yours to take home after the workshop.

$210 (+HST

“COVER ME - JOURNAL AND BOOK COVERINGS” 

Sketch books covered with painted fabric

June 1, 2013: 10 a.m. to 4. p.m.

Make an impression with a unique covered book. Print your fabric in the morning and learn how to use your printed fabrics to cover your journals, sketch books and other books in the afternoon.

$95 (+HST)

“THE WORLD OF INDIGO” (with Pam Woodward) I spot left

Indigo fabric dyed in Pam's workshop

April 20 - 21, 2013: 10 a.m. to 4. p.m.

Indigo dyes have been used around the world for centuries. It's no surprise that the mysteries and magic of indigo have held a special fascination for dyers, no matter their level of experience. Spend a weekend "getting blue" using a variety of techniques on assorted fabrics. You will be amazed.

$150 (+HST)

(Material Fee: $15)

For full descriptions, prices, 

details of how to register as well as more pictures please visit

www.colourvie.com and click on Workshops

Extraordinary Prints from Ordinary Objects - H

H is for Hair Roller!

On this piece I painted the fabric in layers going from light
to dark using Colour Vie pigments. www.colourvie.com.
While the pigment was wet I used the end of the hair roller
to twist and scrape off some  of the pigment. Then I used
the edge of the hair roller to create lines/slashes on top.

The hair roller is just another fabulous tool!

 Registration is now open for an exciting variety of surface design
workshops in my studio here in Toronto. If you are ready 
to create gorgeous printed cloth and find yourself in 
the Toronto area during the months of March, April or May,
 I would love to see you in my studio.
 Enjoy unique and fun filled opportunities to take part in 
hands-on and in-depth studies of fabric design!
Please visit my website http://colourvie.com/Workshops.html 
for times, dates and more information. 

I used the "bristley" side of the roller to print/roll on the
background red shapes. Then I used the circular end to print
some red and black circles.

I gave the hair roller a little twist to create a slightly fuzzy
edge on the black circles.

The hair rollers come in a variety of sizes.

Here I printed the "bubbles" in black onto a fabric that I had
previously painted in a gradation of burnt orange. I then used
the edge to add the fuzzy lines for directionality.

Hair rollers stuck together for a more organized print.

I printed the white fabric with opaque white pigment,
then painted over it in green/blue and used the hair rollers
to print again with metallic pewter pigment.

Another scraped fabric print.

SPRING 2013 WORKSHOPS in the Colour Vie Studio

Add some Colour to Winter! For a creative pick-me-up with loads of bright colours and fun new techniques - How about trying one or more of my exciting and inspiring  workshops this spring? Below are the dates of the workshops. For full descriptions, prices,  details of how to register as well as more pictures please visit www.colourvie.com and click on Workshops I would love to see you at my studio at 222 Symington Ave. in Toronto,  - Feb. 23, 2013 “Extraordinary Prints from Ordinary Objects"  - March 16, 2013 “Irresistible Resists” - March 23, 2013 “Photographic Images on Fabric” - April 20 - 21, 2013 “The World of Indigo” (with Pam Woodward) - May 4, 2013 “Add and Subtract - Discharging Made Easy” - May 11 - 12, 2013 “Guerilla Screen Printing on Fabric” - June 1, 2013 “Cover Me - Journal and Book Coverings”  "Extraordinary Prints from Ordinary Objects" Feb. 23 "Irresistible Resists" - March 16 "Photographic Images on Fabric" - March 23 "The World of Indigo" with Pam Woodward - April 20 - 21 "Add and Subtract - Discharging Made Easy" - May 4 "Guerilla Screen Printing on Fabric" - May 11 - 12 "Cover Me - Journal and Book Coverings" -  June 1

Extraordinary Prints from Ordinary Objects - G

G is for Golf Ball!

After an all too brief visit to wonderful, sunny and WARM Aruba, 

I am back in wintry Toronto with G - for golf ball.

- Paint your fabric with a couple of layers of pigment and,

while it is still wet, roll, drag or press the golf ball into it.

Colour Vie Pigments are ideal for this. www.colourvie.com

Easy and fun, the golf ball gives you snakeskin like effects.

I scrunched up the fabric and painted it with green before
rolling a golf ball over it. Metallic golf ball prints added last.

Oops - I couldn't stay away from the credit card! (After I did
an overall golf ball print). Single gold metallic ball prints
were added after the fabric had dried.

A selection of African inspired golf ball prints.

Student work

And to end: a sunset view form The Beach House in Aruba. 

Extraordinary Prints from Ordinary Objects - F

F is for Flour!

Flour is something that we usually keep around in the kitchen.

Why not use it to create fabric as well as for baking cookies!

- Mix the flour approx. 50/50 with water. 

- Mix until smooth

- Spread the flour mixture onto the fabric.

- Let dry completely - it will get quite hard.

- When the fabric is crispy: Scrunch it - the more violent you are, 

  the more crinkly lines you will get.

Flour is dried on the fabric and ready for crackling.

- Paint with pigments. Really work the colour into the cracks.

While the flour is wet, you can make patterns.
Here I used different sizes of forks.

Finished "Fork" fabric

- If you want more colours, let the flour/pigment dry and scrunch some more.

- After the fabric is dry, rub off the flour - not a quick process,

but quite relaxing and fun!

Flour and pigment are dry and partially scraped off.

More fork patterns.

Colour Vie pigments, www.colourvie.com, like most fabric pigments, 

need to be heat set with an iron in order to be wash fast. 

Make sure that all flour is removed from the fabric before heat setting.

If it is not removed, the flour has a tendency to become a permanent fixture 

in your design.....

Now here’s the really cool thing: Colour Vie pigments will actually heat set 

without ironing over a period of time.

So, if you’re not in a rush, you can simply let the fabric sit for 2 - 4 weeks, 

and then rinse off the flour in luke warm water.

 You may want to check out this great blog that uses flour in a different way.

http://eyesaflame.blogspot.ca/2008/06/demo-flour-paste-batik.html

Extraordinary Prints form Ordinary Objects - E

E is for Eraser!

Excellent fabric pigments are available at www.colourvie.com

Want to create your own stamps?

In printing the alphabet we are already at E!

One of the easiest ways to make your own stamps:
Cut your design from a cheap white eraser.

- Carve out your design with an x-acto knife.

- Make a simple stamp pad out of a piece of foam.

- Spread the pigment on the stamp pad.
- Print away - and have fun!

On this piece I painted the fabric with Colour Vie pigments.
While the pigment was still wet, I used the eraser stamps
to remove pigment colour.

Here I painted the background colour, then printed with
the different eraser stamps.

For this napkin and placemat I used the eraser end of a pencil.

Student work: by Linda Wells.