Paper and Fabric Explorations

I have been exploring more possibilities with the combination of paper and cloth. This time painting the background of the Washable Paper-Cloth with dyes. It works beautifully but it is a slow process. I think I like it better using paint instead because it's less messy and it's ready faster (no need to wait for the fabric to batch for many hours, waiting for the color to attached to the fibers).

For this sample two paper-cloths were used, a sheer fabric (green) and broadcloth (white). Because of the nature of the green fabric you could easily spot the oval shapes from the white fabric that is underneath, as shown in the picture below.

And here are more details:

This is the finished piece!

I had fun during the process and can't wait for the warmer weather to arrive so I can go outside to my garage and get messy for long hours.

International Quilt Festival *CLASSES*

 
 
#713 Cold Foil and Tulle?- International Quilt Festival
Saturday, November 2nd 9-5 pm 
 
CLASS PROJECT 
 
I will teach you how to add metallic color to your fiber art with this unique Cold Foil technique. Combining Deco foil sheet with tulle, make delicate designs for an unusual fish quilt top. Complete your project by adding simple embroidery stitching.
 
(another sample)
 
 
Hand-dyed fabric, tulle, foils, Aurifil threads, mistyfuse and  foil pen is included in your kit.
 
 

#520 Hand Appliqué with Paper and Fabric - International Quilt Festival
Friday, November 1st 9-5pm

 

 
CLASS PROJECT
 
Magazine clippings meet fabric to create this unique fiber art. Learn to stitch on paper as you design, cut, and hand stitch pieces in place. As a bonus, see how to laminate and foil the magazine clippings.


 detail



Magazine clippings ready to laminate and stitch!


 
Hand dyed, silkscreened fabrics, laminated magazine clippings, foils, mixed media sheets and Aurifil thread is included in your kit.
 
 
 #470 Mixed Media Forum * Modeling paste for Art Quilts* International Quilt Festival  Thursday, October 31st  2-5pm
 
 
 
 
I will demonstrate how to apply  light modeling paste to create dimensional accents for your next art quilt as the samples shown above.
 
In this forum five other wonderful mixed media artists will participate: Esterita Austin,Cindy Lohbeck, Nancy Roelfsema, Cecile Whatman and Lori Triplett.
 
I hope you will join me and have fun in my classes. 

*BLUE* Quilt Show in Tennessee

 I am standing in front of my quilt. You can read more about the process here.

Last Friday was the opening reception for the Show called Stitched. Here in Memphis Tennessee! Can you imagine  seeing over 250 quilts ALL predominantly in  blue color in one room?
 
The requirements were to make a stitched three layer quilt with any material but a measurement of 24" by 24". Oh.. what a feast for the eyes.

These are some of the quilts from the Show; some have been made with paper and fabric!!  I apologize for not having the names for every artist but the labels were very small and the venue was crowded. Enjoy.
 
 
 
 
 close up
 
from my  friend Ronda. She did a Memphis landmark, clever idea!



from my friend Nancy



Here is my friend Vanessa posing with her quilt  (on top center). She overdyed the whole quilt after she finished sewing the three layers together, what a brave woman!
 
 
From my friend Patricia. She used paper and fabric.
From my friend Jeannie, the last quilt she made. I am sad she was not able to see it hanging in the show. We will miss you!
Bernice Johnson is the quilter standing in the middle. She made the quilt on the back with more than 1,000 2 square pieces. What a patience!
 
 
Detail
 
In just a few days I will be teaching this technique in my  coming workshop at The Dairy Barn Art Center. It is my first time participating in Quilt National
 
I am linked to: http://ninamariesayre.blogspot.com/. Go and visit what the other artist are doing and get inspire!

*BLUE* quilt - *Stitched* Celebrating the Art of Quilting

 
*BLUE*
 
To celebrate *The Art of Quilting in Memphis-Tennessee* I am participating in an event called Stitched.
 
The requirements are to make a stitched three layer quilt with any material but a measurement of 24" by 24". Also, it has to be predominantly in blue color. 
 
Did anybody mention *ANY material*? Of course I took advantage of this and embarked on making the quilt you see above with paper and fabric.
 

For the background fabric I applied hand-lettered words to write *Blue-Azúl* . I also made brick shapes in different hues of blue.


Then, I applied my technique Infused Newsprint Cloth (INC) as part of the flower shapes.


Afterwards, simple hand stitching with thick embroidery thread was applied (the same color as my paint)



 

I used the *Hug Stitch* around the flowers and on top in brick shapes for texture.


Detail
 

 
Detail
 

As a surprise to the viewer I hid  the word blue. So while quilting the three layers together  I made sure to stop at the drawed lines which caused the letters to pop out. It will be interesting to see how many people will notice this detail :). 

I will be teaching Infused Newsprint cloth in May: more details here.

Quilt National'19


close up
 
I am thrilled to announced that my entry *Orange Blossoms* has been accepted at 
 
If you followed my work you might read how this quilt has been made. First, I chose my color palette by mixing paint to matched my thread, you can read more: HERE, HERE, HERE. Then, the recycled newsprint has been infused in to the cloth (technique I developed and I called INC, you can read more HERE) followed by paint to complete the designs, in this case the big flowers. After the hand work was done the three layers were sewn together by my home machine.
 
These are wonderful news since this year they are celebrating their 40th anniversary. I am doing the happy dance.

*BLOOM* - The story behind it


*BLOOM* 37 inches by 37 1/2 inches... a whole cloth quilt

It all began when I read the news about a group of teachers getting together to help spark a labor movement leading for an increase in salary. With a background in teaching and early childhood education, I can’t help but sympathize with them since this is a problem that exists globally.
I started by cutting out newspaper articles about this topic. Then the newspaper pieces were infused into the cloth using my -INC- method. 

 Allow me to explain the steps involved:
Fig.1: I started by mixing the paint to match Aurifil LANA thread



Fig.2: For my color palette, I decided to eliminate the yellow-ochre and replace it by a lighter shade of gray
The color palette was chosen based on the thread I wanted to use and mixed the paint to match!


Fig.3: Next, seamlessly infused newsprint cloth -INC- was combined with painted areas to complete the flower designs



Figs.4 + 5: Then I applied the HUG stitch around the ovals and simple running stitches around the petals.


Fig. 6: Lastly, the three layers were sewn together by machine. Free motion quilting with the HandiQuilter Sweet Sixteen and the Glide Foot
  
 The letters   were  printed from a computer program and cut around to form a template. Then an erasable marker was used to draw the letters on the cloth before the machine stitching. 
Word BLOOM at the very bottom of the quilt, looks like trapunto but it is not.

STATEMENT:The upper small flowers represent the students. The ovals are the influences, guidance, and support we receive from the teachers who impact us in our early years. The big flowers represent the students who grow and begin to establish themselves as they prepare to take the next step in life. They bloom. (The word “bloom” is included towards the bottom of the quilt but only noticeable when the light hits or when you approach to have a closer look).