Painted Threads

Fun Metal Workshop and a Rough Drive Home

2012-03-04T14:38:00.000-06:00

On thursday, I drove 85 miles to Rockford, IL to give two lectures and teach Heavy Metal Play Day. I don't teach locally very often so it was really nice to drive instead of dealing with the hassles of flying. There was lots of fun experimenting with different embossing techniques on silver and colored aluminum, and heavier weight copper, as well as playing with various ways for adding color with alcohol inks and markers.

Great work, huh?

We wrapped the class up a little early since a storm was coming. What a shock to walk outside and see close to 4 inches of heavy wet snow already on my car and strong winds blowing huge fluffy snow flakes.

I was anxious to get back to Chicago to meet a friend who was back for a few days from England for dinner. The roads were AWFUL! The 6 miles to the freeway may have been the worst, being very slippery, neither plowed or salted and the wind caked the snow on my rear and side windows so thick I couldn't see well enough to change lanes. I had been hoping to get gas before leaving since it was 40 cents cheaper a gallon than in the city, but I didn't want to even try.

The freeway was treacherously slick, I passed 4 accidents within 5 miles, including this jack knived truck that was lucky enough to stop before hitting head on traffic across the divide. I called home a few times to check on the weather in Chicago, where it was still warm enough to have rain instead of snow. I was never so happy to make it to the rainy outskirts of Chicago's bumper to bumper evening traffic. It took almost 3 hours to go 85 stressful miles!

I got such a special delivery today!

2012-03-01T07:00:00.000-06:00

a surprise package from Havel's Sewing! Havel's makes some of the best scissors on the planet. I first tried a pair of these on the set of Quilting Arts TV, they are a sponsor of the show and supply scissors to use on set. The package came with a nice note saying they're a gift for taping on the show (next week).

It's so nice they come with covers, so you don't stab yourself grabbing them out of your tote bag, because they are SHARP.

I'm really looking forward to using these curved ones, so I can snip threads extra close.

What makes these scissors so razor sharp is this tiny serrated edge. They are fantastic for cutting sheers and silks, slicing right through them without snagging or pulling.

Now I'm on my way to give two lectures for the Sinnissippi Quilt Guild today and teach a metal workshop on Friday.

Introducing the Painted Threads ebook!

2012-02-26T17:01:00.000-06:00

I recently updated my Painted Threads portfolio book with two newer quilts and while I was at it I created an ebook version that can be viewed on an ipad. If you'd like to see a preview of the entire book you can see it here.

I don't have an ipad...yet, so I bought a copy to try out on my iphone.
After ordering, I received an email with a link that I opened on my phone from there it asked me where I wanted the book to go on my device and my copy loaded right into ibooks.

Overall I couldn't be happier, it looks just like the book. You can zoom in to see details and the pages turn with a swipe of the finger.

Best of all is the price of $6.99! it's much cheaper than getting a printed copy, not to mention there's no shipping fees, the joy of instant gratification and being able to take it anywhere! I can hardly wait to see it on an ipad.

Right now it's for sale on Blurb, after approval from itunes it will be available there too, but Blurb is better for me since itunes takes a hefty commission and us starving artists need to eat more than apple execs, lol.

I'm Talking Thread

2012-02-25T12:03:00.001-06:00

My friend Frieda Anderson interviewed me on her blog as part of a month long series she is doing about thread.

Felted Eggs

2012-02-22T07:00:00.000-06:00

Well over the weekend I took the plunge and created a Pinterest account since so many of my friends are on there and see what I've been missing.

While I was poking around I saw quite a few pretty dyed eggs and although this seems a little early, I thought it might be fun to make some felted eggs.

After all they aren't going to spoil between now and Easter :-)

It might be fun to also add some decorative stitching with embroidery floss and adding some cut out wool felt shapes.

If you'd like to make some too, you can follow this tutorial, just roll your yarn balls into oval egg shapes.

This is a great way to use up leftover wool yarn. Rolling golf ball size yarn balls as a base for the ball. Wind yarn into oblong shapes to get a berry shaped ball. I usually use wool yarn for the center because I know it will felt better, but in a pinch I have used other yarns too. My favorite place to order roving is from Outback Fibers, the colors are gorgeous and the prices are very reasonable.Unwind a length of roving, while holding it in one hand, grasp the end portion with the other hand and gently pull off "tufts" roughly 5-6 inches in length. Spread the fibers into a thin flat layer with all the strands going in one direction. Pull off another tuft of roving and layer it on top of the first at a 90 degree angle. Repeat this process several more times, criss-crossing 4-6 thin layers.
When lifting the blanket of roving there should not be thin spots or holes. Changing the colors of yarn in the layers will create a heathered multicolored wool ball.

Wrap the roving blanket you have created around a yarn ball, making sure there is full coverage of fluffy roving with no bare or thin spots.

Close the roving covered yarn ball in your hand and bring it to the foot of a knee hi panty hose. (buy cheap ones at the dollar store, or use those ancient ones in the back of your hosiery drawer that you never wear anymore) Gently remove your hand from around the ball pulling the hose tightly around the roving ball then tie a small piece of yarn to secure the ball in place.

When all the balls have been wrapped in the hose, place them in the washing machine, set the water to lowest level and hottest setting. Add a small amount of detergent, about a tablespoon, the exact measurement is not crucial but soap is important in the felting process. I usually run it on a long cycle, the more agitation the better the felting. Good old fashion top loading washers have the most success with felting.

When you take the chain of balls out of the machine, you will see little fibers have come though the mesh of the hose. Snip the tied yarn between the balls, gently peel away the hose removing the ball and roll the ball in your hands to smooth the fibers.

Click here to watch a video tutorial to make felted pumpkins which start with a basic felted ball.

It's been a week for dyeing

2012-02-17T15:23:00.001-06:00

This week I have been preparing samples for taping a Quilting Arts TV segment next month about creating dye color recipes.
Here's a little sneak peek

Happy Valentine's Day!

2012-02-14T07:00:00.000-06:00

Embossed aluminum colored with markers.

Check this out

2012-02-08T08:00:00.000-06:00

Frieda Anderson has a cute Woven Heart Baskets tutorial today.

International Quilt Festival Houston classes!

2012-02-07T10:40:00.000-06:00

It's so exciting, I just got my schedule in the mail for this falls classes at festival, holy cow am I going to be busy! For all you Tsukineko ink enthusiasts I am teaching two classes again this year! So you'll have twice the opportunity to get in. I even got booked for a luncheon lecture, thank goodness it's on my first day teaching, I should be fairly coherent at the point, lol.

My full schedule is:

Tuesday, Oct 30
Tsukineko All Purpose Inks (6 hours)

Luncheon Lecture noon-2pm
Inspiration: Where Does It Come From?

Wednesday, Oct 31
Painting Imagery for Art Quilts with Textile Paints (6 hours)

Thursday, Nov 1
Tsukineko All Purpose Inks (6 hours)

Friday, Nov 2
Ornamental Fiesta (6 hours)

Saturday, Nov 3
Heavy Metal Play Day (6 hours)

It's going to be an action packed week and surely a blast like festival is every year. If you've never been, maybe this year you should take the plunge and go to the biggest quilt show on the planet and meet lot's of kindred spirits who get just as excited about it as you do.

Conversation Hearts

2012-02-06T07:00:00.000-06:00

As valentines Day is coming up I thought I would repost this simple little Valentine project from last year.

Wanting to share a little Valentine's Day love, I decided to sew up some conversation hearts for the special people in my life.

I stamped endearments on wool felt and cut a paper heart to use as a template for cutting them out.

Each heart was stuffed with a smaller heart of wool batting and stitched with floss or pearl cotton.

Share the Love!

The last day of the heARTfest blog hop

2012-02-01T11:01:00.001-06:00

Get your heart on for this round of LOVE infused tutorials!

Check out Tracie Lynn Huskamp, Valentines Message Pillows

Jane LaFazio's Sketchbook page to Valentine Card (& envelope too)

Traci Bunkers, Printed Heart Ice Cube Trays: Quick Printed Backgrounds, Part 1
Diana Trout's, Woven Heart Valentines Card
Judy Coates Perez, Sunday, Jan 29, Chocolate Peppermint Cream Heart Cakes
Lyric Kinard's, Lovin' my Thermofax Screens
Kelli Nina Perkins, Heart shaped felted soap
Melanie Testa's, Vintage Inspired Valentine card

And the lucky winner is...

2012-01-31T09:50:00.000-06:00

I know everyone wanted to win some of Lynn's beautiful Spoonflower fabric, but alas there can only be one winner here and that lucky winner is Deb from WoolenSails! Woo Hoo! Deb looks like you'll be getting some Bluebirds on a Wire!

heARTfest blog hop day 7

2012-01-31T07:00:00.000-06:00

Get your heart on for this round of LOVE infused tutorials!

Melly's blog is temporarily out of commission so she is guest blogging over at Lyric's blog.

Check out Melanie Testa's, Vintage Inspired Valentine card

Jane LaFazio's Sketchbook page to Valentine Card (& envelope too)

Tracie Lynn Huskamp, Wednesday February 1 Valentines Message Pillows

heARTfest blog hop Day 6

2012-01-30T08:00:00.000-06:00

Get your heart on for this round of LOVE infused tutorials!

Check out Kelli Nina Perkins, Heart shaped felted soap

Jane LaFazio's Sketchbook page to Valentine Card (& envelope too)

Melanie Testa, Tuesday, Jan 31

Tracie Lynn Huskamp, Wednesday February 1 Valentines Message Pillows

heARTfest Blog Hop Day 5 Chocolate Peppermint Cream Heart Cakes

2012-01-29T07:00:00.000-06:00

Chocolate Peppermint Cream Heart Cakes

Zucchini Chocolate Cake

2 cups flour

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

3 cups shredded zucchini

1 cup semisweet chocolate baking chips

1 cup salad oil

4 large eggs

In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir in zucchini, and chocolate chips. In a small bowl, beat oil to mix with eggs; add to dry mixture and stir to moisten well.

Line two large jelly roll pans with parchment paper, crease corners to fit and spread half the batter in each pan. Bake in a 325° oven until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 15-20 minutes.

While cake is cooling make peppermint cream filling.

Peppermint Cream

2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup whole milk

1/4 cup sifted all-purpose flour

1 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract

red food coloring

Cream the butter with a mixer on medium speed until soft about 30 seconds. Add the sugar and beat on high speed until light and fluffy, 5 to 7 minutes.

In a small saucepan, combine 1/4 cup of the milk, the flour, and the vanilla extract, and whisk until there are no lumps. Over medium heat, slowly add the remaining 3/4 cup milk, whisking constantly, and cook until the mixture comes to a low boil. Then reduce the heat to low and keep whisking for a few more minutes, until the mixture starts to thicken.

Immediately remove the pan from the heat, but keep stirring and cool to room temperature. If necessary, place the pan over a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process and allow the mixture to cool.

With the mixer on low speed, slowly pour the milk mixture into the butter-sugar mixture. Increase the speed to medium and beat until the frosting is light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Add peppermint to combine.

After cake has cooled use a heart shaped cookie cutter and cut out cake hearts and place on a clean piece of parchment. One pan had thicker hearts so I made those the bottoms and the thinner hearts the tops.

Place peppermint cream in a large ziplock bag, snip corner and squeeze out cream onto half the hearts and place a second heart on top.

Now you could stop here or you could keep going by cutting some heart stencils and and dusting the hearts with powdered sugar.

What can I say, Indigo and I were doing this together, lol

Indigo perfected the dusting process by finding if you brush the remaining powder sugar off the stencil before lifting it you get a cleaner design.

Here's some of the stencils we made

Enjoy!

Check out all these LOVE infused tutorials
Jane LaFazio's Sketchbook page to Valentine Card (& envelope too)

Traci Bunkers, Printed Heart Ice Cube Trays: Quick Printed Backgrounds, Part 1
Diana Trout's, Woven Heart Valentines Card
Lyric Kinard's, Lovin' my Thermofax Screens
Judy Coates Perez Chocolate Peppermint Cream Heart Cakes

Kelli Nina Perkins, Monday, Jan 30 Heart shaped felted soap

Melanie Testa, Tuesday, Jan 31

Tracie Lynn Huskamp, Wednesday February 1 Valentines Message Pillows

Removing Color article Part 2

2012-01-28T13:37:00.002-06:00

The second article in my 2 part series on alternative methods for removing color from fabric is in the February March issue of Quilting Arts magazine. This article focuses on several techniques using DeColourant, a product that removes color but also has the ability to put color back in at the same time. Because it is a thickened paste it can be applied with a paintbrush, painted over stencils or used with a thermofax screen. There are so many interesting possibilites to be explored with this product.

In the same issue there is also an article by Kathy York on making fabric houses with pictures of the Artist Village exhibit that she curated. As well as an article about the Between the Spaces exhibit.

heARTfest Blog Hop Day 4

2012-01-28T07:00:00.000-06:00

Get your heart on for this round of LOVE infused tutorials!

Check out Lyric Kinard's, Lovin' my Thermofax Screens

Jane LaFazio's Sketchbook page to Valentine Card (& envelope too)

Traci Bunkers, Printed Heart Ice Cube Trays: Quick Printed Backgrounds, Part 1
Diana Trout's, Woven Heart Valentines Card
Judy Coates Perez, Sunday, Jan 29, Chocolate Peppermint Cream Heart Cakes

Kelli Nina Perkins, Monday, Jan 30 Heart shaped felted soap

Melanie Testa, Tuesday, Jan 31

Tracie Lynn Huskamp, Wednesday February 1 Valentines Message Pillows

heArtfest Blog Hop Day 3

2012-01-27T09:00:00.000-06:00

Get your heart on for this round of LOVE infused tutorials!

Check out Diana Trout's, Woven Heart Valentines Card

Jane LaFazio's Sketchbook page to Valentine Card (& envelope too)

Traci Bunkers, Printed Heart Ice Cube Trays: Quick Printed Backgrounds, Part 1
Lyric Kinard, Saturday, Jan 28 Lovin' my Thermofax Screens

Judy Coates Perez, Sunday, Jan 29, Chocolate Peppermint Cream Heart Cakes

Kelli Nina Perkins, Monday, Jan 30 Heart shaped felted soap

Melanie Testa, Tuesday, Jan 31

Tracie Lynn Huskamp, Wednesday February 1 Valentines Message Pillows

heARTfest Blog Hop Day 2

2012-01-26T10:00:00.000-06:00

Get your heart on for this round of LOVE infused tutorials!

Check out Traci Bunkers, Printed Heart Ice Cube Trays: Quick Printed Backgrounds, Part 1

Jane LaFazio's Sketchbook page to Valentine Card (& envelope too)

Diana Trout, Friday, Jan 27, Woven Heart Valentines Card

Lyric Kinard, Saturday, Jan 28 Lovin' my Thermofax Screens

Judy Coates Perez, Sunday, Jan 29, Chocolate Peppermint Cream Heart Cakes

Kelli Nina Perkins, Monday, Jan 30 Heart shaped felted soap

Melanie Testa, Tuesday, Jan 31

Tracie Lynn Huskamp, Wednesday February 1 Valentines Message Pillows

Off the Print Table fabric blog hop

2012-01-26T06:00:00.000-06:00

My friend Lynn Krawczyk has been making fabric and you could be the lucky winner of a fat quarter of it! Just leave a comment over the next 5 days and on Tuesday I'll randomly pick a winner.

Here's what Lynn has to say:

"I never feel more connected to my art then when I print my own fabric. The only down side to it is that I often find myself wishing I had the space to print yardage and to duplicate the ones that I fall madly in love with. Now with Spoonflower I can!

And not only that, I can make it available for anyone else who finds it interesting and inspiring! There’s no better way to celebrate the opening of a new shop then to do a giveaway and not only ONE giveaway but FIVE!

Go take a visit to my Spoonflower shop

and pick out which print you like best. Leave a comment on this blog post and you’ll be in the winning to win a free fat quarter of the one you chose. Easy! And make sure you visit all the blogs on the blog hop for a better chance to win!"

Blog Hop Schedule

Mon Jan 23 - Lynn Krawczyk

Tues Jan 24 - Jo James

Wed Jan 25 - Kelli Nina Perkins

Thurs Jan 26 - Judy Coates Perez

Fri Jan 27 - Judi Hurwitt

heARTfest Blog Hop Day 1

2012-01-25T06:00:00.000-06:00

Get your heart on for this round of LOVE infused tutorials!

Check out Jane LaFazio's Sketchbook page to Valentine Card (& envelope too)

Traci Bunkers, Thursday, Jan 26

Diana Trout, Friday, Jan 27, Woven Heart Valentines Card

Lyric Kinard, Saturday, Jan 28 Lovin' my Thermofax Screens

Judy Coates Perez, Sunday, Jan 29, Chocolate Peppermint Cream Heart Cakes

Kelli Nina Perkins, Monday, Jan 30 Heart shaped felted soap

Melanie Testa, Tuesday, Jan 31

Tracie Lynn Huskamp, Wednesday February 1 Valentines Message Pillows

8 of Cups - finished

2012-01-23T11:38:00.000-06:00

After the quilting was finished, I marked out the finished size: 24" x 60", sewed a tight straight stitch just inside the marked line, then trimmed it to size.

To finish the edge, I chose 3 different cords that picked up the colors in the quilt and used them to make a couched twisted cord binding.

DETAILS

In the home stretch...

2012-01-18T09:06:00.000-06:00

The quilting is done!

I chose to do my curvy meandering fill stitching that is reminiscent of leaves and flourish-y shapes in the white background areas to contrast all the linear stitching on the cups and flourishes.

I stitched with Bottomline thread which is generally used in the bobbin, it's a lighter weight thread, because I wanted the stitched lines to be more subtle.

Next:
cropping and binding.

What I learned...
Because I like experimenting and trying things differently, I always learn something new with every project. Sometimes I discover a great new way of working and sometimes it turns out that my initial idea created unexpected challenges or wasn't as successful as I'd hoped.

As you may recall, I used wool rayon felt instead of batting, because I wanted a flat smooth finish for this piece. I used felt a friend had given me that she most likely had sitting around for about 15 years. I had two issues that popped up from using this.

The first one was the stiffness of the felt, compared to batting, made it more difficult for manipulating under the harp of the machine. I think 30 inches would be the widest I would recommend working with felt. Wider than that and I could see some definite limitations to quilting the surface smoothly. I had to roll and fold the piece to work the central areas which sometimes got a little cumbersome.

The second issue came about after I fused my top to the felt. I had a fair amount of rippling of the top due to it not fusing completely in all areas or staying fused for the duration of the quilting (it's possible there may have been a finish on the felt that kept it from adhering), as well as some possible shrinkage of the felt by the high temperature and steam used while fusing.

After the cups and flourishes had been quilted there was a significant amount of buckling in the white areas, I don't think the fusible web was even sticking anymore at that point, luckily the open areas were not very large, maybe 9" at the widest so it didn't present too much of a problem and it all smoothed out nicely with the quilting.

Conclusion: would I use felt again? Yes, but I would take size into consideration, if I was working on a particularly large piece I would probably use a lightweight batting instead. I would also pretest the wool to make sure I didn't have a problem with adhesion when fusing. I think a newer piece of wool felt wouldn't have had the adhesion problems that this one had, I suspect it had a finish on it.

8 of Cups progress

2012-01-13T11:22:00.001-06:00

I have been really loving spending time stitching! There are some other things I really should be doing, but I am feeling so in the groove right now, I don't want to stop.

I decided to continue using monofilament for stitching the feathery flourishes since I do not want to obscure this part of the painted surface with lines of thread and because the monofilament is relatively clear, the more noticeable holes punched by the needle through the fabric gives another kind of visual patterning that I think is kind of interesting.

Next, I'll begin to fill in the white areas using Bottom Line white thread.

Here's a photo I took yesterday of Chicago's first winter snowstorm, stay warm.

Have you ever been challenged by monofilament?

2012-01-09T13:44:00.000-06:00

Monofilament is clear thread, similar to a light weight fishing line that is a perfect solution when you need to add stitching but don't want the thread to be prominent. I personally love MonoPoly by Superior, it's a strong, matte, polyester thread that comes in clear for light to medium colors of fabric and smoke to be used with medium to dark colors.

Monofilament can be technically challenging when sewing if you don't make a few tension adjustments to your machine and adjust how your spool unwinds.

The biggest problem: Tangling and breaking. When you slow down or stop sewing and the tension is let up on monofilament, because of its natural elastic springy nature, it keeps unwinding and spins around the back of the spool, causing the thread to break.

Using a thread stand helps but, as soon as the tension is off (ie slowing down or stopping) the thread tends to spin around the spindle either above or (worse) below the spool. Snap!

Solution: place the spool in a bowl next to the thread stand and run the monofilament up through the top hook of the stand and then over to the machine.

Use a thread guide on your thread spindle to help control that active thread.

Second problem: Tight thread tension. Monofilament, like metallic thread, requires a looser tension setting on the machine.

Solution part 1: Loosen the top thread tension, the lower the number the lower the tension.

When I first started quilting 20+ years ago, it was not recommended to put monofilament in your bobbin as well as the top. I can no longer remember exactly why, but I've never had a problem, maybe the quality of the thread is a lot better now. Also some machines are just finicky about thread, if your machine has issues, try something like Bottom Line in the bobbin.

Solution part 2: Loosen the tension on the bobbin case. Make a quarter turn on the top larger screw, usually counter clockwise. I guess that depends on how you're holding the bobbin, for mine if the thread is on the left side, it's counter clockwise.

It's easy to check if it's looser by letting your bobbin dangle when holding the thread. It should drop down a little bit. If you are afraid to mess with the tension screw on your bobbin case, buy another spare and mark it with a dot of fingernail polish.

Lastly I recommend using a top stitch needle, my favorites are the titanium ones.

Following these easy steps you should never have problems stitching with monofilament.