Merry Christmas

We are off for two weeks. Enjoy the Holidays, I know I will.
Thank you all for the card filled with love and money. What a surprise. I love you all and am so blessed to be your class leader. I hesitate to say teacher; because you all help me with the teaching by sharing your multiplicity of talents.

When we return on January 5 we will be doing Speciality Threads. Here is a bit more information about what to bring.
I will be gone most of the two weeks and may not get back to the blog so enjoy the pictures and get ready for some fun.

Upside and Backwards

bobbydi@charter.net

Things to bring:

Sewing machine, with a darning or free-motion foot
Needles: 80 or 90 Universal, 80 or 90 metallic needles,
100 topstitch needle, 80 or 90 embroidery needle (optional)
small screwdriver to loosen tension screw on bobbin case or extra bobbin case
Embroidery hoop that fits under your presser foot. Wood, plastic, or spring hoop ok
15” square fabric sandwich. Top fabric (silk, or cotton), batting (any kind okay), backing white or light colored cotton preferred
white or beige thread to match the backing.. fabric
3-4 empty bobbins
large eye hand sewing needle
# 2 pencil

You will receive :
Specialty fabrics for technique samples
Threads for making samples
Wash away stabilizers for samples (different kinds for different techniques)
Jewels, sequins, etc.

Many of the specialty threads are too large for the needle, but you can sew upside down and use them in the bobbin. Don’t be afraid to adjust the tension on your bobbin case or invest in another bobbin case so you don’t have to mess with the tension on your regular bobbin case. Just remember “righty tighty and lefty loosey”

New Class, new projects

A new calss has started and we have a man come to sew. His name is Alex Pena and he is a student of Kathy Sterling.
I know coming into our class can be overwhelming at the begining, but what a great oppertunity for a young person to learn from all of you. I really am blessed to be your leader, and sometime teacher. I learn so much from you maybe I should pay the entrance fee.

I am going to go into my "Studio", (you all know it is really the garage) and make samples for the neckline of the "Chiffon Circle" top. We will be making our 2 scarf jackets so bring your 2 scarves or fabric and now that you have made samples of possibilities for the front of your jacket bring the embellished fronts or the things to embellish the front. We will put it all together and then make a few samples for the Circle top.

Or you can work on anything you wish. I just thought these two quickies would get us up to the holidays and on our way.
See you Wednesday.



This jacket is an adaptation of a design shown by Sherrill Kahn at her workshop
for WAC.

Materials needed:
2 silk scarves 30” to 35”
thread
embellishment of choice
sewing maching and sewing supplies

The big advantage of using scarves is that the edges are already finished by
a rolled hem.

1. Cut or tear one of the scarves down the middle.

2. Embellish the front openings by turning each torn or cut edge to the front or back about 2" and stamp, stencil, stitch or whatever along the band formed. You may need batting or intrfacing to stalilize it and if doing decorative stitching do use tear away stabilizer to make the stitching smooth.

3. Sew the shoulder seams by sloping the seam from the neckline to the shoulder about 1" to 2" lower at the shoulder.

4. Sew side seams by coming down 12 " from the shoulder seam and stitching the side. Option: leave a slit in the side seam.

5. Add a couple of tassels or a few beads to weight the bottom of the fronts and you are done.

Time to Start Sewing Again

This is me after the WAC Suzi Click Workshop. I have got to go shopping for good accessories; however
I was not at the Mall over the Holiday, I was with family and having fun.

Now I am home again and it is time to get the new class ready to go.

Wednesday we will start with the 2 scarf jacket, so if you painted, or dyed two scarves or fabric which amounts to two squares of 30" to 35" square bring them. This is the easiest jacket in the world to make, but we want to do something fun with the front opening. Bring your sewing machine and let's sew.

Houston Report

It was a busy month for me. I took painting classes in Pasadena for two days, then flew to Eureka, CA and dyed 100 yards of silk chiffon at Hanah Silk, came home and slept one night in my own bed then off to Houston for 11 days of non-stop activity and teaching. I did take two classes. One on How to print and sell your own patterns. I don't think I will do that. Then a Forum on Machine Quilting. I loved the work of an Austrailian woman, last name Bower, I want to try her technique. I have bought some Kafee Fassett prints to try it out. My quilt "Tidepools" looked good in the show. I didn't win, or place but I did show. The show was great this year. I am so amazed at the quality of work and creativity displayed. They are all so good!
They ran out of 50,000 tickets on Friday and had to print another 10,000 for Saturday and Sunday. Jammed with people. It did keep me from buying very much, so I guess that is okay.

In class Wednesday bring your sewing machine if you want to work on the animal quilt. I also left the dye in the closet so you can dye silk if you want. I am busy planning for the next session. It starts on Wednesday December 1 and we will have three weeks then two weeks of Holidays and back January 5 for the push to the fashion show in February.

My Internet was down

When I arrived home from Houston I was so ticked that my cable and Internet were both out, now four days and two repairmen later I am up and running again. I apologize for to those of you who didn't know what to bring to class on Wednesday, but I had no way of updating the blog announcement. (No Internet, remember)

I left the dye in the classroom closet so you can dye silk next time or bring your sewing machines and work on the animal quilts. I will try and post more information over the weekend, but now I have to go do the things I couldn't; because I have been waiting for repairmen to show up. See you.

I went to painting classes

Last week I went to Pasadena to "ART EXPO" and took a few classes. It was such fun. One class was called "Curious Cows" a title I could not pass up. This is the result of the class. The other class was "Urban Landscape" in watercolor. I have never workded in watercolor before, but loved it. I think I will look for a watercolor class locally to take.
Then I went off to Eureka where I worked with Brooke of Hanah Silk and we dyed 100 yeard os chiffon in two days. Whew! Every thing was beautiful and she is taking them to Quilt Market. I'll see you soon.

Lots of fun

We had fun exploring what the possibilities were for screen printing on silk and nylon organza. We also wanted to use discharge paste for some images. Discharge paste does not work on the man made fibers, but it is great on the silk organza. Then someone said let's put paint into the discharge paste. Volia! What great results we got. Next week there should be some show and tell of the results students were getting.

Speaking of next week we will have a schedule change and continue with the organza for those who were not ready this week. Those who wish may also start on their animals or birds. I showed the process with the rabbits on the first day, but we will review. If that is the direction you are planning to go, bring your patterns, fabric scraps, and either white or black cotton to build the applique on. Plus the background you painted.

I am going off to spend the week with grandkids at two houses, and won't be back until time to teach a class at Ginger's on Tuesday night, so I won't get anything new done this week. Hopefully you will. See you next Wednesday.

We Had Breakdown

Printing that is. Dryed dye was breaking down all over the place and some stunning results were happening. Can't wait for "Show and Tell" next week.

Bring the images back along with your stencils, silk screens, stamps, rubbing supplies, printing ink and paint to accent what you already printed. I will bring more thickened dye be sure your cotton is soda ash treated and DRY before you come to class.

Don't forget to make your gelatin plate ahead of time. (Before Class) so it is set and ready to print on Wednesday.

Get your organza and cotton duck ready for printing if you want to screen print organza for a kimono. We will be doing this in 2 weeks. If you need to order fabric DO IT NOW.

We Had Breakdown

Finished!

The cabinet man just left and I took the first shots of my kitchen without the plastic and sawdust all over the place. The stove is once again hooked up and the fridge is out of the family room. WOW! I can cook in my own kitchen if I so desire. I'm very pleased with how it all turned out. Now I need to go shopping for some nice accessories.

Class notes* We will be doing breakdown printing on Wednesday so don't forget your screens and prepared fabric.

Breakdown Printing

Materials:
Blank silk screen
Squeege
Thickened dye
Made with Sodium Alginate and dye powder
Fabric Silk for Acid Dye Cotton for Procion Dye

Pre-preparation:
Mix Sodium Alginate
Into a quart of warm water stir 1 to 2 Tablespoons of Sodium Alginate powder.
Stir until dissolved or use a dedicated blender to mix (It will still have a few lumps)
Let it sit for at least 1 to 2 hours or overnight. If it is too thick stir in warm water to thin the solution. If not using right away refrigerate until ready to use.

Soak Cotton, Linen, or Rayon
Make a Soda Ash solution of 1/2 cup Soda Ash with 2 quarts water and soak the fabric at least 15 to 30 minutes, but overnight is best. Hang to dry, press lightly with warm iron.

Silk Printing:
Mix Acid dye powder with thickened Sodium Alginate (1 or 2 teaspoons dye powder per 1 Cup thickener). Mix well the day before using. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Prepare the Screen:
Lightly paint inside of the screen with a couple of colors of thickened dye, leaving several open spaces. Let it dry upside down. This needs to be done far enough in advance to be completely dry before printing.

Printing:
Iron the silk fabric smooth and place on a padded surface. Lay the prepared screen down and use another color thickened dye or clear thickener or more than one color thickened dye and squeegee it across the dry dye. As you print the dried dye will breakdown and each print will be different. This is the magic of this technique.

Setting the Dye: The silk will need to be steam set. Then rinsed (run through the rinse cycle in the washing machine for best results) to remove the thickener and any excess dye. Damp dry and iron until dry.

Cotton, Linen, or Rayon Printing:
Mix Procion Dye powder with thickened Sodium Alginate ( 1 or 2 teaspoons dye powder per 1 Cup thickener). Mix well the day before using. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Prepare the Screen as above and let it dry upside down.

Printing: Lay out the smoothed Soda Ash treated fabric on a plastic covered padded surface and print as above; however while the print is still wet roll plastic and the fabric together and place in a plastic bag for 24 hours to “batch” and set the dye.

Its in the Details

We will start layering over our backgrounds in the next class. Bring the fabrics you painted last week and make them sing with rubbing, stamps, screens and stencils. Bring thicker paints, like Luminier, printing ink, paint sticks or oil pastels. A stencil brush is also handy for blending and smoothing.
I will bring the Thermofax machine in case you need a few more silk screens. Bring your Xerox copies, remember printer copies do not work so head to a copy shop and get a copy made.
The "Birds on a Wire" pattern seems to be very popular. That makes me happy. If you ordered more patterns I will bring them with me. I'm going to get the copies made today. I have been off baby-sitting for Sara for a couple of days so now am catching up.
My kitchen is coming along beautifully. Right now it is still wrapped in plastic and tape, but he assures me another week we will be finished. In the meantime I have no access to cooking, but that's okay I spend more time in my "studio" working on ideas for us to try.

Class has begun

We are going to work with Paints for a few weeks. This is a jacket made with two 30" silk scarves painted with Dyna Flo (thanks to inspiration from Sherrill Kahn) So easy. After painting and ironing to set I did oil pastel rubbings and gold paint stamps. It is so easy and great results. This week we will be painting backgrounds and next week we will layer on stamps, rubbings, stencils etc.
Also we will paint backgrounds for the "Dangerous Animals" if you wish.
The black holes are part of a sample I am making for a class I will be teaching in Houston on using the speciality threads out there. Thick threads go through the bobbin and you sew upside down. In fact the class is called, "Upside Down and Backwards". Yes, they are holes.

WAC Workshop

What fun we had with Sherril Kahn. Lots of ideas spilling out everywhere. Thes a are few of the technique samples I made.
I loved doing oil pastel rubbings over the breakdown prints the blue and ochre are examples. The lighter beige, ochre and blue is a gelatin print. Wow! we will have to do something with that technique. Lots of us bought Sherril's rubber plates, (hopefully we got different ones). We will definently use them. I have also come up with a couple of ways we can make our own rubbing plates CHEAP! Not as detailed, but it will work.
See you soon.
I will be keeping track of my 15 year old grandson Justin this week. He is the last little bird in my son and daughter-in-laws nest so they are off to celebrate 27 years of marriage and I will be the transportation, cook and morning wake up caller. Also three dogs need food, water and walking.

A New Class Starts Set. 1

After spending three days with Sherril Kahn I am inspired and fired up to go.

Be sure and bring the things you have been doing over the summer for Show and Tell. I did almost nothing over the summer, so I am counting on you.

For the first class bring a pair of small sharp scissors and a pair of paper scissors, I'll bring the materials for making a couple of samples just to get us going.

Here is the proposed schedule:
Fall 2010

Painting and Dyeing Plus Diane Ricks
909-941-0331
bobbydi@charter.net
blog: www.wonderfulwearables@blogspot.com
www,dianericks.com (will also get you to blog)

Sept. 1 Introduction, plans, make a few samples, have some fun.

Sept. 8 Paint a Background Layer with Seta Color, or Dyna Flow,
Materials: fabrics: cotton or silk or silk scarves (this fabric or scarves will become garments next session)
If you want to do the “Dangerous Animals” paint
Additional backgrounds for the animals you want.
Paints, brushes, sponges

Sept. 15 Start to Layer onto the backgrounds painted last week
Materials: stamps, stencils, silk screens, rubbing plates
Paint, printing inks oil sticks, squeegee, roller, etc.

I will bring the Thermofax if you want a few new screens bring
your copies ($5.50 per 8” X 10” screen) Duct Tape

Bring your blank silk screen to prepare for “Breakdown Printing”
Let me know if you are going to use cotton or silk

Sept 22 “Breakdown Printing”
Materials: fabric or scarves tee shirt or sweat shirt
Prepared screen squeegee or 3” wide foam brush
You will set the printing at home according to the kind of dye you use.
If you are using cotton bring some sheet plastic and a garbage bag.


Sept. 29 Layering the Breakdown Prints
Materials: what you printed
Stencils, stamps, silk screens, etc.
Paints, printing inks, oil sticks, etc.

Oct. 6 You may continue with what you have been doing or try this:
Screen printing organza
Materials: Silk Organza, cotton duck to lay under the organza
Silk screens, paint, printing ink etc.
I would like to try discharging a light or dark color of organza first
and then over printing the fabric. Joan Knight got great results last time.
This fabric will be sewn into garments next session.

Oct. 13 You may continue with what you have been doing or try this:
Glue stick Appliqué I have made patterns of my “Dangerous Animals” Quilt and many have asked to do these as a quilt or
Wall Hangings.
Materials: white cotton
Batik scraps or hand dyed scraps for the animals
Glue stick, pencil, small sharp scissors, paper scissors


Oct. 20 Continue Glue stick Appliqué or your choice of technique
Materials: painted background for animals, water erasable pen
Glue stick, fabric scraps sharp scissors, paper scissors.

Oct. 27 No Class I’ll be headed for Houston
Nov 3 No Class still in Houston

Nov. 10 Layered Silk Painting
Materials: Stretcher bars push pins or prepared frame with elastic and pins
Silk fabric or scarves fabric will be sewn into garments next session
Silk screens, and/or stencils if you want to add resist in a design
Foam brushes 1” and 2” regular paint brushes

Nov. 17 Continue Layered Silk Painting
Materials: Same as above



Happy Thanksgiving



Get ready to sew great artful garments!

for the birds

The next grandchild quilt is in the works. My grand daughter Julie who lives in London asked for a quilted wall hanging of birds sitting on a telephone wire. This is the result of that request. I have painted a silk version and also done a cotton applique version. They are not finished yet, but coming along. I will probly create a pattern from the applique cotton version with a Seta Color painted background.
In the meantime I am still battling bees in my roof tiles. These little creatures have been an expensive pain. I hope we got them this time. Isn't the third time the charm?

last class for the summer

This Wednesday will be the last class for the summer. I need to go off and regenerate, come up with a few new ideas, work on a project or two and just chill generally.
I'm looking forward to what you have done with the photo quilts so we will have "Show and Tell" at the begining of class this week. Also bring what else you have been working on for us to see and admire.
See you then.

putting it together

Are your photos printed? Have you assembled the fabrics to use? Are you ready to put it all together?
Great! then that is what we will be doing on Wednesday. This is the part of the project that often takes the most time.
Trying to decide what to use and how to assemble it. We will talk about the possibilities and them create these little masterpieces.
See you.
PS you will not need your computers.

Another day at the computers

Wednesday was the last day with computers. Now we print the images we have been working on and start putting it all together into a quilt. We took a field trip to Ginger's Quilt Shop and looked at the fabric possibilities there. (She gave me gift bags for all of you. I'll bring them Wed.)

Next week Supply list: Digital Images in Quilts

Images printed onto fabric and set with fabric softner
Fabrics to add to quilt
Embellishments if desired example: ribbon, lace, beads, buttons, etc.
Wonder Under, Misty Fuse, Steam a Seam Light, etc. about 1 yard if planning to applique
Batting 3” to 5” bigger all around than your finished quilt ( not just the photo)
Straight pins and safety pins for basting
Needle and basting thread
Sewing thread in colors that blend with the fabrics
If you have Wonderfil Invisafil thread bring that
Glue stick
Small sharp scissors for "fussy cutting"
Paper scissors
Regular fabric scissors
Sewing machine
Machine needles size 80 or 90 a pkg of size 60 if you use Invisafil
Ruler
Rotary cutter and mat (optional)

You will not need your computer next week . If you are doing something quite small you may bring your sewing machine to sew the background and start appliqué, but you might not get that far on a larger quilt. If you will be sewing bring a free motion foot as well as a regular foot.

Now the fun begins!

I'm almost ready

I know you are all anxious to begin class again. Sorry for the delay, but I needed the time to get it together after the funeral.
I'll be fully ready on Wednesday June 9 so be there ready to turn digital photos into Art. I havelearned a lot of things to make the whole process better since last summer.
Come with your laptop or share with a friend and learn what to do when you go home to your desktop. We will be working with the Photoshop Elements program. You can download a trial version from the Adobe site on the Internet if you are not ready to purchase the program yet. It is not the expensive Photoshop. Photoshop Elements is under $100 and if you shop the Internet it is considerablly cheaper. Have a few photo loaded to work with or you can practice on the Sample Photos which come with the program to practice.
See you soon.

Funeral

The funeral will be Tuesday June 1, 2010 at the LDS Chapel on Woodruff Pl
one block East of Milliken and the 210 Freeway.
From the 210 exit Milliken go South 1 block to Kenyon turn left 1 block to Woodruff Pl turn left the chapel in on the corner of Woodruff and Highland.
The service is at 11:00 am.

Bob passed away

After a long and hard battle with Parkinson's Disease my dear husband passed away on Wednesday morning. I was holding his hand as he slipped away after 5 days of holding on to that last vestage of his life. Over the weekend all the children got to say their "good byes". Spent everynight on a cot beside him until the end. I have feelings of sadness, but also such relief that he is in a better place and can talk and be understood. I think that was the part he hated the most.
Since our class was supposed to start the day after the funeral I have asked to delay 1 week and extend it 1 week into July.
I will be ready to go on June 9.
Thank you all for the love and support you have shown to me over these years of Bob's illness. It has kept me sane, or at least somewhat.

In Loving Memory

Fashion Show and on to the next

We had our fashion show and it couldn't have been better. Every garment was great.
Thank you all so much for your support and participation. I don't have photos yet, but Judith Baer took them and will have a CD ready when we go back to class.

Speaking of "back to class" we start again on June 2 so I will now go off and baby sit and post more information later.
See you!

Breakdown

I didn't think I would like this technique all that much, but it was awesome and everyone had a ball.
Breakdown Printing

Materials:
Blank silk screen
Squeege
Thickened dye
Made with Sodium Alginate and dye powder
Fabric Silk for Acid Dye Cotton for Procion Dye

Pre-preparation:
Mix Sodium Alginate
Into a quart of warm water stir 1 to 2 Tablespoons of Sodium Alginate powder.
Stir until dissolved or use a dedicated blender to mix (It will still have a few lumps)
Let it sit for at least 1 to 2 hours or overnight. If it is too thick stir in warm water to thin the solution. If not using right away refrigerate until ready to use.

Soak Cotton, Linen, or Rayon
Make a Soda Ash solution of 1/2 cup Soda Ash with 1 gallon water and soak the fabric at least 15 to 30 minutes. Hang to dry, press lightly with warm iron.

Silk Printing:
Mix Acid dye powder with thickened Sodium Alginate (1 or 2 teaspoons dye powder per 1 Cup thickener). Mix well the day before using. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Prepare the Screen:
Lightly coat inside of the screen with a couple of colors of thickened dye, leaving some open spaces. Let it dry upside down. This needs to be done far enough in advance to be completely dry before printing.

Printing:
Iron the silk fabric smooth and place on a padded surface. Lay the prepared screen down and use another color thickened dye or clear thickener or more than one color thickened dye and squeegee it across the dry dye. As you print the dried dye will breakdown and each print will be different. This is the magic of this technique.

Setting the Dye: The silk will need to be steam set. Then rinsed to remove the thickener and any excess dye. Damp dry and iron until dry.

Cotton, Linen, or Rayon Printing:
Mix Procion Dye powder with thickened Sodium Alginate ( 1 or 2 teaspoons dye powder per 1 Cup thickener). Mix well the day before using. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Prepare the Screen as above and let it dry upside down.

Printing: Lay out the smoothed Soda Ash treated fabric on a padded surface and print as above; however while the print is still wet cover with plastic and roll the fabric and plastic up and place in a plastic bag for 24 hours to “batch” and set the dye. After 24 hours rinse and rinse again then dry until just damp and iron dry.

Try again

Last week when I tried to put in a blog it said I had to update. So I tried what it said and it didn't look like it worked. This time it looked like it always had. Oh well, what do I know about a computer? Not much that is for sure.
We only have two more classes in this session. One more of discharge and then one using the break-down printing. I you have not prepared your silk screen bring it next class and put the thickened dye on it so it will be dry for the next week.
Also on the 12th bring the things you are planning to show in the fashion show so I can get the commentary and show order put together.

More Seta + Marbling

We are going to continue with Seta Color and adding shaving cream marbling with Dyna-flow Paint. You will need to bring a few things.

Shallow pan (broiler pan, cookie sheet with a rim, plastic bin lid, etc.)
fabric cut to fit the pan you are using cotton, silk or blends okay
paper towels

I will bring the shaving cream and the paint plus a few tools to use.

I'm Back

I have returned from baby-sitting duties. Thank Goodness it is warm here. When we got to Utah it was snowing and there were 4 inches by morning. Cold!!!
It was nice to see kids and grand-kids and to get away for awhile. Sara had a wonderful experience working with a photographer, a food stylist, a florist, and the lady who runs the whole show. Everything looked wonderful when it was set up and styled.

Now we will get back to class and see what we can create with paint.

Bear in the Woods

I just finished this quilt and love it! You will see it on Wednesday.
Be sure and scroll down to see the posts of the things we did in class.
Let's have another great day of dye.

Layered Silk

These are the results I got from layered silk painting. They looked like a mess before steam setting and washing them out. Once they were washed and ironed they were really very lovely. I was experimenting with colors I usually do not use that much. I have gone on to create enough fabric to make something with these very stunning colors. I'll show you the results next time. We will be doing this same techinque again on Wednesday so you might want to add some silk screens for interest and texture. See you then.

We twisted and shouted WOW!

These are a few of the results of our "Twist and Shout" day. They are really amazing. I love the colors and the variety the ladies come up with. Now on to Layered Silk Painting.

Another Grandkid Quilt finished

This is for Trey. He wanted pirates and in a way it is. The back is pirate print fabric, but I figured he would grow up and this will be the only quilt I will make him (I still have 14 to go) so the pirate ship, treasure chest, Jolly Roger, and various denezins of the deep are in the quilting.

Success!!!

As you can see our day of "flying dye" was very successful. I love the stacks of colored fabrics.
Next we will do some ftechniques with acid dye for silk.
Bring silk, stretcher bars, and more chiffon if you want to continue "Twist and Shout"
See you.

TWIST AND SHOUT

It is called TWIST and SHOUT; because we will twist silk chiffon and then shout WOW! when we see the results.
get ready for some amazing results.