If You Could Read My Mind!

All of the fabrics I am sharing with you today were things I had started a while ago. Each one needed a little or a lot of help to make them work.


This started as a piece of off white silk noil. I had done a rust screen print on it and it just floated there with no meaning. I added 3 other layers to it to make it work.


Originally this was a piece I created by layering several fabrics and painting them with a very watery paint. The top fabric in the pile has paint all over it. The lower pieces is the pile sometimes get very little paint, and sometimes get quite a bit of the paint. Part of the fabric had no paint on it. Three more layers of design and I am satisfied with this piece.



This was the cutaway area from another layered painting I did. I saturated it with several colors of paint. The entire edge will be trimmed in an irregular manner similar to most of the current edge. Even if you could read my mind there is nothing there yet about this piece. I am not sure how I will use it. I just know I like it and I will use it.


The colors on this piece of silk are very intense. It, too, had some white areas and I overpainted them to create a finished piece.

I Don't Know Why, I Just Do - Yes, I Paint Fabric!

When I start to paint a piece of fabric I usually have no idea what I am going to do until I pick up the brush, dip it in the paint and put the brush to the fabric.



This is one of the fabrics I painted today. I used a thinned down paint and either touched the brush to the slightly dampened fabric or just threw the paint from the brush - Jackson Pollock move over!



This was a piece of fabric I started some time ago. I added more paint to it and now I consider it finished.



This is another piece that just needed additional detail to call it complete.



The colors in this piece of fabric are softer than those I customarily use. I am so pleased with this piece of fabric I think it is complete without any additional decoration.

I am really enjoying creating these fabrics and I am anxious to use them in some of my new work.

Stranger in Paradise

While I was painting fabric today a friend wanted to place a friendly bet with me on the Preakness. This friend has lived in "Horse Country" for two thirds of their life. I chose my horse second and picked - are you ready for this - Lookin At Lucky.
Yes, I picked the winner and my friends horse didn't even show.
It makes me feel good to beat someone from Ocala where 10 of the 12 horses have connections! I won't mention that person's name because if I did they would not be able to show their face in church today after losing to such a relative newcomer to the area!

Even the first piece of fabric I painted today was reminiscent of the Black-Eyed Susan, the state flower of Maryland. A blanket of Black-Eyed Susans is draped across the shoulders of the winning horse. Yes, it's all about color here at Qults + Color!
This is the same piece of fabric that I showed you on Friday when I first experimented with flour paste resist. I added another design layer to this piece today and I am very pleased with it. I created two additional pieces to use with this in a wall piece.



This piece of fabric was created to complement the Black-Eyed Susan piece.



This is the other piece I created to complement the Black-Eyed Susan fabric.

Stay tuned to see what I do with these fabrics.

I also painted a lot of smaller pieces of fabric today that I will share with you at a later date.

We've Only Just Begun

I think this fascination with flour paste resist is just the beginning of another love affair with fiber!

Today I finished 5 more pieces of flour paste resist fabric.
All images are clickable to see a larger version of the photo.


This was the remainder of the aqua piece of fabric I did yesterday. The crackling was even more satisfactory on this piece.



I was so pleased with the patterning of this piece.



The crackling on this piece created several very large crackled areas which I feel work well with this piece.
This cotton fabric had been previously painted and this was an additional layer of pattern.



This piece was created with a similar prepainted fabric to the previous one. This was silk. The patterning was similar on both of them.



This piece was a full 1/2 yard. I love the patterning in it. Some areas have more dense patterning and others show a lighter touch. Had it been the same all over it would not have been nearly as interesting.


I found there are a lot of variables that affect what happens with this technique.
Some of them are:
1. The amount of flour paste resist you put on the fabric
2. The amount of paint you put on top of the flour paste
3. The fabric you are using which can include weave or fiber
4. The amount of other processes that have been previously applies to the fabric
5. The amount of cracking of the flour paste you create

It is a technique that lends itself to experimentation. There are no mistakes, only different ways to be creative!

Flour Resist Fabric continued - Puzzle Number 300!

This is my first piece of flour paste resist fabric I started yesterday. I used a relatively thick layer of flour paste and a relatively thin layer of paint. The paint was all purple. I am quite pleased with the resulting fabric. I may or may not add additional layers to this.
To see the patterning better you can click on either one of these images.



This piece of fabric is a full half yard so I folded it up so you can see some of the patterning. I used a variety of paint colors and got differing results depending on the color I used.
I feel like I used too thin a layer of flour paste and too thick a layer of paint on this one. It was extremely hard to rinse out.
It definitely needs more to make it a satisfactory piece. I do have some ideas.

I learned from these two pieces and that gave me the guidance to do 5 more pieces today. They are being soaked and rinsed right now. I tried different things on them and used different types of fabrics.

I also have used up almost all my white flour so that will be it for now. I may try to use some of my rye flour and see if it gives satisfactory results.

With the posting of this puzzle I have now given you 300 different puzzles to do on my blog.

Wouldn't It Be Nice - Flour paste resist on fabric

Yes, wouldn't it be nice if these trial pieces of complex cloth that I am using flour paste resist on turn out!


These are 2 pieces of fabric that I have applied a mixture of flour and water to. I am doing this for two reasons.
1. I have a lot of flour and I am trying to use some of it up!
2. It is a technique I have been itching to try.



I worked outside on my lanai and worked directly under the fan to speed the drying time.



When they were dry enough to handle I moved them out in the sun on the grass to speed up the drying time even more.

Before I applied the paint to the fabric I crinkled the fabrics up in my hands to break of the resist which then will create a crackle effect when I paint them.



I got out the supplies I need to paint these fabrics.



This shows the first piece of fabric after the paint was applied. I let the paint dry thoroughly, first outside and then I brought it in the house where the air conditioning is on.

It now is soaking in a bucket to remove the flour paste. I have changed the water several times and it is coming off well. The paint looks like it did a great job of showing the crackle created with the flour paste resist.

Tune in again to see the result after it is all washed out.

YMCA

I have a group of friends that live in The Villages, Florida. I call them The Village People since I do not live there.
This often brings up the comment "Do they sing?" or someone breaks out in song - YMCA!


We meet at someones home every two weeks and have appetizers and drinks. Tonight I was the hostess. The women made themselves at home in the great room while we enjoyed food and conversation.



They each also got another amulet to take home. They really were interested in seeing the new ones I made and it is always fun to see which one everyone picks.
The first time you come to visit you pick two amulets. One is to keep and the other is to give to someone else. Then on each subsequent visit you get to choose one more. You can give it away or keep it. This is one small way I can share my art with more people.
This photo is clickable and when you click it you can see the amulets in an enlarged view so you can appreciate the detail in each one.
They are made from polymer clay. The design is made with the clay. There is no paint involved.


The men enjoy spending time on the lanai. They have a great time together. I snuck out there to take photos and also to ask them some questions about "Do you remember"!
I didn't eavesdrop long enough to know what their conversations are about!

With one exception all of the group is originally from Wisconsin. The lone exception is from Ohio, also a midwestern state and fits right in.

We enjoyed dinner at Taverna Red. Everyone was very impressed with the food. I think everyone picked a different entree and they were all great. When they complemented me on finding such a great new restaurant I had to tell them a friend recommended it.
So thanks again friend!

Life is................

Multiple choice test for you.
Life is ___________________________

A. All about food
B. All about golf
C. All about food and golf
D. All about quilts
E. All about color
F. All about quilts and color
G. All of the above
H. None of the above

We all have our priorities in life and I got to thinking of possible ones you might have. If yours aren't on the list, what are your priorities?


Today was another "Ladies Who Lunch" day. You can see me, Pat and Lynn in the photo. Pat is heading north in a few days so it was our last chance to get together before she leaves. We all had the strawberry salad - a big favorite of mine. We spent over 2 hours catching up on what we have been doing, as well as updating each other on mutual Friends far and near and our families. It was a very lovely time.




Living on the golf course I see many colorful and interesting golf carts. I had never seen a bright orange one like this before so I rushed out and took a photo. When I think about it since orange is a Florida color I was surprised I had not seen an orange one before.


Speaking of orange, I've never seen a sunset here that was this orange. I have done nothing to enhance the photo.



As a Sunset Kind of Girl I alwys enjoy a sunset puzzle.

Fiber Art Postcards

I want to share some of the Fiber Art postcards I have made. I continue to make them for special friends but I often forget to take a picture of them.



Rosy Future 1 is made with fabric I painted, stamped and stitched. It is in a private collection as are all of these.



Rosy Future 2 is the second in this series. It has the added threads and a jelly bead.


Hill Country is created entirely with commercial fabrics. You can put a stamp on these and mail them without an envelope with the same stamp you would put on a first class letter.



Night Bloom was made from the same collection of commercial fabrics. These are so much fun to create.
These can be framed in a standard 4 x 6 inch commercial frame. There are frames with any number of openings depending on how many cards you have to frame.



Crazy For You features gradations of hand dyed fabrics. The patterned areas are polymer clay which was placed on the fabric and run through the Pasta Machine which imbeds the clay into the fabric. They are baked after they are married with the fabrics. The seams are finished with decorative stitches.


My Rosy Future postcard is your puzzle today.

Halfy Birthday To You!

Yesterday a friend who had never had a "Halfy Birthday" party experienced this occasion at lunch here today.


This was one of the balloons I found. It was so appropriate as this was the same friend who sent me the transparent butterfly email.

Because of the reflective surface of the other balloon I was not able to get a photo of it. It said "Halfy Birthday" - of course!


What kind of cards do you send when celebrating a Halfy Birthday?
Halfy Birthday cards, of course.
It is also appropriate to add the number of days old the celebrant is!

Lunch was barbecued ribs, potato salad, coleslaw, chunky cinnamon applesauce and hot home made wheat bread and butter. The wine was Chateau St Jean Chardonnay from Sonoma County.
I forgot to take food and people photos.



This is the cake - a carrot cake sliced down the middle so that it had half the carrot and although you can not read it on the top it says "Halfy Birthday"!

I didn't take any more photos to share with you, but take my word for it - our friend was surprised! Kept saying "I've never heard of this before - Is this a Wisconsin thing?
"Did you always do this in your family?"

I also heard "I can't believe this!" many times during the afternoon from those in attendance.

I think it is so much fun to do the unexpected. I've had a lot of opportunities to do the unexpected with my friends here recently.

What else but the transparent butterfly for today's puzzle!

The Long and Short Term Effects of Vodka!

Earlier this week I posted about adding Vodka to fresh flowers. I thought the flowers looked so much better with vodka added to the water. Little did I know what really would happen!



This is a photo of the flowers before the vodka took effect. They are quiet and shy!



This is what they looked like after I added vodka to the water. They look happy and outgoing.



Usually a bouquet of Alstromeria lasts between two and three weeks. This is what the alstromeria looks like after only one week.

Do you think their is a parallel between the effects of vodka on people and flowers?

You can't go home again - or can you

I have been on a journey to find the houses I lived in from the day I came home from the hospital when I was 10 days old.

I have found almost all of them. Some still look great. Others are not looking so good. Two of them have been torn down.

When my parents brought me home from the hospital when I was born we lived in the upper flat of this house. My mom's aunt owned it and resided in the lower flat. This house was in Milwaukee, WI.



From there we moved to Racine, WI and lived in the upper flat of this home. I remember we lived less than a block from the North Shore train tracks and when the train went by and blew it's whistle I would hide behind the door that lead outside.
Our family remained friends with the family who lived downstairs throughout our lives.



About the time I was 4 my parents purchased their very first house, also in Racine. I can still remember every nook and cranny in this house. I remember the rosebud wall paper in our bedroom. I remember the built in book cases that separated the living and dining rooms. I remember sleeping out on the front screened in porch in the summer.



When I was 10 we moved to this house on five acres in the "country". It was only a little over a mile from the house we lived in previously. By this time our family consisted of my parents and 5 children. My grandfather also stayed with us for extended periods of time.
I lived in this house until the time I left for college and my parents owned it until about 1989. It was a home that had been built with quality throughout. I can remember the wide baseboards and beautiful oak moulding.
I remember the black and white ceramic tile in the only bathroom. I should remember it because that was the floor I first learned how to scrub!
Much of the 5 acres was devoted to a large garden, strawberry patch, rhubarb and asparagus beds, and fruit trees. On Saturday nights in the summer my parents could be found in the kitchen canning, freezing and making jellies and jams, just like many other families of the era.
This house is still used as a residence, although all the homes around it have been turned into businesses.

I'll continue with homes I lived in after I left my parents house at a later date.

I've used the bricks puzzle cut for this puzzle as this house was brick. I am posting this especially for my sister in law Mary who has done every one of my puzzles. Is there anyone else out there who can say that?

Butterfly Kisses

This morning I received one of those forwarded emails from a friend about these "Glass Winged Butterflies".
I thought the transparency of their wings was quite interesting, particularly because I have been working with transparent polymer clay.

I did check this out to be sure it was not a hoax. To the best of my knowledge it IS true.

As we talked about this email the friend suggested this could be a good topic for tonight's blog post.



You can see through these wings as if there was nothing there.



I thought they were particularly beautiful as they give the eye a rest as you look at them.

They are found from Mexico to Panama.



Their common name is The Glasswing



The transparency acts as a camouflage.



I showed this bowl yesterday. The final layer with the outline of the white flowers is as transparent as the butterfly wings after it was baked.


I made this bowl after getting the idea for the post. I chose colors I associate with butterflies for it. The half circles are a combination of a clear transparent color with a fine metallic copper line. It does not read as transparent as it is 1/4 inch thick.