fabric markers – Daily Fiber

Wednesday: Considering a new project

Posted on January 10, 2024January 10, 2024 by Laura Kate

At present, I have various works in progress and finished objects that I could write about today. But January is the month that Quilting Gail and her co-horts begin work on the annual Stay at Home Round Robin quilt. So I am pivoting.

Stay at Home Round Robin Quilting

During the past three years I have participated with joy. I’d really like to continue round robin-ing this year. But I am in a quandary about my center block. Thinking about SAHHR in December, I had the idea to use paper pieced squares in this year’s center block. I but never got around to making them. Now, feeling pressed for time, I’m reluctant to work on a deadline in a technique in which I have little experience.

This morning, I decided the answer may lie in the objects I made during my first year of practicing fiber arts. It was a time when I was bursting with ideas but short on skills. As I rummaged through my portfolio from 2019 to early 2020, I found six fiber objects with potential to become a center block of a small quilt.

Shall we audition them together?

Candidate 1:

This was an early experiment with fabric paint. I took two different paintings, cut them into strips and wove them together, using satin stitch to close up the cut edges.

Candidate 2:

This is a rejected block from my oakleaf hydrangea wall-hanging. The background is covered in snippets of hand embroidery with irregular blanket stitch on the edges.

Candidate 3:

I was discovering what fabric markers can do. This painting is done on lightweight muslin and would need to be mounted on sturdier fabric.

Candidate 4:

A mini art quilt, this was inspired by what I saw in my head with eyes closed during a yoga class. I was practicing curved edge piecing.

Candidate 5:

Inspired by one of Bill’s photographs, this block was a practice piece for a larger work I never completed. The technique is confetti applique. While I would consider putting this one in an SAHHR quilt, I’ve yet to give up on my original concept.

Candidate 6:

A very early experiment in fabric painting, I “saw” a scene of a mountain area recovering from a forest fire. The initial paint application was enhanced with brown stamps of bare and broken trees. The middle ground is meant to represent fireweed which moves in quickly after a fire ends.

This last block is the one I am leaning toward the most. I have some ideas for expanding on the theme of environmental devastation and recovery.

What do you think about my options? Even if you are not a quilter, I am interested in learning the block that attracts your eye the most. Which one has the highest potential from the aspects of design, color and originality?

embellishing

Adjusting to the New Normal

Posted on October 28, 2020October 27, 2020 by Laura Kate

So my health insurance company sent me a mask.

I’ve been struggling along with a pathetic homemade mask that I whipped up quickly. This is a very nice one, but I draw the line at being a walking billboard for some company. I decided to make a few modifications.

**Applique fused on and embroidered with cotton floss.**

That little motif covered the logo nicely. Then I thought, what can I put on the other side of the mask? It came in a flash – why not advertise myself?

This is my new normal.

colorwork, painting

Colorwashed Landscape

Posted on June 6, 2019 by Laura Kate

We are busy day today, getting ready for hosting company. So instead of working up a new fiber object, I thought I would share this colorwashed piece of fabric which I made a few months ago. How it came to be is somewhat interesting, at least to me.

I started with a square of white cotton poplin. Using slightly wavy strokes and starting at the top, I applied blue, purple, red and green. Before the fabric dried, I used the “scrunch” technique – crumpling the fabric in various places. This causes the paint to run and dry unevenly, resulting in the dark creases you see above. Immediately, I thought it looked like a view of the Rocky Mountains. Dark brown and black appeared in the creases where the red paint met the purple and green. This reminded me of the mountains in recovery from a forest fire. To enhance the effect, I printed on the fabric in brown and green with blocks cut in jagged shapes, to represent the tree trunks, both living and dead. I painted snow on the mountains. Then I used fabric markers to delineate the sky and a field of pink blooming fireweed.

This landscape feels to me as if it appeared by magic.

colorwork

Mother’s Day 2019

Posted on May 12, 2019 by Laura Kate

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY,

JACKIE, AMANDA, KATHY, TERESA, AUDREY, DEBBIE, MELODY AND JOY.

Jacquard Dye-Na-Flow color washed on cotton poplin, with fabric marker lines.

drawing, quilting

In the Mood to Doodle

Posted on May 6, 2019 by Laura Kate

For no apparent reason, I woke up this morning with the urge to doodle. Well, really, I was thinking about a project to offer my young fiber artists. The older group is working hard on their mini string quilts. But the five to eight year old students aren’t ready, skill-wise for such a complex task. In the spirit of quilt-making, I decided to let them design 4-square blocks using fabric markers. Hence the desire to try it out for myself. I started by cutting a 9 by 9 inch square of muslin, then ironed in creases to divide the block into four 4-inch squares (plus seam allowance.) So here I am, staring at a blank canvas. I found the experience slightly unnerving. Ultimately, I let the sights of nature in spring-time inspire my doodles.

Here is what I came up with.

I have to admit that sharing these drawings is not easy for me. I am still such a novice at it. But I’m told that to improve drawing skills one must practice daily. I struggled with the markers bleeding a bit. The fish were the most fun to draw.