Procion Dyeing

I took a Dye, Stencil and Stitch class at the local art gallery this summer from artist and friend, Robin Mayberry.  I was supposed to make square coasters, but my rebel self decided I like rectangles better and made a set of quilty art hangings.

I had so much fun working with the fabric--the class really sparked something in me!

I came home, got my Dharma procion dyes out and started messing with my own fabrics.

And watercolor paper

 and clothesline and doilies and crochet cotton...

Using last year's driftwood Xmas tree as a drying rack

I even managed to dye the back deck a bit

 

Ugliest award definitely went to the wedding gown lace

 You never know, though, I may find it's perfect for something.

Moving Forward

 It's been forever since I've blogged and like many, I've vowed to start up again.  

 I think I'll share a little bit of what I've done in my blogosphere absence, as well as what I'm doing now. 

Let's start with rust printing.

Cotton fabric soaked in white vinegar   

90 lb cold press watercolor paper soaked in vinegar

Doodling with white, black and brown marker

The method that works best for me is to soak fabric or heavy paper in white vinegar for at least half and hour.  Be sure to wet each piece of fabric or paper separately before stacking to ensure that all surfaces are soaked.

Then I layer the pieces onto an iron plate that I found over by our local RR tracks.

  I sandwich different types of teas, leaves, berries and rusty pieces of metal in between the layers of fabric and then place another iron plate on top.

 I cover the entire pile with a plastic bag to seal in moisture and then leave it overnight.

In the morning I unwrap all the layers, shake off tea, berries, leaves, etc.  IMPORTANT: Then I soak the fabric and paper in salt water (I fill one side of my sink with warm water and add 1 cup salt) to stop the rusting action which can eat away the fabric and paper.

Zentangle In The Round

I'm a Zentangle newbie.  I took a class just two weeks ago and the number of tangles in my wheelhouse is limited.

I have found that I prefer doing it within a circular border.    

 

Feeling a bit breezy (the wind is blowing like mad today) and centered, I think.

 

 

This one is my favorite so far.

I didn't even see the tree until I was finished.  I was delighted when I found it.

 

 

Bacteria has been on my mind lately...hmmmm....

 

 

My original idea was to use circular tiles, but I don't have a circle cutter and didn't want to attempt cutting fifty 3 1/2" circles out of 90lb cold press.

I also found that the circles caused my zentangles to become square and I didn't like that.

Drawing a circle for my border within a square provides me with the perfect circular zen that I need.

Thanks for stopping by!

Tabithahttps://www.zentangle.com/

 

Surface Design

I've been finding myself obssessed with not only circles lately, but also surface design.
I think I've been influenced by several magical blogs I've been reading:

...And The We Set It On Fire 
A surface design blog authored by several textile artists and featuring a new technique each month.

notjustnat Creative Blog

She does a lot of ecodying

threadnoodle
Lots of ecodying and surface manipulation!

Summer is for Circles

So I've decided to explore circular boundaries this summer.

Earlier this month it occured to me that my artistic boundaries are usually square or rectangular.  

Seems kinda like being in a box!

Some inspiration for going all circular this summer.

Lots of GREAT projects!!!