Showing posts with label blog hop. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blog hop. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Colorful Fabric Collage! Come play inside Sue Bleiweiss' new book!


When Sue Bleiweiss invited me to be a contributing artist in her new book I jumped at the opportunity to participate.  First, I like and respect Sue as an artist and author.  Second, I love to use fusible, and when I say fusible I am ONLY referring to Mistyfuse because it is the only kind I use!  It works beautifully on a wide variety of quilt and mixed media projects.  I love using Mistyfuse on both cloth and paper!  I work with silk organza a great deal.  Nothing, and I mean NOTHING will allow your sheers to look like they are supposed to:  transparent and with a lovely non-stiff hand, like Mistyfuse.

For my project in the book, a small piece called "Labels", I opted to use silk organza, a wool-blend felt for the substrate, and a wide variety of clothing labels.  I wanted to show how much fun it can be to work with silk organza (in this case, a piece of my hand-dyed) as the layering possibilities are endless.  I discovered how cool it is to cut two different shapes from (as it turns out) two different die cutting systems and create an entirely new look.
"Labels"


First, I pressed the felt, organza, and the clothing labels so they were as crease-free as possible.  
I applied Mistyfuse to the surface of the felt and the "wrong side" of the organza by placing a Goddess Sheet under and over the surfaces of each.  


Note:  This is one of the two places I use rechargeable electric scissors:
Cutting Mistyfuse off the roll is a breeze with these, especially when working with organza.
Organza tends to have a great deal of static electricity.






Once the felt piece was cool, I cut a second piece of Mistyfuse and overlaid it on the surface of the felt but did not fuse it.  With certain items I have discovered that a second piece fused to the first will often assist in containing things that are errant and loose, such as these wonky clothing labels.  The labels do NOT want to play nice, so the second layer of the Mistyfuse makes it mind better!

I took the organza and cut the Ricky Tims shape from my Accuquilt Go! cutter, the layered it onto the remaining uncut piece of organza.  This double layer of fused organza was then cut with the dress shape on the Big Shot cutter.  Magical!


Note:  I prefer laying the organza over the cutter so that the fusible side is facing up but it isn't 
necessary.  The main thing to remember if you are cutting more than one fused layer is to "stack" your pieces so the fusible sides are always separated.  They can get stuck together a bit and it will cause you a bit more work!





This die-cut piece is then overlaid onto the remaining piece of organza and fused.

The double-layered piece is then positioned over the dress die 
and run through the Sizzix cutter.


Yay!



I carefully placed the labels in some sort of closely organized mosaic over the surface of the felt (remember I have a loose layer of Mistyfuse there).  Once I have it the way I want it I fused it to the surface.  




Then I placed the dress in position and fused it.  One of the best parts about the organza is the layered transparency.  I love being able to see the clothing labels through the dress.  So much fun!


The original piece was very closely quilted in rows using my dual-feed on the Bernina 750QE.  






The book is available on amazon:

and here's the interweave website link:


Please be sure to stop by all the other blogs on this hop and leave a comment to be eligible for the giveaway!
May 4: Sue Bleiweiss: http://www.suebleiweiss.com/blog/
May 4: Jamie Fingal :http://www.jamiefingaldesigns.com/
May 5: Leslie Tucker Jenison: http://leslietuckerjenison.blogspot.com/
May 6: Terri Stegmiller : http://stegart.blogspot.com/
May 7: Deborah Boschert : http://deborahsjournal.blogspot.com/
May 8: Desiree Habicht : http://myclothesline.blogspot.com/
May 9: Kathy Sperino : http://finishinglinesbyksperino.blogspot.com/
May 10: Barb Forrister : http://www.barbforrister.com/blog/
May 11 Kathy York : http://www.aquamoonartquilts.blogspot.com/
May 12: Lyric Kinard : http://lyrickinard.com/lyric-kinard-blog/
  

Monday, April 28, 2014

Seth Apter blog hop

I almost jumped up and down when I received my new Seth Apter "Inside Out" stencil.  The first thing that came to mind was a secret note in a private diary.  
Some of you may remember a book called "Griffin and Sabine: An Extraordinary Correspondence", published in 1991.   This stencil (as well as the other new stencils by Seth, are really perfect for this idea.
Inside Out Stencil

If you haven't seen the book, Griffin and Sabine, I should tell you that the entire thing is a series of letters, each in its own envelope attached to the book page.  One has the feeling of reading someone else's private correspondence.  There is something a bit thrilling about it all...
For my project I chose a "stray" envelope that had become separated from its original card-mate.  I selected a number of pieces of travel ephemera.  I save things like customs forms, tram passes, and museum tickets when I travel.  I often collage them into journal pages or postcards.  




After dampening the Stonehenge paper I crumpled it and stained it with several 
ink tones that gave the paper and envelope and "aged" patina.




After drying I pressed the paper flat with my iron.
You should probably protect the iron surface with a piece of parchment or a teflon pressing sheet.  (right after this pic I had to clean my iron...duh).

Using Yes! glue I placed several old bits of travel ephemera on the paper.



Next, I loosely brushed a bit of opaque white paint over the surface of the collage.

I used a customs document on the outside of the envelope, glueing it into place with 
more Yes! glue.  Notice I tore one corner of the paper and glued it to the flap.
This is the side that will remain exposed when placed in my journal.

Now the fun part!  
I selected various portions of my stencil to add elements over the surface of both my paper 
and my envelope.


I love the splatter!

Cool, huh?


This portion is a small "blotch".  I like it.


Next, I wrote myself a short "letter" about the project.

I folded the letter unevenly because I wanted to stencil over the edge of the piece.

I love how the lines at the base of the envelope, another part of the stencil, 
give the effect of a postmark.

Using a blend of white and umber I made a few stencil marks on the journal page.


Once dry I used Yes! glue to secure the envelope (sideways) into my journal.
I love how it turned out.  
Seth's stencil is one I will use frequently, and I think it will become part of my 
small travel kit!  I hope you consider trying it, too.

Please be sure to head over to Paula Phillips next.  You can, of course, 
hop around to any of the participants.  Just be sure to leave comments 
because the more times you do, the better chance of winning the prize.
Good luck, and thanks so much for visiting!



Blog Hop Order

Dont forget:  We will have a giveaway on the StencilGirl Talk blog!  All comments on the hop (on ANY of the blogs!) are eligible for the giveaway.  The more blogs you comment on, the more chances you have to win.  The giveaway will close on Sunday, May 4th at 11:59 PM Central Daylight Time.  The prize:  2 lucky winners will each get a set of Seth's new stencil releases!  How awesome is that?!