Textile Arts Tutorials

Hi All--
Just wanted to let you know about a wonderful list of textile tutorials that were recently collected and posted to

Textile Arts Resource Guide - Tutorials 2

There are tutorials for hand-dying, book-binding, beading, surface design ... almost any direction we'd want to go. Lots of ideas and guidance for new experiments. Enjoy!

June/July 2008 Newsletter

Conversations in Cloth June/July 2008

Fear not ladies, Ironman is a mere seven weeks away as I write this, and then I will have time for hobbies other than training! I can’t wait to take creative time again…and YOU won’t have to wait so long for newsletters!
--Katy

Recap of May Meeting (May 29, 2008)
Play night was lightly attended, but show and tell was rich as always. Michele brought a bouquet of books and we chose which one to make in June. She’s also been working on postcards featuring food…she made some astounding effects using UTEE (ultra thick embossing powder) over crumpled paper. Michele gets her heavy stabilizer, called Stiffy, from www.longcreekmills.com/stiffy.html (a mill in North Carolina) and it is MUCH cheaper than Timtex.

Theresa brought her samples from Laura Murray’s class with Darting Needles. The painted Wonder-Under was a hit with the group. Laura’s website is www.lauramurraydesigns.com and she sells all kinds of fiber-art stuff. Theresa purchased Laura’s DVD during her class, so look for it at a movie night in October!

Recap of June Meeting (June 26, 2008)
Karen brought a new member for show and tell: Lois! Lois brought some of her piece from a recent Art Garage show. One piece featured bleach resist (like the book Casting Shadows by Colleen Wise), including a border made using disposable snow fencing! Lois also learned a fun, low-stress way to play with color at a recent show: pigment dyed paper towels! Just like the ads say, VIVA® feels just like cloth! Lois agreed to show us the technique in September. (Betty’s daughter is getting married, so her “beading bonanza” will move to November.)
Theresa and Sandy recently learned “fabric dyeing in baggies” at the home of local quilter Jo. Both had a fantastic time, even though Sandy followed the directions and Theresa…didn’t!

In between all the show and tell, Michele led us through making faux leather journal covers. Be SURE to bring your journal back in July for show and tell! Michele took an online class with Sue Bleiweiss, who graciously granted permission for us to use her instructions. Check out Sue’s website: www.suebleiweiss.com.

July Meeting (Thursday July 31, 2008)
Karen is leading us in making paper clay embellishments. Bring a dollar for your supplies, a variety of textured items to make impressions, and a shoebox top to carry home your new treasures. Ideas for impressions include netting, buttons, rubber stamps, kitchen tools, even rubbing plates meant for Paintstiks.

We need to discuss the November meeting…traditionally we meet on the last Thursday of each month, but in November this is Thanksgiving. Will we meet on the third Thursday? And what about our traditional year-end party?

Upcoming Events
July 31, 2008: July meeting, 6:30. Paper Clay with Karen
August 28, 2008: August meeting, potluck picnic at Karen’s
September 25, 2008: September meeting, 6:30. Dyed paper towels with Lois
October 30, 2008: October meeting, 6:30, Laura Murray movie night
November meeting date TBD: Betty’s Beading Bonanza

Conversations in Cloth meets the last Thursday of each month at 6:30 at the Menasha Public Library.

Free Projects from Fibre & Stitch

Hi All-

This is the list of Free Projects from Fibre & Stitch published by Sue Bleiweiss, the originator of the Faux Leather Journal project we did in June.

Free Projects from Fibre & Stitch
http://www.fibreandstitch.com/freebies.htm

Enjoy!

Faux Leather Journal Surfaces - June Project

At the June Meeting, Michele lead everyone in making a faux leather journal with Sue Bleiweiss' instructions (used with permission). The remarkable thing is that we started with ordinary brown paper shopping bags!

If you are interested in learning these techniques (and many more), consider taking some of Sue B.'s online classes. You'll meet people from all over the world, and you won't have to schlep a car-ful of stuff across town. Sue is one of the most encouraging and positive people you'll ever meet, too!

Here are some of the surfaces people made that night (Sorry, I don't remember who did what) :







A few people wanted to take the surface home to add stitching and other embellishments. Can't wait to see what they bring back next month!

Most people got as far as sewing in at least a few signatures. We didn't get to the closures in our 2 hour session (That's why you see so many fingers holding the journals shut.)





Marilyn's Journal


Sandy's Journal


Lois' Journal


Katy's Journal


Inside Katy's Journal


Karen's Journal

What else have Members been Working On?

Theresa recently attended a workshop lead by Sharon Rotz to learn how to do this low-stress log cabin with scraps. No ripping at this workshop. If you make a mistake, you just cut it off with a rotary cutter!

At the June Meeting, we had a guest named Lois share some things she's been working on :

The dark fabrics for this piece were discharged with bleach. For the border, Lois used construction fencing as a resist before spraying a bleach solution onto black Kona Cotton. Great idea! and I love the effect. This is still a work in progress.


This piece (also by Lois) is based on a pattern by Laura Wasilowski and her School of Fusing in Chicago.


This piece is a batik with "stuff" laid on, covered with netting and free-motion stitched to hold it all together. Another one by Lois.

We hope she'll be back to share more of her creations and tips.

Member Showcase : The Dyers

Sandy and Theresa attended a Dyer's Workshop at Jo Holden's house a few weeks ago. Here are some of what they created that night :

Sandy said this one was wrapped around a pole ...


This was was folded and bound to create the interesting resist pattern (by Sandy).


Another one from Sandy.



Theresa was also very happy with what she was able to create that night, too. Her technique was more stuff and dump style.

Faux Leather Journals for June Meeting - Supply List and Kits

Here's a taste of what we'll be making at our June Meeting lead by Michele :





I will be making up some kits for the Faux Leather Journals we'll be making at CinC this month. I got Sue Bleiweiss's permission to use this lesson for our group, so we're covered for copyright. ;-) She just wants to see pictures of what people make with her instructions--so I'll be taking pictures as usual, too.

If anyone wants to sign up for Sue Bleiweiss' online classes, I highly recommend them!

The $5 kits will contain :
Instructions (Sue B's Lesson)
1 piece Stiffy (stiff interfacing) 9x18 in
Paper lunch bag, piece of paper shopping bag
2 x Stitch Witchery (9x18 in)
Paper for Signatures
String to sew in Signatures
Velcro / snaps for closures

I will also bring for people to use :
Cutting mat with rotary cutter
Spray bottle
Iron
Ironing pad
Parchment Paper
Acrylic Paint (brown)
Bristle paint brushes
Dishes for paint
Awl to punch holes in signatures (paper)
Tapestry Needles
Samples
Some Stamp Pads (Coffee Bean and Copper)
Paper Scissors
Rulers

Things People can bring on their own :
Fabric for the inner lining (at least 9x18 inches)
Other colors of Acrylic Paint with coordinating stamp pads colors
Closures - buttons or junk jewelery
Nice paper (24# Stationary is wonderful, but pricey. I'll have regular printer paper in the kits)
More Tapestry Needles (These are the big-honkin' needles to sew in the signatures)
Scissors for cutting paper
Rulers and cutting tools

See you all soon! --Michele

Teresa's Samples from the Laura Murray Class in May

Teresa brought samples from the Darting Needles Quilt Guild class with Laura Murray offered earlier in May :

These are samples of hand-painted fabrics. They are sprinkled with salt to enhance the designs and coloring.





Oooh! Ahhh! Love the watercolor effects!


This one used pained fusible over stamped fabrics. Neat effect, huh?


Sample of stencils on black fabric.

Sandy's Tropical Leaves

At our May meeting, Sandy was working on this tropical leaf that will soon be appliqued to a table runner. I hope she brings it back so we can see the finished project!

April-May 2008 Newsletter

Recap of March Meeting (March 27, 2008)
Thanks to Theresa for taking the March notes…

We were a small group last month but we had a wonderful evening. Thanks to Karen for repeating the technique of Cord Wrapping. We (all 4 of us) had a productive time. Karen started and finished a "mug rug", Pat and I worked at learning the cording technique, and Marie got into some funky cording! (She had had some experience!) We shared show & tell. Karen had some real fun projects to show and some extremely neat experimental techniques to share with us.

Pat had some very pretty quilt blocks with great appliqué. She had made a very creative bookcover.

Recap of April Meeting (April 24, 2008)
Show and tell was inspiring and mind-blowing! Betty brought tons of beading—she showed us the little bauble we’ll most likely work on when she teaches in September. Katy and Julie brought the beaded jewelry that Julie made for Katy’s wedding. New member Sandy brought a jacket she’d made on a sweatshirt base—you’d truly never recognize it. The sleeves had striking double needle work and showed Rami Kim’s influence with a decorative cuff. Coincidentally, Betty was also wearing a sweatshirt jacket that she showed us.

Karen has been sticking to her “technique a week” discipline, and she had tons to show for it. Her journal cover was a big hit—that was Lumiere paint on the distressed Tyvek. She also had a mixed media dragonfly piece—it incorporated last year’s sheer inset appliqué with a Beryl Taylor technique for a mixed paper background including tea bags on a muslin base. As if that wasn’t enough, she had the latest in her Fish series, including wrapped pipe cleaners from March. She also had two books to share: Beading on Fabric by Larkin Jean Van Horn is a great book for embellishers who aren’t necessarily beaders. How to Think Like Leonardo Da Vinci by Michael J. Gelb incorporates some of the “right brain” elements we discussed in our program for the evening.

The evening’s program on right brain drawing was presented by guest Marilyn. The exercises were based on the 1979 book Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards. An updated version was published in 1999—but you can get the oldie for a penny (plus shipping!) on Amazon. We had some laughs, and some surprises at our hidden abilities as we worked through the exercises: vases/faces, upside down drawing, blind contour, and negative spaces.
Announcements and Reminders

Sad news! Fabric Fusion in Brown Deer is closing; the last day will be May 17. The address is 8669 N. Deerwood Drive in Brown Deer. Exit US 41 at Brown Deer Road and go “a long way.”
Edgewood Arts in Waupaca is recommended by members as a great place to haunt for “weird, wacky, and cool stuff.” It’s more of an embellishment shop; they don’t carry fabric.

New Member!
Sandy (See paper copy for address, phone, and email)

May Meeting (Thursday May 29, 2008)
We reshuffled our schedule a bit—our Play Night is now scheduled for May. If you’re feeling motivated to clean out your sewing room, we can have a bit of a swap meet as well. Paper Clay with Karen is rescheduled to July.

Upcoming Events
May 29, 2008: May meeting, 6:30. Play night & swap meet.
June 26, 2008: June meeting, 6:30. Journal making with Michele
July 31, 2008: July meeting, 6:30. Paper Clay with Karen
August 28, 2008: August meeting, potluck picnic at Karen’s
September 25, 2008: September meeting, 6:30. Betty’s beading bonanza

Conversations in Cloth meets the last Thursday of each month at 6:30 at the Menasha Public Library.