February 2008 Newsletter

Ohmigosh! We’re meeting this Thursday! What a month it’s been. Bring your show and tell and news and stories and we’re sure to have lots of conversation before we watch “Duct Tape Mummies!”
Katy

Recap of January Meeting (January 31, 2008)
Show and tell was fabulous, as always! Joann made a skirt from her hand dyes from two summers ago. The fabric was beautiful and the results are stunning. We had two new members join us (see the insert for this year’s membership list). We voted to officially change our name to Conversations in Cloth, both because that’s what Michele named the blog by accident, and because it’s a really cool acronym. Now we just have to decide whether to pronounce CinC as “sink” or “kink”!

Finally, we foiled! Using BoNash powder with the foil was a favorite technique for the group. We also determined that you could foil onto ribbon, and we loved the results. The best online source for foil and adhesive is probably www.lauramurraydesigns.com, and supplies are also available from www.bellanonnaquilt.com.

Announcements and Reminders
Don’t miss “A Stitch Over Time: Fiber Art” at the Appleton Art Center. The exhibit runs through March 22.

February Meeting (Thursday February 28, 2008)
We’re watching Theresa’s DVD “Clone Yourself: A Dressform Double,” fondly known and “Duct Tape Mummies.” Bring show and tell, bring a snack, and learn how to make fiber art that actually FITS.

Upcoming Events
February 28, 2008: February meeting, 6:30. “Clone Yourself A Dressform Double”
March 27, 2008: March meeting, 6:30. Drawing on the right side of the brain.

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

Foiling on Fabric

At Conversations in Cloth this past week, we got the chance to practice Foiling on Fabric.


Katy showed us how to use 007 Bonding Powder to create a starry sky.




Katy also explained how to use stamps (foam, rubber, etc.) to place adhesive glue to fabric. The glue must be completely dry before trying to foil it. Several ladies stamped and foiled satin ribbons for nice effects.


Misty Fuse or other fusible webbing can also be used to apply foil. Each product seems to offer a different effect. In this photo, the Misty Fuse is "lacey" while the Steam-a-Seam is a more solid foil transfer.

[Sorry I don't have more photos of the groups work this month. I got into a deep conversation with Marie, and when I looked up, everyone had packed up their things. So I don't have many pictures to post. THis is just a taste of what we were up to last week.]

More tutorials on Foiling at Fibre in-Form.

Also of note : Laura Murray will be the invited speaker / teacher for Darting Needles Quilt Guild in Appleton, WI, May 18 and 19th, 2008. Should be a good weekend!

Sewing Expo 2008

Fox Valley Technical College announced their program for the 2008 Sewing Expo.
March 14-15, 2008 in Oshkosh, WI.



2 days of wonderful workshops and demonstrations for a very reasonable price!

Michele is already registered to attend. Hope to see you there, too!

Quilting Arts on PBS

If you haven't caught it yet, PBS has a 13 part series produced by Quilting Arts Magazine on every Saturday at 9:30 AM. They have been doing some really fun things. Also I belivee they have a website with directions posted. If I got it rights its www.quiltingartstv.com. See you all in a couple of weeks.
Karen

Notebook Cover

Gill K. gave everyone a little kit to make a notebook cover at our CinC Christmas Party a few weeks ago. This one flips up. Thanks, Gill!

Duct Tape Dress Form Preview

Since we'll be doing duct-tape dress forms early next year, I thought you might appreciate this preview from Wild Onion Studio.

Here's another one from Threads Magazine.

Enjoy!

AN ADVENTURE IN MAKING STAMPS

These are notes from our October Stamp-Making evening...

Your kit contains…

2 DICK BLICK soap erasers
1 3 x 4 piece Soft Kut printing plate from Dick Blick
1 3 x 4 piece EZ Cut printing plate from Dick Blick
1 4 x 6 piece Richeson’s Easy-to-Cut linoleum
2 sheets Darice self-adhesive fun foam
Foam core board to support the foam

TIPS

• The first three items can be carved with an X-Acto knife. Linoleum, being thinner, requires linoleum cutting tools. Self-adhesive foam is fun and “instant gratification”—cut shapes with scissors and stick them to the foam core board. We learned that EZ Cut is fragile, and designs shouldn't be too complex. Soft Kut is delightfully easy to work with.
• Eraser Carving: Make the first cut up and down. Make the second cut at an angle to the first cut, touching the bottom of the first cut but not passing through, as if the first cut is a wall. Passing through the “wall” too much will weaken the stamp.
• E6000 adhesive can be used to mount stamps to Plexiglas or wood. But we learned that EZ Cut doens't glue well with this stuff.
• Really quick stamps: Glue string or found objects to a substrate (even cardboard works for short-life stamps). Let it dry and you’re ready to print.
• Apply paint or thickened dye to your stamps with a brayer, spread the dye onto a smooth surface and tap the stamp to it, or use a foam brush as a stamp pad (pat the surface of the stamp with the brush).
• You can cut simple shapes from compressed sponge and stamp with that. It will expand when it gets wet.
• An iron will often transfer photocopied images to a rubber block.
  

November 2007 Newsletter

There are a few schedule changes—in particular we are NOT meeting at the Menasha library in November or December. Please read carefully and save this newsletter. Have a happy, creative holiday season!
Katy

Recap of October Meeting (October 25, 2007)
We carved stamps! It was fun, sometimes messy, and we learned a lot. Check the blog for process and material notes.

Announcements and Reminders
It’s time for our December party meeting on Thursday December 13th at 6:30 p.m. in Gulliver’s restaurant in Neenah (just off the Breezewood exit from 41). We’ll also have a white elephant gift exchange. Julie will reserve a table for us—it’s time to RSVP! Call Julie by December 10th. Out of courtesy, please call her with a yes or a no, so she knows she’s heard from everyone. Don’t forget “A Finishing Odyssey,” our challenge for 2007. The goal is to show “substantial progress” at the party!

There was a request at the October meeting to move the party back to Katy’s house—it really was a ton of fun in 2005. Unfortunately, I’m scheduled for a business trip that week, and if I make it back for the party, it will be just by the hair of my chinny-chin-chin. So Gulliver’s it is!
It’s time for dues. Please bring your $10 to the holiday party. I’ll deputize someone to collect dues if I’m stuck in Oklahoma. Otherwise, please mail it to me or bring it in January. Our dues support mailing the newsletter and provides a small donation to the library in appreciation of the meeting space.

November Meeting (Thursday November 29, 2007)
CHANGE! We are NOT meeting at the Menasha library this month. Instead, we’ll take a “field trip” to the Oshkosh Public Library (106 Washington Avenue), where Jennifer Chiaverini will give a book talk at 7:00 pm in the Lower Level Meeting Room. Jennifer is a national quilt fiction author known for the Elm Creek Quilts series. She was recently featured in Quilters Newsletter. Tickets are required, but you can get them for free from the First Floor Information Desk at the library. Please contact Michele if this poses a problem for you; since she works at the library she may be able to help out. The Lakeside Quilters will also host a quilt show at the library all day on Thursday. See the library website for more information: www.oshkoshpubliclibrary.org.

Upcoming meetings
With the November schedule change, we’ve rearranged our plans. We’ll do foiling in January, and watch the make-your-own dressform video in February. In March, Katy’s mom, Marilyn, will visit the group and lead us in some right brain drawing activities to teach us to access the “automatic artist” in each of us. We’re still interested in an “art stuff” swap meet, but the date is in flux right now.

January Meeting (Thursday January 31, 2008)
If you have foiling supplies, please bring your own foil and adhesive. If not, you can share Katy’s stuff—please bring a dollar. Other supplies:

• Fabric. You can foil just about any smooth fabric that can stand the heat of an iron. Once foiled, the fabric is delicate, so it should be the last step in your embellishment repertoire.
• Stamps! Bring chunky foam stamps, and especially bring some of the stamps you made last month.
• A foam paint brush and a Styrofoam plate, yogurt lid, etc. to hold the liquid adhesive
• An old toothbrush to gently clean your stamps
• Bo-Nash powder—if you have it, bring it. Otherwise, we’ll share.
• Fusible web. Bring any type you have; they all give different results. Heat-n-Bond usually does NOT work, but we can still experiment.
• We will need a couple of irons and SMOOTH ironing surfaces.

Upcoming Events
November 29, 2007: November meeting, 7:00.
December, 13, 2007 (Thursday): Holiday party at Gulliver’s in Neenah.
January 31, 2008: January meeting, 6:30. Foiling
February 28, 2008: February meeting, 6:30. “Clone Yourself A Dressform Double”
March 27, 2008: March Meeting, 6:30. Drawing on the right side of the brain.

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

Katy's Pieces

Katy completed her sheer window inset demo piece (above). A few months ago, she showed us how to do this technique.

This table runner is versatile in that the corners of the stars are held together with hooks and eyes. They can be re-assembled in other configurations (such as a triangle of stars).

Catch The Secret World of Haute Couture in November on WPT

The Secret World of Haute Couture (the program Julie described to our rapt audience a few weeks/months ago) will be re-aired on Wisconsin Public Television early next month :

November 6, 2007 at 9 pm
and
November 7, 2007 at 12 pm

Set your VCRs, or TiVo, Ladies!

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