cyberhints

Artist's Watercolor Pencils: Vibrant pencils with a composition making them fully soluble in water. These pencils can be used dry like normal color pencils and then washed over with brush, or dipped in water to give a soft flow of color. The color of the ones put on wet are the brightest. The ones applied water to after they were laid down, ran.

Inktense Pencils - When used with water, the colors are the most vibrant of any other watercolor pencils. The colors are a bit more opaque than most, creating a true ink-like effect. Once dry, Inktense is permanent and cannot be lifted with water. This allows you to wash over your designs with other media and create spectacular effects.Inktense pencils are permanent when dry so can be used on fabric or they can have other mediums used over them without changing it. Watercolor pencils don't have this characteristic.

Make your own ink pads. Use a shallow plate or small aluminum tray. Cut two layers of felt the size of the pan or smaller Dampen the felt until it is absorbent and wring out. Add acrylic textile paint and mix well. Stamp as usual but clean off your stamps with soap and water as soon as you are finished. Allow printed image to dry and then heat set
.. use fabric paint or acrylic paint for stamping on fabric. Put some of the paint on a small sheet of plexiglass and roll it out thin with a rubber brayer. Depending on the size of the stamp and the consistency of the paint, you can carefully roll over the stamp with the paint-loaded brayer, or stamp into the paint on the plexi, pick it up and stamp on the fabric. Can also use a small, flat paintbrush, loaded, then pulled sideways across the stamp to "ink" the stamp. A foam brush uses more paint.


"Transfer eze": looks like a water soluble fabric you trace your design onto and then place over your stitching fabric. Then sew through it and wash away.

http://afewscraps.blogspot.com/ Free motion Quiltalong project
http://www.quiltfest.com/activities_detail.asp?id=124
http://clicks.robertgenn.com/jack-shadbolt.php
http://afewscraps.blogspot.com/2010/08/quilt-along-and-giveaway.html
http://bonniemccaffery.com/vidcasts/049.html
http://inaminuteago.com/stitchindex.html embroidery stitches
http://picasaweb.google.be/sommeke2002/Birmingham19082010# Festival of Quilts
http://www.modabakeshop.com/2010/05/fabric-fortune-cookies.html
http://hermajestymargo.blogspot.com/2010/08/shibori-borealis.html
http://www.kathyannewhite.com/textiles.html
http://www.reginabenson.com/installations.html
http://greatlakesaaquilters.tripod.com/2010QuiltShowFlyer_4.pdf

Cyberhints

No-Flo, a resist that coats fabric that allows you to paint with Dyna-flo to get painterly results and prevent the colors from running in the fabric. After being heat set, no-flow washes out. Dharma, Dick Blick carries it.

Tinting wool. Kool Aid was the method most suggested. black food coloring can be used to mute color.

Texture magic: works with the steam of an iron and even better with a heat gun. Great results with finer fabrics and close stitching.

Collage pieces mounted on canvas. Used gel medium to attach the pieces to the canvas, along with some dyed cheesecloth to 'take' the collage onto the background. http://daphnegreig.blogspot.com/

WONDERFUL thread: Signature thread and the big 5500 yd cones are only $1 each.... www.southernthread.com After you go there click on ebay store in the left-hand side panel... once in the ebay store, type in signature in the little search box on the left-hand side.

http://www.victorianaquiltdesigns.com/VictorianaQuilters/PatternPage/PatternPage.htm#
QuiltPatterns many many Quilt patterns
http://www.ctpubblog.com/2010/07/26/lois-jarvis-rusty-object-image-transfer-technique/

http://www.americanquilter.com/shows_contests/knoxville/2010/quilt_contest/quilt_winners.php?utm_source=delivra&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=AQS%20On%20Point%20-%20Issue%2035


Blog2print : blogs printed into a book
http://blog2print.sharedbook.com/blogworld/printmyblog/index.html

http://www.unitednotions.com/MBS-casserole-carrier.pdf
http://www.allianceforamericanquilts.org/projects/galleries/New%20from%20Old/gallery/

http://www.murphys-laws.com/murphy/murphy-sewing.html
http://wwwbluemoonriver.blogspot.com/2010/07/framing-fiber-art.html

Tuesday Tessellation Tutorial Time
http://quiltspluscolor.blogspot.com/2010/06/tuesday-tessellation-tutorial-time.html
http://quiltspluscolor.blogspot.com/2010/07/tessellation-tutorial-lesson-2-woi.html

http://fiberartgoddess.blogspot.com/2010/07/collage-innovation.html

ATC exhibit for the Vernon Public Art Gallery in Canada - submit 6 ATC's and after the show, they will send you 6 ATC's from other artists:
http://vernonpublicartgallery.com/images/stories/forms/atc_call-new.pdf
http://www.americanquilter.com/shows_contests/knoxville/2010/quilt_contest/quilt_winners.php
http://www.thequiltshow.com/os/bernina_videos.php

Material Concepts: Tyvek in a tall, light-weight roll - it weighs about 4 lbs . http://www.materialconcepts.com/
http://www.quilttoursoflasvegas.com/tours.htm

http://freemotionquilting.blogspot.com/2010/01/break-your-foot.html
http://michigoose-life-quilts.blogspot.com/2010/08/aullwood-quilt-show-merry-havens-color.html

Setacolors to paint quilts: If diluted by half, they don't change the hand of the fabric. If you use them full strength, they do become a bit stiff, and if you quilt through them full strength, you make holes in the paint when you quilt. Golden liquid acrylic paints go very far, they don't change the hand of the fabric at all, you don't make holes in it when you quilt, it's permanent.


The best fabric paint, in regards to changing the hand of the finished quilt the least, is Dye-Na-Flow by Jacquard. Part of the reason is that it is very close to the consistency of ink or dye. That means that you must learn to control its coverage; easily done through the use of resists or by thickening it with a product that will wash out once the finished image has been heat set, leaving behind the paint but not the thickener. Dye-Na-Flow can be applied quickly and dries in no time.



Embellishments: If you are using light applications of roving and other fabrics, and if there are "holes" where no roving shows, you can add some hot-fix crystals to add glitz.



14yds of fabric weighs slightly less than 5pounds



Masks for discharge: There is a difference between Organic Vapor masks, used for spray painting/petrochemical fumes, and Acid Gas cartridges, which is what you want for discharge. A link for masks and cartridges:

http://tinyurl.com/33xfofc (NAYY) . It was recommended by folks over on the DyersList - the masks come in small, medium and large sizes and have interchangeable cartridges. The dust filters are also color-coded - P95, which cuts 95% of particles out of the air, are yellow. P100 are hot pink. Typical disposable masks say P95 on them. And you can get combo filters - dust and acid gas together. And yes, keep the cartridges in zip loc bags. Pro Chemical's anti-chlor instructions, which mentions acid gas cartridges.

http://www.prochemical.com/directions/Discharge%20PDF/Antichlor.pdf

... Be sure to keep it sealed in a zip-loc bag when not in use, or the cartridges will keep filtering the surrounding air, and become exhausted very quickly.

.. the gas from chlorine bleach discharging is the same gas that injured the lungs of so many soldiers in world war one. Take it very seriously.


Aquadoodle marker (found with the crayons sold in Grocery stores/ Target/Walmart ): fill with water. Go over the water soluble crayolas that marked the quilted areas with the Aquadoodle pen and the marks wash right out. Be sure to test before using them on your quilt.

.. Try Aquarelle (watercolor) art pencils instead of Crayola's. http://www.thefind.com/family/info-aquarel-pencils

.

Green ink Uniball : used these on black and was able to see the markings.



Glide is this fabulous poly thread made by Fil Tec. It's so lustrous that it almost appears to be metallic, and it glides onto the fabric. I can't say enough good about it.



Executive Sunlight Desklamp from Walmart . FABULOUS sewing table light. $10. Illuminates the whole sewing table with a weighted base and adjustable angle for the arm. Lighting is 150 watts but only 27 fluorescent watts used.



Artist's quality acrylic paint WON'T fade if you look for the ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) label. If it conforms to ASTM1 (1–Pigments of excellent lightfastness) or ASTM2 (Pigments of very good lightfastness) the pigments are of archival quality and will remain true and vibrant for generations. Brands that guarantee their artist's paints include Chroma (Jo Sonja, Atellier), Matisse, Liquitex etc.



If you add a magnet to the bottom of the tin it serves double duty. It holds the pins in the tin and it acts as a magnet to pick up the spilled pins



***NEW VidCast #46 Fabric Embellishments -
Liz Kettle, Ruth Chandler and Heather Thomas sat down to talk about their
book "Fabric Embellishments" and share a few of the gorgeous and innovative techniques including ricing, glass beads and ribbon printing! http://www.bonniemccaffery.com



http://mairuru.blogspot.com/2010/02/how-to-make-origami-drawstring-bag.html from 2 squares, hanky, pillow panels



basting in about 3 minutes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvx76JkxY7Y



http://www.adventurequilter.com/e-Learning/Articles/Squiggle.html



http://lindastamps.wordpress.com/2008/12/06/stampbusters-episode-5-the-dirt-on-stamp-cleaners/



tutorial on making shimmer mists using mica powders
http://techniqueszone.wordpress.com/2010/04/13/diy-powdered-mica-spritzer-backgrounds/

http://bonniemccaffery.com/vidcasts/index.html



"sketchbook" project: Sounds like a great project to participate in.

http://arthousecoop.com/projects/sketchbookproject

Sharon B's Dictionary of Stitches for Hand Embroidery and Needlework

http://inaminuteago.com/stitchindex.html

http://www.flickr.com/photos/maggieart/

http://fibreartnetwork.com/exhibitions/GeoPhysical/19

http://fibreartnetwork.com/exhibitions/EdgingForward/14

http://ideas-of-inspiration.blogspot.com/

http://www.wiquiltmuseum.com/



http://www.needlenthread.com/videos

http://www.wellingtonarts.ca/wcm/documents/wcm/Threadwork2010CAT.pdf

You can watch full episodes of the new Art reality TV show , Work of Art here: http://www.bravotv.com/full-episodes

http://quiltersguildnsw.com/quiltshow/

http://www.byannie.com/shop/category/patterns/texture-magic-1/

http://janeville.blogspot.com/2010/06/1.html needlefelting

http://dianatrout.blogspot.com/2010/06/sumi-smoosh-tutorial.html inks

preserving fiber: http://www.lacativa.com/hold10/demo/

http://www.gericondesigns.com/weblog/?p=6328

http://www.quiltart.com/15/

Cyberhints

Cyber Hints:

Needlefelting: Do not move the fabric while the needles are down into the fabric. Move the needles faster than you do the fabric. Move slowly when going through thick layers.

Voice Quilt: Invite family and friends to call a toll-free number during a certain time period and leave a message for the milestone celebrant. They should share a special memory or talk about what the celebrant, eg my husband means to them, rather than to have 14 people sing Happy Birthday off-key. The Voice Quilt company sent an e-mail to me ever time someone recorded a message, so I could keep track, then organize the messages at the end in a sort of playlist, with an introduction and ending that I recorded myself. The Voice Quilt comes in a beautiful wooden box (of your choice), and like a music box, begins to play when opened. What a magical moment! The whole family sat rapt for 25 minutes, even the kids, while listening to the whole Voice Quilt and I had to go bring in the Kleenex box. My husband said it was the best gift he ever got in his whole life.
I hasten to add that I have no connection to this company whatsoever, and that they have an A rating with the Better Business Bureau. www.voicequilt.com. Meg Cox www.megcox.com

"Technique of the Week" http://blog.muppin.com

Fiberart International 2010 through August 22, 2010. Awesome Fiberart show in 2 locations: Society for Contemporary Crafts http://www.contemporarycraft.org) Pittsburgh Center for the Arts http://www.pittsburgharts.org)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/craftirn/page7/
wood quilts: www.gofraser.com/photos.htm
http://www.fabricfreedom.co.uk/QuiltsAndProjects.html
http://www.quiltwow.com/exhibs/dec2007/exhibs.htm
http://www.facebook.com/NizhoniStudios
http://steelscraps.blogspot.com/2010/01/rag-rug-using-2-squares.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnOJyZQkrwA&feature=player_embedded
http://www.bryerpatch.com/gallery/2010quilts.htm


COFFEE FILTERS: Better than paper towels and a lot less expensive

Buy 1,000 at the Dollar Tree for almost nothing even the large ones.

1. Cover bowls or dishes when cooking in the microwave. Coffee filters make excellent covers.

2. Clean windows, mirrors, and chrome... Coffee filters are lint-free so they'll leave windows sparkling.

3. Protect China by separating your good dishes with a coffee filter between each dish.

4. Filter broken cork from wine. If you break the cork when opening a wine bottle, filter the wine through a coffee filter.

5.. Protect a cast-iron skillet. Place a coffee filter in the skillet to absorb moisture and prevent rust.

6. Apply shoe polish. Ball up a lint-free coffee filter.

7. Recycle frying oil. After frying, strain oil through a sieve lined with a coffee filter.

8. Weigh chopped foods. Place chopped ingredients in a coffee filter on a kitchen scale.

9. Hold tacos.. Coffee filters make convenient wrappers for messy foods.

10. Stop the soil from leaking out of a plant pot. Line a plant pot with a coffee filter to prevent the soil from going through the drainage holes.

11.. Prevent a Popsicle from dripping. Poke one or two holes as needed in a coffee filter.

12. Do you think we used expensive strips to wax eyebrows? Use strips of coffee filters..

13. Put a few in a plate and put your fried bacon, French fries, chicken fingers, etc on them. It soaks out all the grease.

14. Keep in the bathroom. They make great "razor nick fixers."

15. As a sewing backing. Use a filter as an easy-to-tear backing for embroidering or appliqueing soft fabrics.

16. Put baking soda into a coffee filter and insert into shoes or a closet to absorb or prevent odors.

17. Use them to strain soup stock and to tie fresh herbs in to put in soups and stews.

18. Use a coffee filter to prevent spilling when you add fluids to your car.

19. Use them as a spoon rest while cooking and clean up small counter spills.

20. Can use to hold dry ingredients when baking or when cutting a piece of fruit or veggies.. Saves on having extra bowls to wash.

21. Use them to wrap Christmas ornaments for storage.

22. Use them to remove fingernail polish when out of cotton balls.

23. Use them to sprout seeds.. Simply dampen the coffee filter, place seeds inside, fold it and place it into a plastic baggie until they sprout.

24. Use coffee filters as blotting paper for pressed flowers.. Place the flowers between two coffee filters and put the coffee filters in phone book..

25. Use as a disposable "snack bowl" for popcorn, chips, etc.

Children projects suggested on the Quiltart list:

A make-it-and-take-it tie dye booth. All the dyes are made up ahead, work with each child to fold, pleat, etc. their shirt, add rubber bands (I use colored ones as an addition to color code whose shirt is whose, red for one, blue for another, red and blue for a third, etc.), soak for 15-20 min. in soda ash (long enough to play I spy or another art game) then put on color with squeeze bottles. I provide gloves and lend an apron. Each shirt is put in a gallon zipper bag to be taken home and washed several times the next day.

Kids also love designing shirts or pillowcases with the iron-on fabric crayons. Have them draw their design in thin paper, then use the crayons to color & outline on the BACK side of the paper. Teacher does all the ironing as each student finishes. Put old newspapers inside the shirt to keep the color from bleeding.

You can print on fabric with leaves or clean styrofoam meat trays with designs drawn into them with a blunt pencil or ball point pen (again, work backwards).If you use a light colored bandanna to print on, it is already hemmed!

You can also make a loom from a piece of stiff cardboard. Cut slits about a half inch apart on opposite sides to warp it.

Coffee filters and food coloring mixed with water is another idea. Bunch up the round coffee filters into fan shape (little finger in the middle, gather the rest around the edges, twist a pipe cleaner around the pointed center. Dip the filters into a saucer with colored water and you have lovely carnations (idea from the Internet).

Wrap pipe cleaners around pencils

Art classes to 5-12 year olds. Keep it fun. Don't avoid messy. Ask each kid to bring in an old oversized shirt for their smock and have them paint it/decorate it and keep it after the class series end. You might consider going to a thrift shop and buy some extra shirts in case a kid doesn't have one.

My local Arts & Humanities council has two "art academies" every year for the same age group, runs 5-6 consecutive Saturdays. It also provides scholarships for those who can't afford the classes. I donate money for these scholarships. At the conclusion, a showing and a 1? hour reception is held in the lobby of the auditorium. The parents, guardians, or aunts & uncles are asked to bring their artist for punch and cookies to see the childrens' Art. The paintings have been hung on screens and the pottery and other projects are displayed on tables. Lively music is also provided gratis by a local group.Talk to as many artists about their work. Their reaction is interesting because a stranger is taking an interest in them, their artwork and why they made it.

Sculpting is fun, with clay if you can fire it, or sculptey if you need to bake in the oven. The middle school art teacher here teaches some advanced art students (8th grade) stained glass. If these 13/14 yr olds can learn to respect all the danger involved with it, imagine what your kids can do. In some respects, I think kids will step up when they know they need to.I don't think it's out of line for kids to use an iron as long as you explain the dangers involved and supervise. I also think older kids can help younger ones.
They also do an abstract sculpture using heavy wire and attached to a base, then pull pantyhose over it and secure that then coat the whole thing in glue. Let it dry and paint it with acrylics. They go on to write how the piece makes them feel.
Something many have forgotten is how much fun making a picture with yarn and burlap was. Get a few tapestry needles (even plastic ones will work) and let them try embroidering on a big, simple scale.
Use old jars and enamel paint(the bottles have an E on the top) and making candle holders, or put wires on them and hang them in tress for the summer.. or decorate wine glasses for their parents. Go to the thrift stores for the glasses or fancy glass globes.

Take some fat quarters and start the rip for them. Let them finish the rip in 1 inch strips. Knot or gather one end of the strips together around a dowel, and they have a flag or banner they can run through the yard with, letting the fabric streamers float along behind.

Mod Podge fabric shapes onto mat board to create a picture. I taught fabric portraits using that technique in a two-hour class for 6-12 year-olds. With that extra hour, I had time for them to trace key elements of a picture they brought in (and we sized on the copier to fill the 8 x 10 mat), then cut them out, trace around fabric, cut it out arrange, etc They glued down the fabric initially with glue sticks and then we applied 2 coats of mod podge, leaving about 5-10 minutes in between the coats.

You could precut shapes and do a little abstract in just an hour. Use those 1" foam brushes to apply the mod podge. Bring a large supply of fabric, lots of different skin colors and fun prints for clothes. They learned a ton and produced amazing portraits.

Some mat board will bend when it gets wet from the mod podge; as it dries, it lies flat again.

Dip the ends of yarn in stiffener to make "needles" and teach needlepoint on rug canvas. Dip the night before to allow it to dry - or wrap the yarn in wide tape and trim it to make a point.

Simple kumihimo on the foam discs is possible. Braiding floss to make friendship bracelets is popular.

Punched cards or fun felt can make lacing projects possible. The cards could be decorated with paints. The fun felt can be decorated with glued embellishments.

Sun printing is a project that would take an hour but you have to have another project planned for the "waiting" to dry time.

Make a loom out of a flexible limb - tie the two ends together to make a loop or circle. Add limbs and tie them across the loop or circle. You might have to do these ahead of time. Then teach them over and under and around and around to make a sort of earth day dream catcher.

With this age group, you have to be ready for them to invent something completely new and embrace it as alternative art.

Cyberhints

Cyberhints:

From Terry Grant in Portland www.andsewitgoes.blogspot.com
Liquid Stitch appears to be a fabric glue that is used for hems, etc. Liquid Thread is a liquid fusible. It used to be called Liquifuse, which I think was a more accurate name. I use it for all my fusing. I use it to fuse only the edges of the fabric and I like it because it leaves the fabric softer than most web fusibles and it seals the edges of the fabric much better to prevent fraying. It is applied to the fabric, then you can fuse the fabric with an iron. If used properly it fuses extremely well. I have developed a technique for using the Liquid Thread that works very well for me. I dilute it with water so that it flows better. I find that straight from the bottle it tends to glob and not spread smoothly, but diluting it slightly makes it much more manageable. Tutorial by Terry Grant: http://andsewitgoes.blogspot.com/2006/04/my-fusing-method.html


From Linda Cooper www.LindaCooperQuilts.com
I could skip the teflon sheet part if I added Appli-Glue about one part to three of the liquid thread-water mixture. So what I have is about 2 parts Liquid Thread, 1 part water and 1 part Appli-Glue. Before I added the glue the treated edge seemed to flake and crack off a bit (Terri solves that with her Teflon sheet pressing). So I don't use the glue as glue, only as a bonding agent for the Liquid Fuse.

Cut out my applique to Broderie-Perse on its final outline, turn it over, lay it on junk paper, and outline the edges with the mixture in the fine-tip silk painting bottle. I let it dry (about 15 minutes) and place it where I want it on the finished piece and put a press cloth over and iron in place. When all the appliques are in place I make the quilt sandwich and quilt without having to do any pre-appliqueing. The edges are sealed and only need the final quilting stitches to hold them in place. Add decorative stitching.

"G is for Garden" quilt with this method here: http://www.lindacooperquilts.com/images/GIsForGarden.jpg I painted these flowers with Tsukineko inks and Fabrico markers on white sateen and then cut out the flowers and used the Liquid Thread-glue mixture.

Clean your iron with a piece of wax paper. Sprinkle on some salt ,fold the wax paper over then and run the medium hot iron over it a couple of times

Sheers: Cotton organdy, silk organza, sheer cotton lawn fabric won't shrink like polyester organza. Fusing sheers to misty fuse between two layers of parchment paper (parchment-sheer-misty fuse-parchment-iron). Pretty much any sheer fabric can be ironed, just put a cloth over it. Use a piece of white cotton interlock as pressing cloth, along with low heat.

Free, easy program Posterazor http://posterazor.sourceforge.net/
Enlarge, print designs

http://bonniemccaffery.com/vidcasts/045.html Dubai UAE International Quilt Show

http://www.healingquiltsinmedicine.org/quilt_gallery.htm

http://www.princetonol.com/groups/iad/lessons/middle/middlelessons.html

http://www.suzannesanger.com/Site/Portfolio/Portfolio.html
http://www.joggles.com/panpastel.htm

http://rust-tex.com/TW/

http://www.americanquilter.com/shows_contests/lancaster/2010/quilt_contest/quilt_winners.php?utm_source=delivra&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=AQS%20On%20Point%20Issue%2020

http://www.flickr.com/photos/arlee/sets/72157623735668618/show/ The Artist's Body exhibit
http://www.flickr.com/photos/arlee/sets/72157606591857048/