In Good Company

January's Tart Kit: Closing the Gap

2012-01-18T13:07:00.000-07:00

This month's Tart kit is all about closures and the lesson is about designing around a single element or elements. Use any or all of the included fasteners and close the gap! Make your quilt relevant to the supplies. Be humorous or literal. Use the fasteners as intended or use them in creative ways. Have fun!

We have included a short demo in making frog closures and a Chinese button. Google frog closures and you will find several tutorials to help you build your frogs. It is easier to build your frog onto a surface that you can stitck pins into. By measuring the distance between loops and placing straight pins in your surface, you can get a balanced frog.

Think of the side that you can see as the back. Baste the loop intersections with matching thread before you remove the pins. One set of loops will be sewn to one of the pieces you are closing. The second set remains free and will connect the gap with a Chinese button or other button.

To make a Chinese button: Create several intersecting loops and weave one end of the cord over and under the loop sides, keeping your work open and loose.

Gradually pull both ends of the cord, allowing the loops to close up.

Cut the cords fairly close to the knot and tack them to the wrong side of the button so that they become invisible. Sew the button at the place where the frog loop will close your gap.
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December's Tart Kit: Using deColourant Plus

2011-12-22T16:24:00.000-07:00

In this month's Tart kit, we are introducing you to a relatively new product that lets you remove color from fabric safely and replace it with another color. It is called deColourant Plus. It is non-toxic and allows the fabric to keep its soft hand. It is especially great for adding color to dark fabrics without painting. For this lesson we have included a deColourant with a metallic color for you to use on a dark fabric with a snowflake stamp.

Prepare a padded surface and lay out your ironed fabric. You may want to tape it down. Decide how you will want to apply the deColourant. You can use stamps, stencils or apply the deColourant directly to the fabric. Use the included stamp or alter it by using the shape to make a stencil. Apply the deColourant directly to the stamp with the foam brush. You can vary the results depending on how much deColourant you apply to the stamp.

Stamped

Directly applied

Stenciled

Allow the deColourant to dry thoroughly and iron. It won't matter whether you use a dry iron or steam, though your results may differ. The longer you iron, the more intense the results.

Finally, wash the excess deColourant out of your fabric and it is ready to use as background fabric or cut into strips or patches. You will find this process a very easy way to create one of a kind and unique fabric for your next art quilt.

November's Tart Kit: Dyeing with Cords

2011-11-17T18:28:00.000-07:00

This month we are dyeing with cords to color fabric. The cords have been impregnated with dye which when mixed with a solution of salt and warm water and boiled will transform your white pfd cotton into a vibrant piece of cloth. Be sure to protect your work space, clothing and hands from the dye. You may want to wear a mask as well. There are six colors of cording in your kit. You can use the colors randomly or be specific about blending the colors. Check your colors by cutting an end and placing it on a wet paper towel. You may want to tear your fabric into smaller pieces so that you can try different variations of cord placement.

Lay your cords on your fabric in any configuration you choose. You may use scotch tape to anchor the cords. We have placed them in an "X", in lines, and as snippets.

Carefully, keeping the cords in place, either fold, roll, or scrunch the fabric.

Fold the outside edges to the center, repeat until you have a small bundle. Secure with rubber bands.

As you roll the fabric, tuck the length of cord into the roll.

Once rolled, twist and secure with rubber bands.

Enclose the snippets inside your "envelope" of fabric.

And then scrunch into a ball. Secure with rubber bands.

In a container that will not be used for food, mix a solution of salt and hot water. Immerse your bundle into the water until it is completely saturated. Dye will migrate into the water so do one bundle at a time. When it is saturated, squeeze and massage the bundle to transfer the color through all the layers.

Insert the bundle into a ziplock bag and "burp" it. Drop the ziplock bag into a pot of boiling water and boil for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes, remove the bag carefully from the hot water and let it cool in the sink. Remove the fabric from the bag and remove the cords. Rinse thoroughly. If your fabric will be washed in the future, you will want to use soap and water to remove the excess dye.

X's

Lines

Snippets

You have also received a small piece of handdyed cotton that you can over dye.

As long as there is color in the cords, you can dye with them. You can also use your colored salt/water solution to dye, although it will leave the fabric a pale color. Experiment with your cord placements and color combinations and see what interesting designs you can make.

October Tart Kit: Variations on Handmade Paper

2011-10-19T16:13:00.007-06:00

This month we are using Kleenex tissue with a solution of glue and water to create backgrounds and molded embellishments. This technique allows you to experiment with mixed media by combining this lesson with fabric as part of a larger art piece.

Prepare a work surface so that you can work with glue and not worry about your project sticking. We used the shiny side of freezer paper. Using the recipe in the kit directions, mix up a solution of glue and water. We'll start with the directions for making a sheet of paper. Separate the Kleenex tissue into 10 to 12 plies and set aside.

Lay one ply on the freezer paper and paint with the glue solution.

Continue adding plies of Kleenex and painting with glue until you have one or two plies left. If you want to insert items for color and interest, you will do it close to the top surface. In your kit, you have rose petals, a cocktail napkin, and tissue paper. Split the napkin into its top ply before using. The tissue paper can be made into confetti or torn or cut into shapes before using. Consider adding threads, fibers, newspaper, or other papers.

The top layer of Kleenex will add an opaque finish.

Once the sheet has dried, it can be peeled off the freezer paper and used as the background or as part of a larger piece. It can be painted, stitched, or printed. Be sure to tape the leading edge of the handmade paper to another sheet of computer paper before running it through your printer.

To make a mold, use the foam sheets included in your kit. You can mold over the design or into the design depending on your choice.

Paint the mold with the glue solution before putting your first layer of tissue on the foam.

Cover each ply with the glue solution, making sure each layer is well saturated and the air bubbles have been removed. Use the brush to push the Kleenex into and around the mold.

You will notice when the glue dries, the top layers have the most texture and the layers next to the mold are more smooth. It is your choice which side to use.

Your paper can be left white if you desire. We have included watercolor pencils for you to use to color your paper. For this pear, the color was applied dry and a brush was used to blend the colors. You may also want to experiment with acrylic paints or markers. Try coloring the glue before painting the Kleenex.

As with any paper, it can be moistened and torn to give a deckled edge. Your finished paper can be sewn or glued to a background. Use a long stitch length to avoid perforating the paper.

September's Tart Kit: Print * Stitch * Embellish with the Buttonhole Stitch

2011-09-25T19:43:00.005-06:00

In this month's Tart kit, we are adding texture and line to your own printed cloth with the buttonhole stitch.

To begin: press your hand-dyed fabric and tape it to your padded work surface. Pour a small amount of paint into a styrofoam plate or onto piece of freezer paper.

Using the foam stamp and/or bubble wrap, apply the paint to the fabric. If you have other geometric stamps, feel free to use them as well. The bone rings may also be used as stamps.

When the paint has dried, press it carefully with your iron. Layer the printed fabric and the muslin and insert into the hoop for the next step. You will now embroider the fabric with the hand-dyed threads to add texture and line to the surface. Work with your printed circles. There are many websites that will give you directions for doing the buttonhole stitch. Try these: http://inaminuteago.com or http://sheepspace.ca or http://quietermoments.wordpress.com or http://stitchschool.blogspot.com.

When you have completed the embroidery, quilt the piece. Now you will add the embellishments: chenille stem, washers, rings and/or beads. The chenille stem can be painted and couched with the buttonhole stitch. And the washers and rings can be covered with the buttonhole stitch as well.

Add these embellishments to the surface of your piece for even more texture.

August's Tart Kit: Spraying Silk

2011-08-17T21:46:00.000-06:00

Susan's spiral sample shows the layers of silk that have been sprayed with Dye-na-flow and sandwiched into a small quilted piece. This is an example of this month's kit where you will color silk with droplets of paint sprayed onto the surface. You have three types of silk, three colors of Dye-na-flow, and a spray bottle. Use the newspaper included in the kit to make a mask or a stencil you have at home to create a pattern on the silks. The three colors will blend to make secondary colors and an interesting painted surface.

Cut or tear the newspaper and lay it over the silk fabric. You may want to cut multiples of the same shape to use in the second or third layering.

Dilute the paint with water so that it will spray from the pump. Spray the first color over the fabric and stencil, making sure you do not oversaturate the fabric.

Remove the stencil and replace it in another position with the white unpainted areas open to the next layer of paint. You will be masking some of the area which has the first color.

Continue spraying and repositioning the stencil until you have achieved the desired results.

Instead of using a stencil, try pleating the silk. Press with an iron to hold the pleats. Spray the first color onto the surface of the fabric.

Open the fabric and refold into pleats in another position - possibly 180 degrees from the first folds. Press and spray with a second color.

By folding or bunching the silk, you can create color on the surface that is visible.

Refolding or rebunching and spraying with another color will give you an interesting surface of droplets of color. Set the color with your iron and you are ready to piece the silk into your next art quilt.

Cut the smaller pieces of silk into narrow strips and spray with multiple colors to use as accents or ruffles.

July's Tart Kit: Sketching with Thread

2011-07-21T22:30:00.000-06:00

With this month's Tart kit, we want you to practice your machine stitching. You will be using the four spools of thread in the kit (plus any other colors from your stash) to "draw" a design on the white fabric also included. The stitching will take place on the stabilized cotton before you layer it and quilt it. Use the thread to create contour lines and shading by building it up or by changing values.

Lightly draw a design on the fabric with a pencil. If you are tracing your design, a light box or window will help.

You will stabilize the cotton by fusing it to the piece of "Stitch and Tear" with Steam-a-Seam Lite. There should be enough body to the fabric that you will not need a hoop. The Stitch and Tear will glide smoothly over your machines's throat plate.

Thread your machine with a colored thread and use the bobbin included in the kit for your bottom thread. You may need to rewind the thread from the cardboard bobbin to your machine's bobbin. By adjusting your tension slightly looser, the bobbin thread will stay on the wrong side of the fabric.

You will be free-motion stitching so drop your feed dogs if that is your method. Some folks leave their feed dogs up and reduce the pressure on the pressure foot when doing straight line stitching. You will start with straight lines to sketch. Use parallel lines close together to create color on the cloth. Where you want more intense color, you will stitch across your first lines.

To create contours and values, your stitching may be curved. Remember sketching isn't necessarily filling in completely with thread. It may be creating a suggestion of line and value.

You can try blending two threads together in the needle and see if that gives you interesting values. You can try stitching on colored fabric. Or change from straight line to curves. The goal is to create your design in thread only - no fabric patches. When you have finished, leave the stabilizer in place and layer it with backing and batting. Quilt and bind it. This is your opportunity to practice your free motion stitching. Have fun!

June's Tart Kit: Dyeing Cheesecloth

2011-06-22T17:46:00.000-06:00

This month our Tart kit involves dyeing cotton cheese cloth with RIT dye. You can also try painting it with transparent paints or dyeing it with Procion dyes. We like the cheese cloth for its wonderful texture; you can see the texture as well as feel it.

Mix the RIT dye according to the directions on the package. If you use all the dye for the little bit of cheese cloth included in the kit, it will be really, really intense, so experiment with the value. Or try mixing the colors in varying proportions to see what color you might get. For our examples, we used very hot water and about a 10 minute soak time.

The cheese cloth can be batch dyed by immersing the entire piece into one color pot until it becomes the color you like.

Or you can put opposite ends into two colors and let them wick up into each other. We found that we were impatient and helped the color move along with spoons.

Or you can dip one end in one color for a time, squeeze out the excess moisture, and dip the other end into a second color. When the cheesecloth is the intensity you desire, rinse the excess dye out and let it air dry.

You can also dye the cheese cloth by painting it with the dye and the foam paintbrush. Try pouring the colors in different areas of the cloth and letting the dyes run together. This procedure will done with the cheese cloth flat - either stretched out or crumpled. Be sure you protect your surface. We used a tray to catch the liquid. While you're at it, dye another piece of cloth such as PFD cotton, or over dye a hand dye or commercial fabric. Let the piece dry and set. Rinse with warm water and air dry.

When the cheesecloth is dry you can deconstruct it by pulling on the threads or poking holes through it. Fray the edges or slash small areas with a seam ripper or scissors.

We included a small bottle of Elmer's glue so that you can create shapes or dimension to the cheese cloth by dipping it in diluted glue. Be careful that you don't glue it to paper or wood!

The cheese cloth can be machine or hand stitched to the surface of your quilt. Misty Fuse allows you to keep the transparency of the cheese cloth if you want to fuse it. Experiment with the dyes and see what fabulous "cloth" you can make.

May Tart Kit: TAP

2011-05-19T13:34:00.000-06:00

This month the Tart kit gives you materials for trying Transfer Artist Paper (TAP) with non-traditional surfaces. In addition to Lutrdur, metal sheets, and mica, you have received a sheet of images, acrylic paints, and parchment. TAP works great on fabric and certainly can be used in a project if you choose. But try it on these other surfaces and keep the results in your "might want to use later" file.

Because these materials are non-porous, they will take a little more fiddling and your results won't be as crisp and clean as an image transfered to fabric. TAP will also work on wood and glass. Images can be printed onto the TAP or you can draw or paint with many coloring mediums. Be careful that you don't create holes with a sharp point or use too much water in the paints. Try using markers, colored pencils, paint, crayons, or charcoal.

Use the included images to copy to the TAP with your inkjet printer or find your own. The images can be colored with the acrylic paint, markers, or colored pencils before printing or before transfering. You will be doing your work on the white side of the TAP, not the purple side.

When you are ready to transfer, cut around the image. The white polymer of the TAP will show on non-white surfaces. Place the TAP face down onto the surface you want the image, cover with parchment, and press firmly with a hot iron for a short time. You can't overiron the TAP. When the image has transfered, peel the backing paper away while the paper is still warm. TAP will stick if you wait for it to cool.

The Lutradur is probably the easiest to use. We printed a black line drawing onto the TAP and colored it with the acrylic paints.

The metal sheets and mica take extra care. They are heat resistant and so might require a little longer press with the iron. As the TAP polymer melts, it can slip on these surfaces, so take care with your iron. These materials will be warm after pressing so be careful not to burn yourself. Lift the TAP carefully while it is still warm.

Being able to transfer images onto interesting surfaces will give you lots of flexibility in designing your art quilts. The Lutradur and metal can be sewn with your machine or by hand. If the mica is thin enough you may carefully sew it by hand or use glue to adhere the piece to your quilt.

April Tart Kit: Soy Wax Batik

2011-04-21T12:58:00.000-06:00

This month's Tart kit gives you the supplies to try soy wax batik, a relatively simple way to make batiked cloth at home. You will be treating PFD fabrics with soda ash, stamping with wax and dyeing to apply color. This process can be simple with one layer of wax and one coloring. Or it can be more more complex with multiple layers of wax and multiple colors. It is up to you!

Before you use your fabric it must be pretreated with the soda ash to allow the dye to color the fabric. The soda ash in the kit can be dissolved in 4 cups warm water. Soak your fabric for 15 minutes and lay or hang to dry. Do not rinse the fabric. The remaining soda ash mixture can then be saved for more fabric if you store it in an air tight jar. In the meantime, prepare a padded stamping surface with several layers of newspaper. When the fabric is dry after the soda ash treatment, lay it flat on your prepared surface. Use the parchment paper to prevent newspaper ink from getting on your fabric.

You have been given about a quarter pound of soy wax and a small aluminum pan in which to melt it. Set your aluminum pan with the wax in a small frying pan with about a 1/2 inch of water and heat carefully. Soy wax melts at about 160 degrees so be careful not to burn it.

You can stamp with many different types of tools. Look around your house for interesting shapes. The soy wax will not damage the tool. It can be washed and used for its original use. It just has to be something that can get hot. We put in a plastic fork if you can find nothing else.

When the soy wax is melted, you can begin stamping. If you are using metal tools, allow them to warm to the temperature of the wax by placing them in the wax for a few minutes. As you stamp, you will want the wax to soak through the fabric rather than sit on the top of the fabric. If the wax isn't soaking in, it isn't warm enough.

This wax layer is "protecting" the color of the fabric which will not color when you add your dye. Use a small paper plate to catch your drips as you move from pan to fabric.

Allow the wax to cool and harden. Meanwhile mix up your dye. The intensity of the color will depend on much powder you use in relation to water. It will not take much to make light color; maybe 1/8 tsp in a 1/2 cup water. Use the latex gloves and a plastic or paper cup and a plastic spoon that can be thrown away later. You do not want to use utensils that will be used for food. If you will be adding multiple layers of wax and color, start light so that each successive color will overdye the one preceding it. If you are going to do one waxing and one color, you could use any intensity you like. The deeper the dye, the more the contrast with the white or light colored fabric base.

Put your waxed fabric into a plastic bag, add the dye mixture, seal the bag and massage the the fabric to completely saturate the fabric. Allow the fabric to batch for at least 4 hours.

When the fabric has batched, carefully pour the liquid dye down the drain and squeeze out the excess liquid from your batiked piece. Allow the fabric to dry flat or hang to dry. Once the fabric is dry, you can stamp again and follow the cycle of stamp, cool, color, and dry. The following photo shows a second layer of wax layed over the first. In this instance the green color will be "protected" in the next dyeing.

When you have finished waxing and dyeing, rinse the fabric under cold water until the water is clear.Take the piece to your ironing board which has been covered with several layers of newsprint, newspaper, or another type of paper that will absorb the wax as you heat it. Removing the wax will take some time and patience. Lay your fabric between two or more sheets of paper and press with a hot dry iron. You will see the wax become absorbed by the paper. You may need to replace the paper if you have a great deal of wax.

The last of the wax can be removed by detergent and boiling water. Fill your sink with very hot water and detergent and agitate the fabric. Rinse by pouring boiling water over the fabric. The soy wax will not harm your plumbing.

Once the wax is fully removed, press again. It may be slightly stiff, but that is the nature of batik. Enjoy using your own uniquely designed fabric.

The dyes in the kit were chosen to be side by side on the color wheel so that you can overdye with both and not get a muddy brown. You may choose to use other dyes or mix the powders themselves to get a third color. Below are examples of two overdyed pieces. The left one started as the avocado and was overdyed with the blue. The right piece was dyed with the blue first and overdyed with the avocado.

March Tart Kit: Earth Day Art

2011-03-16T21:47:00.000-06:00

This month we have created a Tart kit that will celebrate Earth Day in April. We are going to make fabric from our shopping bags and other plastic. In the kit are several shopping bags, some white and some with color or pattern, as well as plastic mesh, and used thread. Your assignment is to use these items and add other plastic and "throw-aways" to the mix.

Start by opening up the plastic bags so that they are in a single layer. Arrange six layers one on top of each other. Those layers in the middle will not be visible so save the best bags for the outside or one layer down. You might use a layer of white bag to diffuse the bright layer. However, there isn't really one way to do layer the bags.

Cover the plastic with the pressing sheet included in your kit and iron the pile with a dry, hot iron. As the heat penetrates the plastic, it will fuse together. Iron both sides of the pile, always protecting your iron. The hot plastic will not stick to your ironing board cover. Too much heat will cause holes and too little will not fuse the plastic. Experiment.

The plastic will shrink and wrinkle. That's okay.

Add other plastic such as vegetable mesh bags, candy wrappers, celephane, etc or sequins, tissue paper, or other junk. Since the non-plastic items will not fuse, slip them between layers of bags.

Take the fused plastic to your sewing machine and free motion stitch the layers in a large overall pattern. This will hold everything together and add texture to the surface.

Foil can be added with the iron. It will adhere to the plastic without any adhesive. Again, be sure to protect your iron. You can also paint or stamp the plastic. Allow the paint to dry overnight.

When you have created your plastic fabric, use it in your project. It can be stitched together in patches, made into bags or purses, or as the background to a statement piece. Layer other fused plastic as appliques. If there is an Earth Day Art show in your community, consider entering your piece!

February Tart Kit: Quilt and Paint

2011-02-17T11:06:00.001-07:00

Susan's sample is an example of a quilted and painted background. With multiple machine stitched patterns, she has created a very interesting background for her sunflower. This lesson is designed for you to practice the technique on a small piece before attempting it on a larger piece. It is a little scary to spend a lot of time quilting without knowing how the paint will look when it is done. Experiment with this little piece to get confident and then try it on a larger piece or one that could use a little pizazz!

The kit contains two pieces of fabric and a piece of batting. The intention of the lesson is for you to paint the black side, but it is up to you. Maybe you'll want to paint both sides. So layer your fabric and prepare it for free motion quilting or hand quilting.

This project is a great way for you to practice your free motion quilting. There are several sources for designs. The March issue of Quilting Arts has several articles about free motion quilting. Or check out Leah Day's free motion quilting project for 365 filler designs. We suggest that you do your quilting on the colored fabric with black thread as the top thread and in the bobbin rather than on the black side since it is very difficult to see what you are quilting. A thread that matches your fabric will be a subtle detail. Try a contrasting thread to see a different result.

When you have completed your quilting, it is time to paint. We have included Lumiere paint in the kit, but any fabric paint will work well. On your deli wrap or other palette, squeeze out a sizable amount of paint.

Load the foam roller with the paint. Depending on how much you started with, you may need to add more paint to the palette until the roller is filled with paint.

With a light touch, roll the paint roller across your quilted area. You want the paint to stay on the top of the fabric, rather than down into the stitched area. This may take a little experimentation.

As you can see, the paint creates a design element in contrast with the stitched areas. Multiple applications of paint can be added, or additional colors placed strategically. Also the paint can be applied with a paint brush if you want to highlight specific areas.

This lesson is great for changing the look of an old piece that didn't work. It might just need a layer of paint over the quilting. Adding paint over quilting may be perfect for highlighting one area of a large piece. Be daring and try it!

January Tart Kit: Wet Felting: A New Way

2011-01-21T15:45:00.000-07:00

This month we are using a product that can make wet-felting much easier and less "work". Artfelt Paper is used as the base of the process and will be washed out when the wool fibers have been shrunk and felted.

You are using the foam and felting needle to baste your fibers to the Artfelt Paper. The actual felting will be done with water and your dryer. Determine the size of your project and cut the Artfelt Paper accordingly. You may have to move it around your foam in order to do the basting.

You will needlefelt baste the wool fibers in layers onto the Artfelt Paper, first horizontally and then vertically, gradually building up to the desired density. You may want to draw a design on the paper and "paint" the areas in with specific fibers. While these photos don't show it, be sure to leave a margin of paper around the fibers.

Move the paper over the foam to needlefelt the entire area designed. Add yarn, or specific fibers for accent and detail as desired.

Remove the basted fibers and paper from the foam and take it to your sink. With the paper side down, wet the fibers with a spray bottle of cool water until the piece is saturated. The paper will become translucent. Press out excess water before removing from the sink.

On a flat surface, lay the fiber/paper unit on a single layer of a plastic bag. The plastic will keep the fibers from touching and felting into a tube. Lay your piece at one end, making sure the plastic entends beyond the paper and fibers on both sides and the top edge.

Roll the paper/fibers jelly roll style with the plastic bag and secure with rubber bands.

Throw the banded tube into your dryer for 10 to 15 minutes. It is not necessary to have a hot dryer. You can put it into the dryer with a load of clothes as well.

After 15 minutes, check the felting process. If you want more felting, re-roll the piece and plastic by turning it 90 degrees, secure it and dry it again. The fibers will still be damp and the paper should be crinkled as the wool shrinks, but the paper doesn't. Take the paper/fiber piece back to your sink with the paper side up and pour boiling water over the paper to dissolve it. Finish removing the residue by rinsing with water.

Let the felted wool dry flat. The piece can then be used as the background or applique. You may want to needlefelt other yarns or fibers onto the felted piece.

If you are interested in making a weaving similar to the sample above, simply lay your fibers in a grid keeping areas open. Wet, roll and dry as instructed above.

December Tart Kit: Paper Leather

2010-12-21T08:04:00.000-07:00

This month we are converting brown paper into leather. With wrinkles, paint, grunge board, and ink, you can simulate the look of leather. Because of the interfacing on the back side, it is sturdy enough to sew. Sue Anne made this small piece by combining paper leather with denim to create a western look.

Crinkle and wrinkle the piece of brown paper in your kit. You want lots of lines and creases.

Smooth out the paper and gently press the wrinkles flat.

Iron the piece of fusible interfacing to what will become the back side of your leather. Be sure the interfacing is well-adhered. Trim the paper and interfacing to match.

Dilute the brown paint with a small amount of water and paint it over the surface of the paper. Allow the paper to dry.

Carefully adhere the Misty Fuse to the front side of the paper, protecting your iron with a teflon sheet.

Cut shapes from the grunge board and fuse them to the paper by pressing them onto the Misty Fuse. Again protect your iron. You may have to use steam and iron from the backside as well as from the front. With enough heat, the grunge board will eventually fuse. With your sewing machine and thread, free motion stitch over and around the grunge board. It is easy to sew through, just go slowly. The thread will add more texture to the paper.

Repaint the paper, covering the grunge board and stitching with another layer of brown paint. Be sure you get the edges of the grunge board. You will be painting directly onto the exposed Misty Fuse as well. Let the paper dry completely.

Rub the black ink pad over the surface of the paper. You will decide how much. This will add more dimension and texture to your paper. When the ink has dried, the paper is ready to treat as fabric. It can be used as the background or cut into strips or used as applique. With the fusible interfacing, it will sew without tearing. Do something western!

November Tart Kit: Shrink Plastic Embellishments

2010-11-17T19:41:00.000-07:00

This month we are reintroducing many of you to an old childhood craft - shrink plastic. We can create our own one-of-a-kind embellishments for our art quilts. Need purple beads, make them yourself! The kit contains half sheets of four types of shrink plastic: clear, matte, white, and inkjet. Although you will color them and shrink them generally in the same way, each type will yield its own result. The small sampler above shows the four different types. Be sure to read the general instructions about coloring and shrinking the plastic before you begin. The plastic will shrink about 50% so plan accordingly. We have included Sharpie markers for you to use to color your plastic. These markers will give you a bright intense color.

This clear piece of plastic was marked with a black Sharpie and then colored with the pens.

White Shrink Plastic

Matte Shrink Plastic

InkJet Shrink Plastic

Here are the four ready to go into the oven. If you want a hole for attaching the embellishment, you will need to punch it out before heating. Use the decorative scissors to give your piece an interested edge.If your intended embellishment will be reversible, be sure to color both sides.

As the plastic heats, it will curl. To keep the edges from curling over onto the center, cover the plastic with parchment paper during heating. When it has finished shrinking, the edges will uncurl and lie flat.

To make a bead, cut and color small strips of the shrink plastic. Wrap it around a metal knitting needle or parchment covered skewer and secure it with a rubber band.

Use your heat tool to melt the edges in order to hold them together and then remove the rubber band. Continue heating it until it has shrunk to its intended size.

The inkjet type of plastic is the only one of the four that you can run through your printer. Find a suitable photo and edit it to fit to your half sheet. Cut out each photo so that it will shrink separately. I was able to print two photos on my half sheet. You must lighten your photo quite a bit because as the plastic shrinks, the picture will become more intense.

The shrink plastic can also be colored after heating. Try stacking pieces of plastic in a pile or add tiny colored bits to the top of a larger piece of plastic. You can also use ink and stamp a design on the plastic before heating. While the plastic is hot, impress it with a decorative tool to give it texture. Experiment to find a use that is just right for your work.

October Tart Kit: Positive/Negative Stenciling with Paintstiks

2010-10-20T18:53:00.000-06:00

In this month's kit we are borrowing a lesson from Shelley Stokes of Cedar Canyon Textiles. She has developed patterns and designs for positive/negative stenciling using Shiva Paintstiks. Before you begin, you will need to choose a pattern from the sheet included in your kit which Shelley graciously allowed us to use. It must be enlarged to a 4" square. To do this, use a copier to enlarge at 133% and then again by 200%.

Once you have your pair of blocks enlarged to 4" make 5-6 copies so that you can put them together to form a large piece. As you can see the blocks are equal and opposite and will fit together in an alternate pattern, forming a secondary design.

You must pre-shrink the freezer paper before you make your stencil. Take it to your ironing board and press it on a lint-free surface, lift it, and press again. Cut each freezer paper sheet into an 8" square. Draw two sets of parallel lines 2" from the outside edges, forming a 4" box in the center. Trace each pattern in the two boxes. Be sure to mark the areas that will be cut out. Cut out the marked areas without cutting into the margins.

The fabric in the kit is a hand-dyed cotton and needs no pre-washing, just a light ironing. You will need to create registration marks on your fabric in order to place your stencils in the correct positions. Use an iron or chalk marker to mark multiple 4" squares. Position your first stencil in the correct position and press to adhere the freezer paper stencil. The Paintstik has a film covering the paint and needs to be removed. You can do that by twisting it off with a paper towel or cutting it away with a small kitchen knife. Rub the paint onto the waxy side of the left over freezer paper and load your brush.

With your brush at a ninety degree angle and with a circular motion, add paint to the fabric. Start with a light layer and gradually add paint until you have the intensity you desire.

Carefully remove the stencil. Position the second freezer paper stencil in its correct place on the fabric, matching the edges and registration marks. Cover your first painting with parchment paper and iron the second freezer paper pattern to the fabric. Add paint as before. Continue stenciling by alternating each pattern piece until you have filled your fabric with squares. As you can see, each pattern matches the other along the sides.

This stenciled fabric can now become your background. You can alter the fabric by painting it in a graduated color, adding the single color of paintstik over the top. Or you can stencil each pattern onto squares cut from different fabrics. You can also make your own patterns. See Cedar Canyon Textiles for Shelley's blog on learning that technique.

September's Tart Kit: White on White

2010-09-22T11:44:00.001-06:00

Even though this lesson is titled "White on White", we will be using many variations of white and beige materials. The idea behind this kit is a chance for you to build some hand embroidery skills and work with a composition that does not use color as one of its design elements. We want you to create a piece that is interesting because of the texture, pattern and value contrasts.

The kit contents contain a variety of threads, yarns, and fabrics. Add other textures from your stash to give yourself enough materials to be inspired. Think about dimension and pattern, contrast and focal point. How will your piece be interesting and draw the viewer in without using color?

Use basic embroidery stitches or teach yourself some new ones. We have included a couple of websites that will give you lessons on embroidery as well as our own stitch glossary:

www.needlenthread.com/video or

www.needlecrafter.com/stitches

If you want, use your machine to complement your handwork.

For design composition inspiration, learn about zentangles - a purposeful way of doodling. You can find great information at www.zentangle.com.

One of the threads in your kit is a polyester metallic blending filiament. It can be used with one of your other threads to add just a bit of sparkle to your embroidery. Susan used it in the leaf stitch of the flower petals.

For those of you who love handstitching this lesson will be a treat! For those of you who don't, you may find that even a little bit of embroidery on your art quilt will be enough to add texture and dimension in a way your machine stitching cannot. Have fun!

August Tart Kit: Sun Printing with Grids

2010-08-18T20:52:00.000-06:00

Sue used craft foam for printing a grid onto her fabric. She blended two paints to give the two-toned color to her piece. With this month's kit, you will take advantage of the summer sun and print on PFD fabric using Setacolor. This is a transparent paint and works terrific to create silhouettes on fabric. The technique is very easy, so to give you a challenge we want you to work with grids - the fencing included in the kit to print with or in your composition's design.

You will be painting the diluted Setacolor onto wet fabric which you have laid on a hard surface. Unless your surface is already in the sun, it will need to be portable in order for you to move the fabric outdoors to the sun.

Diluting your Setacolor will determine the intensity of the color. The photo below shows two greens with different dilutions. Add water to get the value you prefer.

Once the fabric is colored and still wet, lay your fencing on top and put it all into the sun. The fencing must touch the cloth in order to get a defined line. You may need to soften the plastic in order for it to lay flat.

Once the paint has dried, remove the fencing to see your gridded silhouettes. Heat set the paint with your protected iron.

As you will observe, the area open to the sun stays dark, while the area covered by the grids fades to a lighter color.

We have included craft foam if you want to make your own grids. In the photo following, squares were cut from the foam and placed on the fabric. When the fabric dried and the squares were removed, the results look a little like bright windows.

The reverse image could be made by cutting the foam into this shape.

Try printing with other grids such as rug canvas, plastic needlepoint canvas, screening, other interesting fencing materials or cut your own grids as Sue did with her sample at the top of the page.

July's Tart Kit: Fused Collage

2010-07-20T21:12:00.000-06:00

In the Tart kit for July, we have gathered items for a quick fused collage. If you choose, there doesn't have to be much sewing. In fact, the piece could just be matted and framed. This exercise will give you an opportunity to practice composition and design.

You will be layering your collage elements onto a piece of hand painted cotton. Press out the wrinkles and lay the background on your protected ironing board.

Split the piece of Misty Fuse into two equal pieces. Cover the background with one piece. Misty Fuse is a wonderful fusible that allows you to fuse open-weave fabrics without obscuring the transparency.

Position the cheesecloth, Angelina, ribbons and the picture which you have isolated and cut out on top of the Misty Fuse. You can add any other elements as your eye demands.

When you are finished arranging, lay the second piece of Misty Fuse over the collage.

And finally, lay either piece of tulle over the Misty Fuse. With your iron protected with the freezer paper, press your piece to fuse the elements together. Embellish with the gemstones and any other stitching you desire. This piece can be quilted with binding or matted and framed.

June's Tart Kit: Stacked Silk

2010-06-23T21:55:00.000-06:00

Sue Anne created this little piece with three of the four stacked silks. Once the silk has been painted and heat set it can be cut up and used in your art piece.

Before you begin, the piece of raw silk will need to be rinsed and dried before you apply the Dyn-a-flow. This allows the paint to flow better. See the example below.

In this lesson you will stack the four different types of silk into one pile. It doesn't matter which piece is on top. You may want to experiment with placing different silks in different orders. It is important that you use a fair amount of paint in order for it to soak through to the last silk on the bottom. We found that we were more successful when we allowed the tip of the Dyn-a-flow bottle to touch the silk itself during the application. Each layer will take the paint a little differently with the top layer having more "white" space than the successive layers.

Leave the silk in its stack until it dries and then heat set it with your iron. Once set, it is ready to be used.

Of course, each piece of silk may be painted with the Dyn-a-flow separately. However, there is more serendipity in letting the paint do its thing in the stack!

May's Tart Kit: Molding Paste

2010-05-20T16:33:00.002-06:00

This month's kit includes a lesson for using light molding paste on fabric. The following photos will show you a variety of ways to use it to provide texture to the surface of your art quilt. The paste can be applied directly to the quilt or you can can create an applique on another fabric which you would cut out and sew onto the surface of your quilt. The paste can be colored before application with any acrylic paint or painted after it has dried. Experiment with color and values.

Molding paste has been used by artists for years on canvas to add texture to a painting. It is light as air and will spread easily with a palette knife or your finger. Once dried, you can sew through it easily. It remains flexible and add very little weight to your quilt.

Using a stencil is an easy way to apply a motif. Generally, your paste will be as thick as the stencil, but you can play around with adding more paste before removing the stencil. Try cutting your own motif in the blank stencil plastic included in your kit.

Use the palatte knife, fork or other tools to create ridges and shapes.

Try the damp sea sponge to apply the molding paste.

While the paste is wet, press beads, yarns, shells, or other small items onto the surface. Add texture with bubble wrap or netting.

Add a second color, or thin the paste and apply to a motif in the fabric by brush.

After you have finished with your design, let the molding paste dry completely. The time it takes will depend upon how thick it has been applied. Sew it in place if you have created an applique or add thread details.

Sue's dahlia was shaped on a piece of muslin with the white molding paste. Once dry, she painted it the beautiful blue and once that was dry, she cut it out to use as an applique. It was stitched onto her sandwiched quilt to create the petal detail.

April Tart Lesson: Metal Tags

2010-04-21T22:11:00.005-06:00

This month's Tart lesson will have you repurposing countertop sample tiles into art quilt embellishments. We have included a variety of items for you to use to decorate the tiles: metal tape, rhinestones, wire, wire mesh, silver paper, paper doily and a metal wax finish. The idea is to go crazy covering these little tiles and then use them in an art piece in some form or fashion. Samples of the metal tags the four of us made one morning are pictured below to help get you started. Have fun!

March Tart Lesson: Pantry Dyeing

2010-03-17T06:22:00.006-06:00

Susan's small sample shows the variety of materials that can be dyed with everyday "dyes" that might be found in your pantry. Using coloring agents found around the house to color trims or embellishments can be easy and allows you to add interest to an art piece without much effort.

In this month's kit are a number of materials for you to dye. Each will yield its own special color depending on the type of dye you use so it will be worth experimenting with each type of material. Besides what is in the kit, try using wood, buttons, plastic pearls, handmade paper, batting, laces, pompoms, cotton doilies. We did not include any setting agent or fixative so be aware of the colorfastness of your results.

The "dyes" included in your kit are coffee, red zinger tea, paprika, tumeric, and two colors of Kool-aid. You will mix the contents of each dye with 1 cup boiling water. Add the material to be dyed. Depending on the amount of fabric, you may need to add more dye and water. Saturation of color will depend on the amount of dye used - again a part of your experimentation. The fabrics will dye better if there is enough water for them to "swim". Soak the materials for 30 minutes, remove from the dye water, and let dry completely.

You may get a more intense color if you simmer your materials in a pan over heat for 30 minutes. The Kool-aid will dye protein fibers such as wool or silk, but only stain vegetable fibers. The colors on wool or silk will be more permanent.

Tumeric yields a vibrant yellow color.

The following pictures show our results for the different dyes. Paprika gives a rusty brown.

Instant coffee gives a light brown.

Red Zinger tea gives a mauve.

Tumeric gives a golden yellow.

And depending on the color of the Kool-aid, the dyed materials will be bright and clear. Use only unsweetened Kool-aid. Theses samples were dyed with cherry and lime.

February Tart Lesson: Embossing Bamboo Batting

2010-02-17T13:39:00.006-07:00

Who says batting has to be used only as the middle of a quilt sandwich? This month's Tart lesson will have you texturing and coloring bamboo batting to use on the surface of an art quilt. Sue Anne used a floral texture plate to emboss a piece of bamboo batting. In this sample she used dye and Lumiere to color it, then quilted and beaded it. This is piece with textue and interest.

The materials you will use include bamboo batting, a texture plate, textile medium, dye and paint. It is important to use what seems to be the wrong side of the batting in order to get a good impression. This side will have flecks of bamboo and a rougher look and it will be placed next to the texture plate. The side you don't use is clearer in color and smoother. The texture plate in the kit isdesigned for rubbing so it is heat sensitive. However, with a careful hand you can use it in this application by not overheating the batting when you make the impression. Mix the textile medium with water 1:1 and fill the mini-mister. Spritz the "wrong" side of the batting until the batting is moist; do not saturate.

Lay the texture plate onto a protected hard surface. Cover it with the wet side of the batting and cover with a piece of parchment paper. Using an iron set on cotton, press firmly for about 2 seconds. Use a little pressure in order to get a good impression. Try other textures such as a metal grids, or rubber stamps, or wooden print plates, or a heavy doily, or found objects. Be aware of the heat issue.

Let the batting dry completely.

Now you can color the batting. Mix the dye with water to the saturation of your choice and spritz or brush the color onto the batting. You may also use paint that has been diluted. The amount of color you use will be your choice. The depressions will be more visible if you do not oversaturate the batting.

When the paint has dried, you may apply highlights of a second color such as Lumiere. Use a dry brush application to just hit the high areas.

Adding color to the textile medium and water mixture will eliminate a step in this process. Once embossed and colored, the bamboo batting can become a wonderful textured background.

January's Tart Lesson: Gelatin Plate Printing and Reverse Applique

2010-01-21T16:32:00.008-07:00

This month we are giving you the materials and instructions for two lessons: gelatin plate printing and reverse applique. The sample above was completed by Susan and Sue Anne. Sue Anne made the fabric print and Susan reverse hand-appliqued the black top and finished the little quilt. The painted design in the print shows through in an interesting way.

Dissolve the gelatin in water in a pan on top of the stove. Pour it into a bowl or plate where it will cool in the refrigerator. When cool, unmold it unto your work surface and get ready to print.

With the textile paints, squeeze out a design directly onto the gelatin. Lay the PFD fabric over the paint and press lightly from the center out. Carefully lift the fabric from the gelatin and allow to dry completely. You may want to cut your fabric in smaller, workable pieces. You may print successive prints but each will be lighter as you remove some paint from the gelatin each time you print. More paint can be added as necessary. However, no two prints will be exactly the same.

When the print has dried completely, heat set the paint with your protected iron. You can add more paint to the surface without affecting the original print. Below, I painted a wash of textile paint mixed with water over the first print to color the white background.

The gelatin plate can be used over and over. Wash the surface carefully with a wet sponge or paper towel.

Experiment with various designs and textures. The softness of the gelatin plate will allow you to get some depth in your prints. Use different tools to remove paint or lay a resist over the plate before adding paint. Here, I used a paint brush to make random circles, followed with "drips" directly from the paint bottle.

Here's the orginal print, followed by the same print with a blue wash over the background.

Below is an example of giving my print some texture. I used a large-tooth comb to make a narrow grid. It is followed by my first printing, then my second printing. Notice how much paint was removed with the first print.

When you are done printing, clean the gelatin plate and save in the refrigerator. It should keep for quite awhile. NEVER, put the gelatin plate down the drain. Throw it away when you are through with it.

Reverse applique is a technique where instead of sewing a motif to the top of a background, you are cutting away the top layer to reveal another fabric beneath. In this lesson, we have given you black cotton for the layer you cut away and you will use your printed fabric for the layer beneath. Reverse applique can be done either by hand or by fusing. We recommend fusing if you are new to this technique or if your design has very small cut-outs.

Draw your design onto the non-shiny surface of freezer paper. Remind yourself about the areas that will be cut out by marking the area with an X.

Cut out along the drawn lines and discard the inner shape and keep the larger piece.

Iron a piece of fusible web to the wrong side of the black fabric. Leave the paper on for the time being. Iron the freezer paper pattern to the front side of the black fabric.

Use the chalk to mark the edges of your cutout. For large areas, the chalk just needs to run along the edge. Remember, you will be discarding the inside shape.

Carefully, remove the freezer paper from the front and the fusible web paper from the back.

With sharp scissors, cut out the design along the chalked edge. If you were reverse appliqueing by hand, you would leave a small seam allowance. Once you have removed the black fabric from inside your chalk lines, press it to your printed fabric.

You are now ready to layer the piece with batting and a backing and machine quilted around the design edges. You can either use a straight stitch or satin stitch or buttonhole stitch. You might even use embroidery floss to add a textured edge. Complete a whole cloth quilt or incorporated this technique into a larger design. Doesn't it remind you of grade school where we colored a background sheet of paper and then painted it with black paint and scratched away a design. Have fun!

December's Tart Lesson: Bedazzling Beads

2009-12-17T13:59:00.011-07:00

Bedazzling beads are strung with round commercial beads to decorate this Christmas tree. Sue made a dozen embossed felt beads and then embellished this holiday quilt as an example of using this month's lesson.

This easy project will have you rolling and melting! The supplies in the kit for the most part can be melted and/or painted and embossed and then melted. Work carefully, protecting yourself with a respirator and working in a well-ventilated area. You will be making beads by rolling any of the materials onto a skewer, securing with either glue or a straight pin and melting the roll together. The kit lesson includes a triangle shape to use or design your own. A rectangle shape will give you a bead that is kind of clunky where the triangle shape gives you tapered ends. Experiment with different shapes. Any of the materials can be altered before rolling them, but we found that sometimes the paint interferes with melting. Again, experiment. Making beads is quick and easy so you won't be spending alot of time trying out any of the fabrics or papers. The photo below is a sample of the different materials made into beads of different shapes and sizes.

For illustration purposes we are showing the Kunin felt rolled and melted. The felt was cut into a long skinny triangle and rolled around the skewer and secured with a pin. Next it was heated with a heat tool which melted it. The bead can then be left as it is or painted.

Or you can paint the rolled bead before melting it. Here it has been painted with the silver acrylic paint, covered with gold embossing powder ready to be melted.

The felt was layered with a few angelina fibers and organza before being cut into a triangle. It was then melted as one unit.

Make lots and lots of beads to keep with your stash of embellishments, ready to be sewn on the next art quilt you construct!

November's Tart Lesson: Painted Fusible Web

2009-11-20T16:54:00.005-07:00

In this month's kit, you will be experimenting with coloring fusible web to use on the surface of your art piece. Instead of using the fusible web as a bonding product between two pieces of fabric, you will color it and leave it exposed to add color, texture and depth. The fusible will be a bit sticky when it is first applied to the surface but will lose that tackiness over time. However, remember that any time heat is applied to the fusible web, it will once again become sticky. Protect your iron!!

In the kit you have a piece of Wonder Under which is the fusible web with a paper backing. You will paint the web with a watery mix of acrylic paint. As the glue layer (the web) becomes wet it will partially lift off the backing and ripple. This is a good thing! Try painting two or more colors and see what happens when they bleed together. When the paint has dried, you will iron the web to a piece of background fabric. Cover with parchment paper and iron with a dry iron. Let it cool a bit and remove the backing paper. The results will look like the photo below.

To use the second piece of fusible web, you will be working with Misty Fuse which is the web without a paper backing. You can color Misty Fuse by immersing it in diluted fabric paint (Setacolor, Dye-na-flow, etc.) or diluted acrylic craft paint. We have included a jar of Pearl Ex Powder to add glitz to the Misty Fuse. Put a small amount of the powder into a ziplock bag, add a piece of Misty Fuse and shake the bag to adhere the powder to the web.

Take the Misty Fuse from the bag and lay onto your piece of fabric. With a pressing sheet over the top, fuse with a dry iron.

Try adding a small amount of water to the powder in the bag before you add the Misty Fuse and agitate to color the web. Take it out of the bag and let dry. Fuse to fabric. This gives a more spotty, but shinier look.

You can add foil to the fusible web that is adhered to the fabric in two ways. Lay the foil pretty side up over the fusible web and iron very lightly with an iron to get an overall foiled look. Don't use too much pressure or you will lose your painted web. Protect your iron!

Or iron the foil with the side of your iron to get stripes.

Try trapping fibers and snippets of stuff under the fusible web. Write, draw, or stamp on the fusible web. Mix Pearl Ex Powder into the acrylic paint to add sparkle and shine.

October's Lesson: Covered Cording

2009-10-19T21:07:00.007-06:00

This month we will be giving you instructions to cover cording in a number of ways. Included in the kit are different widths of cording, threads, yarns, beads, and ribbons with which to cover them. Many of the examples we describe can be used with any of the cording, so mix and match to suit your style!

Cording can be covered with thread. Try zigzagging over the narrower cords using your machine and different types of thread. You may have to reduce the pressure on your machine's pressure foot, use a cording foot, or use your darning foot in order to cover the cord. Experiement with verigated thread or mix your top and bobbin threads.

Tear strips of fabric, twist and cover with machine zigzags.

Cords can be covered by tying a half-hitch knot over them. Use embroidery floss or yarn.

Cords can be wrapped with ribbon or fabric. Hold the wraps in place by either machine zigzagging or by hand.

Use the ribbon to weave two yarns together.

Treat the cord as trapunto to create lines in your fabric.

The cord can also be covered with beads. Arrange the cording on the surface of your piece and baste in place. It will probably be placed onto a finished quilt as an embellishment and in that case, you would want to use a hoop that was large enough to contain the entire beaded cord. For practice, use the fusible web and pellon that is included in the kit and fuse them to the fabric for a stablized surface.

Bring up your double threaded needle next to the cording. String on the number of beads it will take to cover the cord from one side to the other. Come down on the opposite side, pull snuggly and come again next to the first stitch.

You will come back to finish this end, starting next to the last row of beading. When you get to the end, finish off by gradually decreasing the number of beads you put onto the needle.

Use several cords together to tie around a journal cover. Or use the cords to add texture and dimension to the finished piece. Or incorporate the cords as design elements. Try the different widths of cords in as many ways as you can imagine until you find a favorite.

September's Lesson: Silk Paper

2009-09-16T17:38:00.006-06:00

Sue Anne has made silk paper to use as a fabric for this beautiful evening bag. The silk paper was layered with batting and a silk lining and quilted. It was then embellished with beads and a few silk appliques.

This month you will be making your own silk paper. The kit includes several types of silk fiber as well as some silk ribbon scraps. You will be using textile medium as the bonding product. Silk paper is made by laying silk fibers side by side onto netting fabric (we have included tulle), adding bits and pieces of other silk, or ribbon, or feathers, angelina, sequins, beads, dried flowers, seeds, threads, etc, and adding additional layers until you get the density of paper you want. It is important to build up the layers rather than starting with a too heavy piece of silk fiber. Once the fibers are in place, you will cover with your netting to control the fibers and saturate with water mixed with dishwashing liquid. Once it is fully wet, you will paint on the medium, let dry, remove the tulle or netting and then use however you would like.

The following pictures show you the layering process. Never cut the fibers, always pull them apart. Be sure to leave a margin around the tulle. Since you will be working with water, make sure you are working on a protected surface. The first photo shows the first layer; the second photo shows the second layer which is laid on top of the first in the alternate direction.

If you want, add your bits and pieces. Shape the silk fibers, lay the ribbon on top of the fibers or let snippets of ribbon fall whereever.

Cover the top of the silk fibers with another piece of tulle. You will have a tulle sandwich. With water mixed with a small amount of dishwashing liquid, paint over the fibers on top of the tulle, turning the sandwich over to make sure the piece is fully saturated.

Clean your brush and saturate the fibers with the textile medium. If you use the medium straight out of the bottle, it will have a stiffer hand than if you dilute it with a little water. Your choice. Experiement to find what you like best.

Find a good drying spot. Use a cookie cooling rack, a terry cloth towel, or make yourself a screen drying rack by covering an old picture frame with screening. Let your piece dry completely. The tulle should pull off when the silk is dry. However, you can leave the tulle if you would like.

The silk fibers can also be bonded with paper or cotton.

Use your paper as a background or as fabric within your artwork.

This last piece was done using only the short fibers call throwster or waste. It incorporates snippets of silk ribbon and some curly mohair.

The size of the piece is limited only by the amount of silk fibers and your tulle.

August's Lesson: Texted Collage

2009-08-18T18:58:00.004-06:00

This month we want you to use lettering and text as the primary design element. The kit includes a pen and stencil, tissue paper, a page from a book, dye, and a primed canvas background. The texted collage can then be used either as the whole quilt or as an applique or part of a larger piece.

First you will color the primed canvas with the dye. Dilute a small amount of the dye to the intensity you would like with water and apply with the foam brush and/or the mini-mister that is in your kit. Once the dye is dry, write across the background with the Sharpie pen. Write words, sayings, a recipe, a letter, anything that suits your fancy. Much of this writing will be covered with layers of paper, stamping, or paint. The text will become a subtle background element.

Dilute the Elmer's glue with water, one part to one part. Use the glue to adhere pieces of tissue paper, magazine or book text, computer printing, the top ply of decorated paper napkins or other bits and pieces. Cover the top with the glue, decoupaging it all to the canvas. If you'd like, while the glue is still wet, spritz more dye onto the surface.

When the surface has dried, add stamped images or words with ink or paint. The finished canvas may be cut and stitched.

This project is your chance to "make a statement"! It can truly be a one-of-a-kind piece especially if you have incorporated your own hand writing.

July's Lesson: Blue Glue Batik

2009-07-20T22:10:00.005-06:00

This month's kit is a lesson on "batiking" with using Elmer's blue glue as a resist. The kit contains fabric, glue, fabric paint, and brushes. You may use the glue to draw, doodle, stamp or paint on the fabric. When the glue dries it will resist any paint that is brushed onto the fabric. In Sue's mountain scene, the glue is used to outline the mountains and to create the fence. Once the glue has dried, Sue painted the sky, the mountain, and the foreground with fabric paint. When the glue is rinsed out, it leaves the white, unpainted lines. In this piece, the fence then was colored with watercolor pencils. Machine quilting added the finishing details.

Create a whole cloth picture by outlining shapes with the tip of the bottle.

When the glue has dried, color each section with fabric paint. Lightly spritz the fabric in order to allow the paint to flow into each section. Allow the paint to dry thoroughly and then iron it with a protected iron in order to set the paint. Soak and rinse your piece to wash out the glue. Dry and press.
Doodle with the glue on a piece of white fabric. When the glue has dried, apply a wash of paint over the entire piece, allowing multiple colors to bleed together.

Your fabric can be painted or dyed before you begin the batik process. In the example below, by stamping with the glue and then painting a second color over the entire piece, the initial color will become visible when the glue is rinsed out.

In this last example, multiple layers of glue and paint have been applied to the fabric. After brushing glue onto the fabric and painting, the process can be repeated several times once the first layer has dried and been washed out.

You have now created pieces that may be incorported into a larger piece or cut into shapes for piecing or applique.

June's Lesson: Block Printing

2009-06-25T18:06:00.006-06:00

In this lesson, you will be making your own stamp by carving an eraser or gluing craft foam to a plexiglas square. A fabric marker will be your ink. The Sunshine Square above was printed with the sun motif made from craft foam, a button, and a square of corrugated cardboard.

The four examples of carved erasers show two curved desgns: the scroll and the leaf. The scroll is the design or the positive image. The background of the leaf is the printed area and the leaf outline becomes the negative image. The last two motifs are geometric. By not cutting more than half way through the eraser, you will be able to have two designs. Apply the ink from the marker's brush end and stamp. Examples of the images stamped on fabric follow.

The cork that was included in the kit can be used to mount small objects that have an interesting design. The ink is applied to the object and then printed.

Cut shapes from the craft foam and glue them to the plexiglas, apply the ink and stamp.

May's Kit: Circles Make the World Go Round

2009-05-21T17:33:00.004-06:00

This month is a departure from the usual product or technique lesson. You will be concentrating on using a shape as inspiration. This will give you a chance to work on your design skills. Use the circle in some way in your composition.

Your circular tin contains, polka-dot fabric and ribbon, buttons, sequins, chipboard circles, and a compass. Use any of the contents for inspiration or decoration. As you think about circles, consider finishing your piece in a circular shape, using a circle theme, using various sizes of circles in the design of the composition, using fabric, ribbon, trims, etc printed with circles to construct the composition, or using circular elements for embellishment. Have fun. Try not to go around in circles!!

April's Kit: Putting on the Glitz

2009-04-22T14:27:00.004-06:00

This month's kit contains several options for glitzing your art pieces. To give these Easter baskets some sparkle Sue Anne outlined the shapes with glitter and added Fashion Beadz around the top edge.

In this kit you will find art glitter, Fashion Beadz, a glitter pen, and glitter glue. This is an easy lesson, but gives you the opportunity to try these products and add a little sparkle to your work.

To use the glitter glue, snip off the tip and apply the glue onto the fabric. You can either use it straight from the tube or apply it with a paint brush. Pour the art glitter onto the glue and shake off. You will want to work over a protected surface. Fold a piece of paper in half and shake the glitter over it. The crease will make it easier to pour the glitter back into the bottle. The glue will dry clear and it is washable.

The Fashion Beadz are a bead "soup" immersed in glue. When the glue dries clear the beads will be attached to your fabric. Use the craft stick to place on your piece.

To use the glitter pen, drag it across your fabric. The glue will dry clear, but it is not washable. Have fun and do get carried away!

March Tart Kit: Starch Crackle

2009-03-18T18:59:00.004-06:00

This month will be an experiment with starch crackle. The kit contains PFD fabric, Dye-na-Flow paint, wheat flour and rice flour. The process will take several days so be prepared!

Prepare your work surface. Tape the PFD fabric down. Mix the flour according to the directions in your kit. Make sure there are no lumps. It should resemble pancake batter. Pour it along the top edge of your fabric and with the card pull the batter down the length of the fabric until there is an even layer of flour paste on the fabric. If you want to make a picture, with the craft stick, make your mark before the flour paste dries. As the paste/fabric dries, it will curl and become hard. This usually takes overnight.

When the paste has dried thoroughly, remove the tape and crinkle the fabric to create hairline cracks in the flour. The more you crinkle, the more cracks. Snap the fabric and brush off the excess flour dust.

Retape the fabric for painting. The paint you use needs to be very watered down - the consistency of milk. Dye-na-Flow is perfect. It does not need to be thinned. However, an acrylic will need to have water added to get the correct consistency. Without putting too much paint on the brush, brush paint over the surface of the flour. Be careful about oversaturating. If the back gets solid looking, you have overpainted.

This is an example of the back of a piece that has been painted.

You now must let the paint dry and cure for at least 24 hours. You will not be able to heat set the paint before it is washed so the longer you wait between painting and washing the better the color. Soak the painted fabric in water to remove the flour paste. Wash thoroughly with a little soap, rinse, and dry. Press the final piece.

Use this one of a kind fabric however you like. It can be overdyed, painted, stamped, or foiled before sewing into your art piece.

February's Tart Kit: Air Dry Clay

2009-02-20T12:06:00.005-07:00

This month the kit includes air dry clay, a mold, and wire. You can embellish your art quilts with a face or figure from the mold, a bead or button or imprint from a molding mat all made from air dry clay. However, you do it, the result is lightweight and easy to attach. Air dry clay does not need to be baked. It will not stick to your skin or clothing and it does not crumble. You will find that it is very easy to use.

To use the mold, roll the clay into a ball the size of the impression you are going to use. Press it into the mold completely, building from the bottom out to the edges.

Place the mold with the clay in it inside a freezer for at least 90 seconds. Pop your design out of the mold by pushing gently from the back side, like you would pop out an ice cube. At this point you can add more details, or alter the molded piece. Let dry for at least a day, then it can be colored.
To use a stamp, roll out the clay to the thickness desired. If you are going to use a rubber stamp, it's a good idea to sprinkle a little cornstarch or baby powder on the stamp so it will pull away from the clay more easily. Stamp the piece of clay and remove the stamp gently. Leave the piece on a flat surface to dry overnight before coloring.

To make free form embellishments, roll clay into a ball, or sculpt into a circle, oval, spiral, or any other shape you desire. Poke holes in the clay to make beads, buttons, or charms for stitching. Let dry and color.

The drying time of the clay depends on the thickness of the piece and the humidity. Color the clay once it has dried with any type of paint. Age the clay with ink pads, shoe polish, coffee or tea. Highlight recessed areas with colored pencils or chalks. Highlight raised areas with "Rub n' Buff". Attach your embellishment with thread, yarn, beads, or even glue. You will find that it will not affect the weight of your piece.

January's Tart Kit: Fabric Textures

2009-01-22T12:17:00.005-07:00

Sue Anne made this piece with a textured fabric as the background to the machine embroidered flowers. The folds and crinkles add a slight dimension to the surface behind the flowers.

This month the lesson covers four methods of creating texture to your fabric which will give your piece more tactile and visual appeal. The manipulated fabric can by your focal point or used for a more subtle background.

To pucker your fabric, you will layer a piece of nonshrinking fabric over the piece of diaper flannel. Stitch as desired and wash in hot water to shrink the flannel. This will cause the top fabric to pucker.

To bubble fabric: Lay a wet piece fabric like velveteen over a grid and push the fabric through the squares. You will start in the center and work out to the edges. The finished piece will be about half as large as the original fabric. While it is still wet, iron a piece of fusible interfacing to the back side and let dry. Carefully pull the finished bubbled fabric out of the grid.

Crinkling fabric: Wet a piece of fabric and squeeze out the excess moisture. Gather the fabric into folds and begin twisting until the fabric begins to curl up on itself. Keep twisting until it has become a ball. Push the fabric ball into the toe of a knee high nylon and dry thoroughly. When dry, remove the fabric and lay out. Determine the amount of crinkle you want and adhere a piece of interfacing to the back side.

Scrunching the fabric: Cut a piece of fusible interfacing and lay the fusible side up. Place a larger piece of fabric wrong side down and scrunch up the top fabric until it is roughly the same size as the interfacing. Lightly iron from the front. Turn over and finish pressing fully. Embroider with decorative threads.

December's Tart Kit: MagicStamp

2008-12-21T21:55:00.000-07:00

This month's lesson will be using a MagicStamp and ProFab textile paint to create images on fabric. Sue imprinted keys into her MagicStamp to print the center piece of the quilt above. As you can see, this printing will make a negative image as the paint on the stamp colors the fabric around the key. There is one key shape that is actually stamped. Sue put paint directly onto the key before printing.

You will start with a "clean" piece of blue foam - the MagicStamp, a rubber stamp, and ProFab textile paint. Heat the blue foam with a heat gun for about 30 seconds, being careful to not overheat it. Once heated, press it onto the rubber stamp and hold for 20 seconds. The stamp is now imprinted into the foam.

With a foam brush, spread the textile paint onto the foam and press onto fabric. For multiple prints, it is best to print before the paint dries - wet on wet. When finished with printing, let the paint image dry completely and then set it with an iron. If the printed fabric will be washed, let it set for at least 14 days before washing. The foam cleans easily with water.

Once you are done with one imprint and the foam is clean, use the heat gun again to "erase" the image. The MagicStamp is now ready to take another imprint. As long as you do not melt the foam, it can be used over and over. Remember to use both sides!

Besides using the rubber stamp, look for interesting textures and shapes in other objects. This old rusted wire basket will be imprinted after heating the foam.

Also in the kit is a length of weatherstripping which can be cut to make your own geometric, foam stamps.

Your cloth has been painted and stamped. By making your own fabric, you will be creating your own original quilted piece.

November Tart Kit: Angelina

2008-11-19T12:23:00.000-07:00

The kit this month gives you a chance to play with Angelina fibers and film and to use it as a design element in your next piece. The butterfly above was made by Sue using the Angelina film and Extravorganza. She sandwiched the printed butterfly between two pieces of film and pressed. She trimmed around the design just outside of the film edges which had adhered together. The sunflower was also printed on the Extravorganza and fused onto a yellow fabric, trimmed and appliqued to the background.

Angelina is wonderfully colored fibers and film that can be pressed, cut, sewn, stamped, painted, and much more. It has the ability to add sparkle and shimmer to the surface of a piece. The Angelina fibers in the kit are called hot fix and will adhere, generally, only to themselves. It is very important that you use a press cloth so that they don't stick to your iron or something that you do not want Angelina'd!

Take a small amount of fiber or a lot and arrange it on the press sheet, cover with another sheet and press for about 3 seconds on a silk setting. The more you iron, the more you change the surface of the Angelina - especially the color. Once it is pressed, it can be stitched, cut, or torn.

Angelina fibers can be mixed, or patterned.

Because Angelina sticks to itself, you can entrap yarn, fabric, or sequins between two layers, allowing the bottom and top fibers to come into contact.

By placing Angelina fibers between two pieces of water soluble stablizer, you can create a lacy effect. Wash away the stablizer and let the piece dry before you iron.

You can also press a sheet of Angelina, cut up and place with other snippets of yarns and threads between the water soluble stablizer and stitch.

The Angelina film will melt with the heat of the iron or a heat gun. Use it in strips to make beads. Or crumple it and iron it and it will look like crystals.

October Tart Kit: Pin Weaving

2008-10-15T18:13:00.000-06:00

This month's lesson will give you the basics of weaving on a portable loom as well as instruction on doing randon fabric weaving. Hopefully, the photos will make the written instructions a little more understandable. The first photo show the pins in place along a piece of graph paper placed on top of a foamcore board and a yarn wrapped around the pins. This is called warping the loom.

The warp thread can be split with a double row of pins allowing a slit in the weaving like a buttonhole. The weft material will split around the slit or it can be woven back and forth up to the slit.

By placing the outside pins in an irregular line, your finished piece will not be straight across. You will use the outside pins to create your finished edge so it can be exactly as you want.

The next photo shows two things: you may warp the loom with different types of thread (see the heavier, darker thread and notice it is split; and the placement of the weft material in an arc. Leaving the weft material in an arc will allow it to be "beat" into place without pulling in the side warp giving a more even weaving.

When the weft material is in place, use a comb or plastic fork to "beat" it into place. You can beat it as tight or loose as preferred.

By weaving a craft stick in your weave and standing it on edge, you will create a shed or opening that allows you to move your weft material across the weaving. This will help if you have a heavy yarn or weft material that will not pull through the warp yarns easily. Otherwise you may use the weaving needle to go over and under the warp yarns.

The following photo shows a mostly finished piece. Not the slit on the right, the uneven botton edge, the curves in the weft material, the variation of the widths of the weft materials, and the changes of weft material. Experiment with laying in a heavier weft and filling around with a lighter yarn.

This next photo shows the weaving of silk ribbon in a diamond shape. By placing the pins in a specific line, you may create pretty much any shape you desire.

In this next weaving, the weft materials are left loose as fringe along the top and bottom sides. The middle section was woven with a selvedge by taking the weft back across the warp in the opposite direction without breaking the thread. The weft can meet in the interior of the weaving - either separating with a slit or by crossing and integrating with the second color.

The alternate weaving option is to use random fabric weaving. Strips of fabric are laid across a piece of fusible interfacing. By lifting every other strip and laying a strip across the warp, the fabric is interwoven. The next row will be accomplished by lifting alternating strips. Once the piece is woven, press with the iron to adhere it to the interfacing and remove the pins.

Curves may be cut and interwoven. The trick is to cut the curved strips side by side and keep them in order! You will then put them back strip by strip in the original order.

In either method, experiment with different weaves. The basic weave is over one, under one, reversing in the opposite direction. A basket weave is over two, under two, reserving in the opposite direction. Try over one, under two. Once you have finished weaving, remove the pins. Integrate the piece into a larger quilted piece or use separately. Add texture to your weaving, by incorporating beads, wood, torn strips of fabric or paper. Dare to experiment!

September Tart Kit: Lutradur

2008-09-20T09:52:00.001-06:00

This month's kit contains a piece of Lutradur and several products that you can use to alter it. Sue made this little quilt by coloring the Lutradur with watercolor pencils, melting it, cutting it out and sewing it to her background piece.

This piece of Lutradur has been "washed" with the watercolor pencils and melted with a heat gun. Melting it gives a lacy effect.

After using watercolor pencils, a gold PaintStik was applied by rubbing it over a rub plate. It was then melted.

The Lutradur was dyed with a Procion dye. See how the dye concentrates along the spun fibers.

Sue made a sample of different paints on the Lutradur. The bottom was first covered with gesso - one and two coats. You can see the subtle differences. Make your own sample to keep as a resource.

Foil can be applied using a fusible web. While Lutradur has a matte finish, the foil adds glitz! Melt it afterwards for an interesting texture.

Lutradur can be printed on. The photo on the left is a copy on paper. The photo on the right is the same image on the Lutradur. Be sure to use a back paper in the printer as the ink will permeate the Lutradur.Jamie layed the printed image of Lutradur onto a background, batting and backing and stitched with threads and yarns. Where the Lutradur showed, it was melted out, leaving the background cotton showing through. It was then incorporated into a finished piece.

August Tart Kit: Sheer Sensation

2008-08-18T23:28:00.000-06:00

Our lesson this month comes to us courtesy of Peggy Holt. Her use of sheer fabric over silk flowers and colorful threads was featured in a past issue of Quilting Arts magazine. We have designed our kit to make use of her techniques. The above quilt was made by Peggy.

You will begin by layering a muslin backing, piece of batting, and a colorful background. We have included our hand-dyed cottons for this purpose. You may construct a background by stitching or by collaging the cotton. This background piece should be centered on the batting with a couple of inches margin. Lay the piece of organza over the top and baste at the top edge.

Pull back the organza to reveal the background. Lay the silk flowers and threads in a pleasing arrangement. You may want to spray baste these items to hold them in place.

Pull the organza down over the silk flowers. The organza will be a few inches larger than the background.

Quilt around the silk flowers and add decorative stitching. As you quilt the piece, the extra organza will pleat and fold. By stitching around the silk flowers, they will become more visible under the organza.

When you are finished quilting, you may bind this small piece or incorporate it into a large compostion. Try experimenting with other brightly colored backgrounds, silk leaves, and other colors of organza. This last quilt is another example of Peggy's use of a sheer fabric over silk flowers.

July KIt's: Discharging with Bleach

2008-07-15T18:12:00.001-06:00

This month the lesson involves bleach pens and discharging the color from a piece of black fabric. The fabric in the kit is a Kona cotton and will bleach to a rust color. Other fabrics that you try may have different results. Experiment with both commercial solids and prints and hand-dyed cottons.

Before you begin, it is essential that your supplies are out and ready. Once you have put the bleach on the fabric, the only way to control the discharge process is to stop it by putting it into water. We have included some Anti-chlor for you to use in your second rinse, which should help to keep the bleach from destroying the fabric in the future. Be careful with the bleach as it will dry out your hands, bleach anything it touches, and interfere with your breathing if you inhale the fumes. The bleach pen makes the chlorox easier to handle than straight bleach and has less odor. To prepare your rinse water, fill two containers with warm water: one water only and one with the Anti-chlor (about 1 tsp to 2 gallons). When you finish discharging, you will drop the fabric into the straight water to stop the bleaching process and then rinse well in the Anti-chlor water; then wash well with soap and water. Dry and press and use as one-of-a- kind fabric.

Use the bleach pen to make designs. This bleach pen has both a narrow tip and a wide one. Work fast as the first mark will bleach more than the last! A foam brush dipped in the bleach gel or staight bleach will also leave designs.

Squeeze out a small amount of the bleach pen onto a palette and dip a stamp into it and then onto the fabric.

Cover the fabric with tape and brush the bleach pen into the areas not covered by tape.

Bleach can be placed into a spray bottle and sprayed onto the fabric. You can discharge alot or little depending on the stream of the spray.

A large cotton doily was used as a resist for the bleach. Without totally soaking the doily, spray and carefully lift the doily off. Rinse immediately.

The black fabric can be wrapped or scrunched and then sprayed with bleach for a shibori result.

June's Tart Kit: Shaving Cream Marbling

2008-06-15T22:15:00.001-06:00

This month we are using foamy shaving cream to create a base for a marbled monoprint. The shaving cream will hold the thin paint while the untreated fabric is laid on top to print. Once the shaving cream has dried, the fabric is heat-set and washed. You have just made your own one-of-a-kind print!Spread the shaving cream in a thick layer onto a covered surface. Smooth it out with a knife or straightedge.

Dribble the Dye-Na-Flow paint onto the shaving cream surface. The paint can be mixed in a separate cup before dribbling or it can be mixed right on the shaving cream.

Use a large toothed comb, chopsticks, or a knife to move the paint around, creating the marbling pattern.

When you are satisfied with your pattern, carefully lay a piece of untreated fabric on top of the paint. This is the back side of the fabric as it is laying on top of the paint. When you are satisfied with the saturation of the paint, it will be time to lift the fabric off.

As the shaving cream and paint dry, the print will become more clear. Once it is dry, heat-set the fabric between two press cloths. Then rinse the shaving cream out of the fabric.

Small objects may be placed on top of the painted shaving cream before printing. The shaving cream is firm enough to hold these objects.

This photo shows the back of the fabric on the shaving cream with the resists in place. They have prevented the paint from printing the fabric.

Once your fabric is printed, heat-set and rinsed, it is ready for you to use in piecing, applique, or garments.

May's Tart Kit

2008-05-20T17:49:00.000-06:00

The kit this month is filled with several types of fabric that can be used in an inkjet printer. We are assuming you are familiar with your printer and can create an image. If you have a scanner or copier connected to your printer, your options for images increase. Besides the photos you take yourself, try using copyright free images from the web. Scan or copy objects directly to the fabric. Print large images in smaller sections and sew them together. Make landscapes, postcards, collages, doll faces, or create one-of-a kind fabric.

This is a copyright free photo that has been printed onto In Good Company's hand-dyed cotton, quilted, and finished as a postcard. This fabric has not been treated and so will fade over time.

This photo is a sampling of materials available for printing with an inkjet printer. The Bubble Jet Set can be used to pretreat any fabric before printing. This will allow the image to become more permanent and is recommended especially for prints that will be used in garments or in a quilt that will be washed. The Bubble Jet Rinse will help set the image. Fabric is also available that has been pretreated and is ready for printing. It just needs a sheet of freezer paper behind it to allow it to be run through the printer.

Jacquard makes a cotton sheet and an organza sheet for printing. These fabrics can be purchased with the freezer paper already attached. The organza makes a great overlay because it is sheer and translucent. To fuse over another image, use Misty Fuse.

Twill tape and silk ribbon can also be printed on. The trick is to print the words first onto a piece of computer paper. Using double stick tape or Steam-a-Seam 2, press the twill or ribbon over the already printed words. This will create a temporary bond that will allow the paper to be re-run through the printer. You can also iron the twill or ribbon to freezer paper (once you know where the words will print) and run the sheet of freezer paper through the printer.

In addition to the sheets included in the kit, silk for inkjet printing can be purchased. It is already adhered to the freezer paper and ready to print. It gives a wonderful image with a soft hand.

Experiment with the images and the fabric for printing and explore ways to use your prints in a composition.

April's Tart Kit

2008-04-15T19:11:00.000-06:00

This month, the kit gives us a chance to experiment with a textile tool and melt synthetic fabrics. There are several things that can be done with the tool and the photos below will illustrate them. Be careful with the tool, watch the fumes, and use a piece of glass as your work surface.

First of all, you can carve with the tool. One example is to layer polyester bits onto a piece of wool, cover it with a piece of organza, stitch and melt away the top layer or layers.

Another way to use the tool is to stitch a motif onto a piece of Kunin felt layered with one or more layers of organza and other synthetic fabric. Melt away either the positive or negative space to leave holes as in cutwork.

Use the textile to cut through the layers of synthetic fabric to make appliques that can be bonded or melted to another synthetic background with the tool. Make little pillows filled with confetti, etc.

Without melting through the fabric, "stitch" layers of organza together. Use as a background or as an applique or insert into a larger piece.

Because the edges melt together when you cut through two layers of organza, you can made little bags, or pleats as shown below.

And last but not least, use the textile tool to mark the Kunin felt with geometric lines and shapes.

March's Tart Kit

2008-03-13T16:35:00.001-06:00

The lesson for this month demonstrates two methods of felting: wet felting and needle felting. To wet felt, the roving is layered vertically and horizontally, and then wet with hot water and liquid soap, and then agitated between two pieces of muslin and bubblewrap.

Once it has been pre-felted, it can be fulled more completely with more agitation or with needle felting.

Using different colors of roving and yarn together, many interesting designs can be made.

These last examples show finished needle-felted projects. Notice the shading in the wool fruits.

February's Tart Kit

2008-02-21T15:15:00.000-07:00

This month the lesson is about image transfer using several acrylic products: gel medium, gesso, and acrylic paint. As an extra we added a piece of Bondex as an iron-on method. The basic instructions are to treat the right side of an image and/or background fabric with the acrylic product, place the "glued" image on the fabric background, let dry, and remove the paper backing by moistening and rubbing the back paper away. The "glue" of the acrylic product holds the image onto the fabric.

The back paper comes off in layers and may take several periods of wetting and rubbing before the image is as clear as you want it to be.

The image should be a photocopy, ink jet copy, or magazine or newspaper image: something with a fairly lightweight base paper. Use enough product to evenly coat your image in order to protect it when removing the back paper with water. In using the Bondex, iron the right side of the image to the Bondex and then remove the back paper with water.

The acrylic product you use will affect the backgound of your image. The gel dries somewhat clear, the gesso is white and of course the paint will show through the image.

This is Sue's finished collage of transfered images. She used both the gel medium and the gesso.