Have you ever.....

Spent a day getting organized so you could start bright and early the next morning?

Had your day planned down to the minute to get the most accomplished in the time you have?

Then have it all fall apart?

If so, you can appreciate my week so far.  Monday I did housework, got my work organized and laid out in stations so I could start with porcelain first, since it has to dry - then could move from project to project and was excited about all the creative time I had.  Tuesday morning I woke ready to go -- and boink!, the sky fell.  When I turned my work computer on at 9am nothing happened.  Tried again, and again, and again.  Checked everything you're supposed to check, opened it up and did some work there, but no luck.  Finally at 3pm and stressed out I called the repair shop and took it in, and that's where it went from bad to worse.  A fried mother-board right in the middle of a big work week.  While I love the latest and greatest computers, I hadn't planned to buy one right then.  With my blood pressure rising, I did some quick shopping, comparisons, a lot of talking with salespersons and I decided on one.  Left it there so they could do a data transfer for me, planning on picking it up this morning - no such luck.  It's still there, still transferring data.  So I spent another day doing errands and picking up some items I needed, which wasn't time wasted but also didn't get any projects completed.

Going to go to bed early and hopefully everything will go smoothly tomorrow and I can get back to work.  And how has your week been so far?

Monday

The beginning of a new week, and back to our normal routine.  We have been fortunate this summer to have so many family members visit us here in Missouri.  I've gotten to do a lot of antiquing, which has been fun since I don't normally have time to do that.  But all good things must come to an end, summer is winding down; everyone is getting back to school and back to work and I too, am getting busy with new projects for fall.

I'll be posting in the weeks to come about what I'm working on and some tutorials to go along with it.

A quilt for a new baby

I just realized it has been a week since I posted.  So here's a look at one item that has keep me busy.  A quilt for my niece's first baby.  Fell in love with this fabric in a quilt shop in Fort Bragg the last time we were there and found the backing fabric in a quilt shop here at home  A little pricey but it was so soft and luxurious I couldn't pass it up, plus it was a perfect color match.   It sat in my "someday" pile till the mail brought an invitation to a baby shower - a perfect time to use it :)  I used two layers of Warm & Natural since she will be a September baby, and will need a warm blanket when winter gets here :)  I had planned to embroider a label onto the back of the quilt, but couldn't get my sewing machine to co-operate so just added her name by hand :)  Kinsleigh Paige.  Wish now I had at least added the year but I can always do that another time.

Here is a close-up of one of the blocks.  I did some some easy Trapunto to give it dimension. I alternated the blocks, stuffing the bodies on one and the faces on the others.  Lady bugs too :)

When I finished the top I decided a few of the lambs were stuffed too full.  It looked cute but thought it might feel lumpy when the baby laid on it, so opened the backs and took out about half the fill leaving them just a little puffy.  I initially machine quilted around each block but that didn't look good on the back, so picked out all the quilting lines and ended up tying the quilt.  Instead of yarn I used silk embroidery ribbon, tying a little bow at each point.  To keep the bows from coming loose I went back and hand stitched each one down.  I've never done this before and don't know how the bows will look after a few washings, but if they get ragged I can easily replace them.  I've washed it a couple of times to be sure there was no sizing left in the fabrics so all that's left is to wrap it this morning, with a little lavender from my garden.  I think I'll look for some flannel to match the colors in the quilt and make a few receiving blankets for her when the baby comes.  It's going to be so fun to have a new baby to sew for!
                              

Ink Jet Printer "Transfer" Using Freezer Paper

As I said earlier, this isn't a true transfer but a method of printing directly onto fabric.  This is the one way I can get consistent results, in color.  You can use an image, a line drawing or a botanical as I have here.  I cut this fern frond and petunias from my garden minutes before printing them.  Arrange them on your printer screen and close the cover.

There are a few things to keep in mind:

• This only works with ink jet printers (Lasers use a powder toner)
• You must use Freezer Paper, not wax paper
• The smoother the fabric, the crisper the image

Prepare your fabric by ironing it as flat as possible, you don't want any wrinkles.  Cut the fabric and a piece of freezer paper slightly larger than 8.5 x 11".  Lay the freezer paper shiny side down, against the fabric and press till it adheres.

Use a flat edge with a roller cutter to get straight edges.
You don't want any threads dangling or crooked cuts.
You can use an 8 x 11" sheet of paper as a guide, I usually draw around it with a pencil on the freezer paper. Lay the straight edge on the paper - the fabric edge to your right.  Use pressure on the roller to keep it from slipping and cut through both pieces at once - just a hairs width inside the 8.5x11" line.  This gives it a little space as it runs through the printer.
You now have a piece of "paper fabric" which can be fed through the printer.  If you find the freezer paper comes loose, press it again and lay a book on top of it till it cools.  This helps it adhere and keeps it from curling.

Printing


This is what works best for me, you may have to experiment with your own printer to get the best results.Set printer for standard print

• If you have a setting for heavier paper, use it
• Fill the paper tray about half full.  Too much paper and it will jam - with no paper it tends to load crooked.
• Insert your sheet of paper fabric side down (if your printer prints this way)
• Arrange your image on the glass keeping within the guidelines and about 1/4" in from each sides to allow for a stitching line.

A couple of times my paper would come loose at the edge and twist in the rollers, leaving a permanent ink splotch on the fabric - upper left corner in this image.

I finally figured it was because the rollers were slipping on the freezer paper instead of grabbing it.  To solve this, I used some spray adhesive on the back side - just the top half - and pressed another sheet of plain paper against it.  There are probably several different ways you could do this, but this was easy and worked for me.  The paper fed through like a charm as you can see in the image below.  The image on the right is printed on white cotton, the one below on a tan cotton.  You can even print on colored or printed fabric, experiment to get different looks.

After this came through the printer I set it aside for the ink to dry then pulled the freezer paper away from the fabric.  It's now ready to be framed, use in collages, quilting - any number of things.

NOTE:  You can also use the full sheet labels, Avery is one brand.  They come 8.5x11" and have the adhesive already on them.  The down side is it's fairly expensive to experiment with.    Freezer paper comes on large rolls, isn't expensive and the cut sheets can be reused several times.

A break in the Heat Wave!

We finally had a good storm last night which has brought our temperature down a bit, which is very welcome.  Yesterday was 107, very hot for MO,  When we moved here 15 years ago it only got to 100 two or three times a year.  Last month we had 15 days of over 100 degrees.  Shades of California.  I remember the hot wind blowing and literally sucking the life out of the leaves on the plants.  We had power all through the storm only to lose it this morning for several hours.  Was a nice, quiet time to sit by the window and read the paper :) As always seems to happen the battery was low on my laptop as well as my phone.

I was skimming a book I've had for several years and came across a technique for enlarging an image that I had forgotten about.  Along the lines of enlarging with a grid, you cut an image into several pieces, put each piece on the printer and enlarge it.  Then line up the pieces, tape them together and you have your image enlarged, ready to transfer to your project.  The acetone method would work well here since it's easy to transfer a larger image.  I've not tried it yet, but I think it would also be a good way to use a larger image with an ink jet transfer.  I just happen to have a project that needed a little something extra and I liked an image I had on the clear transfer paper but at 8.5x11" it was too small for the canvas.  I hope to try this later today, either enlarging the line drawing I have - or - making several transfers and work them around on the canvas.  I'll post the results once I have it finished.

Roses, Roses, Roses

I can't not show you a few of my roses that are valiantly continuing to bloom even in this record breaking heat wave.  Even the Knock Out roses are showing the effects of the heat.  We don't have the big, gorgeous blooms like we did earlier in the year but they are still pretty and the fragrance is heavenly.  Enough to keep me going till it cools down enough for them to have another round of blooms before fall.  Behind the roses is a painting I did earlier this year of Pansies.

Forgot one

Forgot to mention the Gel transfers.  Apply a gel medium to the receiving fabric or paper, press the image over the gel and press down, I use a brayer to gently, but firmly, press so the transfer makes good contact with the gel.  The gel absorbs the toner ink.  Let it dry, preferably overnight, then moisten the paper side with water, beginning to gently rub the paper off the medium that remains.  Several ways to do this, I'll go into more detail in the tutorial.

Note, I used ModPodge for one, and it did transfer, but the resulting fabric was very stiff :)  I used it on a linen dish towel and I've washed and dried it a few times thinking the modpodge would eventually wash out but no luck.  The transfer is almost gone but the towel is as stiff as ever :)

Image Transfers

Friday again, how time flies when you're having fun, and that's what I've been doing this week.  For years I've transferred images to fabric, paper, wood - just about anything I could hold in place long enough.  However, I almost always used the original iron-on transfers we associate with T-shirts.  I've dabbled with this technique and that one but this week I got serious about finding which method works the best for me.  I've listed the methods I tested and will try and get more instructions up with the pictures next week.

I started with the Iron-ons, since I had some on hand, and they work fine - IF - you have an image you can trim and fussy cut.  Otherwise every bit of transfer adhesive will show on your finished piece.  So for transferring photographs or a mostly solid graphic, this is still a good choice.  The one thing to remember is you must need to have a very hot iron and apply pressure for 2-3 minutes for a good transfer, so your receiving fabric must be able to withstand the heat.

Next I tried several versions of the Acetone method.  This worked good for me.  The image is fainter, more of a faded, vintage look but it's fast and fairly easy.  The benefit is you can use it on larger pieces of fabric, larger graphics and/or items where a printer isn't feasible.

Freezer Paper, which is not exactly a transfer, rather a method of printing directly to fabric with your ink-jet printer.  If you have an image that is 8.5x11" or less, this makes the darkest and clearest transfer.

The Heat Transfer method was next in line.  A woodworkers transfer tool is used for this, it's similar to a wood burning tool and gets very hot!  Use with caution or you'll end up with burnt fingers and fabric.   I happened to have a Creative Mark set from Happy Hollow on the shelf, bought it a few years ago but never found a need for it.  Yes!  It had the tool along with 14 interchangeable tips and can be used on a variety of items including wood and leather.  The tip you use to transfer the toner is about the size of a nickel so if you're doing a large transfer it takes awhile.  You need time and pressure to make a good transfer with this.  The good news is, you can begin today, set it aside and finish the next day.

Ink-Jet Transparencies.  A couple of ways to use these, print on the right side (which is the rough side) then use a bone folder to rub the back and transfer the ink.  The other method is to print on the wrong side, then quickly press the ink against your fabric, lift the transparency and there it is!  Plus, you  can wipe off the remaining ink and use it again.  Very economical.

Note:  Some of these methods require a toner copy which you get with a laser printer.  Home laser printers have come down in price significantly, especially the black and white.  Or, you can take your original to a copy shop and have it printed there.  Instructions and images coming soon, if you have any questions sooner, just send me an e-mail.