May Monthend Marbling

Well, now that the orange jacket is complete, it is time to move onto the much anticipated turquoise jacket! I have been saving blue and green fabrics for a long time in anticipation! Of course, it was important to set my sights on some marbled fabric as well. I played around with some different colorings and techniques -- some worked, some didn't but I switched to a new batch of goop too.

One thing I have discovered is that adding the GAC900 to my Golden paints really speeds them up a lot. Don't know whether this is because they are thinner or because they have a bit of surfactant in them. The GAC900 is supposed to make the paints into textile paints although the consultant from Golden that I heard at a lecture said you didn't need it. I do think it keeps them open a bit longer.

I haven't been using any of the reds so may have to go back to those soon as I am tiring of the palettes I have been using lately. I also think I should get a high stool as I have to stand now to do my marbling and I would probably take longer and do more controlled color if I was using the eye dropper instead of the whisks -- but it is sooo much fun to use the whisks!

Browns and yellows. I added a little of the black pigment from Pro Chem and the raw umber went immediately to black! A little goes a long way. I have been using my old pigments and they work great!

More turquoise with a little green and purple thrown in. Not very exciting as not enough value shifts.

A green with some turquoise on top -- also not very exciting!

I am going to try some more of these to get the streams of color.

This one I did just for fun using all sorts of colors with the brown and then swirling them with a piece of straw. More like traditional marbling but fun!

The Beginning of the End of the Orange Jacket Challenge

Well, all of us are well on our way to completing the orange jackets so we can finally move on.... I got mine together and actually made the lining as well. When my dear husband saw it, his comment was "are you actually go to wear that?" He thought it was very busy which is not what I thought he would say at all. He said it must have been toned down from what it was originally -- it was. My friends were trying to convince me that it was safe to wear it in public but I am still not sure.

Anyway it is done and I lined it with lavender silk charmeuse. Priscilla is convinced it is just going to slide off when I put it on. The good news was that because I started the jacket last year, I had to take it in nine inches because of the weight loss. Even after I ostensibly finished it, I have still altered it more by appliqueing some new pieces over pieces on the back! Those narrow yellow stripes at the bottom are history. I did use quite a bit of my marbled fabric in the jacket. It only has three commercial fabrics in the whole thing -- the one that made the stack and whack hexagons , one red and one green. The rest are either hand dyed or marbled by yours truly. I must have 100 different greens and can always use more!

This is the back of Marcia's orange jacket which is taking on a rather navy bluish appearance but I can't talk. She made significant forward progress today and I think she will love this one when done! She has a number of openings of shows featuring her quilts that she needs to dress for!

This is the jacket that Priscilla is throwing into the ring as her entry into the challenge. She will definitely win the prize for using the most orange! Hers of course will be magnificent when done as all her garments are! Marcia's and mine have mysteriously taken on minds of their own.

This is a wonderful gift from Priscilla for my new beach house -- a handwoven rug from Equador that she found hiding in one of her closets. I had to get it out of Marcia's house quickly as she was definitely eyeing it for her house!! I LOVED the two kitties on it!! Warren says we must hang it on the wall and can't use it as a rug! Isn't it wonderful!! It is about 4 feet by 6 feet in size.

Third Day of the Orange Jacket Challenge....

Well, the same thing is happening to me that happened to Marcia and Priscilla -- my jacket is slowly but surely morphing into another color -- not by my hand but of its own volition! This happens frequently with quilts and I am finding the same is true of jackets....

This is Nancy C's jacket -- she is making progress and I think she will really like it when done. I loved her stripes!



This is Nancy H's kimono jacket -- one of two reversible ones she was working on today. She will be selling them at the Memorial Art Gallery show in September.


Priscilla is busily working on another rather laid back drab quilted jacket. When will she ever learn to lighten up!

These are the fronts and one of the sleeves of my jacket. It is beginning to look more like a green jacket than an orange jacket and I did take some flak for that! I did add quite a bit of my older marbled fabric to this jacket though which was fun!! You can see some of the ebru marbled flowers on the sleeve and right front (left in the picture).

This is the front and back of the jacket. I still probably will not wear it in public which is saying something for me!! I am returning on Saturday with the goal of finishing the jacket up and trying it on!

North Dakota Finally Came on Board!

Well, yes, I am a collector and one of the things I have collected is a running list of all the states and countries that have peered at my blog at one time or another. I have had 49 of the 50 states for about 9 mos (I just started collecting info about a year ago) but North Dakota never had any interest!! Well, this week someone from that state finally thawed and gazed at my blog!! So I can throw away my list!

The last couple of days plus tomorrow have been dedicated to making orange jackets -- this grew out of several jacket sessions we have had before where Marcia and Priscilla were determined to use some beautiful orange silk fabric. To date, the jackets have all ended up anything but orange and we can't move forward until we accomplish this task. Although I was not a part of this arrangement; coincidentally, I was actually making an orange jacket but couldn't seem to get it done. (Maybe my mother was right when she said that orange was the easiest color to get bored with.) So the orange jacket days were born.


Well here is the completed back and the beginnings of the front of my jacket. I am making use of some small hexagon Stack and Whack blocks I made a few years ago. Instead of a miniature quilt, they became the beginnings of a jacket.
This is a closeup of the middle of the back where you can see the little Stack and Whack hexagons. For awhile a few years ago, I was doing this block in all different sizes and colors. I probably made 25 of these in full size quilts, most of which I have since given away. It was like candy seeing how the radial symmetry would develop from the triangles -- hmm, has one compulsion taken over from another one? Hm........ Double click and you can see each of the hexagons which is about 3" x 3 1/2".
These are the fabrics and the beginnings of Priscilla's orange jacket. Some purple has crept in there as well (not shown yet).

Nancy didn't know we were doing orange jackets, but it is her favorite color and she had Priscilla's favorite animal on the beginnings of her jacket (tigers).

These are the beginnings (again) of Marcia's orange jacket. This is ultimately all her fault -- no one can move on and work on the turquoise jackets until the orange jackets are done.

This is Marcia with her new "Not Orange" jacket that she is making with fabric she got in Turkey. It is a lovely double faced jacquard and she is making it reversible.

Last Marbling for a Bit

Well back to some color today after doing a few more in the neutrals. I am about ready to refresh all the colors but won't be doing that until later this week. Time to make an orange jacket out of some old marbled fabric!

Always my favorite palette -- some blues, lavenders and then a little turquoise thrown in for good luck!

Back to brown swirls using my new needlepoint canvas "comb"!

Some fun with positioning the browns to try to make a little composition.

Brown stones!

Despite What Martha Stewart Says, It is Called Marbling, not Marblelizing!!

Well, sleep was interrupted by the sound of a critter somewhere in the walls of my house. Banging on the walls at 5 in the morning at least moved it to where I couldn't hear it scratching anymore. Warren will get to deal with that when he gets home -- just hope it isn't squirrels!

I worked the size right down to the bottom of the pan which makes cleanup a lot easier! Hardly any stuff to get rid of and proved to myself that as long there is size, there is a print and you can get really clean prints despite a very dirty looking size. The secret is definitely and for sure changing the rinsing water much, much more frequently than I did before! I am thinking that maybe a window screen would be even better and then I would gently pour some water over the print unfolded. As the print is wider than the bucket, some folding is inevitable. Things are looking pretty clean though! I am amazed at how the paints will stretch all out and then will contract even without adding other paints. Some of the paints that are stronger and already there will take over ownership once again. It is time to make some more size tonight. I have another six yards of fabric ready to be marbled.

You can see I am moving back to more color again with the neutrals as the backdrop. I only have one blue and one yellow that I have added though.

This is far, far too much fun -- too bad my hands can't stay cleaner -- my barrier cream will be here hopefully next week and that will make cleanup a lot easier!


Still more color.

My first print of the day today and sticking with the neutrals.

While Lunch was Burning...

Still on my jag of doing neutrals and have been having some fun! It would be nice if my size and the fabric would run out at the same time. I make more size and then more fabric and they never seem to end together so then I just keep doing more and more and more..... I think it is time that I found a stool to sit on down there as I do all marbling standing as my table is set high because of the dye painting it was designed for. My kitty is definitely helping me to type today as he is feeling a bit better which means he insists upon playing on my laptop (and I don't have the heart to throw him off even if it means he sets up 100 gadgets which he has done in the past).

The first of the neutrals where I added a teense of yellow into the mix of burnt sienna and burnt umber and black.


I liked this one particularly. I found that I really liked the ones with the Golden browns more than those that used a lot of the opaque blacks.


One with mostly greys and blacks and a teense of brown -- probaby because I don't clean the size each time!

One of my favorites of the two days.

Added a little blue, but the blue was so fast, it threatened to move out all the other colors (and I had thought the brown was pretty fast).


I am definitely having far, far too much fun and must start cutting into some of the old ones (and I have used quite a few in the pictorial quilts I have made in this last year but haven't made a sizeable dent yet). I am thinking some stand on their own as compositions and I might just try framing them and see how that looks (or pick out some great parts of some not so good ones for framing). I definitely like organic!

Lots of Color!

You will never guess what I have been doing today when not planting in the garden.....

I made some of the images smaller this time as there are so many of them. They really look better larger so you can double click on any of them! Don't want to run out of space and have to pay!

My way of working is basically to work in one pallette until the size is completely used up. I also work only with primaries although usually with more than one blue and red. It is really easier to work this way as you can adjust to how only a handful of paints are working and adjust accordingly.

You can see that I have been working with blues and purples primarily today while yesterday I was working a lot with yellows and greens. I was only using one blue yesterday, while I switched to about four different ones today. Each of these pieces is a fat quarter (18 x 22 inches). My favorite way of doing them is to put on tons of color, then compress the whole bath using either a piece of foamcore board or a piece of needlepoint canvas. I then let it sit for maybe a minute so it shifts a bit and then I sprinkle a brighter color that doesn't expand too fast on top. I might add that I NEVER clean the size between prints. I just dump on more color. Saves a lot of newspapers that way. These days if I get something that looks mildly interesting, I will take a print on some envelops that I keep by the tray! I am still naming my fabric prints and this is a dangerous sign...

I think I will start a new pallette tomorrow even though there is still size. Time to do some neutrals. This time around I have not been doing the ghost prints. I still have five more yards of fabric to do!

Time for an Intervention!

This is of course the newest picture of my smiling happy granddaughter! This must have been taken right after she talked with her grandma last week. She is just two months old now.


You know you have gone to far when you start naming your marbled pieces.... It is hard to stop when the size is behaving so well. I actually marbled until I was down to wrinkled plastic at the bottom of the tray and tried to get one last pair of socks from that but it wasn't very successful!





So I made up a fresh batch of methyl cellulose and alum this afternoon and shall be starting up again tomorrow as I have about 10 yards of treated fabric to play with again. The weather has been perfect for spending time outside if only to hang things on the line! Of course, it is planting time and we always have an annual bed in the front yard which is my job to plant this year as hubby is helping eldest daughter. So interspersed with marbling, the garden is going in, slowly but surely and my back is feeling it now!




A River Runs Through It

Water Lillies

Field of Poppies

I have overcome some problems I had in the past which I misdiagnosed!! After I had been using the size for awhile, I would get good prints but when they dried, they would be streaky and muddy looking. I had decided this was just what happened with opaque paints (lots of binder) and when the size got very, very shallow (1/4" deep). Well, Elin looked at the pieces which I brought in to class and said she thought I was washing too much!! Bingo! What was happening is that when I had some nice fresh size, I would go get a nice bucket of clean water for rinsing as well!! I just wasn't using a large enough bucket and wasn't changing the water frequently enough. This forced me to rinse more to get the excess paint off. I use a LOT of paint in my marbling. I had noticed that my "ghost" prints (the second or third ones you take from one surface) were always clean but they didn't have any excess paint, so I washed less.

The only one that I was dissatisfied with today was my initial "clean the surface of leftovers" print that I took first thing. Basically the paint was as good as hardened on the surface of the size and the cloth didn't absorb it well but it gave an interesting print and an effect I may play with some more.

No, Bill, I haven't forgotten your apron!