Nowadays, the fabric and textile printing always choose the digital textile printers. But at the same time, screen printing is also in used. So does the screen printer. Here's the latest quilt, completed today. Nearly all the fabrics were also stamped with Lumiere or Setacolor metallic paint. I really love the unusual color combination here. Nowadays, the fabric and textile printing always choose the digital textile printers.
As I lamented on Facebook, my hands are a mess. Someday they hurt more than other days, usually I just push through it because, let's face it, I'm not going to stop using my hands. The combination of my carpal tunnel with today's intense handwork through high-thread count cotton, though, did a number.
I don't usually use Kona cotton, but I shiboried the binding a week or so ago, to match the rest of the quilt, and I used a piece of Kona. Most quilters that I know love the stuff -- yes, it dyes beautifully. But I prefer fabrics with a softer hand. Kona is difficult, for me anyway, to sew by hand. Kind of like high-thread count sheets and pillowcases. I learned yesterday that one of my entries was accepted into the Foto-Fiber-Fabulous quilt exhibit at Fiber Art space in San Antonio. Very exciting. I'm actually very stoked that although I haven't been art quilting for very long, I've gotten into just about every show I've entered. I'm really encouraged by that.
On Saturday I made a batch of discharged fabrics, using thiox on a variety of black cottons and linen. I got an amazing range of color, especially the black Osnaburg pieces on the left, which are more green than they look in this photo. I've been creating a series of art quilts using discharged fabrics, which is why I'm keen on doing big batches now and then. If you haven't seen the finished pieces, check them out on my website, here. I've got a big one in process now, which will be number seven in the series.
I'll post photos of those pieces tomorrow. I also experimented -- for the umpteenth time -- with a number of bleach paste or gel products, but I can never get those things to work for me. The one bleach product that DOES work for me is Clorox Bleach Pen. At any rate, I've decided against spending any more time trying to get products to work for me that just won't -- they do work for others, so give them a try if you're inclined. But I'm finally at the point of focusing on things that DO work for me and letting the rest go. And speaking of that, I did discover some unique ways of using bleach that I want to do more with in future.