Down Under Textiles 10

Australia’s exciting magazine for fibres, yarns & textiles DOWN UNDER

How to use

deColourant

Issue 10, 2013 AUS $9.95, NZ $11.95,

SCREEN PRINTING

made easy

Applying heat with soldering irons FloodArt – recovering through craft

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Welcome

Hello! It’s so exciting to hear of your adventures with textiles. So many of you are challenging yourselves with workshops, exhibitions and loads of experimentation. It is thrilling to be part of so many creative pursuits.

In this issue, you will find more skills to learn. Never tried screen printing?

Sally Westcott provides the information you need to start printing your own designs using paper stencils. For those wanting to try a more complex method, Dijanne Cevaal demystifies breakdown printing. The process involves painting a thickened dye paste onto a silk screen and then printing the resulting screen with more thickened dye paste to create a print.

Anne Mitchell explains how to use household items with grid patterns to create patterns on cloth, and Dale Rollerson shows how to use deColourant on fabric. For something completely different, Neroli Henderson shows us how to use a soldering iron on fabric.

We also have great stories to engage you. You will be amazed at the wearable art of young designer, Tess Tavener Hanks. And we meet six Queensland textile artists: Merody Buglar, Mel Forrest, Kathryn Iliff, Suzanne Marshall, Kate Oszko and Jane Rundle, who have formed their own critique group.

Also from Queensland, read about Chris Jones, who wanted to create something positive from the 2011 floods that damaged her Brisbane home.

FloodArt was the result – retrieved photographs, stitched and collaged.

Finally, Cynthia Harvey Baker takes us on a journey to Patan in India in search of double-ikat.

Wow, there’s so much to read, I’ll let you get started.

Editor EDITORIAL Editor: Erica Spinks

Associate Publisher: Gavin Burrell gavin.burrell@practicalpublishing.com.au

Editorial Coordinator: Deborah Segaert

Finance Manager: Linda Constable linda.constable@practicalpublishing.com.au

Subeditor: Lorraine Moran Designer: Jo Martin Advertising Sales: Jan Saxon jan.saxton@practicalpublishing.com.au Tel: 07 3300 4022 SUBSCRIPTIONS Subscription Manager: Linzi Wilkinson linzi.wilkinson@practicalpublishing.com.au Online: www.practicalpublishing.com.au Tel: 07 3160 9940 PUBLISHING Managing Editor: Debra Hudson debra.hudson@practicalpublishing.com.au

Group Publishing Director: Rob Wilkinson rob.wilkinson@practicalpublishing.com.au HEAD OFFICE AUSTRALIA Practical Publishing International Pty Ltd GPO Box 1457, Brisbane, Qld Australia 4001 Tel: 07 3300 4022 www.practicalpublishing.com.au EUROPEAN OFFICE Practical Publishing International Ltd St Christopher House, Stockport Cheshire, England SK2 6NG Tel: +44 (0) 844 561 1202 www.practicalpublishing.co.uk

DISTRIBUTION Australia: Gordon & Gotch Tel: 02 9972 8800 New Zealand: Gordon & Gotch Tel: +64 (0) 9979 3000 England: Comag Tel: +44 (0) 1895 433600 South Africa: Magscene Pty Ltd Tel: +27 11 805 502 Email: tarrynf@magscene.co.za Published by Practical Publishing International Pty Ltd. The style and mark of Down Under Textiles is used under license from Newlife Media Group Pty Ltd. See copyright and trademark notices below. ISSN 2201-3857.

For overseas distribution enquiries please contact Andrew Randall Eight Point Distribution – Australia Andrew@eightpointdistribution.com.au Telephone: + 61 (0)2 9960 5710

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

The Editor reserves the right to include or not, any submissions or part thereof. All articles and projects are copyright of the author and must not be reproduced for commercial or financial gain without permission. Practical Publishing has taken reasonable steps to ensure that the copyright of each article/project resides with the contributing author. Practical Publishing relies on these warranties when asserting that the copyright is owned by the authors. The instructions for the included projects have been checked for accuracy and are published in good faith.

However, we do not guarantee successful results and offer no warranty, either expressed or implied.

The claims and statements made in any advertisements are not those of the publisher. Practical Publishing takes no responsibility for the accuracy of the content of any advertisements, advertorials or paid promotions. All information supplied in advertisements is the responsibility of the company who books and pays for the space.

TRADEMARKS

Many of the brands and products mentioned in the news and projects pages in Down Under Textiles are trademarks of their respective companies. All companies and brands mentioned in the magazine are included for editorial purposes and all copyrights and trademarks are acknowledged.

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Contents 10

16

AUTUMN 2013

General 6 Bits n Pieces 76 The Library 78 What’s on, When & Where 82 Next Issue

D

Learn, Meet, See 10 FloodArt – recovering through craft 16 Grid Patterning by Anne Mitchell 24 Meet a Textile Artist

w

– Tess Tavener Hanks

30 Start Screen Printing – Part I with Sally Westcott

38 Turn up the Heat – Soldering Irons Part 1 with Neroli Henderson

44 Breakdown Printing – Part I with Dijanne Cevaal

54 Broadstrokes – meet this

Queensland textile group

62 Writing on the Wall

54

by Dale Rollerson

66 Warp and Weft – Patola in Patan with Cynthia Harvey Baker

70 Colourplay

– travelling textiles exhibition

Subscriptions

5 Down Under Textiles 29 Down Under Quilts 61 Creative Expressions 4 | www.downundertextiles.com

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DESIGNING A CAPITAL:

Crafting a Nation

Under My Umbrella, Sharon McGrath, Strathdownie, Vic

ATASDA’s current travelling suitcase exhibition will take you on an exotic journey along the trade routes of North Africa to the ancient city of Marrakesh, a place of richness and intense colour, where cultures meet.

Filled with up to 20 textile artworks, 30 tiles made from materials kits and a folder of artists’ statements, a suitcase really is full of inspiration and colour.

If your group is interested in borrowing the exhibition, visit www.atasda.org.au/exhibitionmarrakesh for more details.

Tile artwork, Robyn McGrath, Forster, NSW

To celebrate the designed capital and to recognise Canberra as a city with a unique culture, Craft ACT: Craft and Design presents Designing a Capital: Crafting a Nation, a program of exhibitions and events that celebrates the role of craft and design in establishing a Canberra culture and the crafting of our nation’s capital.

A symposium will be held on 24 May and will explore the craft design eco-system in urban and non-urban, industry and commercialisation, education, government and community landscapes. A designers’ market will be held on 25 May. For more information, visit the website www.craftact.org.au

Mad Quilters’

GATHERING

Tile artwork, Elizabeth Roberts, Lindisfarne, Tas

TELL US: What Are You Creating?

We love to hear about your textile adventures. Are you experimenting with new techniques or are you attempting to perfect an existing method? Have you made something that makes your heart sing and you want to share it with the world? Have you learnt a new skill from Down Under Textiles? We want to hear your stories.

Part of the fun of creating is sharing the excitement with other like-minded people. That’s where we come in. Send us your photos and tell us your story – we promise to be excited, too! Email us: mail@practicalpublishing.com.au or post on our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/downundertextiles

The first Mad Quilters Gathering of 2013 will be bigger and better than last year!

There will also be two new sections introduced to keep you up to date with the latest in sewing, machine embroidery, textiles and quilting. There are also 40plus vendors dedicated to the art and craft of patchwork and quilting – don’t miss it!

Entry is only $10, and committed husbands and kids 14 and under admitted FREE! From 24–26 May, 8 The Avenues, RNA Showgrounds, Fortitude Valley, Brisbane. Visit the website http://madquiltersgathering.com.au or call for further information 02 9674 4488.

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BITS

India Adventure

Peepal, 57cm x 99cm

International

‘YILBIRD’ Project

Rajasthan Camel, 49.5cm x 101cm

In issue 9, Sue Dennis recounted her experiences in her first trip to India in her article, A Goat in a Coat. She created eight quilts in response to her visit and these now form a solo exhibition, India Adventure, which premiered in France at Quilt Expo en Beaujolais in April.

The quilts feature block printed cotton, silks, embroidered and printed patches that were all purchased on holiday in India. A camel, leaf prints, tassels and braids and images of the iconic Buddha make their way onto the quilts. Visit Sue Dennis’s website www.suedennis.com

Art Quilt

AUSTRALIA

n PIECES

2013

Mathilde Jongbloed from the Netherlands contacted Down Under Textiles to tell us about her ‘Yilbird’ project that she hopes will extend around the world. On her blog, Mathilde has a pattern for a knitted bird that she hopes people will use as a basis for their own variations.

“I would like people to send me a digital photo and the story that goes with their bird,” she explains. “For whom did you make this bird, why did you use these colours and yarn, what did you want to express with this bird, where did you change the pattern and what did you want to achieve with it. With this project I hope to collect special examples and stories from all over the world.”

Mathilde’s blog is yilcreation. blogspot.com. Use the translate option on her blog to change the language.

Mathilde’s smallest bird is 5cm and the largest is 140cm

Ozquilt Network Inc is calling for entries for ‘Art Quilt Australia’, a curated exhibition of innovative, new contemporary art quilts to celebrate the centenary of the naming of the nation’s capital city as Canberra. Works will be selected that are inspired by, or reflect on ideas of people, place and nation.

With the definition of a quilt as “a stitched layered textile”, the exhibition is open to all artists across Australia. The closing date for entries is 19 July 2013. For more information, visit the website www.ozquiltnetwork.org.au

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T’Arts turns 10 South Australia’s Textile and Arts Collective (T’Arts) is a group of 35 artists and craftspeople, mostly from Adelaide and country South Australia, who run a shop and gallery in the beautiful heritage Adelaide Arcade building right in the

After The Fire, Gillian Napier

SAQA holds an auction of textile works each year as their main fundraiser.

Members are invited to enter a 30cm x 30cm textile work that is then shown online and auctioned. In 2012, 394 artworks were donated and $US67,450 was raised. This successful event gives many people the opportunity to own an original work of art by some very talented art quilters.

This year the SAQA Oceania group is sending its quilts in one group called

heart of the city. From small beginnings, the collective now attracts a solid clientele and members have recently celebrated their tenth birthday.

The collective was set up to promote art and design with a focus on textile and fibre, while fostering the creation and sale of quality, original works by its members.

The collective operates as a non-profit organisation, so that all proceeds go directly to the artists.

T’Arts members include both established and emerging artists, and the collective also aims to have more experienced artists foster the development of those who are just starting out.

Partnerships and collaborations occur regularly between members. There are also informal and occasional social and artistic activities where members gather in each other’s studios to see how others work, to have fun and workshop new techniques.

For more information about activities at T’Arts, visit the website www. tartscollective.com.au

Arimatsu Felt, Maude Bath and Liz Wauchope

Susan Cujes

Giselle Burningham

the Oceania Collection. Members documented their creative processes and a blog hop will be held later this year. The Oceania Collection will be on display at SAQA’s ‘Expanding Horizons’ conference in April.

For information about SAQA and its events, visit the website www.saqa.com or email the Oceania representatives Lisa Walton lisa@ dyedheaven.com or Ali George quiltingtravels@gmail.com

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FloodArt House contents damaged by the floods.

Chris’s backyard as the floodwater recedes.

Text and photographs by Chris Jones

While holidaying in south-eastern Australia, Chris Jones and her husband first heard that their home in Auchenflower, Brisbane, had suffered damage as part of the 2011 floods that devastated southern Queensland. Looking to create something positive from the experience, Chris created FloodArt and she shares this story with us.

My husband and I were holidaying in NSW and Victoria when we heard about the flooding of Toowoomba. Then we received phone calls and texts from our sons who were trying to rescue things from our home in Brisbane. We live in a Queenslander in Auchenflower and underneath the house had been turned into our business office and my sewing area. We have worked from home for over 10 years now, but have been in business for nearly 40 years.

Fortunately, the floodwaters did not enter the upstairs living area of the house. The boys managed to save the hard drive, customers’ card records, bank records, my good Janome sewing machine, some books and some fabric, but the water rose too quickly for them to grab everything.

Friends and family came to help with the clean-up and, of course, a lot of items were too water-logged to be saved. Fifteen years of books and magazines were thrown out, while a box of photos (that I was going to go through one day) was saved by a friend. She and husband washed the photos and dried them in the sun. Had I got to them first, they would have been tossed out. This same friend also took ribbons and threads and washed them and another dear friend took all my fabric and washed it. It took three cycles of each load to get all the silt out. Then she ironed it all as well; I don’t think she wants to see my stash ever again!

When the photos came back to me, I saw what the waters had done to them. In February I came across a website called

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Above left: Blue days Left: Almost burning Above: A street in any town

MailArt 365, where artists were challenged to make a piece of MailArt each day for one year. This seemed achievable and my photos came to mind – they could be embellished with stitching! It was a light-bulb moment. The moderator of the MailArt site assured me there were no MailArt police and if I couldn’t meet the target, it didn’t really matter.

Of course, my friends were the first recipients of these pieces of art. They would be gentle with me and not at all critical, so I could handle that. It was important for me to do some craft work, but there was no way I could have picked up any other sort of sewing at that time. These first pieces were well received by my friends and, as I posted them on the MailArt 365 site, I received really positive and wonderful

comments from all these strangers. This was a real boost to the ego. For the first time in my life, my work was being called art. However, I still refer to it as ‘accidental art’ because the flood gave me a medium and I enhanced it. I have now enhanced over 90 pieces of FloodArt. Some have been stitched and now I am doing some collage.

Making these small pieces helped me get back to patchwork and quilting and entering the MailArt 365 Challenge has opened another world to me. Did you know there is an International Union of Mail Artists (IUOMA) and they are quite active through the internet? I have received MailArt from all over the world. When my husband and I travelled to the United Kingdom last year, we met with three

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Above: Collaged FloodArt Left: Stitched FloodArt #93 other Mail Artists in London and spent a lovely afternoon with them. Quite a number of them have become friends and we miss each other when we don’t see them posting for a while. I enjoyed having penfriends when I was a girl; this is an extension of that type of friendship.

Doing these small pieces tends to take a back seat now that I am back in full swing with my patchwork and quilting, but I do want to meet the 365 target even it takes me three years to do it. I also don’t want to lose the friends I’ve made through this medium.

Something good always seems to come from something bad – my husband’s nephew came up from Sydney and turned the original separate bathhouse/laundry into my absolutely fabulous studio – Her Shed! Had it not been for the flood, this dream would not have been realised either.

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Stitched FloodArt #92

Left: FloodArt #95 – a photo of a quilt transferred to another photo in the flood Above: FloodArt #95 – opened

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Above: Decorated for Christmas Left: Collaged and stitched FloodArt #91 Below: The sun shines on red cars

Chris Jones may be contacted through her blog auchenowertowhereever.blogspot.com.au To read more about MailArt, visit the blog mailart365.blogspot.com.au 14 | www.downundertextiles.com

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L E T ’ S C R E AT E

Grid Patterning Text by Anne Mitchell Photographs by Margaret Mitchell and Anne Mitchell

Search out any household item with a grid pattern! You can use these objects to create floral or star-shaped patterns by pushing fabrics into the grid and then applying glorious colour.

Materials Fabric – any fibre of your choice. Fabrics with higher cotton content hold more easily in the grid, while 100% synthetics tend to jump out as you work (and can be very frustrating). I have used 100% cotton for this project. Cotton fabrics should be pre-washed before colouring to remove any sizing. Do not use fabric softener in the rinse water.

A bowl of water to wet the fabric.

Household items to use as grids, such as cake cooling racks, bread crates, milk crates, strainers or colanders. In this article, I use a cake cooling rack (approx 20cm x 30cm). This is large enough to do a fat eighth of fabric. The larger the grid, the larger the piece of fabric you can pattern.

TIP: You can make your own grids with chicken wire nailed to pieces of board, or gutter guard tacked to an old picture frame. The grids can be anything at all that has a series of holes into which to push the fabric. The size and shape of the holes will determine the size of the patterns you can create, so see what else you can find.

Items to push the fabric into the holes of the grid, such as a satay stick, brush handle or spoon handle. You can use anything that will fit into the hole. Fingers are handy on large grids, too.

Liquid Radiance Colours – diluted to suit the colour strength for your project.

Dispenser bottles to apply the colours.

Plastic sheet or plastic-covered cardboard to protect your work area. I have used a covered board for my fabric piece.

Old sheet to cover your work table.

Liquid Radiance tips ● Excess is the enemy: due to the unique formula of Liquid Radiance, it is vital to apply to the fabric only what it will absorb. Fabrics should not feel sloppy or drippy when colours are applied as this can result in overload that will make the fabric heavy and stiff when colours are dry. ● While there’s moisture, there’s movement: after the fabric has been coloured, the colours will continue to move through the fabric while they are still wet.

Form the pattern to create the end result, and then leave the fabric alone until it is dry. Do not fiddle with it. During the drying time, the way you have handled the fabric will create the final patterning and you will not see that result until the colours are completely dry. The difference between wet and dry is amazing. What is exposed to the air will become darker, while what is enclosed in the folds or scrunches will become lighter. ● Non-toxic and non-polluting: Liquid Radiance colours are safe to get on your skin and wash off easily with soap and water. It is safe to put them into household drains. It is safe to use utensils from your kitchen cupboards in designing techniques.

Whatever you use from your kitchen cupboards can be washed up in the normal way for use with food afterwards. ● Permanence in fabric: when Liquid Radiance is dry in the fabric, it is stable and cannot be removed from the fabric. It is heat set to maximise its washability and colourfastness when it is dry.

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Preparing the Colours Liquid Radiance is very concentrated colour and must be diluted with water. The more water you add, the paler the colours become. I have used my favourite mix of 1/4 concentrate to 3/4 water for this article. You could dilute it to 1 part concentrate to 20 parts water if you want the colours to be paler and the end result to be less distinct. Prepare the preferred mix in dispenser bottles for ease of applying to the fabric.

Remove the dispenser cap and place in the required amount of Liquid Radiance concentrate, up to about 1/4 of the bottle.

Add water to fill the bottle then replace the dispenser cap firmly. To use the prepared colour, open the cap by turning the small section at the top anti-clockwise. The dispenser bottle can then be used similarly to using a pen or pencil. Close the cap again when your project is finished. Wipe the cap with a tissue or damp cloth to remove any residue of colour.

4. Cover the fabric with your hand to keep it in place as you work across the grid, so the areas just completed do not jump out. Move your hand around as you complete the area across the grid.

5. Apply diluted colours using dispenser bottles (photo 2).

Dab the colour around the edge of the grid shapes. Do not completely fill the fabric with colour, as it will bleed through the damp fabric to form the pattern. You can work in a chequerboard pattern by colouring every alternate hole, using two colours or make random patterns. The biggest gap in the colours should be no more than about 1cm wide, or the width of your little finger.

Method 1. Wet the fabric and squeeze out all excess moisture, or gently blot it out in an old towel.

2. Place the fabric over your chosen grid, placing the centre of the fabric at the centre of the grid. Fabric can be up to approximately a third bigger than the size of the grid. It will be gathered in as the pattern is formed.

3. Using something that will fit into the holes of your grid easily, push the fabric into the holes so it goes well down through the grid (photo 1). The fabric will gather in as you work, so start pushing from the middle of the grid and work systematically towards the edges. Where you push will form your pattern. Using every hole will give you a fine, regular pattern. Working randomly will give you an irregular pattern.

Photo 2 6. Leave the colours to work in the fabric for 10 to 20 minutes, watching to see that they are bleeding down into the holes of the grid, and across the surface. Touch up any uncoloured areas with a little more diluted colour as required (photo 3).

Photo 3

Photo 1

7. When colouring is complete, pat the fabric with the back of your fingers to check it for wetness. If it feels sloppy, lay a piece of dry fabric across the top to blot out any excess colour. This piece of fabric will coordinate with your main piece in your sewing projects (photo 3). A piece of paper can be used for blotting instead, if preferred.

8. Allow the fabric to dry in the grid without disturbing it (photo 4). The areas that are at the surface will darken in colour as they dry, while what is enclosed in the holes of the grid will become lighter, forming the flowery or starry patterns, depending on the size of the grid used.

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1. When the fabric is completely dry, spray it with water to remove the wrinkles left from forming the pattern (photo 6).

Lay the fabric on the ironing board and stretch it to flatten it out.

Photo 4

Photo 6

9. When fabric is completely dry, remove it from the grid (photo 5) and heat set it.

2. With the iron set on a temperature suitable for the fabric, iron for 30 seconds to two minutes per section in front of you on the ironing board. Move on to the next section and then the next when heat setting larger pieces of fabric (photo 7). The paler the colour the longer you need to iron. Using the iron on steam setting will also simplify the heat setting process.

Photo 5

TIP: The patterning will be equally interesting on the underside of the fabric. Consider working with two layers of fabric together so you can use both sides of the pattern. This is especially suitable for grids with larger holes as it is easier to push them through. It is not suitable for grids with tiny holes, such as colanders.

Photo 7 3. Ironing the fabrics is the exciting part. You are revealing the patterns you have created while heat setting your fabric for colourfastness at the same time. The final piece of this patterned fabric is shown in photo 8.

Heat setting Although Liquid Radiance is stable in the fabric when it is dry and cannot be removed, it must be heat set to ensure its permanence for washability and colourfastness. You will notice the fabric will feel a little stiff when it is dry. This is normal. The heat setting process will relax the fibres and return the fabric to its normal hand. If the fabric is still stiff after ironing it, it is an indication that too much colour was applied to the fibres.

Photo 8

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Pattern

GALLERY

Try different equipment to create wonderful patterns

Starry pattern created with a small satay stick

Underside of fabric before ironing

Fabric now ironed

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Use of different colours on grid

Colour drying on a bread crate with small holes

Use of different colours – final fabric

Final fabric and mop-up fabric

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Two colours on small bread crate

Two colours on small bread crate – top of fabric

Two colours on small bread crate – underside of fabric

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Flower pattern using large bread crate

Flower pattern using large bread crate – top of fabric

Flower pattern using large bread crate – underside of fabric

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Pattern using medium cake grid with every hole used

Pattern using small cake grid, with every hole used to create fine detail

Anne Mitchell may be contacted by email anne@genesiscreations.com.au Visit the website www.genesiscreations.com.au for more information about Liquid Radiance.

In the next issue of Down Under Textiles, Anne will show different methods for colouring fabrics using heliography techniques that can be used to obtain more exciting grid patterns. www.downundertextiles.com | 23

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Birds of Paradise, Fashion Less Waste 2011 – Winner.

Over the years Papua New Guineans have used the birds of paradise to decorate their headdresses. I have created a bird of paradise inspired garment that takes its materials from the hair of humans (using synthetic hair). The underlying fabric base has been taken from used curtains, the hair has been recycled from our family’s dress-up box, and the hat is made from an old painted hanging basket, with plastic flowers, potpourri and synthetic hair.

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Pom Pom, Apex Teenage Fashion Awards 2010 – Wearable Art Winner; Circus Berzerkus’, Textile Art Festival 2011 Second Prize in ‘Art U Wear The childhood art form of pom-pom making has been taken to the extreme in this piece. An amazing 1,784 pom-poms have been hand crafted. The intense weight of the pom-poms is supported by hula-hoops, a foam structure and boning to help in the illusion of the form.

The Victorian corset consists of 14 different segments. The fabrics for these segments have been created by weaving ribbons, wool and braid, held together by Vliesofix and a fabric base. The edges of corset are embellished with finger knitting and hand-crafted fringing.

The headpiece for this garment has a tower of foam balls totally covered in small pom-poms. The glove cuffs have a fabric base with elastic edges and covered with a total of 75 pom-poms on each arm.

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Start Screen Printing PART I

Text and photographs by Sally Westcott

There are four common methods of printing an image with a silk screen. In this article, we will start with paper stencils that create temporary designs with limited lives. This is the least permanent type of stencil and the most immediate.

The stencil is destroyed as it is removed from the frame.

In the next issue, we will look at three other methods: using screen filler, combining drawing fluid with screen filler and the photographic emulsion method. These techniques create patterns on screens that last longer and can be used to create multi-layered and coloured images using registration points. Some of these screens can be re-used over a period of years.

Prepare the screen Proper preparation of a new screen is vitally important to success. There are two types of screen available on the market at present – a timber-framed screen (photo 1) and an aluminium-framed screen. The initial preparation of both these types of screen is time consuming but once done it will never have to be done again.

Materials Screen-printing frame Duct tape Copy paper or lithograph paper Washed and ironed cotton or linen fabric Cutting mat and craft knife Squeegee Fabric paint, printing ink or thickened fabric dye

Photo 1 – a brand new timber-framed screen

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The fabric on the new frame will be full of fillers and starch to protect it. These must be thoroughly removed before you can start to print. Scrub the screen on both sides of the screen fabric with a bristle or nylon brush and trisodium phosphate (sold in Australia as sugar soap) and water or dishwashing powder and water. As you scrub and rinse, hold the screen to the light to check that the mesh is clear. Repeat the scrubbing process until the screen is clear. Rinse it thoroughly and allow it to completely dry. Do not be tempted to use a hair drier to speed up the process (photo 2) as the heat may create holes in the screen. Tears will ensue!

Photo 3 – aluminium frame taped on the back Photo 2 – holes in a screen after drying with a hair dryer

Next you need to tape the screen. This process serves three purposes. It maintains a tight screen, it creates a well to take the paint used to print and it prevents the paint from leaking under the screen frame during printing so as to keep the prints clean.

Tape the screen – timber frame It is important to seal the inside of the frame to prevent the paint from running between the timber and the screen.

Securing the corners is very important. I run duct tape onto the screen fabric at least 1cm on three of the edges. On one of the short edges, run it in about 3cm to create a well for the paint. I also tape the underside of the frame to cover the staples. Place the tape on the frame and the screen so that it matches on both sides.

Allow 24 hours for the tape to cure. This should ensure that the tape does not lift later during the printing process.

Tape the screen – aluminium frame Scrub as for the timber frame and allow it to dry thoroughly.

The mesh is glued to an aluminium frame so it really only needs duct tape underneath (photo 3) but I also tape the inside of the frame to be sure of no leaks (photo 4). Once

Photo 4 – aluminium frame taped on the inside

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again leave the tape to cure for 24 hours. Don’t forget to make the well at one end of the frame.

Now you are ready to use the screen. The screen should rarely need retaping – only if it starts to become tatty. If you look after you screen well, it should last you a long time.

Squeegees The squeegee you choose to use is a personal preference.

Some people like to use the large, thick rubber squeegee that comes with the screen. I find it awkward to use because you have to hold the squeegee at just the right angle (60 degrees) to create a good print. I prefer to use an old credit card or something similar or, if I am making a large print, I use a wallpaper scraper from the hardware shop. The thinner tools are much more forgiving. The only way to find out which squeegee suits you is to have fun experimenting.

The printing surface To produce a clear print you need a good printing surface that has a little give. I use a piece of batting about a metre square. This size gives me room to manoeuvre. Cover this with a piece of cotton fabric. Just for fun, I use a piece of fabric that I have dyed but am not happy with. It is amazing how interesting this piece of fabric becomes after it has been used for a few printing sessions. I use it for practice pulls across the screen and the odd overflow of the printing surface.

Cut very carefully around the design using a craft knife and cutting mat. If you are extremely careful, you can save the negative shape as well as the positive shape for printing at another time.

Now you are ready to print. I know that took a long time but you will find that all that work is worthwhile. Next time you print all you have to do is cut the stencil because all the fiddly bits with the screen have been done.

Printing Have your pile of prepared fabric handy so you are ready to print. It is a good idea to have a clothes airer nearby for hanging the wet prints.

Before you start to print, prime the screen. The first two or three prints are usually a bit blotchy as the paint permeates the screen fabric. I use a piece of ‘failed’ dyed fabric for these prints, which can often give it a new life.

Place your piece of fabric on the printing surface. Position the stencil onto the section of fabric where you want the print (photo 6).

Preparing the stencil Now the creative fun begins. Draw your design on a piece of copy paper or lithograph paper. Remember to make sure your design fits inside the printing area of your screen. Try to keep the design simple to start with, until you become familiar with the process.

I chose to use one of my favourite shapes – a dry poppy head (photo 5). Draw the design with either a thick marker or make an outline drawing with a finer pen.

Photo 6 – stencil in place on fabric

Photo 5 – poppy head stencil and fabric ready to print

Carefully place the frame over the stencil, with the well at the top (photo 7). The first few times you do this, a second pair of hands can be very helpful to stop the screen moving.

If you don’t have another person to assist, just relax and have fun.

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Lift the screen carefully. You will see the paper stencil is attached to the screen (photo 9). You can print again with this stencil and screen. The stencil will provide about 15 to 20 prints before it starts to become very soft and falls apart.

Photo 9 – paper stencil is attached to the screen Hang each print to dry. It may take a little practice to get prefect prints but even the dodgy prints can be used for something. Often they can be cut up to use in a scrappy quilt.

Clean the screen Photo 7 – taped timber frame in place Load the well with the paint you have selected (photo 8).

While holding the screen down firmly, use the squeegee to draw the paint towards you across the screen. This forces the paint through the mesh onto the fabric. Do not draw the squeegee across the screen any more times than necessary to get a clear print.

Do not let the paint dry on the screen. That will break your heart and you will then have to learn how to re-mesh screen. Fabric paint can be very difficult to remove once it has dried.

Scrub the screen under fresh flowing water. The stencil will wash off very easily. Allow the screen to dry and then it is ready for your next printing session.

Heat set the prints When your prints are dry, set the paint according to the manufacturer’s instructions. This usually involves heat setting them with an iron.

Alternate stencil material

Photo 8 – fabric paint in the well

Try all sorts of material for stencils. I have tried these materials: Newsprint – between two and 10 prints, depending on the wetness of the paint.

Copy paper – between 15 and 20 prints, depending on the wetness of the paint.

Lithograph paper – between 30 and 40 prints. If you are careful, you may be able to remove the stencil from the back of the screen without tearing it. It can then be used for a later print session. I have managed this several times.

Acetate sheet – permanent, if you remove it carefully from the back of the screen and wash and dry it gently.

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Photo 10 shows how I have cut a bird shape from a photograph, which I have then used as a stencil.

Photo 10 – bird shape cut out from a photograph

Photo 12

Photo 11 Photos 11, 12 and 13 show how I have used these two stencils to compose different prints.

I have used the printed panel shown in photo 11 to feature in a cushion (see page 31).

Now that you have the skills to screen print with stencils, you are only limited by your imagination and the amount of room you have to dry the prints.

In Part 2, we will look at three other methods of creating designs for screen printing – using screen filler, combining drawing fluid with screen filler and the photographic emulsion method.

Sally Westcott may be contacted by email swe@hutchins.tas.edu.au or visit her blog sallydunn.blogspot.com

Photo 13

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Turn up the Heat – PART I Soldering Irons

Text and photographs by Neroli Henderson

Heat tools can provide amazing effects when used with synthetic fabrics, felts, Tyvek, iridescent films and even painted fusible webs. In this article, I will show how to create effects with a soldering iron. In the next issue of Down Under Textiles, I will discuss heat guns.

Soldering irons can cut, seal edges, join layers together, make marks, create eyelets and holes, remove layers for reverse appliqué and score surfaces. Heat guns can distort, melt, dissolve, create lace-like effects, seal edges and bubble materials. Even your conventional household iron can bond fine plastics, distort and melt Tyvek or create patina effects on iridescent film, giving intriguing surfaces to incorporate into your textile or multimedia work. All of these effects can be created before or after stitching – or both!

Safety note As with all heat tools used, on synthetics, you are essentially melting plastic so it is recommended that you work in a well-ventilated area. As well, I always wear a disposable mask with an inbuilt filter rated for toxic fumes. If you find you are getting a headache – stop! Since we are unable to know what chemicals went into every piece of plastic or fabric, it is important to protect yourself.

Tools To get started, you will need a soldering iron, wood-burning tool or stencil cutter (photo 1). For our purposes, these are essentially the same thing. You can purchase a basic model for about $30 or pay up to $140 for a variable-temperature soldering iron. Being able to alter the temperature is handy, as you can increase the heat for thicker fabrics and reduce it when you only want to make marks or join finer fabrics and layers.

Photo 1 Photo 1 shows (clockwise from left) a variable-temperature soldering iron, a cleaning pad and holder, a hot tool that comes with various ends and a wood-burning tool.

You will also need a piece of glass – one from a cheap photo frame is fine, or a glass chopping board or a pane of glass with masking tape around the sharp edges to protect yourself. Make sure the glass is large enough to work around your material.

It is important to have a heatproof surface to work on.

I use my glass hot plates, as this way I have the heatproof surface and glass work area in one, plus I get to work under the extractor fan.

When you are not using the hot soldering iron, you will need something to hold it. I use a soldering iron stand – but an upturned terracotta flowerpot can work just as well if you put the soldering iron through the hole in the top.

Keep some steel wool handy to clean the tip of the soldering iron whenever needed. I use a soldering iron pad that came with its own holder.

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Sealing edges

Cutting shapes

A soldering iron can cut and seal at the same time, just like a laser cutter. This makes fine fabrics that typically fray, very easy to handle. You can either trace along the edge of a metal ruler or draw freehand. Press down to the glass to obtain a lovely clean, fray-free edge. If you layer multiple colours of organza or other sheer fabrics and cut-and-seal all their edges together at the same time, it eliminates pinning when joining them. To get a smooth cut through thicker fabrics or layers, move the tool more slowly or increase the temperature.

Photo 2 shows the edge of a butterfly wing that was cut freehand from three layers of black organza. Note how the edge has not only been cut, but the edges sealed with the heat, so no fraying is apparent as would normally be the case with a sheer synthetic fabric.

You can use the soldering iron to cut shapes from lightweight synthetic sheer fabrics, fused Angelina fibre, Textiva film or painted Tyvek. You can sew before or after, but make sure you use heatproof thread if you stitch beforehand and then you can cut right up to your stitching line.

Photo 3 shows a range of leaves cut and scored using the soldering iron. The two at the top are made from two layers of organza, the small brown leaf on the right is organza with Textiva foil and Angelina fibres sandwiched inside it and held down with soldering iron score lines.

The remaining leaves are a mixture of Angelina fibre and Textiva film. Anything synthetic is fair game with a soldering iron!

Making marks To use your soldering iron to make marks in fabrics, try layering several sheer fabrics and snippets on acrylic felt and then scoring into them to make marks as well as hold the layers together. Use only a little pressure to ensure you don’t cut through all layers. Acrylic felt is a good base to work on when you are just starting. It provides enough depth to help you create marks on the top layers of organza or other synthetic fabrics, while not cutting through to the back of the felt. It is also thick and strong enough to give stability to sheer, slinky fabrics.

Photo 2 When using the soldering iron this way the fabric will also softly ‘stick’ to the glass along the line you’ve drawn – this can be helpful as it prevents it from moving, allowing you to work more easily. When you want to remove it from the glass it peels off easily.

Photo 4

Photo 3

You can see in photo 4 where acrylic felt is topped with layers of organza pieces, Textiva and Angelina off-cuts and metal flakes. This same piece is then edged, scored and marked with a soldering iron (photo 5) and has metal objects used as templates for tracing (photo 6).

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Photo 5

Photo 7

Tracing shapes

Reverse appliqué

Heatproof objects can be used as stencils or templates by tracing around them with a heat gun. Try decorative hinges, hooks, crockery or coins – anything heatproof that has an interesting shape. Take a walk through a hardware store, looking for metal objects suitable for tracing templates.

A soldering iron makes reverse appliqué on synthetics so much easier. Layer the fabrics (again, I use felt as a backing because it is thick enough to prevent cutting all the way through) and tap them together around the edge with the soldering iron to hold them in place. Stitch your design with a thread that won’t melt (most natural fibres and good quality rayons are fine – but check before you start to sew) and then use the soldering iron to trace lightly around each shape you want to remove. I like to use a tiny metal screwdriver or file inserted into a small cut to hold the top layer a little off the layers beneath it – this way I can follow the soldering iron behind it and easily remove one layer at a time without cutting into the layers.

Photo 6

Piecing fabrics Piece sheer fabrics together by layering two pieces of organza (or similar fabrics) and then use a metal ruler and soldering tool to cut a line from the top of both. Remove the extra fabric and carefully open out the layers. They should be joined along a soldered seam. You can add more fabrics and join pre-fused pieces in the same way.

In photo 7, you can see that pink and blue organza has been layered and then joined with a soldering iron. The edge on the right was cut and sealed first and then folded over, hiding the seam on the inside. The edge on the left was then cut, leaving the cut line exposed.

Photo 8

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Photo 9

In photo 8, I have placed four layers of organza on a piece of white acrylic felt and then stitched with a dogwood flower design, ready for removing the layers reverse-appliquĂŠ style.

You can see that only the centres of the fabric have been removed with the soldering iron at this stage.

You can see the different colours in photo 9. This shows the effect of burning away various layers of organza.

Creative edges Use a soldering iron to make creative edges, working slowly and pressing hard enough to cut through all layers. Try using the point to make circular holes, or lay your iron tip on an angle to create oval and tear drop shaped eyelets.

For the quilt shown in photo 10, snippets of synthetic fabrics were placed over a sheet of black felt with an organza overlay. I used the soldering iron to make radiating lines from the centre to hold it all together. It was then stitched and needle felted within the figure from the reverse before the edge was cut in a deckle style using the soldering iron to seal all the layers together.

Photo 10

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Photo 11

Joining layers Join layers together by cutting out shapes and laying them over another synthetic fabric. Tap around their edge lightly so they bond to the backing layer, just ensure you don’t press so hard (or have the iron so hot) that it cuts a hole through both.

To make a butterfly, I cut three layers of black organza with a soldering iron into the butterfly shape. Blue parts were cut from Textiva and placed over the black background.

You can see in photo 11 how the soldering iron tip was used to lightly tap down the Textiva film to the background.

This bonds the blue layers to the black background.

The beautiful effect and delicacy of using sheer fabrics is shown in photo 12.

Look for Neroli’s article on using heat guns on textiles in the next issue of Down Under Textiles.

Photo 12

Neroli Henderson may be contacted via her blog eiloren.blogspot.com.au or on Facebook www.facebook.com/nerolihenderson

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L E T ’ S C R E AT E

Breakdown Printing PART I

Text and photographs by Dijanne Cevaal

Breakdown printing, also known as polychromatic printing, is a very versatile technique for printing onto cotton or silk using a silk screen, without the need for photosensitive chemicals. It is simple to do and can be done in the home studio or on the kitchen table quite easily. These instructions are for printing on homespun-weight cotton.

Materials for the printing process

Materials for the thickened dye paste

Silk screen – this can be purchased from an art supply shop or you can make your own

Dyes – I have used Golden Yellow MX3R, Red MX8B, Turquoise MXG, Blue MXGRN, Black MXG, and Navy MX3R

Squeegee

Painting powder – this is a mixture of urea and resist salt also used in dyeing

Cotton fabric – at least a metre Printing mat – I have made mine using synthetic felt, or thick wipe cloths I purchased at the supermarket (which I have covered with a sheet of plastic fastened to the wipes with masking tape). This is portable and seems to work fine.

Some plastic bottles with tip tops (also known as squeeze bottles) Some measuring jugs and spoons, and empty plastic bottles Masking tape Face mask and rubber gloves

Manutex RS, an alginate thickener Electric soda (also known as washing soda and is available from supermarkets in the washing powder section) or soda ash (available from pool suppliers or dye suppliers) Few drops of methylated spirits Materials for fixing the dye An old wok Bamboo steamer Aluminium foil Synthrapol or Dynazol Washoff for washing

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Photography by Joe Filshie, styling by Georgie Dolling

The process involves painting a thickened dye paste (also known as dye-print paste) onto a silk screen and then printing the resulting screen with more thickened dye paste to create a print. It is possible to create a number of prints as the paste on the screen breaks down slowly and image and shapes become more and more abstract. The merging of colours also creates interesting effects.

shaking the bottle. Pour the mixture into a bottle, put the lid on and shake vigorously for several minutes. Alternatively you can use a blender for this process but remember, if you use your blender, do not use it again for cooking.

Safety First When working with dye and chemicals you should always wear rubber gloves and a face mask and work in a well-ventilated area (photo 1). An apron is useful to avoid splashing your clothes. If you use any kitchen utensil in the preparation of the dye pastes do not use them again for food.

Photo 2 – Stirring the print paste before placing it in the plastic bottle

Photo 1 – Ingredients for the print paste

Set the bottle aside. You will notice that the paste smooths out the longer you leave it. If it is too runny, you can add some more Manutex RS, but I find that this can create lumps that are difficult to smooth out, so it is best to place your Manutex RS into the mixture at the start. Do not use hot water because that will also create big lumps.

Once made, the print paste will keep in a sealed container in a cool place for quite some time. The methylated spirits helps preserve the paste as well.

Prepare the fabric Method

A few drops of methylated spirits

You need to pre-soak cotton fabric before using it for printing. Soak the fabric in a solution of water and electric soda (or soda ash). I always pre-wash my cotton fabric before use in order to remove any residual fabric sizing. To do this, half-fill the bucket with hot water and add 1 to 11/2 cups of electric soda (one cup if using soda ash). Stir to dissolve the soda. Leave the fabric to soak for at least half an hour. Do not rinse, but wring it by hand and hang on the washing line to dry. I have found I can reuse the remaining mixture for another batch of cloth.

Two heaped tablespoons of Manutex RS (you can use a little more for thicker paste or a little less for thinner paste)

Prepare the screen

In a jug, mix the warm water and painting powder, and stir until the painting powder is dissolved. Add the methylated spirits which helps stops the Manutex RS coagulating and also helps preserve the print paste. Add the Manutex RS and stir as much as possible and try to dissolve as many of the lumps as possible (photo 2). If it seems really lumpy don’t worry too much as you can dissolve it more by vigorously

The beauty of breakdown printing is that you do not have to expose your screen, and the preparation is simple. Once you have the screen, the only preparation needed is to tape along the edges of the screen with masking tape or waterproof tape. Allow a little overlap onto the screen so that you have a well in which to pour the dye paste. I tape one bottom edge more than the other to create the well (photo 3).

Prepare the following items, a day in advance if at all possible.

Prepare the print paste Four cups of warm water One cup painting powder

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Once you have prepared the print paste and screen, you are ready for the next step.

Paint the screen Place a small amount of hot water in a jug and add one teaspoon of dye powder of your desired colour. This will create quite strong colour so, if you want a lighter colour simply add less dye. In photo 4, I have mixed one teaspoon of golden yellow with a 1/4 teaspoon of magenta red. Mix thoroughly and make sure there are no undissolved lumps of dye. Add 1 cup of the thickened print paste. The amount of print paste depends on how much printing you intend to do. This amount of print paste is enough for approximately one metre of fabric.

Once you have prepared the thickened dye print paste, place it into one of the squeeze bottles. You can make different colours of thickened dye print paste and place them into different bottles. Place a newspaper or a piece of pre-soaked fabric on the table underneath the screen to catch drips of thickened dye paint that will inevitably drip

Photo 3 – Create the well by taping more at one end

Photo 5 – Use the squeeze bottle to put the thickened dye paste onto the screen

Photo 4 – Mixing the dye powder with water before adding the thickened print paste while the cat snoozes

Photo 6 – Painting thickened dye paste onto the screen

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through the screen. Place the screen, taped side up, on the work table. Squeeze the thickened dye-print paste onto the surface of the silk screen (photo 5).

Alternatively, you can also paint the thickened dye onto the screen (photo 6).

Once you have painted the screen, the thickened dye will need to dry and, because of the thickness of the dye, it will dry at different rates. Some of the drops that squeeze through to the back of your screen will also dry at different rates, but this all adds to the interest of the finished fabric.

I generally allow the screens to dry in a dry sunny spot, but you can speed up the process by carefully using a hair dryer.

Make sure you dry the thickened dye paste completely.

Example screen – Jean Cocteau’s cat

Photo 7 – Photograph of Jean Cocteau’s cat

Photo 8

The following sequence of photos shows the process for creating the screen I made, inspired by Jean Cocteau’s cat.

I photographed the original of the cat (photo 7) while travelling in France last year and visiting the little chapel, St Blaise des Simples, at Milly la Forêt.

Photo 8 shows how I have painted the cat and fern fronds in different colours.

Photo 9 shows the finished screen placed on a drip cloth.

Place the cloth on the mat and smooth it out as much as possible. When the screen is dry, place it, face down, onto the prepared cloth (photo 10). If you are worried about the

Photo 9

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Photo 10 – The screen on the fabric to be printed with the well facing me screen moving, secure it in each corner with some masking tape. I have found that the screen tends not to move too much during the process because, once you make the first pass of the dye-print paste with the squeegee, the wetness of the dye-print paste will secure the screen to the fabric.

You can also see some of the dried drips in the photo (the darker dots where the dye-print paste has dripped through to the back of the screen). Note that the well area where you placed extra tape on your silk screen is facing you. This is the area where you will pour more thickened dye paste.

After you have passed your squeegee over the screen, ensure that the dye paste has pushed through onto the fabric underneath. You can tell when it has not, as the fabric will have lighter patches. If you do have light areas but you have used up the dye print paste you placed in the well area, simply add more dye-print paste. You will need to pass your squeegee over the surface of your screen more

Photo 11

Photo 12

than once and this also helps the process of the screen to ‘break’ down.

Although photo 11 shows a different screen to the cat screen, I have included it so you can see the angle at which you should hold the squeegee and where the dye paste has been poured into the well area of your screen. In this case, the dye paste is bright blue.

Once you are satisfied that you have good coverage of the background cloth, carefully lift the screen off the fabric (photo 12). You can see there is still some residual dye on the screen where it has not completely broken down. This also means that the screen can be used again to make a further print, which changes as the painted-on dye-print paste starts to disintegrate or break down. It will disintegrate at different rates depending on how thick the dye-print paste was initially and also how thickly you applied the dyeprint paste to the screen.

Photo 13 shows the first print from this screen. Photo 14 shows the second print and photo 15 shows the third print.

I allow my printed fabric to dry naturally. Sometimes other instructions say to roll the printed panel in fabric or plastic and allow it to batch in plastic overnight or for 24 hours. I have found simply allowing it to dry works perfectly well.

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Photo 13 – Print 1

Fixing the dye The dried printed cloth will feel quite stiff and even thick as a result of the dried thickened dye paste. The dye will need to be fixed to the fibres in the cotton, and to do this you must steam the fabric. There are purpose-made steamers for this process, but I simply use an old wok I bought in an op shop and a Chinese bamboo steamer for this part of the process. I roll the printed panel into some calico or other spare cloth. Photo 16 shows the printed panel placed face down onto the cloth.

I then roll the two layers of print panel and cloth into a fairly tight roll, as shown in photo 17.

Once the panel has been completely rolled up, place it onto a length of foil and again roll the panel and fabric in the foil (photo 18). This helps to seal the parcel and prevents steam or condensation seeping into it.

You are now ready to steam. Half-fill the wok with water and place it on the stove on a medium heat. Bring the water to the boil and then reduce the heat. Place the bamboo steamer containing the fabric onto the wok and place the

Photo 14 – Print 2

lid on the steamer to create a steam vacuum (photo 19). I steam for approximately 45 minutes. Make sure to check the water level in the wok from time to time so that it does not dry out. Top up with water, if required.

When the fabric has finished steaming, allow it to cool. Rinse and wash the panel by hand or in a washing machine on the normal wash cycle. I add a small amount of Synthrapol or Dynazol Washoff to this washing phase as this helps the dye particles to embrace the cotton fibres. You are now ready to work on your breakdown printed panel.

Using the panel I have chosen to stitch my panel because I love what happens with the texture of cloth as you stitch. The stitching has also helped bring back some of the detail that was lost in the breakdown printing process (photo 20). The white dots in the finished piece were created by the drops that dripped through to the back of the silk screen, thereby creating dyeprint paste spots that were much thicker than the rest of the dye-print paste and therefore slower to break down.

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Photo 17

Photo 15 – Print 3

Photo 18

Photo 16

Photo 19

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Photo 20

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Photo 21

Photo 22

Variations on the theme In the example I have used to demonstrate the technique, I have used a drawing inspired by Jean Cocteau’s cat, a rather iconic image associated with the writer, filmmaker and artist.

However, it is possible to draw much simpler shapes. There are also different ways of creating pattern on the thickened dye paste applied to the screen and this will be discussed in part two of my Breakdown Printing articles.

It is possible to draw simple shapes onto the screen and it is also possible to print with more than one colour at the same time.

On the screen in photo 21, I have drawn quite simple shapes with my squeeze bottle.

The screen is ready to print and, in the well area of the screen, I have placed both orange dye-print paste on the left-hand side and turquoise print paste on the right-hand side (photo 22).

When you pull the dye-print paste with the squeegee, there will be some mixing of the colour in the central area of the print (photo 23) as you can see from the finished fabric.

Do try to keep the two colour areas a little separate because, if you blend the colours too much, you will end up with a mud colour. In fact, I have used two different squeegees for the two different colours.

Photo 23

Dijanne Cevaal can be contacted by email dcevaal@gmail.com or visit her blog origidij.blogspot.com Visit http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=odQa5GPCIW0 for a demonstration of the breakdown process, shown by Leslie Morgan and Claire Benn.

In the next issue of Down Under Textiles, Dijanne will show different ways of creating pattern on the thickened dye paste applied to the screen.

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Broadstrokes After crossing paths at a number of different groups over the years, six Queensland textile artists decided to start their own critique group. Merody Buglar, Mel Forrest, Kathryn Iliff, Suzanne Marshall, Kate Oszko and Jane Rundle formed Broadstrokes after being inspired at the first Textile Arts Festival in Brisbane.

Meeting monthly, the group’s activities include creative excursions and play days, where new techniques are explored, challenges issued and samples created. Down Under Textiles asked each of the Broadstrokes to tell us about themselves and explain the importance of the group to their personal creative development.

DUT: Tell us about your creative background.

Jane: I started quilting in 1983 in Hobart and was traditional at first, but have been dabbling in art-style work since about 2000. Many international and local artists inspired me; Tasmania has a thriving community of art quilters.

Leaves on Trees, Jane Rundle

I have a traditional side to me and an art side; they meet in the middle somewhere and overlap sometimes.

I met the others in Broadstrokes at Queensland Quilters – it’s funny how you are drawn to a particular table when you know nobody in a crowded room! Then they turn out to be the best of friends.

Mel: I started quilting in 1997, initially with traditional styles (learning as many techniques as possible) and then progressed to art quilts. My current interest is working with digital images, particularly photos that I have taken.

This started after I took a workshop with Caryl Bryer Fallert in Paducah in 2005. I mostly use an ink jet printer to transfer the images onto fabrics. My favourite part of the process is taking printed images and collaging them together with other fabrics and media.

I tend to use a lot of stitching; not always free motion, but sometimes I like the impact of lots of closely spaced straight rows, especially against the collage tops.

In my pursuit to evolve I attend many workshops in various areas including

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abstract painting, drawing, collage, dyeing, monoprinting, altered books, altering fabrics and mixed media. I have an Associate Diploma in garment construction and pattern grading.

Suzanne: I have always enjoyed arts and crafts. When study and career turned to the professional, not creative, visiting galleries and dabbling with drawing, cross-stitch and tapestry kept my spirit alive.

After visiting my first quilting retreat 13 years ago, I was drawn into the wonderful world of textiles. While admiring others’ traditional quilt application, I seem to associate with artists and quilts as art.

After a period of time playing with techniques, media and other people’s passions it seems my creative drive is to textile, canvas and paper art. My work often seems just that little bit different and there seems to be whimsy and nonsense that emerges.

Merody: I grew up in a large family where sewing was a necessity. I learned to knit and sew and completed my first quilt in the early 1980s. I dabbled in a lot of other areas until enrolling in a local patchwork class. This allowed me to develop my knowledge and eventually go on to win a couple of awards while working part time.

However, with the need to work fulltime, my love of sewing has had to take a back seat.

Attending workshops regularly helps to develop my knowledge and decide the direction I wish to pursue. I love stitch and have enjoyed exploring the creative and artistic side of textiles. I love the social interaction that being a member of many different groups brings, and I am constantly inspired onto greater things by the other members.

Inspired by Valentino, Suzanne Marshall

Kate: I started quilting in about 1993.

I remember seeing an amazing quilt exhibition at the Australian National University in Canberra and wondering how on earth the bits all fitted together.

I gradually found a club to join, did a beginner’s sampler quilt and never looked back. I have always loved creating, and was a keen knitter when I lived in Canberra. I have also dabbled in sewing, card-making, stamping, calligraphy and silver smithing. I usually get bored with things and want to try something new, but patchwork and quilting in its various forms has kept me interested for nearly 20 years now.

Kathryn: I started patchwork and quilting in the early 1990s and completed a beginners’ course with Ruth Stoneley and soon my house was filled with traditional-style quilts.

I started designing and altering ideas as well as many other aspects

of sewing such as doll making, teddy bears, miniature quilts and lots of embroidery. This led to an increased need to put more artistic expression into my work, where my work has evolved into smaller pieces, art quilts, playing with texture and fibres, always with a soft organic look and feel, and always with a story to tell.

DUT: Tell us about how you came together to form Broadstrokes.

Jane: Some of us were on the original committee for the Queensland Quilters Art Quilt group (2QAQ) and then we decided to get together to start our own critique group. We meet in each other’s homes, or at a gallery; we are often inspired by the displays at the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) at the Queensland Art Gallery. We do small challenges, but there is no shame when one isn’t finished (or even started).

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“

Being part of a group has always made a difference to my growth and output, whether smaller cottage groups or bigger ones.

”

Mel: We also enjoy creative play days exploring techniques we’ve either read about in magazines or books, or a technique one of us has tried. We share our show and tell and hear about the thought process and how others have achieved pieces. There is gentle encouragement to keep going and have faith it will work. We also have guest speakers.

Suzanne: The artists in this group had known each other for some years after crossing paths at a number of different textile groups. We determined our common interests and our shared love of the scope of creative practice and made a decision to work together as a group. It’s a joy to have such trust and faith in each other as we explore our own potential.

Merody: My objective was to learn new techniques, and to explore non-traditional techniques relating to textiles. I like to see how other people respond to challenges and set topics. It’s always interesting to see how different the results can be.

I do like to finish things, but I do have a lot of things ‘maturing’ in the cupboard – waiting for the perfect project!

Inspired by Valentino, Kathryn Illiff

Kate: Being part of a group has always made a difference to my growth and output, whether smaller cottage groups or bigger ones like Queensland Quilters (2Q). I got to know the others through 2Q, but it was at the first Textile Arts Festival in Brisbane that the idea of us getting together came up. We were all inspired by what we saw around us, and I think we all felt the same way

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Mel Forrest

I did – that being with like-minded people supports and encourages and challenges each of us to expand our creativity. We are a pretty informal group and that works for us – nothing is set in stone, we don’t have any formal objectives as such.

Kathryn: We can come to the group with samples to show which often inspires others – these techniques may be worked on at a later play day (most notable was using a blow torch on aluminium cans). Usually we have a challenge that comes from the discussion of the day. We visited an exhibition at the Art Gallery showing Torres Strait Islanders’ artwork and decided to make a piece relating to our thoughts, feelings or inspiration from what we experienced. Another time a challenge was inspired by Valentino as we had met as a group to see that exhibition at GOMA. Another time discussion over coffee led to talk of flower carpets so that became our challenge. There are not any formal guidelines such as size or techniques for these challenges.

Kapoor Layers, Suzanne Marshall

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DUT: Tell us about your sessions and how you moved towards textile art.

Jane: We meet about every month, but sometimes at other gatherings too. I work shiftwork so we are often dodging rosters. My move into textile art followed when I decided not to make anybody else’s designs, but to be uniquely creative. Other people inspire me, but I do not copy designs.

I love art quilts but cannot glue to save myself, and I despair over paint as well – so I stitch. I love reading blogs for inspiration, but it can be very time consuming. I try to sew every day, even if it’s just looking and fondling my current piece. I work on many pieces at the one time, so there is no favourite unless there is a deadline looming fast.

Then I work like crazy to get it done.

Coffee Bag Challenge, Kate Oszko

Mel Forrest

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Ebb and Flow, Jane Rundle Mel: I gradually evolved into art quilts and developed from stamping and card making to collage. I absolutely love how the two overlap. I still really enjoy redwork and stitcheries. Also I have slowly advanced from hobbyist to emerging artist.

Suzanne: We are always influenced by our peers. It’s a chicken or an egg thing. Did we gravitate together because of our common passion or was it the different textile art focus from each of us that brought us together?

Within the group, we all have our artistic and personal strengths that sweep us along. Similarly, any perceived weaknesses are reinforced and developed with the sharing that always occurs at our meetings.

Merody: I gradually crossed the line that separates traditional from art and still move backwards and forwards over that invisible line trying to decide where my passion lies. I try and blend the two fields when I create my pieces and really don’t feel it’s finished without some handwork being included. I did consciously choose to

follow a more ‘arty’ path, but I’m still drawn to traditional techniques.

Kate: I guess I am a bit surprised about my move into textile art. Like most people, I still struggle with the definition of ‘art’ in the textile/ quilt context, but I was drawn to the freedom and the opportunity for selfexpression. It has taken me a while to understand my own path and my voice, but I think I am getting there. There are millions of things people are doing out there, and I did feel anxious for a time, thinking I ‘should’ be doing this or that, when it didn’t resonate with me. But I feel a lot happier now about making what is in my heart. I feel it doesn’t really matter whether anyone else likes it or not – it’s about whether it expresses what I want to say.

Kathryn: Although I love traditional quilts, especially reproductions, I have changed my focus to textile art.

I wanted to be more creative and not have to worry about the rules, making my own as I went along and trying many techniques, fibres, using paint, dyeing, and embroidery as marks

lines or to enhance my story. When we meet we talk about our work, our ideas, other artists, shows, new books and magazines, products we have tried, directions we want to take both personally as well as a member of this group and other textile groups we belong to.

DUT: What are your favourite techniques and why? What satisfies you about your textile work?

Jane: Anything colourful – I am trying to use all those fun things I have purchased over the years. I love machine quilting, so that is my thing.

I am also heavily into thread and make large and small pieces. Thread painting is so much fun.

Mel: My favourite technique is using my images onto fabrics, collage, stitch, mixed media and how they interact.

Suzanne: I love finishing! I’m very goal driven and have been taught to play by the group. While I’m not sure what my favourite technique or medium is I definitely know what it isn’t. I can’t

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Mel Forrest

do perfect, finicky or dull. I’m not interested in dyeing, points or precision.

I get super, grandiose ideas, and then problem solve to achieve the best I can.

Merody: Stitch, dimension and mixed media. I love anything stitched, whether it is a naively stitched piece of frayed fabric on a sheer base or an exquisite hand embroidery, especially if it is old.

Seeing my pieces come alive while I work on them gives me a sense of satisfaction while fulfilling my need to work with my hands. Some of my best pieces have come from playing in workshops and from challenges within my groups.

DUT: What direction would the group like to take next?

a few activities that will result in exhibiting our work.

Jane: We would love the opportunity to exhibit as a group. We are a bit random sometimes on our finished pieces, in that they are not done in time. So a more concerted effort would be required to make a great exhibit. We all have different strengths and talents that make us a diverse group, but we bounce off each other well.

Kate: We have talked about a blog, an exhibition, and a joint project. We are considering a joint entry into the Jumpers and Jazz challenge this year.

Our skills and the ways we work are quite diverse, so I think a joint effort will be a fun adventure!

Mel: I would love to exhibit as a group.

Suzanne: We had opportunity last year to gather together our finished challenge pieces from the group’s inception. We were astounded at the body of work that we had produced. The variety in media, concepts, techniques and workmanship was fantastic. We could see then that our original goals as a group were starting to come together. We are open to any possibilities creatively and often just need a little push.

Merody: I’m happy with the direction we’re moving in at the moment, dabbling in all kinds of areas. We put it out there and then we can use our own interpretation to respond to the challenge. We are currently planning

E

Kathryn: When we started as a group we talked of exhibiting, but at the moment enjoying the format of play, talk, show and tell, talk, experimenting and developing.

Each member of Broadstrokes agrees that being part of the group has helped their development as textile artists. Suzanne says that their confidence has grown to the stage where they are not afraid to call themselves artists. Adds Kate, “It can be scary and kind of audacious to call yourself that, but I think stepping up to that realisation is important. I have to say the most wonderful thing about Broadstrokes is that each person has so much to contribute and is enthusiastic.

Our get togethers are non-threatening with no pressure, just inspiration and encouragement.”

Kate: I don’t have a favourite technique yet – it’s still early days.

What satisfies me is seeing something that was a concept come to life. What’s really amazing is that the pieces I like the most have more to them than I consciously realised – the extra dimension that comes out as you create is a wonderful surprise.

Kathryn: I love handwork, especially stitching. I am enjoying painting on fabric, dyeing and using soft cheesecloth or butter muslin in my work to give a crusty, timeworn, organic look. I am also trying to include more old linens, textiles and fibres into my work. I like thinking and ruminating and researching to develop an idea and the wonderful way a piece changes along the way as it somehow evolves itself into being.

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Photo 1 – The original writing on Dale’s front gate

WRITING

on the Wall Text by Dale Rollerson Photographs by Ian Rollerson

As part of a series of work I have been doing under the title Writing on the Wall, I have been roaming my local streets looking at various writings.

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Photos 2 and 3 – Sponge letter printing

Imagine my delight when I discovered TRUFFA written on my front gate one morning (photo 1).

Wikipedia told me that ‘truffa’ means hoax, swindle, scam and fraud and, while I am still not sure how I will incorporate the meaning into my work, I took the opportunity to play with the actual writing.

I have been exploring a number of ideas from this starting point; one of which was working with deColourant and deColourant Plus. Both of these products remove colour from dyed natural fabrics such as cotton, wool, silk or linen, and also many papers.

In addition to removing colour, deColourant Plus adds a new colour.

Follow the instructions on the deColourant label to ensure good results. In general, you apply the paste to fabric and allow it to dry thoroughly.

To activate the paste, use a hot iron to press the fabric. This will create the reaction. Wash the fabric to return the fabric to a soft hand.

Nothing happens until you heat the deColourant paste, so, if you don’t like what you have done, simply wash the fabric before you apply heat with the iron. Then you can start again.

Photo 4 – Using free-motion stitching

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Photo 5 – Hand stitching

“

I hand stitched on hand-dyed silk noil fabric with cotton perle thread and discharged letters over the top.

”

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Here are some ways I have explored the truffa theme.

Sponge letter printing – I used sponge letters to print the deColourant on hand-dyed cotton fabric. The broken effect of the sponge is not dissimilar to the real writing on my gate. I have used both the deColourant in places and the deColourant Plus in red and silver combined in other areas (photos 2 and 3).

Free writing – I first bonded handdyed silk noil to a felt background and then free-motion stitched writing with a sewing machine. Printing was done with deColourant (photo 4).

Photo 6 – deColourant on a Gel Printing Plate

Hand stitching – I hand stitched on hand-dyed silk noil fabric with cotton perle thread and discharged letters over the top. I used deColourant to print truffa over the top of my stitching (photo 5).

Gel printing – I wanted to experiment with deColourant on a Gel Printing Plate. First I made marks by applying the deColourant paste to the plate and then placed my fabric face down on the surface. I used a roller to press the fabric into the paste (photo 6).

After that, I used deColourant Plus in red and drew on the plate with the paste (photo 7). Of course, you must remember to work in reverse when text is involved.

Evolon – I wanted to experiment with deColourant on Evolon, a microfibre cloth made from polyester and nylon. I sprayed the surface with Starburst Sprays and then printed with the red paste (photo 8). I will stitch this and use my soldering iron to burn into the surface.

You may ask: why not simply print, stencil, write or spray your fabric paint onto the surface of your fabric instead of using deColourant? The answer is simple: once you wash your fabric at the end, the colour sinks into and becomes part of the fabric.

It does not sit on the top or alter the hand in any way.

Photo 7 – Gel printing using deColourant Plus in red

Photo 8 – deColourant on Evolon, a microfibre cloth

Dale Rollerson may be contacted by email mail@thethreadstudio.com or visit her blog downunderdale.blogspot.com or website www.thethreadstudio.com www.downundertextiles.com | 65

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Warp and Weft: Patola in Patan Text and Photographs by Cynthia Harvey Baker

Double-ikat, to me, is the most magic of textiles. I have been fascinated by its creation for many years. How is it that people can achieve those beautiful patterns? How do they just ‘know’ how to tie-dye both the warp and the weft which, when woven, creates the design? It is a mystery; it is a living art.

The prize-winning heirloom sari, made by Vinayak Salvi

Rahul and Bharat Salvi weaving silk double-ikat sari.

It is now made in only three places of the world – India, Japan and Bali. On Bali it is made from cotton and is called Geringsing. In Japan, also made in cotton, it is called KurumeKasuri. The place where it was first made is India, where it is called Patola.

I bought my first piece of cotton geringsing in the village of Tenganan on Bali, about 15 years ago. I bought my second, a sari length of cotton patola in the village of Narayanpet, in India in 2000. Last year, I bought a second

cotton piece in Tenganan and a cotton piece of Japanese kurume-kasuri from Sue Leighton-White.

In August 2011, I went back to India to learn more.

Making double-ikat in cotton is difficult enough, but making it in silk takes the skill to another level.

Before I travelled to India, I researched. From my reading, I knew that India was the ‘cradle’ of double-ikat. From the book Patolas and Resist-Dyed Fabrics of India I learned that the “oldest known historical evidence of the existence of patola

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They were weaving this old, traditional design when I arrived.

Braziers under the loom. can be found in the Ajanta frescoes. In Cave I, dating back to the 6th and 7th Centuries, we see ikat-like designs in the dresses of the females and the robes of the monks�.

Through internet sites, I found that, although cotton patolas were still being made in villages in the centre of India and in the South, Patan was now the epitome of silk doubleikat-making in India. Patan Patola, a company run by the world-renowned Salvi family was still making the textile in the traditional way, so I included Patan in my itinerary.

Patan is a small town 130 kilometres north of Ahmedabad, where I had gone to revisit the wonderful Calico Museum. I hired a car and driver from the Ambassador Hotel and we set off for Patan early one morning, having phoned Rahul Salvi to say that I was coming and asked him to book me into a local hotel for the night.

It was a three-hour drive along double highways, corrugated roads and finally a turn to the left and through country roads to Patan. Savan, a younger brother, came to

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Silk is spun before being used in the tieing and dyeing process.

This piece is over 40-years old, it was dyed with indigo and citrodora. meet us on his motorbike to guide us to the hotel. I took one look at the room – a palace it wasn’t! There were dirty sheets, water on the bathroom floor, mosquitos, one small window that wouldn’t shut and a noisy fan.

Only one thing to do – have a shower on tip-toe, eat something in the restaurant downstairs, and take a rickshaw to Patan Patola. There, within the city walls we found the shop – Patan Patola on Salvi Vas. I remembered that, “the name Salvi is believed to have originated from the word ‘shal’ loom. Salvi, therefore, means users of the loom”. I pushed a somnolent cow out of the way, knocked on the front door and walked in.

I knew that Patan Patola had won many important awards for their work, including National Awards in 1978, 1987, 1997 and 2005. Vinayak K Salvi had received the title of Shilp Guru in 2002 and the Master of Cloth Award in 2005. I expected an office with glass-covered desks and phones and men in suits, but I saw none of these things.

This ancient piece is more than 100 years old.

It features the same design as was being worked on the loom.

There were Rahul and Bharat (uncle and nephew) at the huge loom in the middle of the room, both weaving. I was asked to wait as they finished a certain section on the silk sari length they were making. They gave me a pamphlet that told me: “Ancient folk-songs are sung in Gujerat praising the qualities of Patola. Like in Bali, the textile is a magic cloth, which protected you in battle and from evil and bad health.

To possess and wear Patola on holy occasions is considered to be a matter of pride of cloth of ma’a or mawa (Indonesian words meaning ‘created by God’) as it is considered so perfect that it could only have been created by the gods.”

Ibn Battuta, the great Moroccan traveller, after travelling through India in the 14th Century, had given patolas to the court of China, gifts from India’s Sultan. Patolas were famous from Sumatra to Samarkand and even as far away as Rome in the 15th century.

Patola is given to a bride as some designs symbolise security. Symbols of elephants, parrots, peacocks, jugs and humans are all considered to be auspicious symbols of saubhagya (good luck). The feeling of good luck and security are imbibed in the Patola.

“The Patola is woven on a primitive hand-operated harness loom made out of teak and bamboo. The loom lies at a slant, with the left side being lower than the right.

The bamboo shuttle is made to move to and fro through the warp and each weft thread is thoroughly examined and matched to each part of the warp. The process is labour intensive. It takes three to four months to prepare the tiedye design. Two weavers always work together (like Bharat and Rahul were doing as I waited) and they weave about eight to nine inches a day. The sari could easily take five to six months to complete, depending on the intricacy of the design.”

Finally, they finished the required inches for the day and I walked over to the loom to look at the design. I noticed there were small charcoal braziers underneath and asked

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Designs are drawn out onto graph paper first.

Bharat uses a pick.

what they were for. I was told they were to keep the silk pliable in the cold weather. As if silk wasn’t difficult enough to handle through the tie-dying process, it continued to be difficult to weave. These are Master Artists, indeed.

Then, among visitors coming and going (Indians were having a day out because it was Krishna’s birthday – a holiday), Bharat and Rahul told me their story.

The making of silk Patola was started in Jaina, a small town in Maharastra and then, in the 11th Century, it was taken to Patan by the Salvi family. It has been there ever since – what a wonderful heritage. The Salvi family still maintain control of the whole process – the tie dying of the silk and the weaving – as it has been passed down by father to son over the centuries. Vinayak, Bharat and Rohit Salvi now run Patan Patola.

Patan patola is bespoke; ordered by the rich and famous of India. The silk comes from China and is bought in Mumbai. I saw lustrous silk that was yet to be dyed and the area where the silk was dyed in vats with natural pigments or synthetic dyes according to the customer’s requirements.

I saw the area where it was tie-dyed and it being woven. It was all around me in an intimate space. The whole family knows how to tie and dye and everyone helps, including the women.

The visitors’ books contain comments going back generations. I was shown some of the beautiful pieces and the remnants of patola kept for years and years by the family.

I also saw the incredibly intricate sari that won the Shilp Guru award for Vinayak K Salvi in 1997. It depicts a story of a battle, fought long, long ago with soldiers and a huge elephant in the centre.

It was obvious that I was in a very special place where, for 900 years in Patan, generations of Salvis had worked making patola.

Unlike the double-ikat of Bali, the design of silk patola is drawn on graph paper beforehand. Thirty designs are

traditional and there are 10 that are modern. Their names are wonderful and traditional. “Essentially the design in a patola is based on traditional motifs called ‘Bhat’.

These designs include Narikunj, Paan, Phulwadi, Rasbhat, Chhabadi, Choktha, Navratna, Paanchphul, Sarvaryu, Laheriya – flowers, animals, bird and human figures.” Some of the designs are as old as the art itself.

The Salvis sell their saris to rich Indian families throughout the world, who pay one and a half million to three million Indian Rupees for a wedding sari for the bride to wear. It is then kept in the family as an heirloom. Patan Patola’s work is also bought by museums around the world.

I had had a really wonderful couple of hours and it was becoming dusk. The cow was still blocking the doorway. I asked Rahul if there was another hotel and, after he said no, I explained why I couldn’t stay overnight.

Eventually we found a man with a car who was prepared to drive me the 130 kilometres back to Ahmedabad. As I farewelled Bharat and Rahul, I asked about their dreams.

“The family’s dream is to establish a museum for double-ikat from all over the world,” he replied. “This is not a business.

For us it is a tradition, never to be lost”.

The driver and I arrived around midnight, and then, after a meal and coffee, the driver turned round and drove back while I went upstairs to my dry bathroom, nice air conditioner and lovely clean white sheets.

References Patolas and Resist-Dyed Fabrics of India, Mapin Publishing Pvt Ltd, Ahmedabad, 1988.

Conversations with Bharat and Rahul Salvi in Patan, August 2011 Brochure produced by the Salvi family called Patan Patola www.downundertextiles.com | 69

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Colourplay

Created by the Twelve by Twelve textile artists, the 144 quilts that make up the Colourplay series of works have been touring exhibitions around the world. They will be on display at the Australasian Quilt Convention in Melbourne, 18–21 April before moving to Pinnacles Gallery in Townsville, 29 April – 2 June 2013 and then on to United Kingdom and the United States.

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Helen Conway set a rich palette inspired by tumeric, cumin, paprika, chilli and asafoetida for ‘Spice’, the tenth Colourplay challenge.

1. Savoury Scatter, Deborah Boschert 2. Spicy Nine Patch, Gerrie Congdon 3. Marrakesh 28.4.11, Helen Conway 4. Spice Blend, Kirsten Duncan

5. The Crow, Terry Grant 6. Burst of Flavour, Diane Perin Hock 7. Sunset Tide, Françoise Jamart 8. Cultivate Choice, Kristin La Flamme

9. Savouring India, Karen Rips 10. Bush Tucker Tracks, Brenda Gael Smith 11. Spice of Life Girls, Terri Stegmiller 12. Spicy Night Out, Nikki Wheeler

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Lorikeet: Circle Symphony, Nikki Wheeler Circles, Circles, Circles! I seem to be a bit obsessed with circles lately. They are just a fun way to play with colour and texture. And what amazing colours to play with this round. They are so full of life and energy. Orange is even starting to grow on me.

To create this quilt I once again quilted a bunch of white fabric and then pulled out the paints. I spent an entire day making fabric paper in bright orange, yellow, green and blue. The house was filled with drying paint and the kids had to watch their step so we didn’t have really big mess. Once dry, I cut out circles in all the different colours and sizes, layering them to explore the different colour combinations. Finally, I added the copper washers and beads because I couldn’t help myself.

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BlueWhiteBlack: Stacked Blueware Terri Stegmiller I love the look of collage and decoupage and wondered how I could re-create that in fabric. So with some small pieces of fabric, Mistyfuse, and batting, I made the attempt and came up with this quilt.

I was thrilled with the results and have continued to play with the technique since. I share an online tutorial at http://terristegmiller.com/pdf/mosaic_ collage.pdf

Rusty Sawblade, Kristin la Flamme In keeping with my self-imposed theme of traditional blocks, I based this on a sawtooth border. It looks more like a star, but just know that in my mind these are concentric sawtooth borders.

In my mind it’s also an abstract circular saw blade that’s been hanging on a pegboard in an old shed for way too long and has clumps of rust all over it.

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Purple Yellow: Lupins, Brenda Gael Smith It’s remarkable how often the complementary colours of purple and yellow appear in flowers. Lithesome lupins were my inspiration. Freeform piecing combined with machine quilting in yellow and purple variegated threads. (A companion piece, Wild Lupins, another work in my wildflowers series, is currently travelling with the Australia Wide Three exhibition presented by Ozquilt Network Inc.

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Gray: In Light Of, Deborah Boschert I settled upon the idea of words on a page, columns of text, or papers full of paragraphs. Each tiny book is made from two rectangles stitched down the middle.

Some of the pages are upside down suggesting that they are not meant to be read, but rather act as a symbol of study, or story or communication. I think my title suggests an open mind or a change of opinion or a bit of growth. Plus, the word ‘light’ emphasises the moon shape stitched at the top and the selection of light and dark fabrics.

For more information about the artists and the other series of works created by Twelve by Twelve, visit the website www.twelveby12.org

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Tour_Adver

O

r y CES u r PLA CE H 3 AN LY FR

Q u i l t e rs’

N TO

Ad ven tu re 2 01 3 Take a textiles tour like no other!

See, learn and do – and be amazed by traditional and modern textiles of each country and the most interesting cultural places. Itineraries are specially chosen for the ultimate quilt and fabric experiences.

A truly unique experience!

Check out the fabulous itineraries

All Tours Feature:

Demonstrations Quilt & Textile collections and exhibitions Museums and Castles Local textile history Patchwork and fabric shops VISIT MAJOR INTERNATIONAL QUILT SHOWS PLUS: Air-conditioned Coach Travel, Bilingual Licensed Local Guides, Sightseeing, Entry to events and museums, 4-star accommodation, Some meals – all breakfasts.

France & The Netherlands

1–12 August

1–15 November

Pour l’Amour du Fil Open European Quilt Championships Boutis, Les Indiennes Markets, Museums www.worldofquiltstravel.com

Festival of Quilts V&A Museum Liberty of London Hampton Court The Quilt Museum and Gallery, York www.worldofquiltstravel.com

Quilt Week Yokohama Textile Town Weaving, yuzen dyeing Nishjin Textile Centre Arimatsu Shibori Itchiku Kubota Art Museum www.jtboi.com.au

23 April–7 May

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England

Japan

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the library Fashion Design, Referenced: A Visual Guide to the History, Language, and Practice of Fashion

Embellishments for Adventurous Sewing This step-by-step technique reference introduces and thoroughly explores several methods of fabric embellishment that can be used to adorn clothes, home décor items, or even quilts. With Embellishments for Adventurous Sewing, you’ll delve into various methods of appliqué, learn the nuances of free-motion embroidery and thread sketching, and learn to maximize the decorative stitches and embroidery capabilities of your sewing machine. Carol Zentgraf encourages you to explore the world of trims and learn creative or tried-and-true ways to apply them. Try some fabric manipulation techniques to give fabric exciting texture. Each section includes easy-tofollow, illustrated instructions and ends with three to five small projects. Enhance your skills and develop your craft with Embellishments for Adventurous Sewing!

Published by Creative Publishing International, distributed in Australia by Capricorn Link.

Authors, Alicia Kennedy, Emily Banis Stoehrer and Jay Calderin, have created a comprehensive guide through the art and industry of fashion design. It is richly illustrated with over 1,000 photographs and drawings. Within the framework of four central categories, Fashion Design, Referenced examines the many interwoven elements that form the tapestry of fashion.

‘Fundamentals’ provides an overview of the essential structure of the fashion profession (its organisation, specialisations, and centres). ‘Principles’ introduces the steps in creating a collection, from design to production, and explores directions suggested by sustainability and technology.

‘Dissemination’ charts the many avenues by which fashion reaches its audience, whether on the catwalk or in the store, in print or online, in the museum or on the street.

‘Practice’ gathers and appraises the work of the most influential and innovative fashion designers of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

From its first question – What is fashion design? – to its last – What does the future hold? – Fashion Design, Referenced chronicles the scope of ideas, inspirations, and expressions that define fashion culture.

Visit the Fashion Design, Referenced Facebook page and become a fan at http://www.facebook.com/ FashionDesignReferenced!

Published by Rockport Publishers, distributed in Australia

by Capricorn Link.

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Art in Felt and Stitch: Creating Beautiful Works of Art Using Fleece, Fibres and Threads

Journey to Inspired Art Quilting: More Intuitive Color & Design

In this visually stunning book, Moy Mackay reveals how you too can create beautiful pictures using felt. Characterised by her wonderful use of colour, Moy’s work is breathtaking and includes still-lifes, animals and landscapes inspired by the dramatic scenery of the Scottish Borders where she lives and works.

Moy takes you through every step of the process, including the materials and tools you need, the feltmaking process itself (which is easier than you’d imagine), and how to put together four fabulous felt paintings of your own.

Published by Search Press.

Free-Form Embroidery with Judith Baker Montano: Transforming Traditional Stitches Into Fiber Art

Learn how to recognize those ‘big ideas’ that lead to inspiration – and how to transfer them to your projects. Jean Wells shows you how to expand your creative horizons and embrace the process of developing your design skills using your own intuition. An expert art quilter, she provides you with more design guidelines and new exercises to hone your natural intuitive skills, then she encourages you to go out there and express yourself!

Packed with inspiring quilt images, this book walks you through effective approaches to art quilting from journaling your ideas to unifying your design.

Published by C&T Publishing.

Machine Embroidered Seascapes

Best-selling author Judith Baker Montano shows you how to create truly stunning works of fibre art. Judith is back with a new comprehensive stitch guide that will take you beyond traditional embroidery. Free-Form Embroidery shows you how to create stunning landscapes and seascapes by applying fine art principles to your fabrics, threads, and fibres. You can learn how to use these materials with other embellishments to convey anything from seaweed to shells, pine trees to pond lilies. Plus, discover how to turn your favourite snapshot of any landscape or seascape into fibre art.

Published by Search Press.

Building on the success of her previous books, Alison Holt shows you how to produce incredible seascapes using various combinations of just two simple machine stitches. The techniques are broken down into clear, stepby-step instructions, and there are five stunning projects as well as many examples of Alison’s original and exquisite work to delight and inspire you.

Alison ‘paints’ her threads on to hand-coloured backgrounds, blending her stitches and achieving stunning results. The raised effects of the embroidery produce a beautiful three-dimensional look and her clever use of perspective is effective and easily achieved. This book covers everything, including the materials required; how to compose a picture from photographs that have inspired you; painting backgrounds; and all the basic stitch techniques you need to know.

Published by Search Press.

Create Your Own Free-Form Quilts: A Stress-Free Journey to Original Design This title helps you learn how to create your very own one-of-a-kind quilts with free-form cutting and piecing. You can learn how to trust your instincts so you can work more intuitively, and develop a new appreciation for the therapy of sewing without a plan. With these new skills, you can create new work from leftovers and scraps, dig into those favourite fabrics, and transform all those unfinished projects!

Published by C&T Publishing.

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What’s on, Where & When WORKSHOPS VICTORIA

The Wedding Quilt 3 May – 15 June Lucas Grogan has created a handmade black and white needlepoint quilt, conflating Palaeolithic, folk and autobiographical narratives. The audience is invited to slip under the embroidered shield-like surface of the quilt (into bed) to find their own protect space apart from external pressures.

Gallery Two, Craft, 31 Flinders Lane, Melbourne

NEW SOUTH WALES

12th Southern Hemisphere Felt Convergence 1–6 September The Tops Conference Centre, Bendena Garden Road, Stanwell Tops This is a biennial gathering of feltmakers that follows a long tradition of sharing knowledge, experience and ideas about felt. It is run entirely voluntarily for the benefit of feltmakers and feltmaking.

12thfeltconvergencesh@westnet.com.au Check out the blog for more information 12thsouthernhemispherefeltingconverge. blogspot.com Portraits of a Tea Cosy 29 September – 17 November Images and stories of tea cosies and their owners. Loani Prior knitter and writer and Mark Crocker photographer.

STURT Gallery, Corner Range Road and Waverley Parade, Mittagong http://www.sturt.nsw.edu.au

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Western Australia Exhibition Mysterium 25 October – 15 November This is a collection of works is created by members of WAFTA to the theme of Mysterium. WAFTA aims to highlight and promote the diversity of textile art

practice in Western Australia. gallery@central, Central Institute of Technology, Northbridge http://wafta.com.au

EXHIBITIONS WESTERN AUSTRALIA Australia Wide Three 21 June – 21 July Artgeo, Busselton

30 July – 30 August Wanneroo, Perth Enquiries 03 5358 2731, sa.cunningham@bigpond.com Fingers and Petals 4–19 May Freight Gallery, DADAA Fremantle and The Gallery at Main Street Ellenbrook Nalda Searles and Judy Mary Seward have compiling a handmade fibre textile flower show.

For further information contact Nalda at naldasearles1@bigpond.com

AUSTRALIAN CAPTIAL TERRITORY

Bojagi 9–25 August Foyer Gallery, Belconnen Arts Centre 118 Emu Bank, Belconnen This exhibition is a response to Bev Thomas’s trip to the Korea Bojagi Forum in South Korea in August of 2012. Bojagi (also known as pojagi or sometimes jogakbo) is the traditional wrapping cloth made by Korean women since the 15th century. www.belconnenartscentre.com.au 25– 29 September Four Seasons of Canberra.

International Scarf Exchange Kurrajong Rooms, Corner Sherbrooke and Angas Streets, Ainslie Australia Wide Three 29 October – 18 November The Q Art Space, Queanbeyan

Enquires to Sue Cunningham 03 5358 2731 sa.cunningham@bigpond.com Art Quilt Australia 31 October – 13 December ACT Design Gallery OzQuilt Network Inc www.ozquiltnetwork.org.au

QUEENSLAND

Australia Wide Three 18 May – 2 June Gallery 159, 159 Payne Road The Gap, Brisbane A touring exhibition that is an initiative of OzQuilt Network Inc Enquiries to Sue Cunningham 03 5358 2731 sa.cunningham@bigpond.com Stars of the Tokyo Stage Until 2 June Rockhampton Regional Art Gallery A display of costumes and prints related to the modern flowering of Japan’s kabuki theatre as well as exemplary images of the brief 20th century resurgence of traditional Japanese printmaking. This is an extremely rare opportunity to view these sumptuous kabuki costumes which are rarely available outside of Japan and the kabuki stage.

Jumpers and Jazz 18–28 July The Tree Jumper theme for 2013 is Mamma Mia. During Warwick’s winter festival the streets of the CBD are transformed into a living gallery, with more than 100 handmade ‘tree jumpers’ that inspire and charm spectators even on the coldest of winter days.

Jumpers and Jazz in July began in 2004 and nine years later the quirky tree jumper project has expanded into a 10-day art and music festival. www.warwickartgallery.com.au

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Beautiful Australia – Sue Dennis 1–15 September Gallery 159, 159 Payne Road, The Gap, Brisbane International Baltic Mini Textiles

Sensorial Loop 15 August – 28 September 1st Tamworth Textile Triennial Ararat Regional Art Gallery, Town Hall, Vincent Street

Sensorial Loop 7 June – 21 July The 1st Tamworth Textile Triennial Manly Art Gallery & Museum Manly

Until 26 May Noosa Regional Gallery 17 June – 13 July Gympie Regional Art Gallery

Journeys in Cloth and Stitch 12 June – 7 July Solo exhibition by textile artist Jan Lowe.

Bundoora Homestead Access Gallery 7-27 Snake Gully Drive, Bundoora For more information contact the Homestead 03 9496 1060, www.bundoorahomestead.com

Camden Country Quilters Guild 24th annual exhibition 3–4 August There will be a large display of quilts, a challenge display, demonstration table as well as trading tables, quilt shop and food and refreshments for sale.

Enquiries to Chris 02 4655 8293.

25 November – 15 December Gallery 159 159 Payne Road, The Gap, Brisbane This is a collection of 70 works in miniature, from the collection of the Museum of Gdynia, Poland www.moretonbay.qld.gov.au/ culturalheart

TASMANIA

What a Site!

7 October – 3 November This is a collaboration between the Tasmanian Quilting Guild and the Tasmanian Museum & Art Gallery consisting of chosen quilts entered in to the Tasmanian Art Quilt Prize competition. Contact the guild for more details. info@tasquiltguild.org.au

VICTORIA

The Brooch Show 2 May – 29 June Fitzroy Library, 128 Moor Street, Fitzroy 2 July – 30 August Toorak/South Yarra Library 340 Toorak Road, South Yarra This is the sixth exhibition of small wearable artworks by both established and emerging contemporary artists. Last year there were 228 brooches on public display, representing 67 individual artists. This year the organisers expect an even more exciting event. www.contemporaryartsociety.org.au mail@contemporaryartsociety.org.au

Wangaratta Contemporary textile Award 1 June – 14 July The Wangaratta Contemporary Textile Award is a biennial acquisitive award and exhibition celebrating the diversity and strength of Australia’s textile artistry.

Wangaratta Art Gallery, 56 Ovens Street, Wangaratta exhibitionsoffice@wangaratta.vic.gov.au International Baltic Mini Textiles 25 September – 18 November This is a collection of 70 works in miniature, from the collection of the Museum of Gdynia, Poland Ararat Regional Art Gallery

NEW SOUTH WALES

Australian Cotton Fibre Expo 11–18 May The Crossing Theatre, Newell Highway, Narrabri This is an exhibition of artworks, craft and fashion, showcasing the creative uses of the cotton fibre. This Expo is one of a kind, showcasing to the world what a versatile, practical and unique product cotton is.

There are many categories, each with a cash prize awarded, plus a significant Acquisition Prize and Award. www.australiancottonfibreexpo.com.au

Macarthur Textile Challenge 31 May – 1 June Camden Civic Centre For further information email MacarthurTextileNetwork@gmail.com

SOUTH AUSTRALIA

Anything But Old Hat 2-8 August The Embroiderers’ Guild of SA is presenting an exhibition of fun and funky textile art – tradition with unique twists.

Gallery, 16 Hughes Street, Mile End e.fretwell@bigpond.com International Baltic Mini Textiles 19 August – 15 September This is a collection of 70 works in miniature, from the collection of the Museum of Gdynia, Poland Barossa Regional Art Gallery Dare to Differ – Contemporary Quilts 24 September – 21 October This exhibition is presented by The Quilters’ Guild of SA Inc and Brother International at Gallery M Entry is open to all quilters resident in Australia and must have been completed in the two years prior to the exhibition. Contact Suzanne Gummow, for entry details suzannegummow@bigpond.com The deadline for works is 5 July, 2013.

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Join a Group NEW SOUTH WALES

Eurobodalla Fibre and Textile Artists group EFTAG meet on the first Tuesday of each month. Phone Mischi for details, 02 4471 3502. The group holds workshops and exhibitions throughout the year.

Newcastle Creative Embroiderers and Textile Artists Meets in Adamstown, Newcastle the third Saturday and the third Monday of each month. Visit their website for more information www.nceata.org Common Threads A group in the Blue Mountains of NSW welcomes participants, members and the generally

interested. Find out more visit www.commonthreadbluemountains.org

QUEENSLAND

2QAQ – Queensland Quilters Queensland Quilters offers a series of textile art afternoons at Greenslopes Bowls Club, Brisbane. For more details visit www.qldquilters.com/2QAQ Fibres and Fabrics Assoc Inc For enquiries contact Barbara 07 4725 6836 or Suzanne at wilfred.suzanne@bigpond.com.au

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Western Australian Fibre and Textile Association To keep current with news and information about upcoming events from Western Australia, visit the WAFTA website www.wafta.com.au

SOUTH AUSTRALIA

FAN (Fibre Artist Network) Contact the convenor, Suzanne Gummow, on 08 8268 7005 or suzannegummow@bigpond.com T’Arts Textile and Art Collective For information about joining the collective, which this year celebrates its 10th anniversary email, Jenny Knight jennywren@adam.com.au or visit the website www.tartscollective.com.au

AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY

ACT TEXTILES group To find out more about the activities of this Group, which meets the second Wednesday of every month, visit the website and click on a recent newsletter, www.acttextiles.org.au

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Next Issue Look out for issue 11 of Down Under Textiles – on sale in winter!

Learn about heliography with Anne Mitchell Discover more breakdown printing techniques with Dijanne Cevaal See how to use a heat gun on textiles with Neroli Henderson Continue screen printing with Sally Westcott Make stencils with a glue gun with Erica Spinks See works from the Maps – You Are Here exhibition Discover the rich textile traditions of Japan with Deborah Segaert

Available from your local textile shop and now on sale in newsagents!

Digital Subscriptions are now available!

Visit our website to order a print subscription or turn to page 5 for a subscription form for the print version.

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