Lavender and rust art quilt – finishing and framing

When last we met, I had printed and quilted an art quilt from a blended collage of my photographs of a lavender flower and a piece of rusted machinery.  Here’s a photo of the quilt, and this is the post about the process :

Lavender and rust art quilt

Finishing and framing a piece is always a challenge for me. Since I used new techniques and products for the quilt (more about that later!), I wanted that novelty to be reflected in the way I framed it.  Rooting around in my supply closet, I found wooden framing stretcher strips about the right size.  When assembled, the frame was a bit larger than the quilt.  To finish the plain wood in a manner that would reflect and honor the quilt, I printed some of the elements of the lavender and rust collage onto Transfer Artist Paper (see my earlier posts about TAP), and ironed them onto the front of the frame.

TAP on frame

My next challenge was how to attach the quilt to the frame.  I decided to use some kind of ribbon that I would sew to the quilt and thread through screw eyes attached to the inside edge of the frame.  It’s not easy finding good screw eyes! My local fabric store didn’t have anything I liked, and I had to visit three hardware stores to find the size and color that I wanted. I put screw eyes in each of the four sides of the frame.  This is the top right edge, showing the screw eye:

Ribbon and screw eye attachment

I decided that instead of using premade cord or ribbon, I would make it myself.  I started with the image that I used for the quilt and designed ribbons, but rescaled to be much smaller because the ribbon would have to fit  through the screw eyes. I printed it on the fabric that I had used for the quilt and doubled the fabric over so both sides would have a pattern.  I cut thin strips and stitched down the center of each to hold the sides together.  I threaded them through the eyes and tied knots, working with each to get the quilt centered in the frame. This is a closeup of the ribbon at the center right side of the frame:

Ribbon tied through screw eye

And this is the quilt tied to the frame at the six eyes:

Quilt in frame

The last challenge: how to hang the framed quilt? I didn’t want to string a wire across the back because that would show through the gaps. I couldn’t use a sawtooth because the gallery that I show my work in (a plug here for the Pinole Artisan galleries) doesn’t allow those. I decided to echo the screw eyes used on the inside, and put two at the top of the frame.  I made another long ribbon, threaded it through the eyes, doubled it over and stitched it together. The framed quilt now hangs flush against the wall from a hook or nail. This is it:

Hanging framed art quilt

If you’re wondering about the back of the frame, it’s nothing fancy. I finished it by painting the plain wood with a few coats of white gesso.  I solved the eternal question of how to sign an art quilt (many people print labels on fabric and sew them to the back), by signing the gessoed surface with a pigment ink pen. This is how the back looks:

Back of the quilt

If you’re wondering where the piece is now, it’s hanging in the new show at the second Pinole Artisans gallery, Pinole Art Center Too, 2814 Pinole Valley Road, Pinole California.  Email me at heidirand@gmail.com if you would like to know when the Center is open, or when I’ll be working there.

Next: the exciting story behind the fabric that I used for this quilt!

Lavender and rust art quilt

Handmade gifts with your inkjet printer : one-day workshop November 15th

This is going to be a really fun workshop.  I’ll show you how to make personalized gifts (for friends and family or for yourself!) using your own photographs, designs, or other material and your home printer.

Fabric on tote bag

 We’ll explore a  variety of different techniques to create unique gifts, like printing on fabric and other special surfaces ideal for making presents.  Each person will complete at least one project at the workshop, and you’ll go home with many ideas and new things to try on your own printer.  There’s plenty of time before the holidays to create gifts for everyone on your list!

Lavender sachet

When you make a personalized gift you can save money and show that you care to take the time to create something special for your loved ones.

Fabric covered light switch plate

You can use photographs and the originals or scanned memorabilia of things in your lives together for gifts that people will treasure and keep. 

Treasure bags with fabric iron-ons

The workshop will be Sunday November 15, 2009, noon to 3:30.  Cost is $35 plus materials. It will be held at the Canyon Trail Art Center in El Cerrito California.  Please pre-register by emailing me at heidirand@gmail.com, or you can pre-register at the El Cerrito Recreation Department, 7007 Moeser Lane El Cerrito, (510) 559-7000.

If you want to see the gifts that I make from my photographs and designs, please visit my ETSY shop.

Transfer artist paper on lutradur

Some people on the inkjet transfer yahoo group (inkjet_transfers@yahoogroups.com) were wondering about using Transfer Artist Paper (TAP) on lutradur.  Lesley Riley’s new book on lutradur says that TAP works on lutradur (and she invented TAP, so she should know!)  Since I’m having such a great time experimenting with lutradur,  I had to try these two interesting products together. I picked one of my current favorite photo collages as my first attempt.   I took a photograph of koi swimming in a pond at the San Francisco Flower and Garden Show, and blended it with my photograph of a bonsai wisteria tree. This is the digital image:

Koi and wisteria collage

I printed the image on TAP using the recommended settings (media set for plain paper, resolution at fine quality).  The TAP print looked great, pretty much what like the image looks like on treated inkjet paper. I cut an untreated piece of lutradur inches larger than the image, because if it turned out well I figured I might do something fun with the edges, like use a heat gun to curl them.

I heated my iron to the highest setting.  I put the lutradur on my ironing surface, which is relatively hard and not as padded as a normal ironing board.  I cut the excess TAP from the edges of the image, as recommended. I positioned the TAP printout face down onto the lutradur, and placed a piece of parchment paper on top of the TAP. Pressing down firmly, I held the iron in place for about 10 seconds, then moved the iron to another spot until I had covered the entire surface. I peeled up an edge and saw that it had transferred completely. I checked the other edges and had to place the TAP down and re-iron a few spots.

After making sure the entire transfer had adhered, I peeled the TAP paper off.  I think the transfer is beautiful! The color and resolution are nearly as perfect as an inkjet paper print. I love the way the translucency of the lutradur allows light to shine through the image, and how the filaments and texture complement the image. I also think the abstract nature of the image, with its rich tones, worked really well on the lutradur.

This is the result:

Koi and wisteria on lutradur

This is a closeup of the bottom left edge, to show the filaments and texture of the lutradur, and how well the rich color transferred:

Closeup

And another closeup of part of the transferred image:

Closeup

I think if you pick the image carefully, a TAP transfer to lutradur is a great option. I’m not sure how well fine details will transfer, but I think that this abstract image with its rich colors worked great.  Considering that in order to print this image directly onto the lutradur I would have to coat it with Golden’s Digital Grounds (see my other blog posts on that subject), using the TAP was certainly quicker and easier.  When I decide how to finish the piece I’ll post an update.

Printing with Golden’s Digital Grounds on Lutradur

I made a blended photo collage from my photographs of a hen’s feather and a white phalaenopsis orchid. The end design is abstract, although you can see the feather shape repeated three times in the center of the piece. I shifted the colors to get subtle golds and shades of blue.

Phalaenopsis and feather collage

I prepared a piece of lutradur for inkjet printing by coating it with Golden’s Digital Ground matte (see my posts about lutradur and digital ground), and printed the collage. I backed the print with thick Pellon interfacing, and sewed along some of the lines of the image.

This is the printed/quilted piece (it’s 5 by 7 inches):

Phal/feather collage on lutradur

This is a closeup of part of the lutradur print, to show the quilting:

Phal/feather collage printed on lutradur and quilted

I decided to finish the lutradur print by mounting it to a 9 by 12 inch canvas board.  To enlarge the phal/feather image so it would fill the blank portions of the board, I printed segments of the image on Transfer Artist Paper (see my posts about TAP).  I transferred the segments to the canvas board with my iron set on the cotton setting.

Phal/feather collage, TAP on canvas board

This is a closeup of one of the corners.  The TAP transfer to the cotton board resulted in a pleasing texture, and the abstract nature of the design worked well with the transfer, I think.

Phal/feather collage - TAP on canvas

When the weather permits, I will spray the piece with fixative (probably Golden’s new archival varnish because that was designed for use with digital grounds prints).

The end piece, with the lutradur adhered to the center of the canvas board, will look like this:

Phal/feather collage, lutradur and TAP on canvas

To hang, I will probably drill two small holes near the top of the piece and string with metal chain.  Alternatively, I might put the piece into a frame.    I finally decided how to hang the piece!  I  drilled two small holes near the top.  I wanted to reinforce the holes, but normal eyelets aren’t long enough to go through the canvas board and grab onto the other side.  The only grommets I could find were much too large for the effect I wanted.  I finally found some slightly longer eyelets and set them.  I debated stringing decorative chain or wire, but dug out some raw leather cord I have, and decided it worked well with the tone of the piece.  I’m very happy with it now, see what you think.

Upper corner of piece with leather cord as hanger

Completed piece, with leather cord as hanger

Printing on fabric

When I began printing on fabric a few years ago, the main product available was Bubble Jet Set 2000. You had to soak fabric (only cotton or silk) in the BJS, air-dry it thoroughly, iron it to freezer paper, and then you could print on it. You also had to apply an after treatment. I didn’t have much luck with BJS. I printed some silk scarves and some cotton squares, but had trouble with blurry patches and inconsistent results.

Luckily, other products quickly began appearing that worked better for me. Although the pre-treated fabric costs quite a bit more than treating my own fabric with BJS, the results were more consistent and saved me a lot of time and work (ironing, yuck!). The main benefit of BJS is that you can cut your fabric to the size you want, constrained by your printer’s specs, of course, and the size of the freezer paper or other backing. You can buy pre-treated fabric at sizes larger than letter size, but it gets very expensive.

For pre-treated fabric, I started out with rolls of silk and cotton made by Blumenthal, which the JoAnn’s store near me carried at the time. Every time I got a 40% coupon, I’d buy a roll, which made the price of the roll reasonable. I used a lot of the silk rolls for scarves, and used the cotton for purses. At the time I was printing the fabric on my Epson 1280, but soon realized that I needed to change to the 2400 for the pigment ink. The 1280, a wonderful printer, uses dye inks, which fade over time and wash right out of fabric if you don’t treat it. Eventually my local JoAnn’s stopped carrrying the Blumenthal rolls. Maybe they track whether people ONLY buy certain high-priced items using coupons, and if so, stop stocking those items. In addition, I was getting less-saturated prints on the Blumenthal fabric with my 2400.

Welcome

Double exposure self-portrait

You can see my photographs and original designs at my SMUGMUG GALLERIES .  My handmade artwork is available through my ETSY SHOP. You can also see a large variety of products with my designs on them (sneakers, ties, much more!) at my ZAZZLE GALLERY.  Interested in learning to print on fabric?  See my new ebook, Inkjet Fabric Printing, available through my ETSY SHOP or LULU.COM.    Email me at heidirand@gmail.com for more information.

Okay, I guess I’ll just jump into this.  Now, a quick introduction — I’m Heidi, a photographer lucky enough to be married to a wonderful, gifted naturalist, George, who has the most amazing green thumb and a vast knowledge about animals and plants.  So whereas I used to have to search for things to photograph, I’m now surrounded by a menagerie of animals, including turtles, hummingbirds, butterflies, squirrels, and much more … and a wonderland of orchids, roses, native plants, trees, and much more — just begging to be depicted in pictures.

George arising from the pond

This is a picture I took of George coming out of the pond in our garden that he restored.  A couple times a year he disrobes and mucks around in the pond, cleaning out the algae and upsetting the mosquito fish and goldfish.

All photographs and images on this blog are copyrighted. Please do not copy or download any of my images.