Some serious screen printing

Today my darling hubby took the boys to the park, so I had a couple of hours to do some serious screen printing. I had managed to dye some fabrics yesterday and was ready to try out my new big screen. I decided to print some large divers:

The first print wasn't too sharp...

But the next ones got better and better. This is the third print; the fourth was even better but I am not showing you that one yet ;-).

I found that I don't like the big sqeegee and decided to use the old one, even if it is a bit small for the big screen.

With my old screen (which felt very small and nicely familiar after the big one) I made some ice skater prints for a new quilt:

I printed some Dutch Houses on fabric scraps to make postcards - they are a big hit in my MadeIt shop.

A while ago I found this smallish Poinciana seed pod (usually they are much bigger) and kept it to use for stamping on fabric:

It turned out beautifully!

I had a lovely day and can't wait to start sewing lots of new projects!

Look what I got today!

A new screen for screen printing - a big one! (40 x 52.5 cm or 16 x 21 inch) Here it is next to my old screen - I plan to try it out on Sunday. I hope it will make it easier to construct my sports quilts. Speaking of which, I was thrilled to receive the latest Quilting Arts issue this week that features my quilts!!!

It was a good week PR-wise, as my gymnastics quilts were also featured on the Gymnastics Coaching blog. I got a nice email from a diving coach, which has made me think about using springboard/platform diving as a subject for my next quilt...

It was not a very good week quilt-wise, too busy with gymnastics competitions, school band performances etc. I did manage to make a pencil roll for a friend who wanted one as a present for a little girl:

Then my 6-year-old wanted one too...

And while making one for him, it wasn't too hard to make another one to put up for sale in my Blue Jacaranda store on MadeIt...

Hubby has promised me a day off on Sunday, so I hope to do some serious screen printing then! (although I should do some fabric dyeing first...)

Art in Motion

Voilà... here is my new gymnastics quilt, Art in Motion! The female version of the MAGnificence quilt, depicting the four events in women's artistic gymnastics (WAG); vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor.

Thank you to everyone who left a comment on the last posting. Unfortunately Blogger experienced some problems and a number of comments are lost, but I did get them all in my email and have answered everyone who left an email address.

Cycle of Life

May I present to you: Cycle of Life!

This art quilt was made in 2010 and juried into the State of the Art quilt 11 exhibition, which will be shown at the Textile Art Festival in Brisbane, June 11-13, 2011.

Initially I was asked not to show the full quilt until the show had started, but now a photo of the quilt has been published on the Festival's website and I have been told I can show it here as well.

This is a whole-cloth quilt; the background fabric is a hand-dyed piece from Lisa Walton. The cyclists are screen printed and their shadows are stenciled with a Paintstick using freezer paper stencils. The quilt is machine quilted.

I used photos of my boys and my husband to make the images (except image 4 and 5). I am especially fond of the third image: my middle son riding his bike without the trainer wheels for the first time (see here).

Update

Not much to show - I am very slowly quilting the new gymnastics quilt. I hope that now hubby is back from Canada I will get some more time for quilting!



I have entered my St Basil's fabric in the Black and White Fabric Contest at Spoonflower. You can go here to vote for your favourite fabrics in this contest (no need to sign in or anything) but be warned - there are a lot of B&W fabrics! (and some of them are gorgeous!)



My gymnast son gave me the best Mother's Day present on Sunday when he won the trophy for best gymnast in Level 3 Under 9 in Brisbane North! He was very happy and I am very very proud! (Kate very kindly came to watch and blogged about it here)

Thanks to everyone who send congratulations on MAGnificence being selected for the book - I'm still over the moon with joy!

MAGnificence selected for art quilt book!

Today I heard that my quilt MAGnificence has been selected for the book The Studio Quilt, No. 6: State of the Art by Sandra Sider, to be published later this year. Woohoo!

Here's the list of included artists - I'm thrilled to be in this company!

The Studio Quilt, no. 6: State of the Art

List of Artists and Quilts:

Annie Helmericks-Louder, Outlaw Jackrabbit

Aryana Londir, Compartments #1

Barbara Wills, Land Marks #36

Benedicte Caneill, Units #9: Cityscape

Bonnie Smith, View from Above

Camilla Pearce, Rustbelt Shade Garden

Carolyn Carson, Deborah’s Decision

Catherine Smith, Grey Hay

Charlotte Ziebarth, Urban Reflections #2: Lake Merritt Series

Clairan Ferrono, Darkness Surrounds Us

Deborah Bein, Roots

Deborah Fell, Witness Trees

Deborah Weir, Daylily

Denise Linet, Garden in Blue

Diane Savona, Looted Artifacts

Eileen Lauterborn, Breaking News

Erika Carter, Cradle 6

Ezther Bornemisza, Pending Matters

Gay Lasher, Abstraction I

Gloria Hansen, Lost in Illusion

Grace Errea, Le Chapeau Extraordinaire

Holly Altman, Tidal Pool After the Storm

Jamie Fingal, Apron as Personal Armor

Jean Judd, Contaminated Water #1

Jennifer Day, Old Hands

Jette Clover, White Wall 2

Jill Rumoshosky Werner, Dispensed

Jo-Ann Golenia, Push

Joan Sowada, Fall Line Up

Judith Plotner, Soul of an Iris II

Judy Langille, Splintered Forms

Julia E. Pfaff, Contours V

K. Velis Turan, Major Deegan 2

Katherine Allen, Peace Like a River

Kathleen McCabe, Protea

Kathy Nida, Primal Scream

Kim Lakin, Rio

Leisa Rich, Architects in Flux

Linda Robertus, Magnificence

Louise Schiele, Gecko

Marcia Decamp, Jet Trails #10

Margaret Brown, Alike But Not the Same

Marianne R. Williamson, Babbling Brook

Marlene Parillo, Faces

Mary Pal, Homeless Love

Mary Vaneecke, Circlesss III

Melisse Laing, Seeing the Light

Micaela Fitzsimmons, The Road Home

Nancy Cook, Kousa: A New Dogwood’s in Town

Olga Norris, Snagged

Pat Owoc, Return

Patricia Gould, Coastal Symphony

Sarah Smith, Joshua

Sheree Rasmussen, Night Wind

Sue Reno, Groundhog and Green Bean

Susan Schrott, Fiddler on the Couch

Tiziana Raveri, Unstable Balance

Virginia Speigel, Boundary Waters 51

Wen Redmond, Perception of Trees

Yael Cohen, Mystery

Gold and rust

My gymnast son won a gold medal on parallel bars yesterday! (click on photo to enlarge) His first gold medal - he was very happy and I am very very proud!

Unfortunately his brother fell ill yesterday and I was up with him most of the night :-(. So no creative activities for me yesterday and probably not today either... I'll just show you this piece of fabric - I read a lot about rust dyeing on various blogs and last week thought I'd give it a go.



It looks... interesting. Not sure what I'll use it for, but I'm sure it will prove useful some day.