Fiber Explore Napikn Challenge

The Challenge for August at my Fiber Exploration Group was to use the cocktail napkin as inspiration via color, theme, material or something else to create a piece of art for themselves.

Here is the inspiration napkin! 

Here is my journal covers from the post two days ago. 

Click here to see the entire post about my journals.

This was from Suzi, she used 5 inch squares and added some hand stitches.  She is queen of the hand stitches!  Each one has an inspiration on the back.

This was from Barbara.  She used the shaving cream prints we had done in a workshop earlier this year.  She used paint and inks, stamps and screens.  

Bebe used a kaleidoscope program to create this mandala circle.   And also went with a stamping and painting on a background that was painted lutradur fused on to a bright green felt.

Yvonne is working on a block of the month pattern from a Paducah Quilt Show group.  Different artists create a block each month, the cat was the current block.  She took that cat to the sea shore!

She also found this amazing clown circus fabric in a Vintage Store in IL last week!  

Suzi also showed her Because Of Her piece dedicated to her brother an his late wife.  This is the farm her brother recently purchased.  While he was thinking about buying it, Suzi sent him a photo of their father in front of his barn on a tractor just like this.  

She hand dyed and created each piece of fabric.  He will certainly love this.

Immediately I knew It Was Out Of Control

Out of control, for sure.

I  took a good look at the lutrador I painted with the Rose Tsuekineco Ink yesterday and knew it needed to be darker.

That was the beginning of the problem.

I had used some water mixed with the ink yesterday so today I decided to go commando.  No water.  When I put the brush down into the ink then on to the lutrador, immediately I knew it was out of control!

Waaaaay too much ink.

But there it was.  So I put a few more splotches on, glad Carol had sent me more than enough stuff to play with.

Sigh...........

 So I hit on an idea.  Water thinned the ink BEFORE I  put it on, maybe it would thin the ink AFTER I put it on.  Into the kitchen.

I took an old yogurt container and put a tiny bit of water in the depression  of the upended container.  I really wanted to try to control SOMETHING! 

Lutrador is not like fabric, it does not absorb water.  So the water did indeed dilute the ink already on the lutrador.

And at that point I had no real control of where it went.  I made scrubbing motions like when you clean a shirt.

That served to move the inks around and disperse them into a wider area.

We shall see what it turns out to be.

Lutrador, Hexies an Rust

Remember that house that burned down just before Christmas??  Well, they finally began tearing it down today.  At about 8 pm there was all kinds of comotion with police, ambulances and fire trucks.  Flashing lights, sirens, all sorts of people.  I have no idea what happened.  When we walked the dogs we saw an Entergy truck  there, so I am thinking the house was still electrified.  hope no one was hurt.

I am linking this post up to Nina Marie's Off the Wall post.  there are a lot of other talented people showing there as well!

I was a busy bee tonight and this afternoon. 


I painted up some Lutrador.  With some Rose Tsukineco Ink.

And hung it out to dry.







Pale color that will most likely lighten as it dries.   But  there is no limit to the number of coats!

 I made a small  stack of hexies!  I made a bunch of templates out o a couple sheets of cardstock.  Fran was nice and he punched out a hole in the center of each one while he watched TV.

 One is a cat

one is a pretty coral color 

 and one is purple and teal.

I found this fabulous saw at a resale shop for $5.  I thought I would give it to Frank as an old tool, but he wanted to de-rust it.

So I decided to keep it for myself!









And it is resting nicely, steeped in vinegar and wrapped in Ecology Cloth.

A much better future is planned for it!