The Whittier exhibit

This is the flyer for the exhibit, where my box and 3 other quilts will be displayed

 

Dream Box

This project was made to be part of an exhibit that will take place in November at the Whittier art gallery in California.
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To make the box frame, I first started to draw my pattern onto a stabilizer, added a piece of felt underneath and stitched along the drawn lines

I then cut out a a piece of silk Dupioni the same size, layering it on top of the stabilizer, then stitched again on the same lines but on the felt side, added another piece of silk on the felt and followed the same stitched lines again (still following me ...?!)

I started free motion quilting the 4 layers, using invisible thread in the bobbin and metallic sliver thread on top

Same process of layering the drawned pattern on stabilizer and sandwich it with felt and silk, was used to make the box itself

Quilted  it

Once quilted, I cut out along the roof shape

Gathering different colored threads/cords, I then prepared my own cord to use along the box and frame

And couched this cord with a zig zag stitch along the sides of the box and frame

My box started to look like something at that point !

I then decided to embellish the "inside" of my box, adding 5 letters drawn onto painted Lutradur, looking for some meaningful word to fit the 5 sides of the box...

After thinking about 5 letters words  I could use, and eliminating "lunch, match..." , it became obvious that "Dream" was the one to chose !

I free motion quilted the Lutradur around the letters onto the inside of the box

I then decided to embellish the front of the box, adding a different colored rectangle of silk

and cut out palm trees from upholstery fabric

Satin stitched with metallic thread around the palm trees

and couched a fancy thread along the fold of the box

More embellishments ...

I then signed the base of the frame that would hold the box, writing "Septembre" instead of "September",

sorry ... just had a "French moment" ...

I added some camels on each sides of the frame and a nice golden trim at the bottom

I covered wooden bobbins with a coordinated fabric and used a glue gun to attach them to the base. I then hand stitched the bottom part to the frame

I made 5 beaded loops on top of the box so I could close it,  using a cord ending with a lock and a key

I added a button to be able to close the box

and Voila !

To create this box, I got inspired by a wonderful book from Janet Edmonds, called Beginner's Guide to Embroidered Boxes, and a 2004 Quilting Arts Magazine

Sherrill Kahn workshop

Sherrill Kahn is the nicest teacher I have ever had, willing to share everything she knows and encouraging you to try different techniques and most of all, have fun with it !

I will share with you some pictures of her work and what she demonstrated. She mostly uses Jacquard paints - Textile, Opaque, Dye Na Flow, Lumiere, Versatex - but also colored pencils, oil pastels and permanent markers, we also tried Water Color Magic by Sergeant.

Sherrill applies the paint on the fabric with a piece of sponge

She works on fabric as well as on paper, using  an eye dropper to add more paint

She applies another piece of fabric or paper on top of the painted piece to get 2 prints and sometimes even more !

Here, we made a stamp out of a piece of styrofoam plate, carving the design with a ball point pen, sponging it with paint and applying the print on the fabric

Here, using a hot plate covered with foil, she applies crayons on fabric and let them melt. It works also on photo paper

Sherrill was wearing a custom made tshirt, she made the scarf out of the sleeves !

You can layer paint, crayons, stamping...

We learned how to make a thermofax and then print the design on a painted background

We used hair gel, which works as an extender with the paint, made a resist using school glue and Dorland wax,  and so many other crazy and funny things !

Adding air dry clay to painted fun foam

Back of the stitched fun foam

A beautiful fun foam piece

painted, stamped, stitched

I learned a lot during those 3 days, and have now to play with what I've learned !

I recommend 2 books from Sherrill Kahn :

Creative embellishments - Martingale publication

Creative stamping with mixed media techniques - North Light Books publication

and of course her website

 http://www.impressmenow.com/

Dyeing Fabric with Procion Fiber Reactive Dyes from Dharma

On Friday, we dyed some fabric at Claudia's house and the goal for each of us was to make a gradation of one color.

 I picked Fushia.

Claudia picked Cayman blue

and Carollee and Chris picked Chartreuse and Yellow

We had to "dilute" the mixed dye again and again and ...again !

So we could have a fabric lighter and lighter and ...lighter !

Our 8 pieces of fabric were in different bags and we had to "massage" them several times and keep them in a cooler overnight, so they could stay at the same temperature

The next day .... Et voila !

Fushia

Chartreuse by Carollee

Thanks to Claudia for showing us the process, it was fun but kind of too long for me and now... what the heck am I going to do with this gradation of Fushia fabric ...!?