Published in German magazine

I have been published in  Patchwork Professional, a German magazine that has featured an article on my textile art ... what a privilege it was to work with them, and with photographer Jerre Paquette, who took the beautiful pictures that accompany the article.  It is a six page article with photos of seven of my art quilts. My high school German of many years ago is not quite up to reading the text, but I trust that they say good things :)

It's Finished - Hoodoos!

I just couldn't stop!  This art quilt consumed me so much that I just HAD to keep going on it and it is now finished.


All hand dyed and hand painted fabrics. The sky fabric is shibori indigo dyed and has been written on in block and script lettering "hoodoos".


Size 13" x 23"











 The sky is quilted on the diagonal with the word "hoodoos" in variegated blue thread.

Hand stitching accentuates the texture of the hills.


There are more photos in the listing of this piece in my Etsy shop (kathykinsella.etsy.com)

Raw Silk Scarves and Table Runners

These are some new items that I eco printed yesterday . . . raw silk was previously dyed with either cochineal (pink) or weld (yellow) (or a combination of the two).  I used an iron blanket to shift the colours towards olive green and purple. The prints are very clear and defined and the colours totally beautiful.

There are six pieces of fabric, most of them are approximately 72" x 13" (the perfect size for a long tablerunner or a scarf) and a couple of them are about 54" x 13" (great size for a smaller tablerunner).

How about this gorgeous maple leaf print?!

And here is one of the prints on cochineal ... you can even see the bug bites on the leaves

Eco Printing and Natural Dyeing

Eco printing on wool gives such satisfying results ... these leaves were windfalls that I dried last fall just before the snow flew and they have given beautiful prints. 


 The strip of brown is wool melton that has been naturally dyed with red onion skins, cutch and a couple of iron spikes in the dye pot.
  
The small squares are cotton fabric that was previously used as an iron blanket when I was dyeing scarves.


 

 This will become a 20" pillow that has some hand stitching added to the machine stitched details. The asymmetrical design really appeals to me :)

Rust and Indigo combine in a fishy quilt

This is another version of a rusty fish quilt ... rusted onto cotton fabric from a corrugated fish that now hangs on the outside of our house.  After the fabric was rusted and well rinsed I dipped it in the indigo vat to get a medium blue background.

The fabric was then sandwiched with cotton quilt batting and a commercial fabric on the back and then quilted in wavy lines.  The fish was outlined with stitching and some of the key features were quilted.

Then it was on to the hand stitching . . . I chose to stitch the blue areas of the fish in a seed stitch and the rusty areas with layers of elongated stab stitches.  So far I have used two shades of rust to stitch the rusty areas but I might be adding another.

I have just started on the fins and have left the head and that gorgeous eye until the end ... you'll have to come back again to see what I do with that :)

I've been published in Art Quilting Studio

Silk fusion is one of my favourite techniques to work with and in the Summer 2016 edition of Art Quilting Studios there is a three-page article on one of my pieces.  This is silk fibre that was dyed using kool-aid and then stitched to a background of black dupioni silk.

Flour Paste Resist - Day Three

Today we will see the final results of the flour resist painting technique . . . it is an exciting time as you remove the resist and see what changes have been made to the fabric.

First, soak your resist painted fabric in a bowl of warm water for about fifteen minutes. Next place a piece of the fabric on a plastic-covered surface and use an old credit card or plastic scraper to gently scrape the gooey gunk off the fabric.  Work slowly and enjoy revealing the new design on your fabric.

NOTE: Do not put the flour goo and water down your drains ... place it in the compost or garbage and throw the water onto the garden.

Once you have scraped off all of the flour paste resist, rinse the fabric lightly in warm water (remember the paint has not yet been heat set) and leave it to dry. Heat set the paint according to the instructions on the paint (for this paint I pressed the fabric between layers of parchment paper for the required time). The fabric can now be laundered to remove any residual flour and then it will be ready for you to use in your chosen project.
 
I love the veins of the black paint on the hand dyed fabric and the commercial batik.

The metallic yellow made gorgeous veins on the dark cobalt commercial fabric but I can see from the sample done on the purple dotted fabric that I would have liked more crackling on that piece ... that means I should have crumpled it a bit more or applied more paint to the surface. This technique is a bit more predictable than some, but there is always room for surprises along the way.

I hope you will try this out and add it to your fabric tool box!

Flour Paste Resist - Day Two

After the flour paste resist has dried overnight it is time to have fun scrunching the fabric!  You have control over how much crackle to have one the fabric, depending on how much you scrunch the fabric at this time. 

Lay the fabric on a plastic covered surface again and paint it with thinned textile paint.  I used Pebeo Setacolor paints in black and bright yellow for these fabrics.  I wanted a strong contrast to the colour of the fabric so I chose black to use on the turquoise hand dyed and the commercial batik and the yellow to use on the cobalt blue and purple dotted fabric.

Here are a couple of photos showing my fabric after it was painted. The edges of the fabric curled up when the flour paste resist was drying, but that didn't bother me ... I simply painted right into those curly edges.

 
Apply the paint with a broad brush ... and peek underneath to see how much is seeping through the cracks.  Be careful not to add too much paint (or have it too runny) or it might seep under the resist and you would lose the sharp crackle lines.

This photo shows the back side of the fabric with the paint seeping through.

Time to wait for this to dry before the next step!

Rusted Fish after tea-dyeing

My nice rusted fish has had a bit of a bath ... in tea ... and is now layerd and basted for quilting.

The whiteness of the fabric above the fish was just TOO white for me and dunking it briefly in tea has greyed the rusty colours a bit and has given the background a touch of lavender-grey. The lighter rusty areas around the fish image have become quite grey and looks like a shadow ... I quite like the effect!

Now to decide just how I am going to stitch it!  The fish is 24" x 12" so this will take a while to accomplish all the hand work that I am considering for it.

Golden Wedding Heart

This is the third piece in my series of silk fusion hearts on felt ... mounted in a 10" square shadow-box frame.

I love the vibrancy of the silk heart that has just a touch of bright green in it ... set against the more antique-gold wool felt background.  I added a row of funky layered embroidery stitches.

Wouldn't this be the greatest gift for a 50th wedding anniversary???

Valentine's Day Hearts

These are the latest of my fibre art explorations . . . A silk fusion heart has been appliqued to a needle felted background and then mounted in a square shadow-box frame.

This piece is a beautifully textured purple heart on a lavender blue background that includes another piece of the raw silk felted into it. I used metallic silver stitching which gives the heart an even more dimensional look.

This second piece has a felted red background with some textured red/orange/purple textured wool yarn felted into it and then a line of purple beads drifting across the surface. I chose purple thread for the decorative stitching to pull in the other bits of purple violet in the felt.

The black shadow-box frames are 30" square with a 4-3/4" opening for the fibre art. There is glass to protect the fibre art from dust.

I am currently working on a third in this series . . . a gold heart that would be wonderful as a 50th wedding anniversary gift.  I hope to finish that one this weekend. The others are already listed in my Etsy shop.

Fibre Art Quilt ... Grape Leaves on Linen

This is a new art quilt created by painting natural linen with Shiva Paintstiks. I collected grape leaves from vines in my neighbourhood and used them to make stencils that I then arranged across the surface of the fabric.  I used a variety of greens and metallic copper paintstiks to get lots of colour variation in the leaves and then used some of the same colours to create subtle bunches of grapes.

The leaves are heavily stitched with free motion machine stitching and then I outlined the grapes and added tendrils to the vines.  The background quilting has been done in a columnar format, with some of them on an angle, and then the spaces around the leaves and grapes are filled with hand seed stitches.

The piece measures about 20" square and hangs from a sleeve on the back.  The edges are finished with a turned facing for a contemporary look.

This piece is in my Etsy shop now (click on the link on the right side of this screen).

Artistry 2015 - In Blind Bay this weekend

I will be at Artistry this weekend with my purses, cuffs, small art quilts and my all-new eco printed purses, cuffs, scarves and tablerunners.  Hope you will find time to drop around on Saturday 10-4pm and on Sunday 11-3pm.

Prayer Flags for "Learning"

I was asked to make prayer flags that will be given as gifts to speakers, musicians, course leaders and others at Sorrento Centre this summer and now that they have been delivered, I would like you to have a peek at them.

They were created by using hand-dyed fabric (blue) that I tore into the appropriate size strips and then dipped the bottom edge in bleach to discharge the colour ... then I painted that edge with golden and greenish textile paints to create meadows and hills.  I then screen-printed a tree on each flag and followed that with hand embroidery of a few flowers before adding the hand-lettered "learning" patch. The top edge was turned over and hand stitched to hold a twig of red dogwood that I gathered at Sorrento Centre this spring.  These are single-sided flags and all the edges are left ragged so that if they are left outside in the weather they will fade and fray away, but they will maintain their colour if kept inside, out of direct sunlight.

They were a delight to make and I love that we chose the word learning for these flags,  from their motto, Sorrento Centre: A holy place of transformation for learning, healing and belonging.

Prayer Flags

I absolutely love making prayer flags. The small size means they are quick to finish compared to most of the pieces I create and there is so much scope for creativity.  Even when I make multiple sets  of prayer flags each one is slightly different.  They are a perfect little project for taking along when you are waiting for appointments, or flying from A to B.

Most of these prayer flags have been created from hand-dyed or hand-painted cotton, although there are some that are on silk (the pinky-purple one above is silk) and some have a few beads added as well as the hand stitching.  Eventually, I will offer some that can have text of the purchaser's choice added to the flag.

I am now listing these prayer flags in my Etsy shop  so drop by from time to time to see what is new and feel free to suggest themes that I might not be covering yet . . . I think the possibilities are endless.

Painting Fabric - Purses on a Theme

 The painting bug bit me on the weekend and I found myself exploring grapes leaves and the image of grapes.

The grape leaves came to life when I used moss green and copper textile paint in a stencil that I had cut (using a neighbour's grape leaves as a pattern). I kept the paint brush fairly dry and did not try to completely blend the green and copper paints.

The grapes were stamped with the same paints using a piece of rubber glued to the end of an old thread spool ... once again, I took care to be sure that both colours of paint showed.

The top purse has been painted on a piece of natural colour linen-cotton blend fabric and the strap is the same fabric.

The second purse has been painted onto a piece of cotton fabric that I had previously painted with this beautiful lime green and metallic copper. I love the way the fabric has light areas and some that are more intense colour.  The strap on this purse has been created by stitching together a twist of several yarns and ribbon.

These are both cross body purses but could also be worn from the shoulder.

I painted on the back of each of these purses, too. It was just too much fun to stop at the front side!

Here is the back side of each of them.  There are more photos of each of the purses in the listing of them in my Etsy shop (kathykinsella.etsy.com).

Wildflower Meadows in Felt and Stitch

Wildflowers are a favourite theme for me when I am needle felting. The felting seems to lend itself to gentle landscapes and adding hand stitched flowers and foliage seems to make them come alive.

This is the first time that I have stitched the felted landscape to a fabric background and then continued the stitching into that background.

The piece was then wrapped and stapled to a stretched canvas for hanging.

Valentine's Day Inspiration

I rarely make "seasonal" items but this week I had the urge to create something with a Valentine's Day theme. I have been having fun needle felting lately and decided to work with my red wools (with a touch of purple and orange to liven it up). The heart is silk fusion with free motion stitching appliqueing it in place. 

I love the curly locks of hand dyed wool ... and I added some funky hand stitches (knots and crosses to carry the theme) and some pretty silk yarn to the surface. Here is the result!

The final piece was wrapped onto an 8" square artists' canvas and stapled to the back. It makes a delightful small wall decor that can be enjoyed year round. 

This is available in my Etsy shop (click on the box on the right of the screen to go there).

Just for Me

This one's for me! 

You might have already guessed that I have a bit of a thing for spawning sockeye salmon ... I have worked on this theme from time to time over the past five years and never seem to tire of it. This art quilt has been created using hand dyed fabric by Judy Robertson. I love the vibrant red-purple pieces that I used for the salmon ... and the background piece made a gorgeous non-traditional watery setting. This is an art quilt that I started in a workshop with Catherine Nicholls over a year ago and Catherine really challenged me in the design and the four light sources on the rocks (and helped out when I couldn't see where those shadows should go!).  I'm not sure that I really got it right, but I loved the effect, once it was all quilted with watery blue variegated thread.

This measures approximately 30" square and is hanging over the fireplace in our living room.

Vitis - Art Quilt with Grapes and Grape Leaves

A new art quilt is born! 

This has to be my favourite art quilt (maybe the latest is always the favourite) . . . I love the soft colour palette and the beautiful texture that ripples and swirls with the leaves and grapes.

 

The grape leaves are painted using metallic copper and moss green textile paints with stencils I made using local grapes leaves to get the shape just right. The grapes themselves were stamped using the end of a spool of thread.

There is lots of machine quilting and then my favourite seed stitches that I did by hand . . . it was such a relaxing piece to work on. I chose to add the botanical name for grapes "Vitis" to the left side. Here is a photo of a bit of the detail.