Just wanted you to know, I realize I haven’t posted in a while, things get away from me.
It’s great out… we’ve had lots of rain (over 30″ in one month) so things are a little soggy, but the sun has been out for the past two days and I love it. I washed the dog outside today, too. A bit chilly but she was starting to smell like swamp… eeeeuww.

I went to CA and had a wonderful time teaching. My pictures are all still in my phone but I called Sprint and talked to a nice young man and I think I know how to get them out now. I’ll post the pictures of the class soon.

Quilt Festival in Houston was amazing, as usual. I was in Cindy Surina’s booth “Custom Creations”. She invited me to sign books at her booth and I was happy to meet so many of you while I was there. It was really nice not to have the responsibility of my own booth, so I got all of the bennies but none of the stress.

If you didn’t attend Houston I have to tell you the quilts that won awards were fabulous. And there was a display there from Germany… a “forest” of quilts. Very interesting. There were a lot of incredible ideas that were inspiring and it was so interesting to see how different textures were created. I am sorry. I didn’t have a camera so I don’t have pictures to share this time. I won’t do that again. Next show I will be sure to take pics to share with you so you can at least see some of what I experienced.

My favorite of all of the quilts was a quilt done on black wholecloth. It was awarded by Superior Threads and was a scene of the wetlands called “Protection” done by Hollis Chatelaine of Hillsboro, NC. You can see it at this link:

Click on the picture and it will take you to the online store where you can order it. I’ll put more in soon, with pictures, next time!
Oh, one more thing… if you are interested, we are offering a Christmas Special. It is one of everything in the QuiltArt series of books and DVD’s. Click on the Jamaica Vanilla pattern and it will take you to the online store.

It is just around the corner! I’ll be attending Festival, not Market this year. But the wonderful news is that I will be signing books at Festival in the first booth you come to on aisle 100! I’ll be there on Preview Night and then will be signing books Thursday and Friday at 10am and 2pm both days. I can’t wait to meet you!

If you have a picture of a quilt you have made from one of the books, please bring it by. I would love to see what you have done. It’s not often I get the opportunity to actually come in contact with you, to see the quilts you have put together, so this will be a great opportunity to chat. I’ll be a captive audience and can’t wait to hear about your fabric exploits.

Festival is October 15 this year in Houston. Mark your calendar and, please, come by and introduce yourself to me! I’m looking forward to meeting you.

I’m back! I took some pictures in the class with my phone and as soon as I figure out how to download them to the computer I will post them. We had a lot of fun. Stay tuned.

I’m leaving in a week to teach in Burbank, CA at Conejo Valley Quilt Guild. I am really looking forward to this! It has been quite a while since I have taught the basics of using ink to create different textures on fabrics.

I’ll be teaching using ink with salt and water:

The workshop kit will be in these greens. I figured everyone can use green, especially if you are creating leaves or some other organic plant look.

We will also be playing with shaving cream. I think this is a lot of fun, and getting messy with something that is so easy to clean up really is an ice-breaker. If you were feeling a little reserved before we get to this, you definitely are not feeling that way once we start.

This shows one of the ways we will use the shaving cream. There are lots of techniques presented in this workshop.

Our afternoon is going to be working with foil. Lots of people hear “foil” and think “Oh, that is so chunky. I just don’t know where I would ever use that”. Well, if you have ever seen those $30 t-shirts you will re-think your stance on this! Foil is easy to apply and you can go way beyond the artwork you see on commercially prepared and sold items.

If you are creating a bag and want a unique, wow-em look try foil. Here is a sample of one of the images I did for the class.

As you can see, using multiple layers of foil that has already been partially used up makes for a beautiful, soft blend. There is a trick to it which I demonstrate in the workshop.

Once you have put foil on your fabric you can use it as a basis for thread painting. Same with the shaving cream and ink, and same with the ink and salt. It really is a wonderful base for your next project.

One of the new patterns I just created, which will be available on the website soon, uses plants and foil to create the image. It is a little thread and trash collector you can place next to your sewing machine. Of course, thread work was added to it to make it really pop. I’ll be showing a picture of it soon…. so check back.

Speaking of which, I have some new tote patterns. Lots of different concepts you can use in them and I will be presenting them soon. Well, maybe after I get back from California.
See you soon…
T

Oooh, I love Setacolor paints. You can get some absolutely gorgeous fabric using this light/heat sensitive paint.

Recently I used InkoDye to do sun painting. This time I used Setacolor. I wet the fabric, just as I did with the InkoDye, then poured diluted Setacolor over the fabric, lastly laying plants over the top of the fabric.

In this sample I added silver Lumiere metallic paint to the mix. When I poured the mixture it left a beautiful stream of shimmering silver behind.

Here is a picture of it after I removed the plant:

Have you tried using SetaColor Paints?

I am so READY to get on that cruise I will be teaching in February. I have never been to the Caribbean and being asked to teach on a cruise to Jamaica and other stops, well, it’s like a dream come true.

Here is what I will be teaching on the cruise.

Strip piecing makes the block fairly quick to piece. The applique is raw edge fusible. Two large stars are surrounded by the “diamond” blocks. Then the same block is used around the quilt, creating the illusion of a 3D border. Using colors very close in value provides you with a nice base for the art nouveau type applique. I absolutely love using neutral fabrics like this.

I plan on making a new pattern that will be a modified version of this, using a color, rather than neutral fabrics so check into the website soon to get a look at it: www.trishstuart.com. I think you will be pleased to see what a difference COLOR can make!

You asked for a few pictures of the finished InkoDye projects.

This one is the first one I tried to do. I did not dilute the ink very much. I am not wild about how high contrast all of it is, but it cured/set really, really fast. There wasn’t time for the ink to soak into the fabric to create the shadow effect under the plants. Plus, I had not made the master grid of all of the colors I had purchased yet, so I didn’t know what to expect.

I THREW plants on here. Didn’t take much time to try to press them into the fabric. As you can see, there isn’t a lot of detailing for the veins in the plants because of that.

Here are two that I did having diluted the ink more. I used probably 2 times the amount of water (1 part ink, 4 parts water). I also spent time pressing the plants to the fabric, used fewer plants, and then moved it into the sunlight. I really love the way I got a different color under where the plants were. When I use the SetaColor paints, the color under the plant is the same color as the paint I used. With the InkoDye, the color was NOT the same as the ink I poured onto the fabric. I really like the hand of the fabric after this, too. Better than the extra body and slight stiffness I got with the SetaColor.

This image has some metallic paint added to it, as you can see in the streaks. Plus, this is diluted even more than the previous image. Fewer leaves. Not nearly as defined but would make a great background cloth.

And finally, I am not sure that this next image is SetaColor. I am thinking it is the InkoDye, because I spilled a BUNCH of it on the area I was working, and used the cloth to mop up the dye. Then I threw a plant on top of it, so I am thinking this is the result. I could be wrong. I get going and lose track of which is what.

Well, no, now I am thinking it really is the SetaColor… see how the black stays put? Not spreading like the ink does. I’m not sure.

Hope this helps you. If I do more of them, I’ll post pictures.

My son dropped down for a brief visit…he lives in Illinois. We live in Texas. I cherish every time I get to see him. So my husband, Tom, and my son, Matt were out on our back porch absolutely torturing me. They like to tease… just thought you would like to see how HOT they both are.

Here’s another one of my two guys.

And Brandy, right in front. She’s our baby Rott. Rotten, that is. She goes with me every morning when I go to work out. She stays in the truck bed watching the traffic go by and you would think it would bore her to tears. But, just try to leave home without her.

Well, that’s my family. I’ll add a picture soon of Matt’s girlfriend Emi (pronounced Amy). She is a little doll, we all love her to pieces!

I am so excited about this rE-generating that I am getting into. I went to the local thrift store the other day looking for something with a Peter Pan collar on it. I wanted to use it on a tote.

I found this adorable little red skirt for a little girl. It looks like sailor pants only it’s a pleated skirt. I just couldn’t resist it.

I turned it into a bag. The great thing about children clothes now is they have this elastic in them that can be buttoned into different lengths. It makes the waist adjustable for those constantly changing kids tummies. Wow. What a concept. I love what it lets me do to the bag!

You’ll have to go to the website to see the finished bag… I’m making it into a pattern. Not that you can follow it exactly as you will have a different skirt, but I’ll be teaching you how to modify what you DO find to create your own, unique bag.

It’s so fun, and I could not believe how quick! It was done in just a few hours. Wonderful when someone else has done half of the sewing for you! And it only cost me about a couple dollars after I added duck cloth and “D” rings. Unbelievable. Check the website soon for a look at the pattern. www.trishstuart.com

We have had some really, really hot days recently. Out of the clear blue, I remembered I had purchased some InkoDye… this is a vat dye that develops it’s color under heat. So it’s great for creating sun fabric. I thought, Hey, I ought to try that out…

These dyes are water soluble and you can mix them together to get different colors. Plus, you can dilute them to create lighter shades, and they will still react to the sun so you still get the impression of whatever you have laid over the fabric. The problem is, you cannot tell what color it is until it is developed. I think I need to create a master image using a bit from each color so I know what they will look like when they have finished processing.

I started out with wet fabric, figuring it was going to be easier for the InkoDye to spread if it was poured over fabric that was not dry. Then I diluted the InkoDye. I didn’t want to make it too light so I didn’t add very much water. I put the plants on the fabric and then used a sponge brush to blot color onto the fabric. I think I did this in the wrong order.

This is so experimental. I had done this about 8 years ago, maybe 9 years, in California on a visit. My fabric was a lot more successful then!

On this try I used green, blue and black. I think I would have liked it better if I would have poured the dye on the wet fabric, then quickly put the leaves over it. And maybe used a brayer to flatten the plants. Or used wilted plants. These were ripped right out of the ground next to where I was “curing” the fabric. I realized I didn’t have enough green stuff to place on the fabric after I had the branch in place…I had to hurry because it was so hot out (about 100 degrees). It was curing REALLY, REALLY FAST.

Here is a picture of what it looked like as it was curing. The colors are already obvious. When I put them on they were NOT blue, green and black.

Then, as luck would have it, I got so nervous that I spilled my bottle of black InkoDye all over my curing area. I was so upset. I tried to sponge it up and get it back in the bottle and spilled the bottle again!! Then, I spilled it once more… I guess for good luck! Since three time’s the charm, right?

So I took a second piece of fabric (thank goodness I had wet two) and mopped up the black. Then I poured a bit of blue on the fabric and squished it around with my hands. Needless to say, my hands were also being dyed black and blue.

As fast as I could I spread the fabric and then tossed grass on it.

I am so glad I had some ReDuRan. I had purchased it when I bought some dyes for using on silk. It is a great product, it took almost all the dye off and, since I had splashed it all over my top and pants, I used it on them and it got it out!! I was so glad.

Okay, the learning curve is a little steep here… next time I am wearing rags to do this in. Not my favorite pants.

This is a really wonderful product. I like the way the fabric stays soft. With a little more experimenting I should come out with some pretty fabulous fabrics to use in my next project or two.