Time to celebrate 100 Days of Mark Making on Fabric! These past few months have flown by as I marked one or more pieces of fabric each day using a variety of mark-making mediums, shapes, textures, patterns, and techniques. Join me as I showcase the last two days of mark making, along with a few personal reflections from this creative journey...
99/100: No Dice Roll
There was a bit of excess paint that blended into an indigo blue for additional sunprinting using pressed vinyl mats.
100/100: No Dice Roll
Creating fireworks in celebration of completing all 100 Days of Mark Making on Fabric! This grand finale involved a large variety of stamps (including a few new items) and a spectrum of Color Shift acrylic paints.
A bit of bling was added through the use of a Glitterific paint and metallic Uniball Signo pens which you can see these doodle details in the before (left) and after (right) photos below.
Aother brilliant burst of color and pattern was created with a small glass star surrounded by lines made with a hotel key card and popsicle sticks. Again a glittery paint and uniball metallic markers were used to add some metallic embellishments.
"Baby you're a firework, come on, let your colors burst!!"Katy Perry
Review of Project Goals:
Each of my 100 day projects is grounded with a few personal artistic goals which I laid out in my Set Up blog post. Let's check in to see whether those goals were achieved...
Goal #1: Experiment and play with these various mediums.
I revisited each medium multiple days striving to try different designs and techniques. Some mediums made for meditative marking (ie. pens/markers/textile paints) whereas others (ie. high flow paints) were totally experimental which made for exciting transformations and reveals. Some mediums were a bit challenging to control at first (ie. watercolor blocks/crayons and liquid paints) but I persevered in these creative experiments until I learned to go with the flow and find techniques that yielded amazing results. Along the way, I kept notes on what I liked about each with regards to ability to control vs. going with the flow and created a binder that includes information about many of the mediums used. Here is the daily breakdown of how many days each medium was used:
- Pens - 19 days
- Markers - 20 days
- Watercolor Blocks/Crayons - 9 days
- Textile Paints - 22 days
- High Flow Paints (ie Dye-Na-Flow/ProChem ProSilk & Fabric Paints) - 11 days
- Artist's Choice - 13 days + 6 days going rogue
Goal #2: Create a 10" or larger swatch of fabric each day.
There were only a few days where only 1 swatch of fabric was created with most of those yielding a larger wholecloth quilt. Once I started making marks, it was hard to stop as most days yielded 2 or more swatches of fabric:
- 2 swatches = 9 days
- 3 swatches = 27 days
- 4 swatches = 26 days
- 5-6 swatches = 18 days
- 7-9 swatches = 9 days
- 10+ swatches = 8 days (with a maximum of 21 swatches produced in 1 day)
- Grand total: 492 pieces of fabric for a total of 37 yards of mark-making magic!
Goal #3: Actually use some of these fabrics to create four or more finished art quilts.
Over the course of this project, I managed to complete 5 finished quilt projects:
- Midnight Mark-Making Magic (18" x 18") made for Project Quilting 12.5 You're Crazy challenge (top left)
- Passport Potential (10" x 7" open) made for Project Quilting 12.3 Virtual Vacation challenge (top and middle right photos)
- On Your Mark...Get Set...Glow! (6" x 8") made for the SAQA Spotlight Auction (bottom right)
- Escar-WHOA!! (17" x 17") made for Project Quilting 12.4 Snail's Trail challenge (bottom middle)
- Left vs Right: A Sheer Delight (21" x 18") for Project Quilting 12.6 Ab Intra challenge (bottom left)
Design Inspiration:
Over the course of the 100 days, there were several sources of inspiration to keep me busy:
1. Color Inspiration:
Exploring a different color every two weeks kept it fresh and exciting for me. As each new color started, I would gather all the various mediums in that particular colorway for easy access. It was interesting to see which colors were well represented in my collection (black, red, and blue) and which colors were a bit more limited (yellow, orange, and white). I also enjoyed studying how the various colors and mediums interacted with the white vs. black Prepared for Dye Pimatex cotton fabrics. Midway into the project, I started to make small swatch samplers which served as a helpful resource. At some point I would like to go back and create more swatch samples on black and white fabric for all the various mediums to add to my mark-making binder.
2. Shape
Incorporating different shapes yielded lots of creativity, especially when it came to techniques and supplies. I gained a new perspective on studying my surroundings for sourcing exciting new shapes and textures. All and any packaging was studied before it went into the recycling bin and I often went on scavenger hunts around the house in search of an assigned shape. Here are just a few common items that were used to stamp and print the various shapes:
- Circles/Dots (17 days): Lego bricks, bubble wrap, texture rollers, daubers, CD, bath mats, deodorant packaging, pens/highlighters, rubber combs, Q-tips, wine corks, corn on the cob, foam marshmallow, toilet paper roll, sequin waste ribbon, jars, lids, food-to-go containers, stamps, PVC tubing, and mister bottles.
- Straight Lines/Grids (13 days): gift card/hotel key card, popsicle sticks, tongue depressors, rubber combs, toothpicks, Q-tips, plastic fork, and yarn.
- Triangles (13 days): foam stickers, toilet paper roll, pizza saver, stencils, and a scrub sponge.
- Quadrilaterals (11 days) toilet paper roll, Lego bricks, packaging, stencils, and vinyl sink mats.
- Spirals/Wavy Lines (19 days): texture rollers, foam rollers, yarn/rope, spiral stamp, paperclips, potato masher, rubber combs, game pieces, and foam brushes.
- Artist's Choice (21 days): pressed vinyl mats, door knob, vase, glass shapes, yarn, and snack cannisters.
3. Getting Started...
Simply Start...
Making marks on the first swatch of fabric was usually the hardest. But I quickly realized that they were jumping off points as once the mark making began, ideas soon started to flow as I asked myself "What If?" Below are photos taken over the course of several mark-making sessions. Each column captures the progression starting with usually fairly simple patterns along the top, and progressing downwards with a series of small changes yielding all new design possibilities.
Start Making Waves
Another strategy that helped was to start by drawing large wavy lines across the fabric and filling in with smaller shapes: triangles/zig zags, boxes, checkerboards, circles, lines, hearts, arches, ribbon candy, flowers, loops, and wedges. Sometimes this would lead to all new design possibilities, or I would keep making waves and filling in with a new shape/design...
4. Quilting Inspiration:
Many of the designs were inspired by my quilting including patchwork (both gridwork and crazy patchwork)...
...and quilting (free-motion and walking foot)
5. Text
Several mark-marking experiments involved layering text. Several designs were inspired by Susan Purney Mark use of asemic writing in her Squiggle, Line and Dot Mark Making on demand class, Deborah Boschert's demo on The Quilt Show, and Denise Lach's Calligraphy book. I love the look as well as the opportunity to both journal about my day and channel positive vibes (hope & peace) out into the world.
6. When in Doubt--Just Add:
Some designs didn't excite me at first. Usually it was because something was missing and/or needed. Here are some of the strategic additions used to elevate a particular design.
-More Shapes and Pattern
Sometimes there was too much negative space so I added dots or confetti to fill in the background space as I did in the top row of designs. Sometimes it was adding some additional texture, lines, or patterning into the spaces I had already created, as seen in the middle row of designs. And sometimes it was a matter of filling in larger shapes with smaller shapes as used in the bottom row.
-Overlapping Layers
Some of my favorite designs involve overlapping patterns
- wavy lines overlapped with more wavy lines in the opposite orientation or circles on top
- text with more text on top in different directions, scale, or color
- lines and grids overlapped with more lines and grids.
- shapes and text
-Water, Aloe, and/or Alcohol
And when all else fails, sometimes you just add water (left colum), aloe vera gel (middle column), and/or rubbing alcohol (right column). While these transformations are spectacular, I do recommend testing on a smaller swatch first!
Final Reflections:
Here are a few final thoughts from this creative journey:
- Most of these experiments used mediums/supplies already on hand. As I experimented with them and discovered which mediums I especially enjoyed, I would invest in buying more colors including the Ecoline Brush Pens, ProChem ProSilk & Fabric paints, and folk art acrylic paints (especially the Color Shift paints).
- While I did some initial studio reorganization in preparation for this 100 Day Project, I found myself carving out more studio space for my mark-making collections of paints, pens, and markers. Not only are they more accessible, but it is easier to access and transport the supplies for my mark-making sessions.
- Transforming solid white or black fabric with my own original marks is so much fun. Plus, I love having my artistic voice featured in every layer of the quilt-making process. While I enjoy this new direction of using my own marked fabrics, I am feeling a bit guilty about the large stash of commercial fabrics that have been underutlized these past few months. I will continue to reflect on ways to merge both collections and/or potentially transforming some of my commercial fabrics with these mark-making techniques?
- Just as these fabrics showcase my hand in their creation, frequently my hands showcased my latest mark-making endeavors. Thankfully, most messes were limited to my hands as I took extra precautions to protect my various workspaces:
- Most of messier techniques were conducted outdoors (ie. sunprinting, faux dyeing, spray misting, etc).
- I placed thin acrylic plastic under my fabric as I made marks with paint, markers, and even pens to prevent the paints and inks from transferring onto my work surfaces. The plastic sheets were easy to wipe clean with water and/or rubbing alcohol.
- Glad Press n' Seal worked great for wrapping over my paint trays. This provided additional space to place painted tools/stamps, as well as quick & easy clean up.
- An apron was frequently worn when using paints and I was sure to have either papertowels and/or old washcloths on hand for cleaning up spills and my hands. And a small nailbrush has been ordered to clean the paint off my hands and fingernails!
- I conducted some research on the environmental impact of these mark-making experiments. I tried to use what I already had on hand, minimize waste (use reusable washcloths vs. papertowels), recycle packaging for printing, and use care when cleaning/disposing the acrylic paints. Here are two articles that helped me to be more mindful during these mark-making sessions:
- Your Paints May Contain Toxic Chemicals. Here’s How to Avoid Harming Yourself and the Environment by Ingrid Christensen for Artsy
- Science of Painting: Acrylic Paint and the Environment by Miles Martin/The Artful Scientist Blog
- Over the course of this project, I received lots of questions about my plans for these designs:
- There were lots of inquiries about washing/heat setting these fabrics. These are important considerations especially when making utilitarian quilts that will be laundered. Mostly I plan to use them in art quilts using mostly fusible collage, so I do not need to worry as much about laundering or getting wet. All the fabrics were pressed with a hot dry iron which I hope will heat set them for use in art quilts, but additional testing will be necessary before using them in quilts that may need to be washed/laundered.
- I was delighted to receive lots of comments about buying yardage were these designs to be printed commercially. As of now, I have no plans for creating my own collection of fabrics or submitting designs to fabric manufacturers. Down the road I may look at print-on-demand services such as Spoonflower to print additional yardage of some of my favorites.
- There were several inquiries about creating new workshops to teach these mark-making techniques. 100 days is a lot to pack into a workshop, but I am making notes on some of my favorite techniques and figuring out the logistics of how these might translate into a workshop experience. So stay tuned and be on the lookout for announcements about any new workshops via my website teaching page, monthly newsletter (subscribe here), and on Instagram/Facebook.
- Last but not least is what will I create with all this fabric?!? While I had lots of fun making these fabrics, I would like to start using it to create more art quilts! So I have plans to start a new 100 Day Project which will involve using more of this fabic to study different design quilts and ultimately create more art quilts. I am finalizing my game plan (yes, dice will once again be involved!!) and will be sharing more information very soon!!
Many thanks to all who joined me on this creative journey. In case you missed any of my weekly wrap up blog posts, you can catch them all below...
Weekly Blog Posts:
It has been a treat to watch your progress over the past 100 days. Your talents have grown enormously. I think you may be printing these commercially. So lovely. Congratulations.
ReplyDeleteThanks Ann...these 100 days flew by as I was having so much fun. I learned so much and am excited to incorprorate these fabrics and techniques into more of my future quilts. Will be sure to share my progress. Thanks for all your encouragement!
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