Note to Self......

DO NOT run Floriani Stitch N Wash Fusible Water Soluble Tearaway through laser printer EVER AGAIN. Kick self over and over for trying it THREE TIMES before giving up. That's right. Three times. I'm pure genius in motion. Clearly I have a dizzying intellect.

The inkjet printer worked quite well. Pics soon.

Here are the links mentioned/shown in this video:

Laura Cater-Woods:
www.cater-woods.com

Elinor Peace Bailey:
www.epbdolls.net

Emily Parson
www.whatsthatgonnabe.blogspot.com


Sophie's Toes sock yarn (by Emily Parson)

Hold, Please.

Hi, ya'll.

I'm slowly wending my way home from this year's final trip. I got stuck in Chicago for and extra night due to the ice storm from H-E-double toothpicks.

Rest assured that upon returning home (morgen, mit meinen Kindern), I will trip up the steps, rush right to my beloved iMac, turn on the camera and make a movie just for you. The dog can lick my face later.

xo
Funky C

Make It Stop!

!Achtung! JulCool!

Hey, Julie...my email is cathy@funkyc.net

Look in last post's comments for 'how I did that'.

It's snowing and I'm freezing. More coffee!

A New Thang

No Moss on This Stone!

Greetings, Blog Hoppers, Fibernauts, and readers of all ilk.

It seems since I finished the heart image 'Flow' a few weeks ago, my creative floodgates have sprung wide open! I can't stop making stuff, have been..gasp..rising early to make stuff.

As a thank you to the group of adults that led my children's summer theater experience, I made these:

More magic card holders. They are so much fun to use and these were especially meaningful with webs on the front, pigs on the back:

Note the initials spun into the back webs.

Since then, it's been all fabric painting, all the time, though there's not much to show for my effort yet. Marking fabric also requires prep and I've been going through all my old screens, putting on new mesh, getting them taped.

So here's a piece that has a good base of color on it:

Somehow, I think it needs more and am mulling it over for a time. It might need some discharge and an additional color painted in...hmmmm...

And here's a piece that's done:

This one's been worked over pretty well...at least three different layers of stuff going on. I started with some pre printed screens and release paste, then did a layer of discharge paste with screens and free hand painting. The last layer was adding in turquoise and gold. Oh, one more touch: black opaque paint. Could I have tortured it any more? I'm pretty sure it was screaming, 'ENOUGH, Already!' by the end.

Then, in a fit of late night creativity, I decided to throw down a screen with some red and brown dyes:

This will definitely not be yardage. I think it's going to be whole cloth quilted. This left turn from my normal over-the-top collage has left me surprised and I'm not sure what to make of it yet. The rinsed and drying piece appears much bloodier than I intended...I think. And I'm a bit repulsed by my own work. There needs to be more dye painting....

If you've watched this blog for any length of time, you'll recognize the woman in the image. She's been hanging around as a screen for a while and recently, I thought she'd be a large collage piece. Maybe not.

And if that wasn't scary enough, behind every photo of clothes line fabric, lurks...The Creature....

AAAAAggggghhhh!

Eye for Fiber Meeting, July

Below you'll find a group of design teasers I led at my monthly fiber group meeting. The writing's a bit dry, but hey---I can't be all fabulous all the time. Can I? Working with paper was quick and dirty...and FUN! So, break out those magazines and get cookin'.

First up, we picked one color, a more intense version of that color, and it's complement. Then we cut out graphic designs to make positive/negative images.


Secondly, we chose complementary colors, then chose more paper to create an analogous + complement color scheme. We used the analogous colors to fill space.


Lastly, we did a group exercise, round robin style:

This was great fun!

How could these exercises translate into fiber? The first one might be interesting as thread painting or quilting. What if a design is quilted in yellow thread on black fabric? What if it's black thread on yellow fabric?

Could the analogous color exercise be used to design a literal image such as a face? How might this idea translate into a traditional quilt block?

The elements in our final exercise pull it all together. We started by dividing space (anything but in half!), then we added text, black and white elements, printed image, and finally filled out the design to balance it. Think of all the ways you could add these elements with fiber......

You Are Now Screenland

Greetings, Fibernauts! Welcome to my new show 'Screen Print Crazy Amounts of T-shirts'!

Here we have props:

...shirts, transparency with design, neon paint, mostly clean table.

Next, we set the stage:

The screen has been coated with photo emulsion, allowed to dry, and is now being exposed for 14 minutes. This involves details and care, never my strong suit.

Proceed to botch the screen completely beyond recognition. The words I'm searching for, I can't say, because there are preschool toys are present.

I think the emulsion was too thick and not dry enough. This destruction occurred during the post exposure rinse out.

And again...sigh....

This try was successful due to more care and patience. I get bonus points for using bottle of toilet cleaner used as glass weight.

Here the screen is mounted on a printing frame my husband made for mostly FREE. The 'real' version was about $150.00.

Note the beloved squeegee. Oh how I love green.

Shirts everywhere, drying, waiting for heat setting.


And, the front:


What's not to love?

Less Blather, More Fiber

This space, oh fellow fiber web jockeys, may appear static. (snort...was that understatement?) However your faithful author has been the picture of industry (no laughing in the back row.) In June, I tie dyed over 100 t shirts and screen printed 50 of them. Did I show you some already? Memory fails...

Here's a sample of shirts I did for a church in Indiana:


the screen printing was hired out to a business that truly knows what they're doing.


AWWWW! Little shirts are so stinkin' cute. I can just feel that toddler snuggling in my arms. And the middle blue color?.... PRO MX Intense Blue 406. Get some. It's completely worth the money to see that vibrant...almost Carribean water-like blue.

In other Funky news, the children of FunkyC have embraced a summer of theater:

Flyer by moi, la-la-laaahh...with some borrowed graphics from the script cover.

And I have been turned loose in the costume department:

Last Week's News

Danger, Young Robinson! Not only is the following post not fiber, it's probably not fit for children, or sissies.

This news story left me so befuddled that I'm still marvelling. Let me share:


Politicians, strippers mourn the loss of porn king
The Associated Press
Article Launched: 07/20/2007 10:13:27 AM PDT
-----------------
Right off the bat...what is this? Why am I suprised that politicians and strippers are in the same sentence with porn king? Somehow, I missed the invitation to that club.

ANTIOCH, Calif.—Hundreds of people, from politicians to pornographers, gathered to mourn the loss of a pornography profiteer who gained notoriety by turning eroticism into a political cause.
---------------
Okay, nothing unexpected here. I've long since been desensitized against my will to the idea that legal pornography and free speech are equivalents.

Jim Mitchell, co-founder of the Mitchell Brothers O'Farrell Theatre, was buried next to his brother and business partner, Artie, whom he shot and killed in 1991.
-------------------
Huh?!?! What? He had shooter's remorse? Who decided this? And how does Artie feel about his new crypt mate?

Mitchell, 63, died of a heart attack on July 12 at his ranch in western Sonoma County.

Included among the 300 mourners Thursday were former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, ex-District Attorney Terence Hallinan and political operative Jack Davis, all of whom mingled with writers, film directors and strippers.

"We all owe personal liberties and rights to the brothers that they fought for on our behalf," Davis said.
-------------------
Somehow I'm having a disconnect between this back alley slime ball and, say, ......oh.....Martin Luther King, Jr., all the Suffragettes that paid for my voting rights and even notorious bad boy, Patrick Henry who put his 'jewels' on the line so I may live without oppression.

The brothers also produced a string of pornographic movies, including the 1972 hit "Behind the Green Door," one of the first porn flicks with a plot line.
-------------------
Oh, Joy, a plot line. I'm sure the story line was epic.

In February 1991, Mitchell kicked in the door of his brother's Corte Madera home and shot him to death. The slaying led to a spectacular trial and a three-year prison term for manslaughter.
--------------------
Again....?!?!?!?

Mitchell's son Raef told the crowd his father was a man of his word, despite his faults.

"He always told me, 'Son, I'm not the greatest man. I'm not perfect,'" Raef said. "'Don't try to be the greatest man. Just be a man.'"
----------------------
That's right, boys and girls. Aspire not to greatness. Simply know your gender.

How have we come to the place where this man is celebrated? Here we have a written blurb parading not as sensationalism, not as the Jerry Springer show or 'reality' televesion. This garbage is being presented as legitimate news.

My nausea, fellow homo sapiens, is indescribable.

Behold.......

....a Finished Object:


"Flow"
35" x 25.75"
July, 2007

...though you've seen it before in various stages. This piece was started while listening to a friend pour out her heart. Her daughter had just been diagnosed with a life changing illness (turned out to be a false alarm) and we had a long talk about the burden a mother carries in her heart for her children.


...an indoor shot...funny how the color is different...

Some reactive journaling revealed terms like prayer, suplicate, uterus, floating, hands uplifted, fallopian tubes, sperm, letting go, embracing. You get the idea. Again, I'm amazed how emotions play out in a piece that looks relatively benign.

Closer in:

The little sparklies are heat set crystals, a whole gross of them.

And closer in....


'Flow' is being mailed tomorrow for an exhibit in Indianapolis. In fact, anxiety about parting with an older piece is what forced me to finish this.


The End

Two Trips

Howdy, Fiber Guys and Gals! Funky C here, bringing you a snap shot from the past.

April 2007saw me saddled up and on the road for two weeks: one in Chicago at the IQA Spring Festival and one at AQS in Paducah. The two constants in both trips were my faithful Travel Companion and Trip Administrator Power Connie and my employment by Embellishment Village. Now, in Chicago, Embellishment Village had a choice booth location in the Quilting Arts 'Make It U' area. Standing in one spot brought by so many friends and I got to see everything going on with 'Make It U' and QA's virtual studio. It was a blur, a hubbub, a happenin' scene.

At one point, before the Chicago show opened, I found myself driving Katie Pasquini Masopust, whom I've never met, on a chaotic supply hunting trip around the perimeter of O'Hare. I was the only one to be found that a. had a vehicle (oh dear....my 30 yr old Ford 150 pick-m-up truck, stick shift, no air) and b. was deluded enough to tackle the suburban terrain. It was all very surreal (especially my driving) and Katie kept me laughing the whole time. (somehow, I ended up with 300 paper plates....huh?) But! The best....

...was this:

Witness Quilting Arts Magazine's 'Surviving the Runway' challenge.


Here, Faithful Fiber Wrangler, Kut-It-Up Kathie Briggs, giggles for the camera.


The glue hits the tables and the action begins. Rip it up....


...Pass it to to a friend. Enter Fiber Diva Debbie.....


Wha....? That's right. Dancing.


Lots of Dancing.


Only the brave, the intrepid, the Groove Shakers, were given more supplies.


Whew! Now that that's out of the system, back to work.


Taking shape.


Must..have...paint. Must...daaaance....


And voila! It's Aahhrt, Dahlink.

Isn't she proud? I was honored to be one of three judges. It was nigh impossible to decide....we only had a few minutes. This event was, bar none, the highlight of my trip to Chicago.

Now, Paducah was fabulous in a different way. Power Connie and I love to wander the river front area with all it's funky shops and galleries (and we never miss the chocolate shop). The AQS quilt show is lovely, but there's so much more to the town. I met too many Quilt Royals to count, the highlight being Libby Lehman as she strolled the show floor. (her Thread Play vest gave her away) And I did a fair amount of shopping. If I'd had $700 layin' around, I'd have come home with this:


Very Funky, Very C.

In My Free Time.....

**update**

The second one takes less free time.

Screen Printing

Don't ask where I've been. The excuses fall flat. Accept that I'm offering up this post for your perusal and try to love me in spite of my time issues.

Here we have a tie dye/screen print t-shirt project:

The shirts are dyed and ready. On the left, you can see my trial run on newsprint. There's also my beloved squeegee, a prepared screen, and some paint.

Here's a shot of the screen, developed with the writing facing the correct direction.

Use your creative inner mind to contemplate why I mention the direction of the letters. Imagine me disolving an incorrect screen with mild cursing and sighs of resignation.

Here's the result:

My husband designed the image for an event from which he just returned. I printed 11 shirts by stretching and pinning to my print table and inserting freezer paper inside the shirts. This was a good first outing for my screen printing abilities. Said abilities enjoyed the walk and are asking to be taken out again.

Three Views

Funky C here....coming to you live from the eternally frozen tundra of Michigan. Yikes! It's been cold. But I'm not tired of the snow quite yet. The drugs must be working.

Here's a little project I've been fooling with: the card holder featured in Quilting Arts Magazine, winter 2006, issue 24. The center holder, with the woman's face, was a gift from a dear friend. Using it is a pleasure.

View one:

















Blue, on the left, has fusible craft interfacing. I loves it not....too flimsy. My heart is given instead to the Peltex version on the right. It feels much nicer in my hand...like a fine accesory.

Here's the magic side. A bit of yarn, or string pulls out and cards pop up like magic:

































Voila! Isn't it cool?
I'm admitting to you alone that this is ---Bar None---the best cheap thrill I've had in ages. When I use the holder to access I.D., people think I've worked some kind of magic. They actually exclaim out loud and proclaim me awesome for even owning it. So, evidencing my inner diva (she's not buried too deep), I now have a system:

1. Select items for purchase at retail venue.
2. When checking out, place card holder conspiculously on counter.
3. Strike up conversation, write check slowly, whatever it takes to draw out the suspense.
4. When clerk asks for I.D. or payment option, pull string and present card with nonchalance, as if you've been fabulous all your life.
5. Bask in ensuing glory, completely forgetting about your hum-drum life as director of digestive systems management for 4 humans, 3 guinea pigs, a dog, and cat.
6. Repeat as needed to feed Ego.
   

Whoa, Fiber Jedi! The Syth Lord Vi Ral-ILL Ness has been clawing at the Outer Rim of Immune System Funky C. In a suprise move by rebel White Blood Cell leader Mom, the entire galaxy was shut down for a day of rest. The complete picture is scary beyond all reason, but here are the highlights:

System Funky C exploring new orbital heating unit:



















Note the use of formerly blogged hand spun yarn and her sisters. A kid mohair was thrown in just for kicks. Very Funky. Very C. Matching Wonder Woman cuffs in progress.

Back up heating units brought into battle ready position:


















Scratchy orange sport weight socks knit by the departed, but still much loved Grandma Tanguay. Bless her for these on a day such as today.

The blue thing is my fav' winter nighty. Curse it not, for I loves it. And you'll have to excuse the well scaled, hairy legs. Nobody's shavin' nothin' until the Ides of March at least.

The orbital heating unit appears to work even on Sattelites:

The Blues

I love winter....the beauty of snow, the activity at my bird feeder. But I detest the accompanying blues. I try every day to just not be a loser. It seems my success rate is much lower in winter.

Sigh

Knowing my yarn was feeling the same way, I decided she needed sisters:














Behold the Brown Sheep yarn. Color: true royal. Content: silk, wool, mohair.

In other knitting news, my shawl is off the needles! Hurray!:













But! Before I can block it, I have to take care of this:













Boooo! Down with cleaning! This, my padded dye table, perfect for blocking yarn projects, is not currently padded. It's been unpadded since summer when a dye project went awry and soaked the padding with purple dye. Everything's washed and ready, but I can't seem to bring myself to repad it. I've had it almost clean several times, but doggoneit! it's such a big, open horizontal surface. Everytime I come home, it begs to hold my purse, coat, fast food wrappers.

Why do I do this?!? It's maddening and yet I can't seem to get over it. I need this table to work. There is a truckload of fabric that needs to be made. My shawl wants to be blocked and worn before June. There is some underlying insanity that prevents me from tackling this....fear of success....physical barriers as a symbol of emotional barriers.... Shall I go on? It's madness and I mean to conquer it. Wish me well.