November 13, 2013

Stitch sampler on a deconstructed screen printing


One of the printing techniques I learned in a workshop with Carol Soderlund last October was "deconstructed screen printing."  It's a way of preparing a silk screen with various textures and thickened dye so that you get multiple prints from the one screen, but the pattern printed changes as the screen "deconstructs." You can also pull through different colors of thickened dye to further vary the prints.  (I've put a few links at the bottom of the post for anyone who would like to learn more about this type of printing.)

You can see the fabric as originally printed in this view of the wall with my work during the workshop.  the deconstructed piece is towards the center, right under my name, multiple prints going down a piece of fabric (click on photo to see this better):


I think I added another layer of grey and tan dye on parts of the cloth.  Then I cut it all up into 3-1/2" squares and played around with them.  Below is an early arrangement, which I later added more to.  This photo gives you a good sense of the patterning from the screen.  The linear element in the patterning came from string that I had placed under the screen.  The rest is the unpredictable result of this method.  Going with unpredictability is a good exercise for a structured/organized person like me.


Here's the final quilt, a nice size to hang on my studio door.


More details:




Some French knots too--



I do love this stitch:


Again, the Dorothy Caldwell workshop really changed how I approached quilting in this piece, which I worked on shortly after the workshop in May.  I didn't have a lot invested in this quilt, so I felt free to use it as a sampler, trying out various stitches, changing the stitch and thread from one small block to the other.  As it turns out, I like the eclectic result.

About deconstructed screen printing:
From Kerr Grabowski, the person who originated this technique:
http://www.kerrgrabowski.com/dsp.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZDtbLs4hEw
And a tutorial from Beth Berman:
http://sewsewart.blogspot.com/p/tutorials.html



3 comments:

  1. I love the contrast of the stitching, so colorful. So moving.

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  3. The combination of stitching and the deconstructed screen printing is gorgeous.

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