Playing Well with Others :o)

Last night 3 of the "Harlem Girls" got together for a playdate at my place. This was a chance for us to try out a new fabric medium that we had each wondered about and purchased but never used before. With a little salmon spread and some sour dough bread in our bellies we feverously attacked the fabric discharge process using Decolourant in several colors and Jaquard Discharge medium. We let the fabric fly (literally) and a couple of hours later we had learned something new. Ife dove right in y cuuting screening and stamping. Paula meticulously staged a trial and error test with different fabrics to see what the effects would be while I go a late start but did put some work in once the group left. The result: we eached learned someting new to extend our knowledge base when attacking a project not to mention the wine consumption and the laughter.
Grown folks need play dates too. I remember when I was a teen my mother Beverly, godmother Ocie and my friend's mom Miriam would get together and practice belly dancing, playing the recorder... with a glass of sangria somewhere near by. My girlfriend Lisa and I would sit at the top of the stairs laughing our heads off while secretly vowing to never be that insane. Well - over 3o years later there is yet another generation of crazy but still productive. Some thing to think about when arraning your own playdate:
- Keep it small: too much crazy in the room can be dangerous but just the right amount keeps it fun.
- Plan around a particular activity: this gives the play some structure
- Gather like minds: I have many art and quilt friends but for this evening I gathered those that had a similar interest (fiber art and new mediums) and those whose schedule would allow them to break away from there usual routine. Also there was no one thier who had a high anxiety when introduced to omething new or needed their hand to be held.
So get some folks together and learn something new.

Discharge with Decolourant

While at the Mancuso quilt show in Pennsylvania this month I stopped at a booth with wonderful artist mediums for working on and with fabric. I purchased 2 - 3bottle sets of Decolourant, a discharge medium that not only bleaches out the color of a fabric but also sets in the color that is in the bottle. You can stencil, paint, stamp or screen it on to fabric (cellulose and dyed fabics work best) and after a playdate with the "girlzs" this is what I found out:

- Love this medium and I am already planing projects with it!!!

- Stencils made from freezer paper work the cleanest and give the most predictable outcome (nice sharp edges)

- Colours are the most vibrant when you heat set your design just after it becomes dry to the touch. When I let some of my work dry over niight the results did not have as much POP after ironing

- The color becomes more brilliant after the finished product has set overnight and that is why it should not be washed until 24-48 hours.

You don't have to wait till the next local quilt fest to get your hande on this product. 2 sites that I have found that have Decolourant at a decent price are http://www.amazon.com/ and http://www.dharmatrading.com/ .