Monthly Archives: November 2014
Monthly Archives: November 2014
One of the most popular new products in the store, Artfelt is quickly becoming our favorite felting method. This clever paper allows you to control your felting design as precisely as needle felting, yet get that amazingly smooth wet felt finish without the time and physical labor of either method. Artfelt paper was invented in Germany by Gerhard Schoppel, a name already familiar to many yarn lovers. He enjoyed felting with his daughter but wanted an easier method. Here’s how it works – You start by designing your felt. Whether it’s a pouch, coasters, scarf, or something totally different, the process begins when you lightly needle felt fibers onto the special Artfelt paper. Because the needle felting will not be the only thing holding the fibers together, there’s no need to spend a lot of time attaching firmly, a light tack will do. Once you are happy with your design, you wet the fibers and roll up the paper with a sheet of plastic to keep the layers from felting to each other. Using a couple rubber bands and a knee high stocking to secure the roll, the felt then gets tossed into any standard dryer. The agitation from tumbling in the dryer encourages the fibers to wet felt together, while the needle felting and paper hold everything in place so your design stays intact. When felting is complete, pouring boiling water over the project quickly dissolves the Artfelt paper, leaving you with a great piece of felt to use in all kinds of projects. Of course, that’s just the beginning. By layering your fibers differently you can encourage highly textural, ruffle effects. Playing with negative space in your design is a snap with Artfelt paper. Sewing the paper into a specially shaped base lets you create three dimensional projects. Even extremely detailed portraiture is possible because of the needle felting step. We can’t get enough of Artfelt, and we’re sure you’ll love it too! We have starter kits available if you just want to try it out, and we also sell large pieces of the paper for your own creative concepts.
Some of the fabrics we love are the Aboriginal prints from M&S Textiles. Each fabric is based on a painting done in the traditional style by talented Aboriginal artists. Typical Aboriginal art is characterized by the use of many small dots of color to form the pattern, reliance on familiar animal and wildlife motifs, and a utilization of a vibrant color palette. These artists, most of whom are women, have profiles and statements hanging in the store; be sure to ask to see them! We also have charts detailing the motifs used in the fabric, telling what they mean. If you just can’t get enough information and inspiration, we carry a whole book devoted to the meanings behind the fabric and amazing project ideas. Whether it’s an abstract design or something more literal (we love the turtles and platypuses!), we’re sure you’ll find a way to work these unusual fabrics into your projects. The fun prints are perfect for quilts, wall hangings, garments, and more.
“Falling Branches”, “Mistral” (a cold wind that blows through parts of France in the winter), “Wings” and “Birdsong” are just a few of the fabric names in this Free Spirit pack for November. Designed by Melissa White, these moody, dreamy prints are sure to inspire one to retreat to the sewing machine as the warm hues of fall turn into the cool dark tones of winter. For our 6-pack club subscribers, we included a bonus 100% cotton velveteen fat quarter in anticipation of the cooler days ahead. Suggested uses: Make a velveteen lined jewelry pouch or gift bags for tiny presents. Piece them all together and make a lap quilt for the fall season tournaments. Create some quilted Mug Rugs for hot cups of cocoa and wrap them together with special drink mixes or chocolate spoons for a truly indulgent gift.
One of our favorite yarns in the shop is our collection of Noro. Noro is made in Japan and is known world-wide for its striking colors. We thought you might be interested in learning more about the production of Noro yarns and the process that goes into designing the signature stripes. Eisaku Noro contemplated going to art school to become a painter, but instead he turned his amazing eye for color to yarns for both hand and machine knitting. Silk Road Textiles carries Kureyon, Silk Garden, Taiyo, Koromo, Kibou, Shiraito, Silk Garden Sock, and Taiyo Sock from the hand-knitting line. Noro is committed to leaving as much of the production hand-done as feasible. This is part of what makes Noro yarns so distinctive. The thick and thin effect is due to the hand picking of the fibers, the variation in stripe length is because no two people lay out the fiber in exactly the same way, and the knots that you sometimes find are because these prep techniques lend themselves better to shorter spinning runs. If you want to learn more, there is an interesting video (about 6 minutes long) produced by an English-speaking channel in Japan about Noro yarns. There is also an amazing book excerpt in PDF format available here. It details where all the fibers are sourced, what the special properties of each are, and it includes lots of pictures of the entire process. We have lots of samples made with Noro yarn in the store, and we are pleased to carry Noro pattern books and the new Noro Magazine. If you need inspiration or just want to see what it possible to be done with these amazing yarns, please stop in and ask us!
6-pack subscribers automatically receive a beautifully matched collection of 6 fat quarters and thread each month. There is plenty of room in the club, so if you’re interested in joining just contact the store. For October we are offering an elegant, fall-hued theme from Kona Bay Fabrics. The focal designs feature traditional Asian flowers, blossoms and gentle waves, edged with a fine line of gold. It has a great traditional color palette with a contemporary flavor. Suggested uses: Create beautiful holiday party coasters using the focal fabric as the main piece, then bind each with a different color so guests can identify their beverages. Piece a log cabin table runner with appliqued floating medallions. We have lots of new quilt-as-you-go patterns that work up in a jiffy! There’s plenty of time to get these hot hostess items ready for all the fall holidays ahead.
We are so proud of our classes here at Silk Road Textiles. Our regular teachers come to us with years of experience and a wide range of skills, but every once in a while we are lucky enough to host a nationally known instructor. Last Sunday we had the honor of working with Jacqueline Sullivan. Jacqueline Sullivan is a mixed media, acrylic and calligraphic artist. She is well known for her pieces that experiment with texture, layers, paint, unusual materials, calligraphic marks, and words. Jacqueline’s work has been shown nationwide in galleries and juried art fairs. She has a degree in graphic design and worked for many years as a publication and advertising designer. For over 30 years Jacqueline has also been a teaching artist years. She has taught workshops for art retreats and art and calligraphy guilds in the US and Canada. She has served as faculty for several International Calligraphy Conferences. The Artist Network University is regularly offering Jacqueline’s four week on-line art workshop ~ Discovering the Magic of Acrylics ~ presented to the international art community. Jacqueline has published technique articles in Somerset Studio, Cloth Paper Scissors, Pages, and Astarte’s Mega-Zine. She most recently was honored as the cover artist interviewed for the Winter 2012 issue of Alphabet. Jacqueline has a best-selling DVD – Acrylics: Textures, Layers, and Metallics – published by Creative Catalyst Productions. A video series of her most requested art techniques is also available from Jacqueline. Recently, Jacqueline was one of 18 artists selected nationwide to become a Golden Certified Artist for Golden Paint Company. A few lucky students got the opportunity to make beautiful silk scarves with her using a wax resist dyeing technique. We had a great time painting layers of color and design, all under Jacqueline’s watchful eye. If this kind of class appeals to you, be sure to check out our You-nique Scarf class where you dye silk scarves using old ties and our Nuno Felting class where you create layers of colored wool felted into a lofty silk scarf. These classes are offered regularly at Silk Road Textiles, and who knows…maybe we’ll have Jacqueline back soon to paint some more!
Archives
- December 2016
- November 2016
- September 2016
- July 2016
- June 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- February 2015
- November 2014
- March 2014
- February 2014
- January 2014
- December 2013
- November 2013
- October 2013
- July 2013
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- November 2012
- September 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012