Workshop - Pat's Play Day

The Fyber Cafe artists decided to try a weekend play day, at Pat's house. Amy organized a paint, melt, decorate, make it and take it project. This four part workshop was used to create ONE piece of fabric, which we were then challenged, to use in making a small project. It was loosely organized along the lines of one of the articles in Quilting Arts Magazine. We started to paint fabric, and Tyvek, stamp, print, stencil or otherwise decorate the fabric. We used everything from Acrylic paints to Shiva Oil Pastels, Pat and I really got into the metallic copper paint. Then we spent an afternoon melting with a heat gun an assortment of materials, painted Tyvek, organza, plastic wrap, netting, tulle, polyester fabrics and "whatevers." We used wooden bread boards or large ceramic tiles as a heat resistant base. We also found bamboo skewers were great for holding the piece of material to keep your fingers out of the heat.The second day during the morning, we used the melty stuff to embellish our fabric, and free motion couched yarns and threads. This gave our sewing machines a workout, along with our imaginations. The afternoon was spent on a demo, doing hands on beading and embellishment. The resulting fabrics were all very individual, DIFFERENT!! Some of us spent more time painting, some on hand work embellishments or just stenciling with Shiva oil Pastels. We learned a lot about making a mish mash of everything, maybe having a plan for color coordination, or warm or cool colors, would have helped. But it was just play time, time to experiment. We ended up with a lot of "sample" pieces, and it became a challenge to make something of it. It only had to be small, a pin cushion, small wall hanging, purse, glasses case or some such. The "finish it, make it," became a home project with a surprise reveal at the next meeting. We all had a wonderful time, also enjoyed a potluck lunch, with Pat's extra rich chocolate cake, followed by a walk about her ranch, a visit with the horses, and exploring the old BIG barn. A very successful weekend!

Photos- 1.Gracie melting stuff 2.Gracie, Pat & Amy 3. Pat's copper painted Tyvek 4. Kay's mess