Regional Meeting News

June 4, 2016

PRO Chemical & Dye 

Twenty four SAQA members and guests attended the quarterly meeting in Fall River, MA to connect with other members, receive and share information and attend a lecture and demo by Vicki Jensen, owner of PRO Chem. Topics of the day's business directed by Nancy Turbitt and Allison Wilbur, the region's reps, were upcoming meeting schedules, Currents opening at the Brush in August, upcoming calls for entries and events, topics for next year's meetings, open studios, outreach on the Cape and development of the blog with thank you's to Dawn Allen & Alanna Nelson and the addition of Sharyn Raiche as the blog's reviewer of books and articles. Two guests were in attendance who have joined as a result of their attending. Two members of the SAQA Board of Directors, Diane Wright and Jeanne Marklin, were also in attendance and spoke briefly to the group.

Vicki began her discussion of discharge products by stating that recently some of her basic products have been discontinued but have returned as the products of another company. Jacquard Products have bought out Harbor Sales formulas for deColourant and have tweaked the recipe to put out their own recipe for a discharge agent which is now carried by  PRO Chem. Discharge agents take color out of previously dyed fabric allowing for a myriad of creative uses. 

Behind Vicki (above & right) you can see three sample boards which she prepared to explain her findings of how Thiox preparations and bleach preparations affect MX black dyed fabric. She used several different numbers of MX dyes which produce black and one Kona cotton in black so that we could see the varied colors created from using discharge.

Vicki explained that there are two ways to discharge dye from fabrics, reduction which uses Thiox to work with cottons and silks employing heat (an iron) to make it happen, and oxidation which uses bleach to remove dye from cotton at room temperature. Bleach can never be used with silk as it degrades the fabric over time. Bleach may also continue to degrade cotton fabric if not rinsed properly with a product called Anti-Chlor Concentrate. Soft Scrub cleaner and bleach pens are two products which can be used to apply bleach to fabric. Vicki also had several fabrics illustrating the creative uses of discharge products in which she had added dye over discharged areas, used stencils with a spray of Thiox, and added potato dextrin over bleach paste to create crackling in the discharge. 

After breaking for lunch, shopping at PRO Chem, and socializing, members had the choice of going out on the loading dock with Vicki to practice with discharges or

staying inside to play with PRO Chem's new line of PRO Silk & Fabric Paint. Vicki's new line of paints are similar to Setasilk, a thin paint for using with silk and cotton, but with the benefit of a lower price.

Here are some photos of members being creative and having fun.

Dawn Allen amid friends having fun with paints.

Diane Wright using a spray bottle to use the paints.

Vicki explaining the use of stencils with sprayed discharge fluid.

Members Vicki Jensen, Cathey LaBonte, Sara Crocker, and Suzanne Housley-Noonan with their respirators having fun with discharge but being safe

Nancy Messier's gorgeous feather painted with PRO Silk & Fabric Paint on cotton

Creativity on the painting table

Although it was difficult to walk away from the fun of experimenting with new techniques, the group moved on to Show & Tell. Here are some shots of our member's sharing their work and their experiences.

Nancy Turbitt started off the Show & Tell with her article in the June 2016 issue of Art Quilting Studio

Jeanne Marklin continues the discussion on the SAQA Yahoo page by showing her cards printed by Moo.com

Dawn Allen wowed the crowd with her 3D Black-eyed Susans created completely with her fabrics designed from her photography, computer manipulated, and then produced by Spoonflower

Cathey LaBonte shows us her samples made minutes prior with discharge techniques

Suzanne Housley-Noonan shows us an unfinished but fantastic piece she has been working on - the centers of the flowers were padded and in relief - so much fun!

Diane Wright explains how this work is part of an exhibit where each piece continues a linear line

Nancy Messier brought in a small piece in which she used the discharging process to create her image of an unfurling fern

Nancy Donovan shows two pieces, the second is created from a photo taken of tubes drying on the path to the beach - she found just the right piece of fabric for the sky

Members enjoyed a full day of socializing, learning and experiencing by creating samples, shopping at PRO Chem, and picking up information about SAQA and our region. The MA/RI Region's next quarterly meeting will be held at the New England Quilt Museum, 18 Shattuck St. in Lowell, MA on August 7, 2016 from 12:00 pm to 2:00 pm. Melanie Johnston & Joan Blade Johnson will be talking about exhibiting and marketing your work. There will be no Show & Tell this meeting and members are encouraged to have lunch before coming to the meeting. The meeting will be followed directly at 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm by the premier reception for Currents at the Brush Art Gallery & Studios on 256 Market St. in Lowell. Don't miss the fun, join us there!