Learn Something New with Quilting Arts TV! Advanced Screen Printing Techniques

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On Quilting Arts TV, our guests explore lots of different techniques for screen printing, quilt construction, and surface design. Read on to learn how artist Sue King approaches Deconstructed Screen Printing in episode 2807… and along the way creates a series of prints she can use in a variety of ways for her art quilts.

Deconstructed screening is a technique that adds an ethereal mood to a piece, and when used with dyes and ink creates a unique sense of depth in the base layer of whole cloth textile art.

Materials

• Prewashed cotton fabric or PFD

• Mixed Soda Ash Soak; Clear Print Paste; Thickened Dye, and Soda Ash Paste* (See Note Below)

• Thermofax screens or prepared photo emulsion screens

• Stretched screen for printing

• Squeegee or old credit card

* NOTE: Prior to starting, make one batch each of the following recipes: Soda Ash Soak; Clear Print Paste; Thickened Dye; Soda Ash Paste. All recipes and complete instructions for this process are available in the Free eBook available on our website.

Directions

Cut the fabric to the size you prefer. (On Quilting Arts TV, Sue used a piece of fabric long enough to print 5 images.) Submerge the fabric in a *Soda Ash Soak for 20 minutes and hang to dry. (Do not dry in a clothes dryer as it will ruin your machine.)

Deconstructed Screen Printing

1. Using a clean Thermofax screen and a clean stretched screen printing screen, print an image through the Thermofax screen onto the back of the wooden screen using *Thickened Dye (see NOTE above). Allow the dye to dry for 3-4 days.

2. Place the screen on the piece of fabric, dried dye side down, and place a few spoonfuls of the *Soda Ash Paste across the top of the screen (also known as the ‘well’ of the screen).

3. Using a squeegee or old credit card, push the paste through the screen with long, vertical strokes from the top of the screen to the bottom. The Soda Ash Paste will begin releasing the Thickened Dye from the screen onto the fabric.

4. Continue to screen additional prints on different areas of the cloth, using more Soda Ash Paste until all the dye has been released. Each print will be unique.

Note: If desired, the Soda Ash Paste can be tinted with a small amount of Procion dye for a unique effect that simulates sky or water or act as another design element in an abstracted design.

5. Batch the fabric, allowing it to rest in a controlled environment. Cover the dyed fabric with a sheet of plastic and let it sit overnight in a warm place. The temperature must be between 50-95 degrees Fahrenheit. Sue has found that the warmer range seems to work best.

Note: The fabric can be rolled for batching as long as there is plastic between the layers. Rolling works well and takes up less space.

6. When the batching is complete, rinse the fabric in cold water until the water runs clear and wash the prints with Synthrapol. Rinse once again, dry, and press.

Sue doesn’t stop with just one layer of imagery in her creative surface design! With each layer, she adds opacity, texture, and beauty. Don’t miss her appearance on Quilting Arts TV where she demonstrates just how beautiful a whole cloth piece of art can be! Download Quilting Arts TV Series 2800 today, or subscribe to Quilting Daily TV where you can binge on more than 1,000 hours of quilting videos, workshops, and more!

Best,

Vivika Hansen DeNegre
Editor