Tag: Procion MX

Singer 500J Rocketeer

February 19, 2010 by Chris

I needed to find some motivation to return to quilting after spending a term teaching and studying and doing very little else, so a few weeks ago I took my Singer 201-3 in for servicing.  While talking to Brad at the Singer Sewing Centre in Burnaby, he showed me a Singer 500J that he was restoring.  Already in very good condition, the 500J, also knows as the Sew-o-Matic or the Rocketeer, was one of the last all-metal, gear-driven machines that Singer made, and is known to be one of the best sewing machines ever made at all.  So I bought it.

Singer 500J (front)

Singer 500J (front)

Singer 500J (left side)

Singer 500J (left side)

Singer 500J (right side)

Singer 500J (right side)

Singer 500J (back view)

Singer 500J (back view)

The 500J is very different from the 201-3, despite the mere 9 years difference between their production date. The 201-3 (1952) is a classic black with gold accents; it looks like an electric version of the old-fashioned treadle machine your grandma had. The 500J, as you can see, is an aerodynamic design gem, beige with burgundy accents and gold lettering. The 201-3 is a powerhouse, a semi-industrial straight-stitch that will drive a needle through 8 layers of denim like a hot knife through butter. The 500J is a multi-stitch with a complicated system of switches, knobs and dials that select from dozens of stitch patterns.

If you happen to have a 500J but not the manual, click here.

I’ve essentially finished Quilt 7–all that’s left is binding the edges. I enjoyed the experiment but 3/4 of the way through I lost interest and motivation. I enjoy blockprinting and trying a whole-cloth quilt was fun, but I experimented with the quilting and the final result wasn’t really what I had in mind. I think it’ll go straight to the trunk of the car for roadside emergencies. This past weekend I found enough time to do some dyeing and I’ve got Quilt 8 percolating in my head. It’s time to get back to work.

Dyeing Supplies

Dyeing Supplies

Dyed fabrics for Quilt 8

Dyed fabrics for Quilt 8

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Categories: Process • 59 Comments »

Fern Quilt Process

August 7, 2009 by Chris

My next project is well under way. Here are some photos from the beginning of the process. I am using a print block that I made out of cork and wood. I used an x-acto knife to cut a spiral in the cork which I glued to the wood. I also glued a handle to the block.

I am printing with Opulence pigments suspended in a translucent medium on a 72″ x 72″ quilt top that I dyed a mossy green using Procion MX fibre-reactive dyes. I dyed it using low-water immersion (using far less water than usual so that the dye particles cannot circulate as freely and evenly) in two stages for a richly mottled and uneven effect.  The first stage resulted in a golden wheat colour, and the second stage overdyed the gold with an emerald green to result in this great green moss. It’s been a lot of work and I’m enjoying the process.  My inspiration has been west coast mosses and spring fiddleheads.

Here’s how it looked about an hour into the process:

I completed the first layer of dark-green pigment and followed that with a lighter hue that I applied incautiously. I decided to use a translucent lime green as the final blockprinting colour to give the spirals dimension and movement. The final product looks painterly with some obvious and intentional “errors”, and in the right light it’s a dead-ringer for velvet dévorée.

Here’s a ham shot:

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Categories: Process • 37 Comments »

Quilt 6

August 7, 2009 by Chris

Quilt 6 (2009): 183 x 183 cm (72″ x 72″).  Cotton fabric hand-dyed with Procion MX fibre-reactive dyes, block printed with Opulence pigments, some commercial fabrics, cotton batting and thread.  Machine-pieced and machine-quilted.

The pattern for this quilt is based on prime numbers.  I wrote a little C++ program that assigned each digit from 0 – 9 to a colour family or texture group and then made a pattern based on the occurrence of all the prime numbers.  I wanted to see what it would look like.  Note the relative lack of blue in the middle.  Interesting!

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Categories: Finished • 83 Comments »

Quilt 6 Process

August 7, 2009 by Chris

Some process pictures from my sixth quilt.  The pattern is based on prime numbers–I wrote a little C++ program that assigned each digit from 0 – 9 to a colour family or texture group and then made a pattern based on the occurrence of all the prime numbers.

I’m using the usual charcoal cotton background that I’ve dyed myself. It’s distressed because I use low-water immersion which doesn’t let the dye particles circulate as freely.

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Categories: Process • 83 Comments »

Quilt 5

August 7, 2009 by Chris

Quilt 5 (2007-2008): 183 x 213 cm (72″ x 84″).  Hand-dyed (Procion MX fibre-reactive) and commercial patterned and solid cottons, cotton thread, polyester batting.  Hand-pieced; machine-assembled and -quilted.

My fifth quilt was an adventure.  I hand-pieced and machine assembled and quilted this red and black variation of the traditional Drunkard’s Path block.

As usual, I used my trusted Singer 201-3 (made in Clydebank, Scotland in 1952).  For the first time I used a walking foot purchased on eBay.  I still found the occasional fold in the quilting on the underside here and there, but I’m not entirely convinced this isn’t because I’m doing something wrong.

I’m not perfectly happy with the picture but I think the general effect is visible. My plan was to experiment with value. At the top of the quilt I used reds with relatively light values, and at the bottom of the quilt I used reds with deeper values. I used darker fabrics for the centres in the top of the quilt, and lighter fabrics for the centres at the bottom of the quilt, all the while trying to maintain some artistic leeway for making minor adjustments here and there.  Many of the fabrics have a Japanese or Chinese theme.

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Categories: Finished • No Comments »

Quilt 4

August 7, 2009 by Chris

Quilt 4 (2007): 152 x 122 cm (60″ x 48″).  Hand-dyed (Procion MX fibre-reactive) cotton, commercial patterned cotton, cotton YLI thread, polyester batting.  Hand-pieced, machine-assembled; hand-quilted using a traditional hoop.

After making my first three quilts and lots of mistakes, I thought it was high time to take a class and learn from an expert.  So in Spring 2007 I took a beginner’s quilting class at the Thread Bear quilt shop in North Vancouver (now closed).  The instructors, a pair of energetic sextagenerians named Doris and Shirley, taught us how to make templates, trace and cut pieces, hand-sew the pieces into traditional blocks and the blocks into a quilt, layer and then hand-quilt our work using a traditional hoop.

This sampler quilt is made from commercial and hand-dyed (reactive) cottons, hand-pieced, and machine-assembled with cotton thread using a Singer 201-3 (made in Clydebank, Scotland in 1952), layered with polyester batting and quilted with cotton thread.  I dyed the charcoal backing using low-water immersion and reactive dyes.  I learned how to do this at Emily Carr at a great 4-week textile printing class.

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Categories: Finished • 1 Comment »