Monday, July 30, 2012

Screen Printing Prep, part 2

Hi, this is Rossie again with further instructions for screen printing!

Screen Printing will take place at Anna's place in Ann Arbor on Wednesday, August 1st.  The address and parking directions went out by email.  If you are missing them email us at

Did you gather up some t-shirts? Canvas bags? Quilting fabric?  If so, fabulous.  If not, get on it! Wednesday is quickly approaching!

Further steps you should take before arriving on Wednesday:
1.  Wash whatever you plan on printing.
2.  Dry it in a clothes dryer if that's what you plan on doing once it is printed.
3.  Figure out where on it you would like to print.  This third step is pretty straightforward for bags, but slightly trickier for t-shirts.  You might want to put on a few shirts that you own and see where they are printed (right below the collar? 2 inches below? 3 below? what looks best to you?)

4.  Mark your item so that you know where to print. (You can wait to do this if you want)
A couple of tricks: put on the shirt and use masking tape to mark a horizontal line:
You want to make sure that your markings are level so that when you print the t-shirt it won't turn out lopsided.  You can verify that you've marked a level line by checking the sides...the tape should be the same amount down from the armpit seam on both sides.

You should think about the location of the kelp strip so that it doesn't end up somewhere unfortunate on your bust.  Figure out where you want that kelp strip and then mark a line on your shirt 2 inches above where you'd like the kelp strip.
You should also mark the middle on the shirt (up/down).

An alternative to using masking tape is using a water-soluble marker. Just put in a few dots as guides for placing the screen.  

 Folding the shirt using the seams and then marking the fold works well.
I will help you with this on Wednesday if this is confusing as written here. :-)

5.  Mount your fabric.  Finally, for each item you plan on printing, take a piece of cardboard and some pushpins and mount the item onto the cardboard.  This provides a nice surface to print on and prevents ink from seeping to the back of the t-shirt. Do not stretch the fabric, just lay it smooth and flat and pin it down.  

Brenda will bring extra cardboard and I will bring extra push pins on Wednesday.
See you there (address and other details are in your email!)

A2MQG Quilt Show / Sale


Hey ya'll!  So as we discussed in our latest meeting, I went ahead and reserved the Lounge of the Corner Brewery for Thursday, November 15 from 5pm - 9pm.  

Please email me (jennaral AT gmail.com) if you plan on selling goods at this event.  Once we get a head count, we'll figure out dividing the rental fee (I paid $100) and any poster/flyer printing costs (once we come up with a design - I just whipped up the above JPEG in a couple of minutes). 

Looking forward to this sale!

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Meeting Minutes from July 25, 2012

Another wonderful meeting!  Here are the minutes...

Next Meeting: August 29 at 6:30pm at MakerWorks.  Bring a sewn item inspired by Lucienne Day if you'd like to participate in the swap.   Ginia will do a casual lecture discussing what makes a quilt valuable and hold its value, as well as showing us some antique quilts.
Photo from HERE.


No Sew-In in August due to the Retreat.

Hey it's Ronit's birthday on Friday and she brought Ice Cream Cake!


Old Business:
  • Sewing Retreat: Attendees can now sign-up for dishes to bring or cleaning sessions.  More information HERE.
  • Screen Printing - Rossie has obtained the silk screens, the ink, and the brushes.  There will be an event on Wednesday, August 1 at 6:30pm where Rossie will teach us how to screen print t-shirts, fabric, or bags (or whatever).  Location is TBD.  Please bring whatever you'd like screen-printed, and $3-$5 to cover expenses.  More information HERE.  




New Business:
  • Thia (sp?) from MakerWorks is looking for teachers for classes.  Have an idea of a class you could teach?  Contact MakerWorks and you'll be emailed more information. 

Show and Tell was nice!


The swap of Piet Mondrian fabrics occurred, as well as more bargain bin shopping for fat-eighths, to much rejoicing.

Sewing Retreat Meal Sign-Up

For those of you attending the sewing retreat, here is the link where you can sign-up for food or cleaning shifts:


The food items listed are just suggestions.  Feel free to substitute with similar items, but let's work to have a balanced menu that will cover all our needs.  

You are responsible for the costs of the food items you choose to bring (we're not divvying up the costs or doing refunds). 

Please make sure your name is on the spreadsheet at least three times, whether that means three food dishes, three cleaning sessions, or some of each. 

We have 10 people attending and 1 maybe.  4 of our attendees are vegetarians.

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Meeting Tonight

Hello gang!

There is a meeting tonight at 6:30pm at MakerWorks.

If you want to participate in the fabric swap, please bring three fat quarters (wrapped up and unlabeled) of fabric inspired by artist Piet Mondrian. 


If you made blocks for the Quilt Con Block Challenge, please bring them.

At the meeting tonight, we'll be talking about our upcoming screen-printing party.  More deets on that HERE.

Hope to see you there!

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Screen Printing Prep

Hi!  This is Rossie posting an update on our screen printing project, including what materials you'll need if you want to join in on the screen-printing fun.

We'll be picking a day and time and location for printing at the next meeting.  If you definitely want to screen print, but won't be at the meeting on the 25th, please leave a comment below with that information as well as any relevant scheduling difficulties you may have.

I have the screens and the inks and I did some test prints and they came out great!

These are made with Thermofax screens from Lynn of FibraArtysta (FibraArtysta).


If you want to get ahead of the game, you can watch Lynn's videos about printing with these screens: http://youtu.be/VrKQtaxnVEs

But in the meantime, all you really need to do is pick out or purchase whatever you'd like to print on.  I'm giving you advance notice in case you'd like to order something online.

I, for example, love t-shirts from Next Level Apparel, so I purchased a few on ebay from inprint.
$7!  Here's my test one:


FYI: I think the sizing on these is pretty accurate.  I usually wear a 10 or 12 and this is the Ladies Juniors Fit Cotton Scoop Neck Tee in Large.

Whatever you want to print on: quilting fabric, t-shirts, canvas bags, get it and prewash it.
The inks I bought are meant to print on "anything" but online reviews suggest that they do best on plastic and fabric.  I printed the logo onto a nylon bag, however, and it definitely came out smeary, which didn't happen with the prints I did on good ol' cotton:


The logo is 9" wide and 3.3" tall with small trees.  Or 9" wide and 5" tall with the larger trees.

I purchased (for all to use) the colors we used in our logo + black in Jacquard Screen Printing Inks.

I also have a small bottle of white.
These are water-based and can be mixed.
If you've got your heart set on another color, you should purchase that ink.

You can get any of the following inks/paints:
Jacquard Screen Printing Ink (from Dharma: http://www.dharmatrading.com/html/eng/7647509-AA.shtml?lnav=paints.html)
Yudu Water-Based Screen-Printing Ink (they have these at the Jo-Ann's on Carpenter)
Jacquard Textile Color (from Dick Blick: http://www.dickblick.com/products/jacquard-textile-colors/)
Simply Screen Paint (from FibraArtysta's Etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/FibraArtysta?section_id=7177985)

Let me know if you have any questions!

Monday, July 16, 2012

Deposits Due

Hello!  Everyone attending the guild retreat, please mail in your deposit checks today.  $50 made out to Hankerd Inn c/o Janet C. Rochefort
10350 Hankerd Road
Pleasant Lake, Michigan 49272
And put Ann Arbor Modern Quilt Retreat in the Memo.

Send me an email letting me know you sent it! jennaral AT gmail.com
Thanks everyone!

Sunday, July 1, 2012

Sewing Retreat - Current Reservation List

Hello all!

I am so excited about our quilting retreat.  If you are planning on attending, please read this post.  I need information from you!

Here is our current guest list:  everyone on the list is insured a space on the retreat - those of you who were on the waiting list are officially in!  Hooray!

  1. Jenna B.
  2. Rossie H.
  3. Jennifer B.
  4. Natalie S.
  5. Brenda R.
  6. Ashley D.
  7. Ronit S.
  8. Debbie G.
  9. Ann D.
  10. Lynn H.
  11. Marti W.
  12. Nancy M.
  13. Jenn S

There are still spaces available.  If you are interested in attending, please contact Jenna (jennaral AT gmail.com) by JULY 10.    

What do you need to do?  
1. Pay your deposit.  There is a $50 deposit due, per person, by July 17.

Everyone who is attending will owe $110.  

  • If you would like to come on Thursday, August 9th - it's an additional $35 (making it $145 total)
  • If you would like to have a private bedroom with a Queen bed (as opposed to sharing a room with a fellow attendee of the retreat ) - it's an additional $35. 
I would be happy to collect deposit checks or cash at the sew-in on Sunday, July 8th.   You can make them out to :  Hankerd Inn c/o Janet C. Rochefort

Or you can mail the payment yourself:
10350 Hankerd Road
Pleasant Lake, Michigan 49272
If you choose to mail your payment, could you shoot me an email letting me know you paid?   jennaral AT gmail.com
Also - please put ANN ARBOR QUILTING RETREAT in the Memo, so Janet knows what you are sending the deposit for : ) 
Here are the people who have already paid their deposit:
1. Jenna B.
2. Marti W.
3. Jennifer B.
4. Ashley D.
5. Rossie H.
6. Ann D.
2. Tell me if you plan on coming on Thursday - shoot me an email at jennaral AT gmail.com

3. Tell me if you are a vegetarian or have dietary restrictions- shoot me an email at jennaral AT gmail.com

WE WILL HAVE A FOOD SIGN-UP LIST AVAILABLE SOON.    Keep checking this blog for more information!

Thanks everyone!