2017 Lynda Monk
Lynda Monk - by Jenny
This month Shirley Quilters welcomed Lynda Monk to SQHQ to talk about her fascinating “creative surfaces”.
Lynda was originally a knitter before discovering creative embroidery. Her journey started when she joined an online group called Distance Stitch and put her work on a blog – more and more people began asking her about her work. She has now written four books (published by D4Daisy), perfect for getting the creative juices flowing!
Lynda makes her unusual fabric surfaces by using materials such as Tyvek (coated fabric or paper – often used for protective clothing), Lutradur (spun polyester fabric) and Kunin felt (made from plastic bottles). By bonding and burning these materials together with felt she creates textured and unusual surfaces. Her surfaces can then be used for binding books, hangings, beads, bags, brooches, postcards, even clothes! Her work is tactile but also beautiful to look at.
Lynda showed us slides of her work and explained each technique she used, from very simple layering to more complicated samples with stitching and stencils. Fabrics are layered together with bondaweb and then heated with a hot iron. As the plastic melts into the fabric it makes a lacy effect. Any plastic fabric that melts under heat could be used – even bubblewrap! Her methods are simple, but very effective.
She shared with us some invaluable advice – always keep meticulous notes, especially when experimenting with different materials and paint colours. Her own sketch and sample books were works of art in themselves! Lynda also has a rather nifty trick to remove the bits of melted plastic goo from her iron*.
Lynda then let us try our hand at some of her techniques – melting acrylic felt with painted tyvek and heat transfer foil, to create metallic effect surfaces.
Other notices:
Next meeting: 15th August
Hope everyone is cracking on with their log cabins for the mini exhibition (I quite fancy melting some tyvek into mine…)
* Buy cheap paracetamol tablets from supermarket. Heat iron to hottest temperature and rub the tablet over the grubby and sticky bits (mind your fingers!) on the iron plate – the stains can then be wiped off with a soft cloth.