This fabric is called Kékfestö in Hungarian, a word that roughly translates as blue-dyed or blue-dying. Producing these fabrics is a cottage industry in Hungary, which dates back several centuries. The dye is indigo; the cloth is cotton; and the long, arduous process results in a type of batik fabric. The photo above shows a small fold of each of the fabrics I bought at the blue-dyed studio shown below. (As always, please click on the photos if you'd like to see more detail.)

When in Hungary in October, 2016, my quilting/travel friend (Lunnette) and I, as guests of my Hungarian bead sister, Anna Fehér, had the very exciting experience of visiting the hand-dying studio of Miklós Kovács in the little village of Tiszakécske, SE of Budapest. The studio, located behind his home, includes two rooms, one for printing the raw cloth with a wax resist, and the second for dying the printed cloth with indigo. In front of the building, you can see rods above the deck, which are used for hanging the fabric to dry after it is dyed, and a wagon loaded with printed cloth ready to be dyed.

Meet Mr. Miklós Kovács, now in his 80s! Charming and animated, he is explaining his traditional, hand-dying process to Anna. Blue-dying has been the Kovács family's livelihood since 1878, each new generation being trained by the previous Master. It is strictly a family affair. Miklós, his wife, Margit, and their two daughters, Gabriella and Mária, currently produce about 10,000 meters of Kékfestö (blue-dyed) fabric every year. When Mr. and Mrs. Kovács retire, the business will pass to their daughters. This post shows how they turn plain white cloth into beautiful fabrics with white motifs on an indigo background.

First, they need thousands of meters of fine-quality, tightly-woven, raw cotton cloth, which is rinsed to remove impurities, then carefully ironed and rolled onto wooden rods which fit onto the printing machine. This pile of untreated cotton cloth, manufactured in Turkey, is the remainder of a big shipment purchased at the start of the year.

Next they need a print block or plate. These are made with wire pins of various diameters, which are pounded into blocks of dense wood. Here you see the many plate choices available in the Kovács studio, each yielding a different motif on the fabric. The length of each print block is the same as the width of the fabric; the width is the width of the pattern repeat, generally designed to be about 4.5 inches..

This is the end of one of the print blocks, showing how the design is formed by setting metal pins of different diameters into the wooden block.

And here is the fabric (after dying it with indigo, and removing the wax resist), which was printed with the block in the photo above it. Naturally, a half-meter of this one came home with me!

This is the machine which is used to print the motif on the raw cotton cloth with a wax resist. Mr. Kovács keeps his printing machine, built in Germany 120 years ago, in good running condition with machinist skills he learned alongside his father.

You can see the sprocket, lower right, which is adjusted to advance the fabric through the machine in increments exactly the length of the pattern repeat. For most motifs, the fabric advances 4 to 5 inches after each time the print block is applied to the fabric, thus revealing the next short stretch of un-printed cloth.

Here you can see many meters of raw cotton cloth, suspended on a metal rod at the back of the printing press. There is a leader of waste cloth stitched to the end of the roll which has been fed through the rollers of the machine to get the process started.

At the front of the printing machine, a worker swipes a tray with wax resist, which is tinted green so that it will be visible on the printed cloth. The printing block touches down on the waxed tray, picks up a coating of was, and then presses firmly against the fabric.

After being imprinted with wax resist, the fabric is wound up and down through a drying rack located behind the printing machine.

When it is dry, the printed fabric is folded and stacked until there is a sufficient quantity to begin the dying process. You can see that some of the raw cloth in this pile was pre-dyed pink, blue, or beige. After over-dying with indigo and removing the resist, the motif on these pieces will be pink, blue or beige with an indigo background, rather than the much more common white motif with an indigo background.

This close-up photo shows how the fabric looks after the wax resist (tinted green so that is shows on white cloth) is dry. This is the motif being printed while we were there. Liking the design a lot, I was very pleased to find finished fabric in this pattern available to purchase.

And this is how the cloth will look after it is dyed with indigo, the wax resist removed, and the fabric washed and ironed. As you might have already guessed, a half-meter of this one came home with me!

As we watch the cloth passing slowly through the rollers of the printing machine, Lunnette holds a scrap of dyed fabric which was tied to the machine, indicating the motif currently being printed.

At last, we get to the dye pot!  Here on the burner, a concentrated indigo dye formula is being readied to pour into the dye vat.

Don't forget to wear those heavy rubber gloves, or the skin on your hands will be tinged with blue for a long time.
Mr. Kovács gave a long, animated talk (all in Hungarian, which I only slightly comprehend) about the whole process of blue dying. You've already seen how the cloth is printed with wax resist. The next step is to dye the background.

The cloth is dyed in a vat with the indigo dye-bath at 85 degrees C., then washed to remove the wax and rinsed to remove the excess dye. After rinsing, the cloth is looped over racks to dry outdoors, which completes the dying process. Sadly, he did no dying while we were there, so I don't have pictures or first-hand experience with precisely how it is done to share with you.

However the fabric is not yet ready to use. It must be starched, dried, and then pressed using both steam and steel rollers with heavy pressure, in order to create the traditionally desirable shiny finish on the cloth. Finally, the fabric is folded onto bolts for distribution to shops and end-users.

We learned how they hand-print motifs on cloth using a template, such that after dying, the fabric can be cut out and hemmed as a finished table cloth. You can see the templates hanging on the wall. The desired template is placed over the fabric, and a pencil used to mark the registration points for lining up the printing block. Fabrics which have already been printed are stacked in front of the templates. After being dyed, this fabric will be made into table cloths and runners of various sizes.

This is a section of cloth which as been marked with a template, and hand-stamped with wax resist. After dying with indigo and removing the wax, it will be made into a rectangular table cloth with a lovely double border all the way around.

Mrs. Kovács demonstrates for us how she lines up the print block with the penciled registration marks, and then lowers it onto the fabric. With the stamp resting on the cloth, she lightly pounds it with her fist to set the wax into the fabric. It was obvious to us that carefully making each wax impression all the way around the cloth takes a lot of time and concentration. As you an see below, the results of her hand-printing are stunning!.

Here is an example of a hand-stamped, indigo-dyed fabric made into a round table cloth. Obviously, it came home with me, and is perfect for my kitchen table!  This fabric is quite wide, and takes a great deal of space and time to print. Yet, the prices were very reasonable!

After spending several hours in the studio, we were invited to the house for a shopping bonanza! Fortunately, hoping ahead of time that we would be visiting a Kékfestö studio when we got to Hungary, we had saved our allowances for some months, and were prepared to shop for future quilting and sewing projects. The prices, ranging $10 to $15 per meter depending on the width, seemed very reasonable considering the quality of the fabric, and the extreme amount of work that goes into producing it.

In addition to yardage, both of us bought a table cloth and an apron. Mine is shown above.

What a totally delightful experience we had! Mr. and Mrs. Kovács are as friendly and nice as can be!  If you ever get to Hungary, you can find their fabrics and finished products in the picturesque town of Szentendre, just a short drive or train ride north of Budapest on the Danube River. Here is a website link.

To end our visit at the Kovács studio, here is a tribute photo of the elder Mr. Kovács, who during his boyhood in the 1920's was immersed in the world of his family's blue-dying business, and who continued producing Kékfestö indigo-dyed fabrics for his entire life, while training his own son to continue the trade.

Like his father, the younger Mr. Kovács has trained his daughters to continue when he retires, although I'm sure he has many more years to go, probably well into his 90s..

My last two photos in this post are a little surprise for you. Before falling in love with beading and quilting, my main passion was Hungarian folk dancing. I danced in a performance group for 10 years (and later became one of the group's choreographers), performing at many events in the Seattle area, including Bumbershoot and the Folklife Festival. We also performed at the World's Fair when it was in Vancouver, British Columbia. I and several of the other dancers in the group made most of our costumes using Hungarian fabrics and original costumes as patterns.

It was folk music and dance that first called my heart and soul into Hungary, where I have since spent a cumulative total of well over a year of my life, spaced over 14 different visits so far.

So, here you go. This is me, wearing a costume I made with Kékfestö fabric for performing the dances of the Szatmár region, located in northeastern Hungary. This photo was taken in September, 1986 at the World's Fair in Vancouver, Canada, where we performed on two separate occasions.

And this is me on stage at a festival in Redmond, WA, happy as can be, Hungarian folk music, song and dance, filling me with joy!  Michael Kappleman and I are the second couple from the left.

So you see...  Kékfestö and I go back a long way. Next, I'll be quilting with it!

*****
My apologies to Hungarians for not using the correct accent mark for the last letter of the Hungarian word Kékfestö. I spent 4 hours trying to do it, but could not get Blogger to accept anything I tried.

I learned to create decorative painted papers from Paulus Berensohn, Albie Smith, Lynne Perrella, Anne Bagby, and others by taking wonderful workshops from them in the 1990s, and soon adapted their techniques to making books with beadwork inserted into the covers, like the one below. I use my painted papers on the book covers and for signature covers, which look great with this type of binding.

But after moving to the island where I've lived for 20 years now, I gradually got into quilting and textile arts, kept the beadwork going, and cut way back on painting. Until now!

Inspired, cajoled, and arm-twisted by one of the Textile Guild members, who wants to learn how to paint papers and make books like mine, I agreed to teach a workshop (2 days of painting and 2 days of bookmaking) for the guild members. Of course, since I hadn't painted for many years, I first had to get back into practice. Yay! What fun I've been having, painting in my shed (thankfully heated). The paper below is my favorite of about 20 painted in the last two weeks. The size is 18 x 24 inches. (Please click to see the details!)

And below are two more to go with it.  The paper above will be used for a book cover, even though it will be hard for me to cut it up. The two papers below will be cut (horizontally) into thirds, and used as signature covers. For those unfamiliar with bookmaking, a signature is a section of papers within a book. Each of the six signatures in my book will be covered with this decorative paper.


It's a fun, playful, and experimental process to paint like this, easier for me than it would be to paint figuratively (landscape, still life, or people). With this type of painting, I just mix matte medium with a color or two of acrylic paint, and apply it by rolling, stamping, stenciling in layers. I keep adding layers until I like it, at which point it's a finished paper. There is always at least part of each paper that pleases me enough to use it for bookmaking and paper arts.

These are the basic supplies and tools I use to paint the papers:

1.) Although acrylic paints and this method can be used to paint on almost any surface or paper, I usually paint on 80-90# drawing paper to make decorative papers.

2.) I prefer using a roller to apply background colors or glazes, rather than a brush. My favorite, purchased online from Dick Blick Art Supplies, is a 2.2"  dense foam roller.

3.) Assorted stamps and stencils. I carve a lot of my own stamps, as you will see below, but sometimes also use commercial stamps. Note that commercial rubber stamps with fine detail for stamping with inks do not work well with acrylics, as the paint clogs the fine lines, ruining the stamp.

4.) Assorted materials, such as a notched adhesive-spreader, coarse sea-sponge, webbed food packaging materials, and bubble wrap are useful to print, texture, and stencil.

5.) Acrylic paints. I use heavy-body paint (rather than fluid acrylics) of student-grade or better quality.

6.) Matte medium and glazing medium (slow drying) are added to extend the paint.

I know, maybe you're thinking I should do a video tutorial. OK. You set it up, and I'll do it. In the meantime, I'd rather be painting...  Here are three more recently painted papers for your viewing pleasure (I hope).



The one directly above is my attempt to emulate batik fabric from India. I had a bedspread back in the hippy 60s with a burgundy design on a mustard yellow background, the memory of which was the inspiration for this paper. I carved all of the stamps used to make it.

I love to carve my own stamps, and sometimes cut my own stencils as well. Let's take a look at that process. It's quite easy really, requiring only a block of Speedy-Carve (or other high-density rubber carving block), and a Speed-Ball Carving tool. Designs can be free cut, drawn right on the carving block, or transferred from a tracing. Here's a fairly decent tutorial on the stamp carving process.

Designs? Well, everywhere I look I see possibilities for carving more stamps! Recently, visiting a fabric store with my quilting buddies, I spied a fat quarter of batik fabric with a luscious design. Here is the fabric:

And here is the stamp I carved from a tracing I made of the central flower. The stamp is the same size as on the fabric, about 3" in diameter.

I also cut a stencil, which you can see below. A friend had a commercial stencil of these three leaves, which I really liked. After borrowing her stencil to use on one of my papers, I traced the painted image, and cut out my own stencil. The tool in this image is a Speed-Ball cutter, which I use to carve the rubber to make stamps.

You've already seen (way above) the whole sheet of paper I painted using just this stamp and stencil, but here's a detail. If you click to enlarge, you can see more about how I paint in layers, first the background colors, next the leaves, then a different color over-stencil on the leaves, and last the flowers.

If you like to play with paint, you might want to give it a try! Here are just a few more of my recently painted papers to tempt you...





I'll be teaching a 2-day bookmaking workshop in mid-May using papers like these to create three different books. There may still be a spot or two available in the class. If you are interested, you can contact me for more information.

You may want to visit my website to see more about my handmade books and painted papers. And there are several earlier posts here on Beadlust with pictures of books made with painted decorative papers and beading by my students, as well as other related topics. Here are a few of them:

1. Wedding book
2. Lisa's book (from a workshop I taught in Wisconsin); her fabulous website is here.
3. Susan's book (from a workshop I taught in Wisconsin)
4. painting papers for making Christmas cards
5. Using symbols in our art and symbols in acrylic painting  
6. Using these techniques to paint with dyes on fabric and more fabric paint/dye examples

Susan Anderson took my bookmaking/painting/beading workshop twice at the Coupeville Art Center. These are the papers for her first book, and if you click to enlarge, you can also see her finished book.

And, to close this post, here is a photo of some of the handmade books I've created over the years... most of them utilize decorative painted papers and bead embroidery.

Thanks for sticking with me to the end of this long post :)!

Charles (Charlie) Tennyson has been appointed Princeton’s new director of Transportation and Parking Services following a national search to fill the position. He previously served for five years as deputy director of the department.

Gilbert Harman, the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor of Philosophy, Emeritus, died at his home in Princeton on Nov. 13 after a long illness with Alzheimer’s. He was 83.

The new producing artistic director of the theater and music theater season at the arts center sat for an interview for our ‘What I think’ series.

Arden helped usher computers into widespread use and played a key role in establishing Princeton's Department of Computer Science.

Tanyaradzwa Tawengwa, a Princeton alumna and current Hodder Fellow who's a composer, vocalist and scholar, has come full circle since the day she sat in a McCarter audience 10 years ago and made a wish to one day be up on that stage. 

Daniel Osherson, Princeton’s Henry R. Luce Professor in Information Technology, Consciousness, and Culture, Emeritus, known for his  creative scientific explorations with collaborators in many disciplines, died at home on Sept. 4. 

As the James Webb Space Telescope delights stargazers with breathtaking images and groundbreaking discoveries, we connected with Princeton astrophysics luminaries Gillian “Jill” Knapp and Neta Bahcall, both contributors to a new book by women astronomers.

Hisashi Kobayashi, whose steady leadership as dean guided Princeton's School of Engineering and Applied Science through a rapid expansion of programs and facilities in the late 1980s and early 1990s, died on March 9. He was 84.

“His mathematical legacy is enormous,” said John D’Angelo *76. “Joe was among the most friendly, popular and influential mathematicians of his generation.”

tataata has added a photo to the pool:

The Program in Visual Arts presents an exhibition of recent work created by students in the fall course, "Painting I," taught by Pam Lins and Colleen Asper. Gallery Hours: Weekdays, 7 AM-8:30 PM; Weekends, 9 AM-8:30 PM.

The Program in Visual Arts presents an exhibition of recent work created by students in the fall course, "Painting I," taught by Pam Lins and Colleen Asper. Gallery Hours: Weekdays, 7 AM-8:30 PM; Weekends, 9 AM-8:30 PM.

The Program in Visual Arts presents an exhibition of recent work created by students in the fall course, "Painting I," taught by Pam Lins and Colleen Asper. Gallery Hours: Weekdays, 7 AM-8:30 PM; Weekends, 9 AM-8:30 PM.

The Program in Visual Arts presents an exhibition of recent work created by students in the fall course, "Painting I," taught by Pam Lins and Colleen Asper. Gallery Hours: Weekdays, 7 AM-8:30 PM; Weekends, 9 AM-8:30 PM.

The Program in Visual Arts presents an exhibition of recent work created by students in the fall course, "Painting I," taught by Pam Lins and Colleen Asper. Gallery Hours: Weekdays, 7 AM-8:30 PM; Weekends, 9 AM-8:30 PM.

The Program in Visual Arts presents an exhibition of recent work created by students in the fall course, "Painting I," taught by Pam Lins and Colleen Asper. Gallery Hours: Weekdays, 7 AM-8:30 PM; Weekends, 9 AM-8:30 PM.

The Program in Visual Arts presents an exhibition of recent work created by students in the fall course, "Painting I," taught by Pam Lins and Colleen Asper. Gallery Hours: Weekdays, 7 AM-8:30 PM; Weekends, 9 AM-8:30 PM.

Come do Competitive Programming at Princeton! Improve your coding abilities. Increase your knowledge of algorithms and data structures. Learn problem solving skills.

The Program in Visual Arts presents an exhibition of recent work created by students in the fall course, "Painting I," taught by Pam Lins and Colleen Asper. Gallery Hours: Weekdays, 7 AM-8:30 PM; Weekends, 9 AM-8:30 PM.

The Program in Visual Arts presents an exhibition of recent work created by students in the fall course, "Painting I," taught by Pam Lins and Colleen Asper. Gallery Hours: Weekdays, 7 AM-8:30 PM; Weekends, 9 AM-8:30 PM.

Learn the fundamentals of finance in at our accessible and engaging lectures! Whether you want to get prepared for finance recruiting or just are curious about investing, our sessions will give you a technical education and an understanding of how investing works. Tiger Investments is Princeton’s oldest investment club. As conveyed by our mission statement, financial education rooted in fundamental analysis and equity research are at the heart of our organization. Our curriculum can be found here https://tigerinvestments.princeton.edu/education/

Ever been interested in learning how to swing dance? Come and join our group! Everyone is welcome, including undergraduate and graduate students, staff and faculty, and community members. No partner or experience necessary! Our weekly schedule starts with a beginner lesson, where we’ll teach you the basic steps and a few fun moves. After that, we hold an intermediate lesson for more experienced dancers. We end the night with a social dance to practice our skills and learn from each other! For more details, please visit https://swing.princeton.edu. (Masks are optional but encouraged)

The Program in Visual Arts presents an exhibition of recent work created by students in the fall course, "Painting I," taught by Pam Lins and Colleen Asper. Gallery Hours: Weekdays, 7 AM-8:30 PM; Weekends, 9 AM-8:30 PM.

The Program in Visual Arts presents an exhibition of recent work created by students in the fall course, "Painting I," taught by Pam Lins and Colleen Asper. Gallery Hours: Weekdays, 7 AM-8:30 PM; Weekends, 9 AM-8:30 PM.

The Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers meets weekly on Wednesdays in the Yeh PDR to come together, socialize, and envision the future of the club together.

Young Democratic Socialists of America - General Meeting

The Program in Visual Arts presents an exhibition of recent work created by students in the fall course, "Painting I," taught by Pam Lins and Colleen Asper. Gallery Hours: Weekdays, 7 AM-8:30 PM; Weekends, 9 AM-8:30 PM.

The Program in Visual Arts presents an exhibition of recent work created by students in the fall course, "Painting I," taught by Pam Lins and Colleen Asper. Gallery Hours: Weekdays, 7 AM-8:30 PM; Weekends, 9 AM-8:30 PM.

The Program in Visual Arts presents an exhibition of recent work created by students in the fall course, "Painting I," taught by Pam Lins and Colleen Asper. Gallery Hours: Weekdays, 7 AM-8:30 PM; Weekends, 9 AM-8:30 PM.

The Program in Visual Arts presents an exhibition of recent work created by students in the fall course, "Painting I," taught by Pam Lins and Colleen Asper. Gallery Hours: Weekdays, 7 AM-8:30 PM; Weekends, 9 AM-8:30 PM.

All are welcome to this treasured annual community gathering, the Interfaith Thanksgiving Worship Service, in the University Chapel. Sponsored by Princeton University’s Office of Religious Life and the Princeton Clergy Association.

The Program in Visual Arts presents an exhibition of recent work created by students in the fall course, "Painting I," taught by Pam Lins and Colleen Asper. Gallery Hours: Weekdays, 7 AM-8:30 PM; Weekends, 9 AM-8:30 PM.

The Program in Visual Arts presents an exhibition of recent work created by students in the fall course, "Painting I," taught by Pam Lins and Colleen Asper. Gallery Hours: Weekdays, 7 AM-8:30 PM; Weekends, 9 AM-8:30 PM.

An introduction to the typesetting system LaTeX will be provided using the online editor Overleaf. LaTeX allows advanced document preparation and typesetting of complex mathematical formulas. Overleaf offers advanced functionality like collaborative editing and versioning. Peer consultations and troubleshooting also offered throughout the semester. Visit https://libcal.princeton.edu/appointments/jfz to book an appointment.

The Chapel Choir presents a concert for the season of Advent, featuring J. S. Bach’s cantata “Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland” and the world premiere of The Princeton Motets (And I Saw), a collaboration between poet Euan Tait and composer Shawn Kirchner, written especially for the Chapel Choir. With Nicole Aldrich, Director of Chapel Music, and Eric Plutz, University Organist.

The Program in Visual Arts presents an exhibition of recent work created by students in the fall course, "Painting I," taught by Pam Lins and Colleen Asper. Gallery Hours: Weekdays, 7 AM-8:30 PM; Weekends, 9 AM-8:30 PM.

The Program in Visual Arts presents an exhibition of recent work created by students in the fall course, "Painting I," taught by Pam Lins and Colleen Asper. Gallery Hours: Weekdays, 7 AM-8:30 PM; Weekends, 9 AM-8:30 PM.

The Program in Visual Arts presents an exhibition of recent work created by students in the fall course, "Painting I," taught by Pam Lins and Colleen Asper. Gallery Hours: Weekdays, 7 AM-8:30 PM; Weekends, 9 AM-8:30 PM.

The Program in Visual Arts presents an exhibition of recent work created by students in the fall course, "Painting I," taught by Pam Lins and Colleen Asper. Gallery Hours: Weekdays, 7 AM-8:30 PM; Weekends, 9 AM-8:30 PM.

Come do Competitive Programming at Princeton! Improve your coding abilities. Increase your knowledge of algorithms and data structures. Learn problem solving skills.

RSE Regional Group meeting: connects research software engineers and other closely related staff. We gather a few times per year to share RSE-relevant information. Regardless of official title, all Princeton staff with an interest in research software and computing are welcome.

The Program in Visual Arts presents an exhibition of recent work created by students in the fall course, "Painting I," taught by Pam Lins and Colleen Asper. Gallery Hours: Weekdays, 7 AM-8:30 PM; Weekends, 9 AM-8:30 PM.

The Program in Visual Arts presents an exhibition of recent work created by students in the fall course, "Painting I," taught by Pam Lins and Colleen Asper. Gallery Hours: Weekdays, 7 AM-8:30 PM; Weekends, 9 AM-8:30 PM.

Learn the fundamentals of finance in at our accessible and engaging lectures! Whether you want to get prepared for finance recruiting or just are curious about investing, our sessions will give you a technical education and an understanding of how investing works. Tiger Investments is Princeton’s oldest investment club. As conveyed by our mission statement, financial education rooted in fundamental analysis and equity research are at the heart of our organization. Our curriculum can be found here https://tigerinvestments.princeton.edu/education/

Ever been interested in learning how to swing dance? Come and join our group! Everyone is welcome, including undergraduate and graduate students, staff and faculty, and community members. No partner or experience necessary! Our weekly schedule starts with an intermediate lesson for more advanced dancers; after that, we teach a beginner lesson, where we’ll teach you the basic steps and a few fun moves. We end the night with a social dance to practice our skills and learn from each other! For more details, please visit swing.princeton.edu. We hope to see you there!

Conversation with emerging writer, art critic, curator and Princeton alum Simon Wu ’17 as he discusses his new book, Dancing on My Own, with Monica Youn ’93, Visiting Professor of Creative Writing. Followed by a book signing and reception. Current Princeton students can register to join writer and art curator Simon Wu ‘17 for a private dinner and career conversation from 4:30-5:30 PM.

Philosophers have historically played a foundational role in musicology, from theorizing the origins of music to its potential for political liberation. In this reading group, we aim to closely read the central philosophical texts on music to understand their arguments and why they have remained prominent among musicologists and cultural theories.