QR code from Kyrgyzstan - part 2

The day has come - the first side wall is being decorated and I'm a bit nervous. If I mess it up, I probably won't be able to wash the textile paint off, a messy job will be visible to everyone and replacing a side wall would be expensive and time consuming, given the fact that it had to come from Germany. So better not to mess it up.

I lay the chosen double side wall out on a trestle table and use chalk to mark the top and bottom edges of the patterns and the spacing between the individual prints. I debate with myself how far from the top edge of the fabric I should place the pattern. Not too high because of the yurt roof's eaves. It is a guessing game and I won't know if I picked the right distance until it is all complete and I set up the yurt next time… Then the great moment: starting with the QR code screen as the central pattern, I carefully position the screen. One problem becomes obvious immediately: I cannot see through the screen's plywood frame to see the chalk lines that indicate the edges of the pattern.

Eventually I think I have the right position and start squeegeeing the white textile paint through the screen. The paint's consistency is perfect and I make sure I cover each little square of the QR code from several directions. When I carefully lift the screen, I'm quite pleased with the result - all squares appear to have come out well. While the paint is still we I scan the code and to my great relief it works! I'm so excited that I scan several times from all sorts of angles and it works each time.

However, the pattern looks a bit forlorn on the large black canvas - it urgently needs its friends. So, next its the turn of the other screen with the Kyrgyz pattern. I don't do a pattern adjacent to the QR code because the plywood frame of the Kyrgyz pattern screen would touch it's still wet paint. Instead, I leave a gap for now. That makes it even more important that I get the position of the screen right. Again, lots of guestimation is required but eventually I have the first Kyrgyz pattern printed as well.

I keep going printing one Kyrgyz pattern after the other, each time leaving a gap adjacent to recently printed patterns and going back and printing in the gap once I'm sure the paint of both its neighbour patterns is sufficiently dry. I pay lots of attention to wipe any textile paint from the underside of the screen and plywood frame each time before I place the screen. This requires repeated washing and drying the entire screen including the frame. But it pays off and after several hours the first half of the double side wall is printed with the QR code in the middle and four Kyrgyz patterns on either side.

The screens for both patterns also have a section of the common top and bottom stripe. That is a good start for the strip but requires additional work with a paintbrush to fill in the gaps. A big initial headache is the edge of this stripe. I realise very quickly that with a paintbrush and the highly viscous textile paint I will not be able to draw a crisp, sharp edge for this stripe. I leave that problem unresolved for now.

During another session on another day I print the second half of the double side wall in exactly the same way as the first half. Then I have an idea about the edge of the stripe: I remember watching my mother many years ago applying gutta-percha - which must be of similar viscosity to my textile paint - to silk scarfs in preparation for painting on them. She used a small, squeezable plastic bottle with a small, detachable metal nozzle. I try the local art and craft shop and to my great surprise they have one of these. It works like a treat. Using a small syringe, I fill the plastic bottle with textile paint, attach the nozzle and can - by squeezing the bottle - apply the right amount of paint while guiding the nozzle along a ruler. The result is a straight and crisp edge to the pattern's white top and bottom stripes. I am pleased although it is quite a bit of work.

After everything has had time to dry for a few days, the fun part of heat fixating can begin. I turn the iron up to full heat and use a dish cloth between the textile paint and the iron. How long am I supposed to apply the heat for? I have no idea. Figuring it can hardly be overdone, I try to get each area of fabric that has been painted under the iron long enough so that it is clearly hot when touching. It is enough? The first rain will show. If it wasn't enough the painstakingly screen printed patterns might run down the side wall leaving a whitish mess. I hope not.

A few weeks after the painting is complete, spring has arrived and I take the first opportunity to see how the pattern looks. I am quite happy with the result. The yurt no bears a visible connection to its great-grand uncles in Central Asia. Only five more side walls to go.
The only problem: there is no mobile reception at the campground, so scanning the QR code does not given an immediate result. I wonder how often this will happen…