Dye Love

My talented friend Nancy, from Vagabond’s Daughter, invited a few of us to experiment with onion skins as a dyeing agent on eggs.  Nancy provided a variety of natural resists, such as parsley and fennel and we applied  yellow and red onion skins to the uncooked eggs, tied into the stretchy hug of pantyhose.  I brought a silk scarf from a previous lime-green dye day , and shibori-ed the scarf with eggs and rubber bands.  There was also a pot of red cabbage with blueberries that yielded the dark gray eggs.

Natural Resists

Wrapping

I was able to fit 8 eggs into the scarf.

Onion Soup with Cheesy Croutons for lunch

Expresso Beverage

Hard-boiled

Glorious Color

Lace Resists to Recycle

One egg succumbed to the pressure.

The scarf as table cloth

Egg salad on the menu.

 

.for my dollhouse.

I am so grateful for the constant stream of quilting projects I am blessed to get.  I post these, most often lately, on Pinterest.  But Nancy has been at it again and her design endeavors are remarkable.  Before she begins to sew a quilt, she makes a fabric, paper and double-sided tape version in miniature.  You many remember a previous post that featured her work: Colorforms.

She’s delivered three quilt tops, their designs and a fourth design double.  Just watch!

It starts with the basic palette of scraps

which gets auditioned against contenders for the new quilts

Quilt 1- girl

Quilt 2 – boy

Quilt 3- Otto        Front and Back

Quilt 4 – two versions

Quilt 1 on Quilting Frame

Quilt 1 Close- Up

  Close-Up of Side Quilt 1

Quilt 3

Close-Up Quilt 3

Which version do you think will become Quilt 4?   Left or Right?

 

Dye Inspired

When there are so many pictures, I hardly need words…which have been in short supply here lately.  Oh, so busy with a hundred other things.

This week I spent a day with my friend from Whidby Island and we dyed …off the top of her head, RED.

Here are some of the highlights.

Soda Ash Bath

Twisted

Tied, Folded, Bundled

Ombre-d

Messy Sink…

Monoprinted Sun Scape

More ombre on Linen

Light makes a good hanging system!

We went with Fuchsia, Carmine and Magenta with Yellow and Chestnut on the side. Some very interesting results.

Fern Fossils

Subtle Shibori

 

Lifecycle

I’ve been in the process of quilting some tops for Lauren Cotton of The Cotton Press.  She dropped by yesterday, when we got to talking about her blog and I thought about sharing this.

Lauren dyes and prints all her own fabrics on quite a grand scale.  Sometimes two, three or even four overdyes and prints that add to the depth and richness of color and print.  Her amazing quilts are one-of-a-kind grids, some giant-sized.

Close-up of a yummy orange-y quilt I just finished.

I like to show off the backs because they become two-sided beauties for the owner.

Focus on the colorful flowers.   The daisies in the background are the quilting.

Lauren picked up the two I finished and the third in this series is loaded on the Gammill frame: today’s work. Check out
The Cotton Press Studio and get a look at the giant quilt she poses in front of.  That’s the one I’ll be working on next.  And get a look at how all these beautiful fabrics come to life.

So big it doesn’t fit into the picture.

Top corner, a peek at the back.

the back

Different colorway of print used in front on this quilt. (Close-up)

 

Easy peicy batting

A couple of Tuesdays ago, I took one of my students through the technique for piecing scraps of batting into a perfectly flat single unit.  Here is the step-by-step from my demonstration, which may come in handy for your stash of leftover batting pieces.

Measure length and width of your backing fabric.

Lay out your batting scraps like a puzzle that measures slightly larger than your backing measurement.

Notice how the edges of these pieces are irregular.  We’re going to make them match so you can join them with a zig-zag stitch.

Now prepare for cutting…

Overlap two long edges of batting about an inch.

Position your ruler in the “middle” of that inch.  You will be cutting about a half inch off each edge.

Cutting through overlapped edges of batting so they meet perfectly.

Then peel away the trimmed pieces from next-to and under the ruler (carefully) without moving the larger pieces.

This is the piece cut away from the underneath. Remove it gently.

Now the cut edges match exactly. Mark them gently across both edges with contrasting chalk, so you know how they line up before moving to the machine.

Choose a zig-zag stitch to connect the two edges.

Overlap the newly-assembled piece to the next scrap and repeat the process, until your batting is bigger than your backing fabric.

Keep adding pieces of batting to get the shape you need.

Layer your backing, batting and quilt top and get to quilting!

Kathy’s Table Runner

 

Why dye?

There is something so magical about not knowing.  It’s a metaphor for life.  I wish I could always keep this in mind.

Today at the Quilter’s Alley, we dyed some cotton in a workshop that emphasizes color theory and color accident.  The results were glorious shades of autumn.

Soda ash and salt mordants

Ready to dye.

What colors do with each other

A quick color wheel lesson about mixing dye

mixed and ready

We used three different “reds” two “blues and an “off” yellow and avocado.   My previous workshops, focused on color theory.   This one was pure fun.

autumn in the air

My student was brilliant.  She had no fear of the outcomes, and the results were more than glorious. We missed you, Harriet.  (It’s always better with more minds in the room.)

Ombre surprises from fuchsia to carmine

Direct dye

I wanted the wrinkles to do the work.  I had this piece of muslin all tangled and twisted in the wash cycle.  Those peaks and valleys yield great texture.  I can’t wait until it dries.

bundle revealed

Last week’s bundle with gunmetal dye was opened today.  Hints of brown show from the twigs and leaves I wrapped.  More will emerge/oxydize in the next couple of days.  Can you say “metamorphosis?”   Oh, joy!

Want more on how to do this?  Comment!

 

Continuum

From Hapazome Saturday with Vagabond’s Daughter to Happy Reunion with my dear friend after five long months.

First we stitched, then we bundled then we took a walk which led to the real fun.

I wish I had pictures of the two of us combing the edge of the Summit for wildflowers.  Laurie climbed the fence while I walked along with Nellie, holding the bouquet.  We saw a tiny toad in the grass and experienced the wonder of two grown women acting like girls again.  This show you how steep and what we were after.

I had so much fun at the Hapazome workshop that I had to share….

Our flower palette  is on the right.

Unfolding the surprise after pounding the flowers

After giving mine a tea bath, a lot of the pinks disappeared.  The subtle traces of stems and leaves is still beautiful and I put it to work as soon as it was dry.