Dyeing with Friends

-
Tonight was my quilt guilds annual Dye Party.
Everyone receives instruction on how to dye their cotton fabrics using fiber reactive dyes and soda ash. Anne (in the white shirt and bent over showing us how to do marbling) is always in charge of general instruction.  She is a very talented artist.  Just check her website and see for yourself!
I demonstrated how to do ice dyeing and. . .
. . .what else. . .ice dye parfait!
 Surprisingly, despite the 102 degree temperatures when we arrived, the ice had not completely melted on either project when I left the party 3 hours later!  I will have to rinse it all out tomorrow when it has completely melted.
We are all very intent on our dyeing.
 Which means we are all having a great time.

 We discuss possibilities. . .

 and get to work!
But not everyone comes to dye. . .
 . . .some come for the stimulating conversations.

 Here are a few of the results from tonights dye session.
This is Anne's marble dye demonstration piece.
  We couldn't decide if it looked more like toothpaste or salt water taffy.
 We have some very creative people in our group. . . 










Betty Jo, who always allows us to use her back yard for the dye party, has a rather large lot behind her backyard and there are usually horses or cows in the back pasture.  This year she has some sheep.
They are adorable and very soft.
 This is April. . .
. . .and this is Gus.

 A few of the ladies also brought some beautiful finished quilt projects for show and tell.
I love the northwestern feel of this quilt.
 These adorable faces belong to Nan's grandchildren.
 These talented ladies inspire me to be better every time I meet with them!  
Who inspires you?

Comments

Unknown said…
I did the ice dyeing too this week-end. Had the same problem, 100 degree weather, the ice took some time to melt. You can see my photos on my blog. - judy
July 11, 2012 at 10:37 AM
Sylvia said…
It was a great deal of fun! Thanks for all your hard work! I just got back, will go out in the backyard and rinse out my fabric in a bit.
July 11, 2012 at 1:31 PM
Frieda Anderson said…
Looks like everyone had a fun time.
Fabric to Dye For.
July 12, 2012 at 7:06 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Gelli Plate Tutorial with Leaves

-
Image
Here's the Gelli Plate Tutorial you asked for! My Gelli plate has been well used and well loved. 1. Place Gelli Plate on a flat, covered working surface, and place small dots of paint onto the plate.  My demo photos are with me using acrylics and paper but it works exactly the same with fabric paint and fabric.  I like using Jacquard Textile paint when I make fabric prints. 2. Use a brayer to spread the paint evenly across the plate. 3.  I used the leaves as a resist for the first print. 4. Place the paper/fabric on top of the printing plate and smooth it out nicely to get an even print. 5.  Carefully lift up the paper/fabric. Found a photo from when I printed the fabric - see same process. This is a first print. 5.  I know that MONOprinting means ONE print but seriously, when you remove the leaves from the plate there are these beautifully textured leaves left on the plate just dying to be printed.  I couldn't ignore them!  So this is wher
Read more

Quilt National

-
Image
My husband and I took a red-eye flight to Columbus, Ohio, and then drove the one hour to Athens, Ohio, to attend the opening of the Quilt National quilt show where my piece, Wild Flowers was being shown. Made a stop at Tim Horton's, a Canadian chain for some delicious breakfast sandwiches and donut holes. We went to the Kennedy Art Museum, on the Ohio University campus. This is the side of the building. Photo of the front of the building from the cleveland.com website. The building was designed in the 1860s by Cleveland architect Levi Scofield, and was originally part of the Athen's Lunatic Asylum. It opened in 1996 as the Kennedy Museum of Art. There were some lovely prints, paintings and exhibits. It didn't take long to tour, which was good for my knees. I was glad to be able to see this Elizabeth Catlett print. I admire her work. I've seen some of her her other prints in person, and was anxious to also see this one. Friday evening, the Quilt National show opened, and
Read more

Autumn is for the Birds

-
Image
I was thrilled when my friend Jamie Fingal ask me to create something using her new fabric line, Autumn is for the Birds, from Hoffman Fabrics. I decided to use my favorite method of creating: free form piecing.  When I create a quilt with this method I rarely plan anything out, other than perhaps a general size and a few elements.  The problem with this method is that I often have to rearrange as I go.  And sometimes I need to unpick - a LOT.  I took a few photos as I went to help me get an idea of where things were going and then based upon those photos I added or changed.  I put the photos together in a short power point so that you could see a little bit of my process.  I apologize for the dark photos as my design wall is in a dark hallway but I think it still gives you a good idea of how things went. The final quilt is approximately 30"x 37". I love the focus fabrics!  There are a lot of textures in all of the fabrics.  Honestly, I could have quilted
Read more