To Many Distractions

Once again I seem to have a focus problem. Granted some of the things are beyond my control and some of them were good distractions. Like having to get ready for an appraisal on my home and having the place look like someone lived here. To bad I didn't have more than 5 days to get it looking presentable. It was mostly spent in my sewing rooms  (yes , I said rooms). When I get going with something, I tend to take over whatever space I happen to be in.

Here is one project I have been trying to finish up and put  on the design wall. But before I sewed it together, I tweaked and changed many things in each block. So, of course I had to hunt for the fabrics I used and add to the general piles of fabric and scraps that eventually got cleaned up and put back where they belong.

 



 

I am also part of a sub-group from the West Haven Watershed Restoration Committee that is interested in beautifying the shore near where I live now.  We have Piping Plovers that nest on our beaches and have a resurgence of wildlife returning to one section of the shore. One member applied and received a  small grant from the Audubon Society and we have begun the process of general clean-up of the area,  removing weeds, turning soil, picking plants that are salt water tolerant and finally getting the planting done. Yesterday we planted a small triangle that is along the sidewalk many walkers use. Here we are pitting mulch on the plants.

 

 



We can't believe we did it!!!!

 

Hopefully we can return to getting some of our own chores done at home and I can try to find my sewing things that I haven't touched in way to long.



Finally!

I have finally gotten to use that abundance of white stuff that is outside my back door! I thought I would never get to icey-snow dye this winter. After setting up my work table, I went out and hacked at the ice encrusted tops of the piles and used it to get back in my groove. Or at least get some much needed practice in.

 

Here is the offending fabric that shared it's color with the rest of the pot before I over dyed it. It was actually a little brighter than what you see here (which doesn't look so bad.) Maybe I'm to critical???

 

And here it after it's snow bath

 

 

 

I had used some blue and soft orange....it's different. I even had another piece of smallish fabric and used some more of the ice/snow on it  and  I really like the results.

 

 

 

 

I'm encouraged by the results and have gone full tilt to snow dye. Hope they come out as good as the above one. I'll keep you posted. 

 

 



Suprise!!!!

Surprise!!!

I have had the urge to do some ice dyeing for a while and decided one day last week to just get to it. I gathered all the dyes. buckets, containers and the tub of soaking fabric. I set up my work area and proceeded to open the tub of fabric. I knew I had put a bunch of fat quarters in there to soak along with a piece I wanted to over dye.

Nice surprise when I saw all of the fabric and the solution was a lovely shade of pink !!!! It appears that the piece I wanted do over dye was not sufficiently rinsed and shared it's color with everyone  in the tub. Needless to say, I did a few loads of bleach wash to get them back to white.  No dyeing this time around.

I mixed a new batch of soda ash and re-soaked the fabric and thought I would try a gradation instead. Only one color and  some plastic bags, good for a warm-up to ice dyeing. I played around and did a ten step gradation of mulberry.



Anyone Home??

Cough, cough, achoo!  It sure is dusty in here! I didn't realize I've been away for so long.  Let me wave the duster and broom to get the cobwebs out of here. Much better. Hopefully my brain and hands remember how to navigate this site and post things.

I have been rather busy and distracted but have made a New Year's resolution to get back here and post some of the things I did indeed finish and what I am playing with.

 Several years ago ( 2005 to be exact) I fell in love with a pattern in McCall's magazine called Glad Tidings by Lisa  Debee Shiller. It came in 3 installments and I thought, no problem, I can do this. I did get a good start and loved doing the applique and piecing the blocks. But I am not one to follow all the directions (sorry, Lisa) and several blocks just didn't make me happy. So I started to trade out blocks and hunt around for substitutions. Of course I got distracted and put down the project various times,  never quite finding enough solutions for the quilt to finish.  Until this past summer when I had to straighten out ( ok, find my sewing table, mahcine and fabric) and decided this time I would put it together and hand quilt it! It should be ready to hang for Christmas. I did finish it but it was January.

 

I'm pleased with it and promptly hung it on the wall in my dining room where I can see it every day. My fingers thank me,  too. They are almost back to normal.

Our group, Sisters in Cloth, have been busy working on Sentinels stamped by Dijanne Cerval. I finished mine but need to hand it  so it can be shipped for a show in France. this was a lot of fun but I can't believe my table!!

 

Hard to believe this small project came from this mess!! Now for the clean up!



 

Our group is  also taking a class with Kate Themel and  I need to work on my flowers so I'm ready for part two of the class this Saturday. One of the Sisters, Diane Wright,  has a picture of hers on her blog and an article on the Magnolia class we are doing. Go check her out.

 

Opps, I see some cobwebs in the corner. I'll be back with more.

Confetti and Ice

On Saturday I had the pleasure of demo-ing my iced parfait for the CFAC at Carol Eaton's home, along with two if my Sisters in Cloth, Diane Wright and Barb Adams. It felt good to have my hands in the ice to cool down as it was very hazy, hot, and humid.

In the first picture is I scrunched the fabric and used a limited palette. The 'green' picked up some red and blue from th e next layer. Almost have that coral I'm looking for.

This next set is folded diagonally and on the short side with several colors used. Still looking for that coral.







Carol then demoed her Confetti Dyeing and although I had reservations and concerns about the potential drippy mess, I forged ahead. Fabric was soaked in soda ash, laid flat and sprinkled with dry dye, hung up and sprayed with soda ash.

All I can say is WOW!! It was amazin gto see how the colors mixed and mingles as they flowed down the cloth.  There are actually two seperate pieces here and if you look at the right one, you can see the shadow of a figure in the middle , and on the left one, i see a figure and building lights framed by to trees. Ok, I know I needed some fluids and  a hit of caffine at that point and to get out of the sun. But I can still sort of see them after the fabric has been dried and ironed......or maybe I need some caffine now. Can't wait to try this again....on a cooler day.....no humidity.

Experimenting

I have been intrigued by the Confetti Dyeing of my friend , Carol Eaton, and while I had the makings for Iced Parfait out,  I thought I would finally give it a try. Of course with a few variations.

I searched for my strainer and found I must have tossed it out onto the great beyond in my last kitchen cleanout. Having thought about what to use to spread the dye , I decided to see if a salt/pepper shaker would work. I'm not so crazy of spraying the soda ash on and drip drying and  decided to layer with crushed ice and plastic and see what happens.

A little to heavy on the red here ( will I ever learn )and not enough yellow. But I can see using it somewhere.






So on I go to the next layer. I can see the speckling but I might still be a little heavy handed here with the shaker. I also scrunched the fabric slightly.

And the final piece. I do have to say, being summer and hot does really make the process go much faster than in the cooler/cold months.

 That ice melts way fast!!

I might be getting the hang of this but I still feel I need remedial lessons. Or at least a little direction but it was a fun experiment.
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Dyeing in the Shade

My art group, Sisters in Cloth,  held an Iced Parfait dyeing sessions at Diane Wright's home recently. Of course it was warm and a touch humid, but the shade from the trees made it delightful! Here are some of the results from my containers. I do have to say it was different than dyeing during the much cooler (colder, indoor) months and the results are interesting and different..

I'm thinking a lighter hand on the dyes, more ice to the layer, and watch out for the red and darker colors......very light on them. And watch your color combinations.

This last group looks a little better in person. I also think the weight of the fabric has played a part in this. I used a cotton silk blend on some of these which may have caused the dye to take faster. I do have some really nice ones I love that I will save for the reveal this coming Friday!!