Dye A-Lot!

As you can see I have been doing a lot of dyeing lately!!! The FQ's are the result of a 6 gradient. There are 12 of the Salmon color because the first time I misread the "recipe" and ended up with a really weird color---so I rinsed them out and started over. The fabric was a dull grey after that, so in addition to redyeing them, I also dyed some fresh ones in case the color was strange. In the end the grey fabric ended up with a slightly darker color. I thought the blue would be a bit darker, but in the end it is okay. Pastels aren't "my thing", but I will of course find a use for them.





The next pieces are a result of following recipes and directions in "Color by Accident". The pictures were taken while the fabric was wet, so the colors will be slightly muted once the fabric is dried, but I really liked how they turned out. They are 1/2 yard pieces and I used old coffee cans (plastic ones) to dye them in. These will be nice in garments as well as in quilts. I took a vest class a while back from Rachel Clark and made a neat vest as a result---I think a couple of these fabrics would be nice in another vest like that. (I will have to post a picture of the vest at a later time).










On the quilt front, I am still working on the courthouse step quilt made from my dyes. I have 20 blocks done so I only need to complete 10 more. It is looking good!

Hope your day was as productive as mine. Hugs!

Answers to Questions--

Thank you Kat and Zarina for your positive comments about my fabric. To answer your questions Kat----I have used three fabrics when I dye---200 count Muslin that would be great for machine applique since it doesn't ravel a lot; Quilters Cotton that I purchase at Joanne's (it looks like Kona cotton); and plain old inexpensive muslin---not the dirt cheap kind that is so thin you can see through it, but the next one up---about $2.99 I think. It seems to get thicker with the dyeing and hot wash. I use both unbleached and bleached muslin and I really can't see the difference. I have tried "overdyeing" fabric but at this point I haven't gotten good results.

I am going to experiment in making up my own recipes and try my hand at making solids. At this point my fabrics have lots of "movement" that I like, but sometimes a solid is what you want in quilting.

Although my DH thinks my fabrics are as nice as some you can buy, I have to plans to market them. If I did, my "hobby" would become a "job" and no longer fun! My grandchilden are intrigued that you can get so many colors from essentially three "pure" colors.

Hugs!

Pictures!

The results of my last dyeing session! They are bright's in front; dusty oranges and bricks.

I like this new hobby!!! My problem is I am going to have a huge handdyed stash if I keep going!!!

Hugs!

My Monday!

Today was another HOT day---the high today was 96 degrees! I had clinical today but we didn't have any patients so I let the students go home. It was their last day anyway, and they have a big test tomorrow, so needless to say they were happy!

Since it was so warm, I decided to dye today. I dyed 7.5 yards of fabric. I really liked the first batch I dyed--it was so bright, and wanted to replicate them. Unfortunately it was a kit and I really didn't have the "recipe". I improvised and I think used much too much dye, but the colors are very vibrate! I think I know how to make it better next time. The first batch I made were fat 1/8th's but this time I used FQ's (30 of them).
They are really pretty! Since I really rinse well, the yellow can be washed with the other colors and there is no fading! I will post pictures tomorrow, they are in the dryer right now.

We also had a storm! The wind was really blowing and in fact blew our neighbors tree down onto the wires. We were without electricity for a couple of hours. My DH however got to bring out his latest "toy", a generator. It works well so should we need it for any longer time (the electricity was only off for a couple of hours) we will not have to go long without electricity for key things in the house.

Well, have a good evening! I am really tired and really sleepy for some reason.

Hugs!

It is HOT!!!

It is really hot here---in the low 90's with about 115% humidity!! Now don't get me wrong--I absolutely LOVE summer, but if I could have the sunshine with the temp in the 70's with NO humidity, I would be happier. I was going to dye today, since this is a good dyeing day, but I decided to stay inside and sew.

I also did what I always do--started a new project, instead of finishing up what I have. There is a mystery in the latest Quiltmaker by Bonnie Hunter. One of my friends in the Guild suggested we all do it. Of course, I can't participate with the others (they are going to trade 4 patches to get more variety) because I like BIG quilts. Besides I have a zillion 2.5 inch squares (when I lived in Florida one of the quilt shops gave 2.5 inch squares of her new fabrics to members of her "club" each month). The pattern calls for 2 inch squares. Since I am using bigger four patches, that meant all of the other segments of the mystery have to be made bigger. At any rate, I am not sure how big it will be, but I plan to add a border anyway to make it at least full size. So far I have only used fabric from my stash. I will see how it looks after it is put together and then decide if I need to purchase border fabric. Hopefully I will not.

I go to the beauty shop tomorrow and then when I come back I plan to do some dyeing and work on my Courthouse Steps Quilt. It is really turning out pretty! I am only using my hand dyes and they are really looking nice. It too will be big!--the original pattern was only 12 blocks (12.5 inches), mine will have 30 blocks however in a 5x6 layout. I have 13 made so I am almost half done. I really piece slowly since I press after every seam is sewn--since I press my seams open, it takes a bit longer. I don't care though because the blocks always lay flat--I do have to be careful since I do have a "heavy hand" when ironing (I know I should be "pressing").

Well, I am going to look at some dyeing recipes and rest a bit. Take care and have a great evening!!

New Pictures!

"Honeycomb" completed in a class held by my Guild.





Third Prize in my Guild Challenge (The rules: A cityscape or landscape made using at least two colors from a paint chip card that was randomly drawn; it must contain purple and a star----my star was on the back)





I will upload pictures of the latest dye "job" later. It takes entirely too long to upload pictures and I really want to go sew.

Hugs!

What's Been Going On?

I have been "missing" from blogland for a little while. I have been one busy girl. My youngest Grandson arrived from Florida for the summer so we have been involved in getting acclimated to each other. He is a sweetie pie and I am looking forward to the summer!

On the quilting front, I have been busy dyeing fabric. I am really getting into this. It is such fun to see all the colors you can get from just 3 primary colors. I didn't really write the recipes down and post the fabric colors like I did before, but I plan to do that next time. I've ordered more colors so I definitely see more experimenting in the future.





I have also been "tending" my garden! I am becoming a real "southern lady" :-)!








Oh yea! I forgot to mention that my guild challenge won third place! It has gotten dark so the light isn't right for picture taking but I will post that picture and my latest quilt tomorrow.

Hugs! Have a great evening!

Change!

We all know how much times have changed and continue to change. Sometimes however it makes me really think and remember how things once were. What brought me to this "pensive" mood? Well---tomorrow my Guild is having a class that I will be attending. As with most activities, we sign up to bring goodies. I signed up to bring a cake. Now although there are great cakes mixes and better yet, bakeries around, I almost always make a cake from "scratch". This time I made my cake but my family began to whine, and I decided to make another. Unfortunately I didn't have enough cake flour so I sent my husband to the grocery to get a box. He called me from the store and asked me where he could find it. The short of it is the people in the store didn't have cake flour and really didn't know what it was.

I had this great yeast roll recipe that was my mothers. It was wonderful because the rolls would rise in the refrigerator. It was made with cake yeast, which I can't find anywhere anymore. That is one more thing that has gone by the way side. I am certainly glad that quilting hasn't gone the same way.

A Busy Week!

I have had a very busy week. My sons (the oldest returned to Maryland yesterday), grandson, DH and I worked hard all week to landscape our yard. This was particularly hard for me because I also had to work and the weather was HOT. My grandson is 7 but every morning he appeared with his work goggles on (glasses that he got with his Nerf dart game), his gardening gloves on(actually mine that he wore backwards), and his "work" clothes on. He actually really worked hard and for a 7 year old was a real help.

We planted two trees, put in flowers, mulched the front and parts of the back yard, dug up weeds (including poison ivy and oak, cleaned up the backyard flower beds, and planted 12 planters on the deck. My husband was continuing reminding me that he doesn't like yard work, so to only plant things that would be easy for ME to take care of. These are pictures of our deck---it needs painting, but I sorta like how it looks with the flowers.





I am now fretting over the plants since it is really hot now and a couple of my new plants are having a difficult time. Thank goodness they have a year guarantee so if they die I can dig them up and return them, but who wants to do that! I also planted two rose bushes that really look happy so hopefully the two "sickly" plants will acclimate themselves soon. I ended up with a migraine headache, but hopefully it will all be worth it.

I will take more pictures tomorrow! I've missed you and will keep you updated on not only the progress of my plants, but my quilting adventures as well!

Hugs!