More adventures in Dyeing

Finally I have the time to post pictures of more of the fabric I have dyed.  Dialup is so slow.  Some day we will have a faster connection.  I am pleased with the colors and textures that I am achieving.  I have been dyeing fat quarters mostly, and even with that small amount, I have dyed more than 40 yards of fabric. These fabrics were done with rubber bands. Some are overdyed.  The long piec used aquarium stones and rubber bands.

The three pieces on the left in this picture were wrapped on a piece of rope.  The ladies in the marine supply store, at first thoought it was strange that I asked for 2' of various thicknesses of rope, but were very interested when i told them how I was using it-fellow quiltmakers. The piece on the right was wraped on a pole, held in place with rubber bands.  I have used string and rubberbands. String gets a finer effect, but rubber band are so much easier.

The two blue pieces in this picture were selvage to selvage quarter yards, wrapped on poles diagonally with rubber bands.  I wanted the same texture in two colors.  the middle piece is greener than it appears.  I am happy.  I think the brown piece will make awesome leaves-the vein lines are already there.

Gradations

I have done several gradations.  One thing I learned that if you want to make a similar set of fabrics, you must use the same size of containers. When I did a 12 step rainbow gradation, I didn't have 12 large containers that were the same so I used different ones.  The fabric in the larger containers is pretty solid while the containers where the fabric was more compact, produced a mottled effect.  Both are good, but I wanted them to all be the same.  Of course I made this discovery when I was dyeing full yards.

I have been dying with Pimatex by Kaufman.  I like the finish, and it takes the dye well, but it is a very dense fabric and multiple layers can be difficult to sew through.  I dug out my mothers box of thimbles and put one to use when sewing a binding made from this fabric.  I have a full bolt of Pimatex and 5 yards of Hoffmans PFD , and I ordered some chiffon scarves so next time I want to spend some dyeing time I am ready.  I borrowed a Pullens Pleater from a friend which I plan to use to pleat some fabric and have it ready to go.  If it works well, I will get a pleater of my own, but I am thinking that the pleats will be too regular and that hand sewn pleats might be more interesting.  We shall see.

I have dyed about 60 scarves as well as the cotton fabric.  I figure that if I sell the scarves, it finances my study with dyes.

Sunprints with the Grandkids

Here are Truxton and Olivia visiting the Art Show put on by the Art Council.  The three quilts on top in the case are quilts that Olivia, Callista, Truxton and I made together last summer.  The kids did the sun prints and Callista and Truxton, aged 6 at the time, actually sewed on the borders using a Singer featherlight sewing machine that I inherited.  Olivia was only 5 at the time, so she sat on my lap and pretended that she was sewing.  I quilted the pieces, then the kids sewed on the beads.  Unfortunately, I didn't take pictures of the quilts before I gave them to the kids.  Perhaps later.

Fireweed for Ingrid- Best Small Quilt in the Bearpaw Quilters Annual Show

My quilt, Fireweed For Ingrid, won Best Small Quilt in the Kodiak Bearpaw Quilters Annual Quilt Show!  The show was held last weekend at the Gerald Wilson Auditorium, in Kodiak, AK.  There were many beautiful traditional bed quilts to see.