Hand-dyed fabric curing in cottage cheese containers

Here’s what I did this morning.  The green on the left is made from yellow dye with a little black mixed into it.  This was a tip from Melody Johnson from Fibermania.  If you’re not familiar with her work, go visit her blog.  I wanna be like her when I grow up!

More hand-dyed fabric

Playing around with low-water immersion dyeing was my objective this morning.  This is a dyeing process where the fabric is crammed into a small container, and the dye is poured over it.  The more the fabric is crumpled up, the more mottled it will will be.

Mostly I twisted the fabric, and then poured the dye solution over it.  I untwisted the fabric from time to time to see how it looked, and added more dye as needed, using an eyedropper.  Then I smushed the fabric around to blend the colors together.

When I was finished playing with it, I twisted it back up and put in into an empty cottage cheese container to cure.  To avoid having dark spots on the fabric from sitting in the excess dye, I poured any extra dye off, and used it to dye more fabric.

The fabric containers were slipped inside a plastic bag so they wouldn’t dry out while the fabric was curing.  Don’t know if it makes any difference or not, but it can’t hurt.  The basement is pretty chilly, so  the little containers of dyed fabric were kept warm and toasty on  a heating pad for most of today.  The warmth is supposed to help the dye react better with the fabric.

Batik-like design made with gel glue

This yellow fabric shows my attempt at batik using gel glue.  Now I need to paint it with some dye.  After it’s cured, then I wash the glue out, leaving the yellow designs.

The shapes are from a picture I took on the beach the other day.  It was warm enough for the snow to start melting, and the water made some neat designs in the sand.

This is such an amazing design.  It’s so graceful, and it just flows.  It makes me think of a tree with the leaves blowing in the breeze.

If you click on the picture of the sand, it’ll make it bigger so you can see the design better.

Design made by melting snow water in sand on the beach along Lake Superior

The best part about dyeing fabric is that no matter what happens, it’s a success!  It’s just so much fun to play around with the colors, and I’m learning something every time I do some dyeing.  I can see that there’s a bolt of white fabric in my future.  I’ve already used up about a third of what I bought at the fabric sale!

The beginning of my hand-dyed fabric collection!

Here are the fruits of my dyeing labors on Saturday!  It’s hard to see the yellow, but you can see a little mottling on the left.  The light blue and green are solid, and the dark blue and the fuschia are both mottled.  I’m really pleased with how well it came out.

I’m planning on trying my hand at batiking the yellow fabric with gel glue.  You paint your designs with the glue, and then dye the fabric again.  Then you wash the glue out, which leaves the designs in yellow.  I think I’m going to cut the yellow in two.  On one half I want to do spirals, and on the other little fish.  I think I’ll dye the spiral one orange or peach, and the fishy one green or blue.  But who knows what inspiration will strike down in my basement!

This fabric was white, with a white print. It's more purple than this. I wanted to show both sides of it.

The second picture is some white material that was printed with a white figure.  I never used it cuz I like colors, so I decided to try dyeing it.  Sorry the picture is blurry.  I turned off the flash so it wouldn’t wash out the color, but for some reason, turning off the flash makes it hard to take a clear picture.  It’s really a lot more purple than pink.  I really like how this came out.  I have lots more of this fabric, so it’ll be fun dyeing it different colors.

My first attempt at quilt-as-you-go!

The third picture shows another stashbuster I started working on yesterday.  This strippy baby quilt surprised me by coming out as a square!  I think it will finish around 40 inches on each side.  I didn’t really know where I was going with this design, but I’m pretty happy with it.

The center section (four strips) is sewed together.  I need to finish sewing the two triangular side pieces together.  I’m trimming the sides as I join the strips.  I’m not real happy with all the bias edges on the outside, but I stay-stitched them very carefully, which will hopefully keep them from stretching until I can do the quilting.

I’ll quilt the three sections individually, and then join them together, using the tutorial at Quilting Twin.

The next time I make this quilt, I’ll use a long strip instead of the squares, so there’ll be less sewing to do.  But I still have oodles of pink squares left, so I wanted to use a few up!  I  may modify the design so that it’s a rectangle, too.

Working out this design took a little time, but I think it will go a lot faster the next time I make it, especially if I’m not dealing with all those squares.

Fabric soaking in soda ash solution. A bucket of possibilities!

Played around with dyeing some fabric this afternoon.  Here’s a bunch of fabric soaking in the soda ash solution.  The white is the cotton I bought yesterday.  The tannish is some printed white cotton I had on hand.  I’m not much for using white, so it’s been sitting in my stash for several years.  Not any more!

Dyed fabric curing in zip-lock bags

The second photo shows a (hopefully) lime green and a bright blue.  They’re curing in zip bags, per the instructions at Fabric Dyeing 101 for dyeing solid-colored fabrics.

Fabric curing in cups. Cramming it into a cup causes a more mottled appearance.

The third picture is four pieces in cups.  The only one you can see is the yellow.  There is a blue-green, a berry red, and I think a dark purple (can’t remember!), along with the yellow.  The berry red is a piece of the printed fabric.  I’m curious to see how it turns out!

I plan to use the yellow piece to play around with making batik using gel glue.  Or I may try stitching a resist and overdyeing it.   I dyed it pale yellow so I could play around with it.  Just need to find some gel glue.  I expect they’ll have it at Target.

It’s a bit chilly in the basement, so I may let it cure for longer than the recommended 24 hours.  I’d bring it upstairs where it’s warmer, but my Molly Cat LOVES plastic bags.  If I’m silly enough to leave one where she can get at it, she drags it all over the house, after killing it thoroughly.  Better to leave my dye project in the basement where it’s safe from predatory kitties.

Dyeing fabric is so much fun that I may overdye some boring or outdated prints in my stash, and give them a new lease on life!

Barn Dance, finished!

Finally got around to taking some pictures yesterday.  Here’s my “Barn Dance” quilt hanging on the clothesline.  It was a bear to quilt, but it’s finished!  I have to say that I’m quite pleased with how it came out.

The next picture is of my “Rail Fence” quilt.  I like how the lights and darks zig across the surface.  It’s quite a lively quilt, with a lot of movement.  Not bad for just sitting down and sewing a pile of strips together!

I’ll get them packed up this weekend, and in the mail to the Hopes and Dreams Quilt Challenge for ALS on Monday.

Rail Fence Scrap Quilt

I went up to Alley Kat’s Quilt Shop yesterday.  All the fabrics were 30% off, including white PFD (prepared for dyeing) mercerized cotton.  Such a deal!  I got five yards for less than $18, including sales tax.   Ben Franklin is having a sale this weekend, too.  I have a 40% off coupon, so I think I’ll run over there this morning, and get another quilt batting.  With all the quilting I’m doing right now, it’s nice to be able to save a few bucks on batting.

Now that I have some white fabric to play with, I may do some dyeing today.  Fabric Dyeing 101 has lots of great tips for dyeing fabric.  I especially like her directions for making batik-like fabrics with gel glue.  I’ve dyed a lot of yarn, and even tried my hand at some socks last fall, but haven’t done any fabric yet.  Since I already have the pro mx dyes, soda ash, and everything else I need, I’m ready to go!

I also took a look at Fusing Fun!  Fast Fearless Art Quilts by Laura Wasilowski yesterday afternoon.  I am hooked!  What a fun book.  I even have an idea for my first fused quilt, once I get a few fabrics dyed.  I need to pick up some fusible web while I’m out today, too.  I have some Wonder Under around here someplace, but since I don’t want to tear into my closet, I’ll just buy some more and wait for it to surface, which it will, eventually.

Haven’t done any sewing the past couple of days, and don’t know if I’ll get any done today, but hopefully I’ll get back to it tomorrow for a bit.  Right now my brain is so full of stuff that I feel like I may explode.

Thill's Fish House, at the Lower Harbor in Marquette, MI

One last thing:  Marquette, MI,  my hometown, is one of the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Dozen Distinctive Destinations for 2010.  Here’s what it’s all about:  “Since 2000, the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Dozen Distinctive Destination program has recognized cities and towns that offer an authentic visitor experience by combining dynamic downtowns, cultural diversity, attractive architecture, cultural landscapes and a strong commitment to historic preservation, sustainability and revitalization. In each community, residents have joined together and taken action to protect their town’s character.”

Between now and February 28,  anyone over 18 can vote for their favorite, as often as they want.  Marquette is trailing behind Rockland, Maine, and we can’t let that happen!  So please click the link, register (they just want your name and email) and vote for Marquette, MI!  Vote early and vote often!