(1).png){kind=small}
.png){kind=small}
.png){kind=small}
Dyeing in August with the Frayed Edges
Sheesh…ya think my life has been on fast forward? Just checked and I have photos for blogposts from July and August….. posts I never had time to write! So before I get to Houston and Festival and the Frayed Edges in October, I’ll share the summer fun!
We were a small group in August. Deborah, of course, was in the beastly heat of Texas, and Hannah was home with four girls, so she didn’t make it to our August get-together. But Kate, Kathy and I finally had our “dyeing day” which we had originally planned for last summer (!). AND we got to celebrate Kathy’s birthday (photo above).
Then we got to the fun, messy stuff! I set up tables in the back yard, and mostly forgot to take pictures, but thankfully Eli took a few, especially the following day when I had more time to putter. He got one of me on the “mixing table.”
(Marie…don’t those rasty clothes I’m wearing look familiar? Marie and I used to dye in our garage in Friday Harbor before I left Wash. for Maine!)
Here is one of the mottled pieces I did. On the right you can see the edge of the trampoline, which (covered with plastic) held our dyed wonders!
Here’s the same piece, dry:
I wanted to try a bit of shibori, cloth that is tied to create resists. I used those glass “pebbles” that you can buy to put in the bottom of vases or for mosaics and crafts, and tied them with yarn. It took nearly 3 hours after Kate and Kathy left to tie up a yard of fabric.
I deliberately didn’t tie some of the pebbles too tight, as I am not fond of white fabric showing on my dyed fabrics. I wanted just a bit of dye to seep under the ties so the resist would show, but not too much. Here is the cloth batching in a plastic tub:
And looking at the bottom of the tub:
Finally, it was done, and I LOVE it!
I even ended up using it as the backdrop for a photo in my book (to order, click on the link in the left sidebar, and yes, I ship outside the US)!
Here are the socks and shirt I did the day after the Frayeds…. the purple socks went to Deborah, since she couldn’t be with us. You can see them on here feet here Teeheee! The pink and yellow socks were for Hannah for her birthday in late September, and the upside-down rainbows and shirt are for me!
And here is the rest of my dyeing days results. I find that for my art quilts, I prefer “blendy” fabrics, not hand-dyeds with sharp crystallization patterns–at least for most things. You’ll find that many of my fabrics from this session are blendy and “stash fillers” to plug gaps in my selection. without further commentary:
Hope you enjoyed…I sure did! Now to find time to quilt with it!
November 2nd, 2009 at 12:56 pm
Great fabrics! My book arrived Saturday. I hope to make some time to read it after DH leaves for his annual hunting trip Wednesday.
November 2nd, 2009 at 3:31 pm
Hmmm–your fabrics look a little like some I did when I was into dyeing some years back — and that is meant as a good thing! I still have a lot of the stuff I did as well as things I got in swaps on the Dyers List. Pity it’s so cold already — your photos make me feel like doing some more dyeing …
November 2nd, 2009 at 8:50 pm
I LOVE that one that is blue/green/yellow and looks like ripples on the water. Fabulous! Love your clothing too.
November 3rd, 2009 at 7:55 am
Looks like you had a whole lotta fun! It got my books yesterday, will take to work today and tomorrow to try to absorb all your knowledge!
November 3rd, 2009 at 1:27 pm
Lovely dyeing. Next summer if you want some heat (and Deborah play time), I’ll gladly switch places with you. I’ve just now been dyeing as I don’t do it midsummer.
November 4th, 2009 at 2:24 pm
Fabrics are great, you look like you all sure had fun doing them.
Just had to tell you that I am the treasurer for our guild. Our librarian gave me the bill for the latest books for our library and she had selected your book for our library, an excellent choice!! I can’t wait to check it out.