Farmer's Wife Blocks, Some Charity stuff and Blocks for Our Guild Raffle Quilt!

I should have added some hand dyeing to the iist of things done the last couple of weeks!  This was the most successful of my last dyeing adventure.  The picture doesn't adequately show what a nice purple gradation it is made with Jacquard Deep Purple.  I also did some ice dyeing with random fabric which turned out very pale and uninteresting so may  just throw it into a dye pot and overdye.  My one experiment was quite successful though.  It was copying something I saw on the Ice Dyers list on Facebook.  Many of the dyers just put down dry fabric, then sprinkle soda ash and dyes on top and then put ice over everything..  I was sure I would get spots of concentrated dyes doing this but didn't.  I used a lilttle Intense Blue and Basic Blue from ProChem as the dyes and got some nice mottling which will be great for skies.

This is just a small sample of the 2 1/2 in blue strips I have filling 4  two and one half gallon plastic bags.  They will be used in making background squares for the Guild's newest raffle quilt. 

I made seven blocks so far and ran out of the fabric I was given to include in each block.

This was extra challenging.  I was given a panel with 8 scenes on it and needed to make a 50 x 60 in quilt or close to it.  I was also given a small amount of the gold and reddish fabric and the black.  I ran out of the gold so went into my stash when I got home and added the greens.  I also ran out of the black but knew it was the same block of which I had a bolt.  I also had to come up with a center block.  Of course the panel squares were not square so had to take that into consideration when figuring out the center block.

Our Guild had an open sew day at a local facility and I took several of the Farmer's Wife blocks to construct there.  This is the result of that day.  I had one other block but I had the measurements wrong so had to bring it back home.  Even home, I messed it up twice before coming up with a ho-hum block!

I did these three blocks yesterday.  The first one I did using the fast "Flying Geese" method rather than making half square triangles so it was super fast!  As you make four at a time with this method, I had 2 left over which I used today in a block!!

This is one of the two blocks I did today.  These were a little trickier than some and took a little more time.    This is the one that used the left over flying geese from the first of the three blocks above so you can see the truer color there!

This was the second block done today and definitely more challenging.  I had to use templates for all the pieces. 

A Day of Dyeing!!

I have been busily spray basting quilts and doing some  initial machine quilting -- whew!  My Juki 2010Q is a dream to work with.  Even without a walking foot, it does better than my faithful Bernina 170 with nice even quilting.  Right now I am just stabilizing the tops with straight line stitching but look forward to the free motion which I enjoy more.

I spent the day yesterday dyeing with a friend.  I wanted to experiment with mixing Golden Yellow with Sun Yellow to see if I could get something approximating Tangerine (all ProChem names).  I used too high a concentration though so may overdye those darkest pieces.  I use a lot of  yellow in my quilting.   The amazing part to me with the yellows is that they looked a lot more splotchy before I washed them.  They are pretty even in color which is what I expect from yellow.  I did a gradation of a new navy blue that I got from ProChem which I thought was a pure color but isn't noted as such on their website.  I must say that there are no hints of anything but the blue in all the concentrations so maybe.  I like it better than the Deep Navy which is a pure color.  To my eye, this looks like it tends more to the red than the other navy but will have to check my book where I keep my records.  The darkest is an 8% concentration.  The purples are two different mixed dyes from ProChem.  The one I really liked and thankfully have the most of is Eggplant.  It doesn't give as much of a solid as some colors and acts a bit like fuchsia does but you can't spot the colors that make it up.  The Deep Purple on the other hand does break down into its components of red and blue.  I will definitely be ordering some of the Eggplant as I really like it!

Altogether I did 28 yards of fabric yesterday which is nowhere near a record for one day of dyeing!!  (I think 70 is my record but I was younger and did have my ankle problems then.)

Here is a close-up of the Eggplant at about an 8% concentration.  Just the purple I wanted!!  I suspect it is a combination of Grape (a pure color) and one of the blacks.

 

What I Have Been Doing While Not Posting!!

I did happen to come upon this sunset while driving home from a long day of fabric dyeing (more later).

Another view and one I loved because of the juxtaposition of the blue sky and the colors of the sunset down at Ft. Fisher!

I got tired of doing the quilt that has the four patches and then long strips of either the black on white or the white on black.  I did several of those and decided I would try this as an approach and I liked it so will  probably do more like this when I am in a baby quilt mood again.  It is faster than the other version!  

This is an alternate view of this block which I may also do!

This is the main reason for not posting!!  I finished machine quilting and binding 13 neonatal quilts to be delivered to the baby group at guild this month!  In some the quilting was better than others but they are done!!  Each one measures 40 x 40 inches and most have been posted in previous blog posts!!

One of the things I am going to do next is to do another one-block wonder with this Great Blue Heron panel.  My sister gifted me with enough for a quilt a few months ago.  i got my feet wet with the Canada Goose one I did a couple of months ago so am ready to start on this one!  

I am teaching a class on "stack and whack' next week so have been trying to get examples of the different types together.  i am only doing a posie quilt (4 patch stack and whack) for the class as it is the set up that is the teachable piece.  Once you get the basics of setting it up, the rest is basically the same only using different rulers and number of repeats.

So I thought I would use this fairly uninspiring piece of fabric to illustrate hexies.  I have cut up half of it and made half hexies out of most of those pieces so i can illustrate a one block wonder.  i also sewed some together to show full hexies and the kinds of settings you can use.

All the hexies are assembled here but in two pieces each.  I don't think this is a very inspiring set up and have found I really  am not crazy about one block wonders unless  using a panel or just the right fabric -- one with lots of large areas of wildly different colors and shades.  i think these blocks would look better with each hexie standing alone.

Here are three blocks completely sewn together.  i think you can see the patterning and the radial symmetry that I love more clearly.  Of course, mistakes will be much clearer too!!!

And here is how I spent my last Sunday!!  I wanted to have some light colored fabrics and especially yellow and light blue so I did simple gradations.  The lightest blue pile is a gradation of ProChem's Basic Blue with 8% being the darkest, the yellow is a combination of 6% Sun Yellow and 2% Golden Yellow as I wanted to tone down the Sun Yellow.  Unfortunately, evidently some of the Golden Yellow didn't totally dissolve, so there are some orangey spots on several of these but very usable nonetheless!  The darker blue is a gradation of Deep Navy.  I was very happy with my results.  I still have a ton of pfd fabric and may do one of my massive overdyes one of these days.  i am thinking using primaries and then overdyeing with a series of neutrals. When I do these, I get 35 yards in a day!  I do have 25 yards here though!

I also want to participate in a Guild Challenge to create a floral piece 18 x 24 inches and have been searching through my photos for the right image.  Hmmmm.....

And a Canada Goose for your viewing pleasure.

A Little Dyeing Interlude

A beautiful sunset down at Ft. Fisher a couple of days ago.  You have to have just the right amount of clouds to get the best color.  I like it best when there is blue sky above all the color.  The thin white line is the Cape Fear River.

I spent one day last week dyeing some neutrals which I will need for the Great Egret.  I may have to do some more dyeing later to get some colors for the heron as well but concentrated on the egret this time.  I was very pleased overall with the lights and the variety.  The first row was just an overdye of some fuchsia I had which I didn't need.  I overdyed it with Strong Orange and loved the results.  It doesn't photograph well but the texture looks like flowers and reminds me of hibiscus which we have a lot of!  The blue is just a four step gradation of Basic Blue which is the only MX pure blue which tends to red rather than yellow.  The second row is a gradation of Cotton Black which I just got and wanted to see how it looked.  It is okay but a bit greenish in the darker hues.  The third row is a gradation of the pure Neutral Gray which is a weak color but just what I need.  You can see there is color when you place a piece of white fabric next to it.  The fourth row is a mix of Basic Brown and the Cotton Black -- even amounts of each.  

Just another view of the above!

Just another sunset view -- I  love the colors in this one particularly!!  These are un-retouched!!I

I have made progress on the heron and egret.  The "road maps" are complete for both of them and blown up to full sized and the lines have been transferred to the freezer paper.

Here is a first cut of the fabrics that will be used for the egrets.  Of course, I will not use all of them.  I haven't sorted out fabrics for the heron yet!  My biggest challenge will be to do justice to the rocks behind the egret and haven't yet decided how to approach this.  There may be some applique in this piece as I really want some interest in this negative space and the stark straight lines may not do it!

A Little Bit of Dyeing

Two weeks ago we did some dyeing at Dianne's house.  I finally used up the remainder of my 100 yard bolt.  I just did some gradations as I wanted primarily lots of greens as I use a lot of green.  I also use a lot of purple and was trying for some darker purple.  This was a gradation of Intense Blue that I added 2gms of grape dye to each baggie.  There was a yard in each bag and I started out with 10 grams/intense blue dye in the darkest of these.

This was a gradation of navy with 2 gms of Sun Yellow added to each baggie.

This was a gradation of Dark Green with the Sun Yellow.  Looks to me like ProChem's Dark Green is a mixture of Sun Yellow and Navy!!  I may  not have even separated these properly but will have lots and lots of greens.  They are actually a little more limey than these pictures show.

After finishing up the baby quilt for my daughter to give to her friend, I had to return to my other required sewing which was slip covers for our dining room chairs so that they can come out of the bedroom and be kitty-proof!!  This was my test with real fabric but  not the final fabric.  They will be passable but that is all they need to be!!

I am still playing with this spinning piece and found the accompanying pieces which I had forgotten I had.  They are a bit dull but I think putting borders on the little pieces will perk things up a bit.  I just have to decide what to put between the pieces.  I think any pieced block would greatly detract from the mandalas (and that might be a good idea in this case!!) but may go with white or a light color of some kind in this negative space.  It is evolving but first have to finish those pesky slipcovers!!  The good news is that I have plenty of the black pseudo suede in my stash down here and will even have a couple of yards left!

Another Day of Dyeing!

Dianne and I got together to dye again this Thursday and first we did a little show and tell of what she had done the week before.  This was one she did with the New Black from ProChem.   

 These were three pieces done with an Intense Blue and put on large poles on the diagonal.  The first was an overdye on a Mixing Red.

 

The top piece was scrunched and tied up and dipped in a dark green.

This piece was wrapped on a small pole on the diagonal and squished down and dyed with a mix of brown and black.  The Basic Brown is always too reddish for me and I like this dark chocolate.

This was done by doing hand stitching and pulling tight and dyed with a mix of Scarlet and Basic Brown.

 I was anxious to try the new Gray that is a pure color (and not a mix like all previous grays).  Both Dianne and I did a gradation using the same concentration of dye and one yard pieces.  This is Dianne's result and below is my result.

Mine are obviously much darker and I had a bag break so I think that is why the one piece is lighter than I would expect.  The difference -- hers was pfd and mine was pfd and Mercerised which gives you a much deeper color which really shows here.

 I can finally use up the remaining Mixing Gray I have hoarded since 1999!!  They stopped making it years ago and it was a prepared gray.  This was is just great and I am so happy I happened upon a Facebook posting which pointed me to Carol Soderlund's blog on the new color!

I also did another gradation which I had great hopes for.  Like a beginner, I somehow forgot to add the soda ash!!!  So I got a bunch of very pale blue pieces of fabric!  Well, into the overdye pile!!

I did throw some pieces of pink fabric into a couple of the pots to overdye the and they are pretty boring and will get overdyed again!!  This was a bit of a surprise.  I had a set of fat quarters that were a gradation of Mixing Red and not particularly exciting.  I overdyed them with a 3 percent solution of Sun Yellow and got a really nice gradation and I could definitely see them in flowers in the future.  I really do like the effect you get when you overdye a gradation with a set percentage of another color.  

Now I am trying to figure out what colors to come up with in one of our Extreme Overdyeing events a week from tomorrow!

A Day of Dyeing!

 Yesterday was a lovely day of dyeing with Dianne at her home which was an ideal setup for dyeing inside which I can't do here.  She had a whole bunch of Dharma dyes in a lovely assortment of colors but not what I am used to (I used pretty much "pure" dyes which I get from ProChem and do my color mixing myself).  It was great fun to experiment with the two blacks that she had, both of which were great.  We did the standard gradation dyeing with 1/2 yard pieces of fabric.  We decided we would like to see some of the "mushing" effect so instead of putting dry fabric scrunched up in the baggies, we wet the fabric down thoroughly before adding them into the baggies filled with the dyes.  We started with a cup of  chemical water (urea water) with one tbsp of dye dissolved in it.  (For the one half yard pieces, we first put a 1/2 cup of the dye in the first bag, filled the cup of dye solution up to the one cup mark again, dumped half in the second bag etc. through 8 baggies -- we used gallon plastic bags which I reuse  until they develop holes.)  I really like the variegated look.  This was Dharma Black 39 and a straight gradation.

This was a variation on the gradation theme.  I did a gradation of Dharma Blueberry and then added 1/8 cup of the New Black dye solution to each of the baggies.  In retrospect, I probably would have used less of the black than the 2 tbsps per baggie as it was pretty intense.  The New Black gives a great grey while the Black 39 does give a great charcoal but in the lighter shades I can see a teense of green.  Blacks usually bias to one color on another and as they age, they also change as the reds they used to make it seem to age the worst.  I was extremely pleased with these although I would like more yardage.  I am actually going to order some dyes as Dianne wants to dye some more -- Yay!!!!

These were all the baggies lined up in their tubs while we waited for them to "cook".

This is Dianne's dog Sophie who made sure we were doing everything right.  She has the prettiest face I think.  She was a rescue dog from a puppy mill and had had a rough life but now has the easy life with Dianne.

Of course no visit to a quilter is complete without showing some of the quilts adorning her walls.  She used to work for the Foreign Service and has wonderful exotic prints from her last assignment in the Cameroons.  She also was stationed in Italy and Katmandu, Napal!!  

This is her African Ladies showcasing many more of those wonderful prints.

I loved this use of the brightly colored prints and may just do one like this using my marbled fabrics which stump me many times.

Loved the beautiful colors and of course the hexagons!!

Hard to see, but this is a picture of the partial solar eclipse we saw here on the east coast last week.  The pelicans flying by were just icing on the cake for me.  You have to look closely at the right side of the sun to see the chunk that is missing.

The Newly Dyed Fabrics - Part II

Well, as promised, here is the matrix showing the colors I used (Prochem's names) and the percentage Weight of Goods (WOG - ie, 3% = 3 gms of dye per 100 gms of fabric which is about 1/2 tsp per one yard).  I think my scanner scanned a little light as the sun  yellow and lemon yellow on the far left are actually lime green -- in fact looks like it took some blue out of everything - hm..  I have decided once and for all that lemon yellow is hideous and I haven't found any thing that it goes well with!!  I may actually dump my remaining powder!

This is an older example of overdyeing.  The scanner didn't pick up my pencil scribble so it is left to right -- 3% sun yellow, 3% mixing red, 3% fuchsia, 3% turquoise and 3% Intense Blue.  There are no examples of these like above as I use them so often.  Down the side is 2% Mixing Grey, 2% Black 902, 2% black 908, 2% Black 909, and my black which is a mix of 2 parts navy and 1 part strong orange in a 2% solution.  I loved some of the deep reds we got here.  You can see how good the navy/strong orange grey/black is.

I have included two of the sheets that I made gradations of all my stock of colors so that you can see the different shades at the different strengths.  The darkest is 6% and it decreases by half right to left.  The first one is grape, basic blue, mixing blue, and intense blue.

 The second one is navy blue, turquoise, apricot (a diluted strong orange) and strongest red (a mix, not a pure color).


These, however, are the charts I use to keep track of my dyeing results -- these and of course my dyeing "Bible" that I made in the Carol Soderlund course to which I added 4 or 5 additional sets of primaries (her class consists of making colors with three sets of primaries.  I calculated that just using the primary pure colors plus strongest red, you could make sixty different combinations of primaries!!  Even I am not that much of a gluten for punishment!  If you add in Boysenberry and Grape and call them "reds", there are even more!


You can see from the above that I got some nice blues to add to my stash and have again fallen in love with Basic Blue.  I had neglected it because it discharges to a dull beige and isn't that dark a color but it is such a pretty hue!

And of course the requisite Monarch butterfly picture.  The  neighbor's butterfly bush is out early this  year so hopefully we will see some different varieties as the days go on. Our garden is covered with flowers as well which would make a pretty backdrop to these beautiful creatures!  I was really just playing with the zoom on the new camera -- it does pretty well!