Still More Ice Dyeing

I will just put pictures up there today.  These are all one yard pieces done on PFD Pima cotton. I have really been using up the bolts!!  I was a little more directive and studied in how I applied the dyes today and loved the results.

The above piece was actually an accordion folded after doubled piece and I will probably try more of these to get even more patterning.  There was very little scrunching on this one.

Since There are Few Birds and Fewer Butterflies, More Ice Dyeing is in Order!

Since the husband is away, the wife will spend her days playing with dyes and using the washing machine continuously!!  For two days I did more ice dyeing.  This time instead of the two yard pieces, I used one yard pieces and folded them across the width.  Each of these pieces is about 42 by 36 inches.  This was using red and grape.

This is blue and grape.

This is grape, yellow, blue and green.

This is grape, yellow, blue and green like above.

This is grape, a little blue, green and yellow.

This is blue and a couple of reds.

This is green and golden yellow.

This is green and yellow again.

I think this is one of my favorites with lots of yellow, some green, blue and grape.

Serendipiditously, this looks like the pattern was repeated on the top and bottom.  Wonder if I can do this purposely?  It is difficult to control where the dye powders go as I just spoon them up when spreading them and sometimes they stick together, etc.

Another using blue and red.  I thought there would be more overlap but they don't really overlap much!

This is red, orange and yellow.  I did three of these and I think I prefer more contrast although this is okay.  The red just isn't dark enough so maybe a little brown next time.

I must say that as usual, when I pulled the "experiments" from yesterday from the microwave, I was sure I was going to hate them all (same thing I thought the day before).  Out of the twenty pieces I did, there are probably two that I considered so so after washing and drying.  I just love this technique and really think that this is about the only way to get the kind of repeatable interesting patterns that this technique enables.  I have gotten repeatable patterns with accordion folding before, but none as intricate as these are.  I almost want to frame some of these!!  It has been fun to try different "crops" to see the most pleasing compositions!

The day wouldn't be complete without including a picture of the beautiful flower arrangement from my dear husband!  I just love the tropical blooms!

Still More Ice Dyeing -- I'm on a Roll!!

Well, this is just too addictive because it is probably the simplest dyeing I have done with the most interesting results (at least I think so).  It is also just great for getting rid of these ancient mixed dyes I have -- and I mean ancient -- most are 10 to 15 years old!!  They seem to do just fine though.  The only one I have had any problem with is yellow and I think that is because yellow doesn't dissolve that well in high concentrations -- it just kind of glops.  I have also avoided the reds as even the small bits in the browns and blacks just hit the fabric as a speck.  I may have to do a real experiment though to see what happens.  This is Intense Blue, Leaf Green and Sun Yellow (Pro Chem names).

This is a grape and intense blue sateen.  I should note that all the pieces in this blog are at least 45 inches by 72 inches and that I am showing the total piece.

This is Basic Brown and Leaf Green - again a sateen.  They are ironed this time and that is a fold down the middle there.

Green again with just a bit of brown.

Mostly brown with just a little green.

Another blue and grape.

Yellow, green and a little blue.

Same as above!

This is blue, grape,  green and some yellow.

This was my absolute favorite!!  Green, grape, a little blue and some yellow.

Today I decided I would try some one yard lengths so we shall see how they turn out.  I tried something different with the yellow, making a very intense solution but I think it made little difference as it just won't go into solution in high concentrations and it needs to be in solution to dye the fabric!

Just a Little More Dyeing....

It has been pretty hectic but there was still enough time to do a little more ice dyeing.  This time I decided to use up some of my Pro Chem Black 602A which is at least 14 years old.  I bought a pound back then and it is a mixed dye that I only use in very small quantities.  I also decided I would throw in some of the Grape (purple) that has also been languishing since the first year it was offered at Pro Chem as I didn't think it was a dark enough color.  

This is a picture of one of the two pieces I did.  It is about 75 inches by 45 inches and thought it was pretty cool.  This black breaks down very nicely with lots of pretty blues.  This was on the Egyptian cotton but I think it will be great on the sateen as well.  I had it folded the way I fold my fabrics after scouring and I forgot to unfold it before doing the soda ash soak so just left it that way and scrunched.

This is the second piece using the same dye colors.  

I finished the purse that I used for the demo on Thursday.  The more solid piece is an old snow dyed piece of fabric and the brightly colored one is a commercial batik.  This is a Lazy Girl pattern that I enlarged to make a bigger purse.

This shows the inset zipper on top that didn't get quite done during the demo.

August RAFA Meeting

 This meeting of our Rochester Area Fiber Artists group is always a good one as many of the members have just come back from taking classes from world class instructors at Quilting by the Lake.  I haven't wanted to take classes like this for a few years as I have too much on my plate as it is and kind of know what I want to do.  

This piece is painting with dyes on fabric by one of our very talented artists (Caren B) who came from a painting background to quilting.  This was done in a class with Hollis Chatelaine and this was probably my favorite. 

This was also done by Caren and she will be adding a lot of quilting soon.  She was challenging herself with this piece.

 This was also done by Caren in a Rosalie Dace class.  Caren  usually works in the cool colors and challenged herself to work outside her comfort zone with these colors.

Donna did this felted rug using some new rather thick wool.  This was just her test piece.  It was wonderfully lush and thick and she will back it with a non-slip facing.

This is a closeup of the texture in the above piece.

 Janet did this jacket with fabrics she bought from Priscilla.  You can see both the front and back here.  This was done in a class with Mary Ray.

Janet did this piece in the Rosalie Dace course.  We all like Rosalie a lot!

Sarah did these two pieces in a class with Cynthia Corbin who is one of my all time favorite teachers.  In a different venue, I would happily take another class with her as she guides without imposing her own style.  She is very supportive in helping you find your own voice.

Sarah also took a class with Jeannette DeNicolis Meyers and created several awesome dyed pieces.  This was my favorite.

We welcomed Judy back after a long absence (her blog is on my blog list under Explorations in Quilting).  You can see the development of this piece in her blog.

She also tried (very successfully) a little ice dyeing and showed us her results!  She was very pleased.

Ann did quite a few different pieces in a Jane Dunnewold class and is now totally hooked on dyeing -- coming over to the dark side!!

I spotted Kathi surreptitiously working on this English Paper Piecing hexagon quilt.  I love this technique for some reason so loved watching it develop as a quilt for a new grandson!!  The one I have been working on uses 1/2 inch hexagons so make take awhile to get done!!

I loved this piece that Sue D did!!  This was a painting/quilting class with Katie Pasquini-Mausopaust and I am sure I would have loved it!

Another Sue set of pieces from the same class.

This was an unfinished piece also by Sue and just  lovely!

Mary and Ann are holding up this beautiful scrap quilt that Ann had just finished -- gorgeous!!

I was the featured demo person today and did demos of many of the zipper techniques that I have learned with the different bags I have done.  I tried to show them from the easiest to the most difficult but think I lost them near the end with just too much information.  They all seem so simple to me now but were obviously very new to a few of the audience.  It was fun to watch how surprised they were at how fast you could do these techniques -- a makeup bag in probably less than ten minutes and wonderful looking zippered pockets.  I think some of the ladies will make some purses after this.  They are fun to design and make.  I am going to try to get a blog together with some of the techniques.  None of these zipper techniques are the ones  you use in making clothing!!