Okay...I admit it .... I am a TBSP dyer....

Let me start today's post with a warning: These methods that I am posting about are those that I have worked out myself through my vast (read: limited) experience with dyeing fabrics, from attending one guild workshop and reading books such as, Hand Dyed Fabric Made Easy by Adrienne Buffington, which I recommend as a good general book with clear directions.

Ready???? Let's get started!!!

I discovered that one of the toughest parts about the dyeing fabric is the fabric itself. Not so much the fabric but preparing it and having it ready to go. Usually, I will prewash a bunch of fabric but what a pain to cut it up in pieces!!!!

So...my technique ...



I take a permanent marker and mark either at 1/2 yard or 1 yard intervals on one selvedge and then just throw a big piece or two of fabric in the wash. This will avoid too many thread bunches (you know the big clusters that accumulate when washing fabric)



after removing the fabric from the wash.

I add 2 oz of Synthrapol to the wash...



throw the fabric in and go!

Next, you have to prepare the dye solution. I forgot to mention that a funnel is an extremely useful tool to have when you get to this step in the process.

I use milk jugs to hold the solution. I add 1/2 cup of salt....



4 tsp of soda ash fixer....



and very warm tap water to fill up the milk jug.



Give it a good shake with the top on to mix it thoroughly!

Then, when the fabric is nearing the end of its prewash phase, I begin to fill the jars or bags with this solution... about 2 cups per container....



Hand Dyed Fabric Made Easy has some excellent charts on how much dye powder to add to each container. My own experience, to date, is thus that I do not fool around with one or two tsp of dye for very light colored fabrics since I like my fabric bright/dark/saturated .... I admit....

I am a TBSP dyer !!!!!!!!

but to each her/his own....



So with your face mask on (!!!), add your dye powders in varying amounts to your containers and you are good to go!

Also.... good to have on hand..... a permanent marker and masking tape so you can mark what is in your container (for example, 4 TBSP turquoise, or 2 TBSP green/3TBSP yellow, or 1,2,3).



Marking is good... ask me how I know!!!!

Also, mix well!!!! (ask me how I know!!!)



I use disposable sticks!

So now, you are ready... anxious to go and you have mounds of fabric that are prewashed... this is where those markings on the selvedge come in handy.

Take scissors to the laundry room, clip on the marking and rip!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes, you rip the fabric and it, surprisingly, rips straight!



If you want a fat quarter, you rip the half yard, fold that fabric in half, clip with the scissors and rip again.

Then, take your piece of fabric (scrunch it up well) and with gloved hands (make sure your gloves are clean!!! as you can see mine were not!)...



shove it into the container....



Voici ....



et voila!!!!!



So while our fabric is 'cooking', I will go out and watch the thunder clouds roll by...



Have fun!!!!

On Death and DYEing....

Last night, Mr. U so poignantly remarked to Teenager with lots of stuff, "You know that you are a geek when your gadget dies, and so do you."

Well, I am such a geek, I guess.

Yesterday afternoon, I went to sync and charge my IPhone on the computer. It told me that I had an update to download... and so I did. I figured it would take some time and so I left it for a bit and when I came back, the screen looked like this.....



It didn't look good!!!! In fact, it looked as good as dead!!!!

Nothing I did seemed to remedy this! I could only make one call Para Emergencia!!!!!



(and I don't even speak Spanish LOL!)

....and from then on, my day took a downward spiral of gloom and doom. I tried all kinds of things more than once but to no avail! My ship was sunk!!!!! I was panicked!!!!!

I set up an appt with an Apple tech to call me in the evening but I was lost without my gadget!

I couldn't eat (like that ever happens!).

I was really grumpy!

But I didn't stop trying and for some reason, after awhile of freaking out, something I did (probably had tried it at least twice before) worked! I plugged in my IPhone after redownloading something to my computer and "DING"....."your IPhone is activated."

I could breathe, I could eat! I had cheated death once again!!!!!!!!!!!!

So.... now I can go on DYEing!!!!!!

After my post about my experiences dyeing fabrics....



I have had a variety of questions about how I dye fabrics. Well, I am no expert, but I am happy to share my way with you all.

Today, I will show you all the equipment/materials that you might need. Now, I have to tell you that while I am not endorsing Dharma Trading, in my vast experience (yeah right!!!) dyeing fabrics, I have found their catalogs (print and online) to be helpful and you can pretty much buy all you need there. I hear that Procion dyes are also very good.

Let's get started....

First you need fabric...

I bought many yards of PFD (prepared for dye or dyeing... not sure which!).

Synthrapol is what I use to prewash the fabric and then to wash the fabric again, once it is dyed. Not very expensive, so better to buy more than you think you need.



Disposable gloves are a must to keep your hands clean....




Table salt (I read somewhere not to buy the kind with iodine)....





Soda Ash Fixer......



to be used in the solution for your dyes.

Canning jars are great for dyeing small amounts of fabric and I think that the small spaces make for great variation in the dye in one piece of fabric (does that make sense?).




Just don't use these jars for canning your summer harvest after they have been used for dyeing!!!

Alternatively, you can use plastic bags...



A wash basin is helpful for holding multiple bags of dyeing fabrics but certainly not essential...




Also good for storing your dye supplies when not in use!

Plastic measuring spoons and cups....



By the way, I buy a lot of my supplies at a dollar store!

Face masks ....



Apparently, you don't want to inhale the dust from the dye powder and fixer. I do my dyeing in our garage in the summer where it is well ventilated but still use the masks when there is powder in use!

And last but not least..... the dyes.....




While you gather your supplies, I am going to enjoy our hot sunny day in upstate NY....



They seem to be few and far between this summer!

And just to whet your palate.....



.. a little project I started this morning with some of my hand dyes instead of going to the gym!

Stay tuned for the how-to......

Driven to Distraction...

Do you ever get distracted? Do you ever start a project and get side tracked by a new idea that comes from your current project?


Well, I came up with an idea while working on Case Study #1 and decided to quickly jot down a sketch so that I wouldn't forget my idea...





and so I started working on it, Case Study #2, this weekend, using some of my hand dyed fabrics and Kona white....

Along the way, I started adding a couple of blocks with my favorite hand dyed greens......

the ones that wants to make me cry when I look at a piece!



So, I thought to myself.... "Self, what would happen if you made a bunch of blocks with just green?"

Hmmmm.....

That's kind of interesting BUT it needs some ZING! So, I added a slice of hand dyed fuschia!

And voila! "Driven to Distraction" (aka "Case Study #2a")...

In the sun (which seems a rarity these days in upstate NY)..

In the shade....

and the back...

Now back to my regularly scheduled project until .... Hmmmm....

Firsts....

I saw this Parade of Quilts first on Jodi's blog tonight and thought I would play along... showing your first quilt you ever made and your most recent quilt.

But I discovered that I didn't have a photo of my first quilt, at least, not in the era of digital cameras kind of photo! So I rummaged around to find the quilt in the linen closet, kind of smushed in there but still in one piece.....

Here it is.... my first quilt....a baby quilt that I made using a pattern in the first volume of PS I Love You (after taking an intro to quilting class at a local community college continuing education program, I figured I could do just about anything!). I really didn't know what I was doing ....




but I did most of the quilting by hand! (ah... those were the times of leisure, B.C. = Before Children).....



It was to be the quilt for my first baby and she slept under it for a couple of years!

My latest quilt is also a baby quilt... but boy, have my preferences changed!!!!

This quilt, which I have shown previously on my blog, is for Sugarbaby's teacher who is due to have her first child in early September.....



the back is just as much fun as the front, I think!



Here are the first blocks for a project that has been brewing in my head ever since I started (my prize winning) Case Study #1.....



(stay tuned for the name of that quilt!!!)

And finally, our first real feels-like-summer day!!!!!



Sunning and sewing....



What more could a girl ask for?!!!

Have a good weekend!

A collection of .....

op·po·site

adj.
1. Placed or located directly across from something else or from each other: opposite sides of a building.
2. Facing the other way; moving or tending away from each other: opposite directions.
3. Being the other of two complementary or mutually exclusive things: the opposite sex; an opposite role to the lead in the play.
4.
a. Altogether different, as in nature, quality, or significance: The effect of the medication was opposite to that intended.
b. Sharply contrasting; antithetical: had opposite views on the subject.
5. Botany Growing in pairs on either side of a stem: opposite leaves.


Take your pick.....

A welcome early morning visitor to our home...



A definitley unwelcome visitor to our home (twice this week!).....



The front of a placemat for a swap....



The back of a placemat for a swap....



Finished projects to send out....





Unfinished projects....



(creative spaces always seem to be messed up!)...



Before bandage....



After bandage...



(lucky for him... no stitches!!!)

Cloudy and cool....



Sunny and warm....


(oops! I can't find a photo of this becuase we haven't had ANY!!!!!!!! Summer in the northeast has been rotten so far!)

40 Days and 40 Nights....

Did I say that it was summer??????




Since my last post, we have had a lot (and I mean, a lot!) of rain. Everyday! Rain!




And the temperatures have not even risen into the 80's!!!!!! Sure doesn't feel like summer outside... but the activities do!

This past week, I played chauffeur to Sugarbaby.....

For the past 3 summers, during the first official week of summer vacation, I have driven her to a great day camp for kids with type 1 diabetes about a 1/2 hr drive on the highway from home. It is a great time to let loose and have fun with kids that she reconnects with every summer. The camp helps to reinforce the ideas of taking care of themselves... eating right, exercising, and remembering that there are other kids just like them.... while having tons of fun.



Of course, this week, she chose to have some pretty incredibly up and down blood sugar numbers (normal for non diabetic people is about 80.... she was anywhere between 50 and 511 though those high numbers are not that common these days) but she was in the capable hands of many!

And this year, the camp had a famous visitor!!! Wish he had stayed for the parents to meet him!

So what do I do while she is at camp so far from home??!!

Well, for us non-big city folks, 1/2 hr highway drive is far! So....I go hang out at my MIL's which is about half way between camp and home. Nature Boy typically accompanies me on 3 of the 4 days.

I bring games for Nature Boy and I (even though we never did play any of those!).

I bring my sewing....



and my featherweight machine....



I chat with my MIL. Hi Sally!!!!!

Nature Boy plays with Grandma's cats....



explores Grandma's garden....



and helps some of it inhabitants...



We usually do some exploring around town....



play mini putt...



and this year, we explored a nearby nature preserve...



I engaged in a little retail therapy too....



Remember this dresden plate that was too big for a swap but just right for a giveaway?



Well the winner is................

RANDOM.ORG - Integer Generator: "Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:
4 Timestamp: 2009-07-04 11:24:12 UTC"

Kris!!!!!! Kris is an upstate transplant (though I really think of the Rochester area as almost western NY) Congratulations!!!!

Have a happy 4th!!!

Finally.... summer!!!!

ahhhhhh......... the sand between my toes.....



It is finally summer!!!!!

A time for beautiful sunrises...



gorgeous sunsets....



lazy days at the beach.....





yummy stuff growing right outside our windows.....



vibrant flowers......



thunderous storms....



pretty puddles....



running in the rain.....



finished projects......



(this quilt went to Kriszta in Hungary and since it has arrived at its destination, I can show the details which needed to include a wonky house or log cabin, a star, a 3D element and the recipient's choice of color- Kriszta's was green)

I was inspired to try ideas I learned from 4th and 6th Designs in a trunk show and lecture at our guild some months ago....



...creating 'strata' with strips of batik fabrics, machine appliqueing with some Roxanne's basting glue and a crayon coloring stitching technique along the appliqueed pieces....



some wool tree pieces and a two-colored binding....



Why not start the summer off with a little giveaway??!!!!



This piece of pink was meant for Beth but it is larger than our criteria, so I finished off and would be happy to give it to one lucky person! Leave me a comment and I will announce the winner on July 3rd!!!!

HAPPY SUMMER !!!!!!!!!!!!!




Check out Helen's giveaway too!