fiberhart

Dyeing and HMQS

I am always on the lookout for fabric I can purchase locally that is suitable for dyeing.  I got a belated (very!) birthday present not long ago- a gift card to Joann's.  I went up to the larger Draper store last weekend, and must have walked the entire place 3-4 times.  But in the end, I decided to go with a bolt of cotton-bamboo fabric.  It's bleached, 200 thread count, and looked and felt as good as the Kona muslin I've dyed in the past.

I scoured it, and then tore off two half-yard pieces to dye in shallow trays.  I was also using up the last of the dye solutions I've had in my little studio frig since late last fall- at least five months old, and probably older.  Here's what I got-

The fabric on the left was roughly pleated in the middle, then scrunched on each end.  I turned my leftover lemon yellow dye into lime green with the addition of turquoise, then poured on stripes of the lime green, turquoise, and cerulean blue.  To make sure the bottom of the fabric was in contact with the dye dregs, I tilted the tray.

The second one was just scrunched in to the tray.  First I dumped light red and a bit of fire red over it, and waited a few minutes.  Then I poured charcoal gray dye into the bottom of the tray, and around the edges.  I tilted this tray also, then covered both with plastic and left them to batch overnight under the heat lamps.

The colors were a lot darker when the fabric was wet, but given the age of these dye solutions, I'm pleased with how they came out. I'm also pleased with the fabric.  It has a nice hand, nicer than the muslin.  So I think I will be getting this again.  I'm going to have to figure out some smaller shallow trays- I rarely do pieces larger than a yard, and even the little dishpans I was using here could have taken two yards easy.

Yesterday I was at the Home Machine Quilting Show in Salt Lake.  I did a two hour volunteer stint, walking the quilt exhibit with gloves.  So I got to see everything in the judged competition, and the exhibits too.  My 12 by 12 Project had and exhibit of our pieces, which was nice and drew some good comments.

There were some good entries in the art/innovative category, and my friend Suzanne was very happy to get a second place ribbon with her quilt.  I also saw some names I recognized- Barbara Barrick McKie had two quilts, and Cynthia England had one also.  Anna Vandemark from Wisconsin took Best of Show.  We must be coming up in the world to attract quilters from that far away.

My feet were aching after my two hours, but I spent another hour or so walking the vendor mall.  In the end, I didn't get much.  I renewed my subscription to Machine Quilting Unlimited, I bought Magic Genie Bobbin Washers from Sharon Schamber, and I got a black Hobbs Heirloom batt.  I tried Sharon's Quilt Halo on her Juki, then tried another similar gadget that a local fabric store had- on their sit-down HQ16.  In the end, I got the gadget from the fabric store.  I liked the way it handled better, and it was cheaper and discounted to boot.  Bottom line, I did not go crazy.  No thread, no fabric, no surface design stuff.

I did take pictures, but I borrowed Shannon's camera and can't download them to my computer because the camera is a Fuji and I don't have the right software.  So I'm waiting for her to burn them to a CD.

My package from Dick Blick arrived today, so I am working on my IT! piece.  I really hope what is in my head looks good in fabric, because I don't have the luxury of time and redoes this month.  Two members are already done with theirs!