Color!!

This is what I spent the better part of last Friday dyeing while I was in Grand Junction---

It's an exercise I took out of Linda Knutson's book, Synthetic Dyes for Natural Fibers.  The squares along the outside of the triangle are mixtures of the two colors on the ends, and the squares in the middle are mixtures of all three primaries.  I did these in small containers and my fabric couldn't lie flat- hence, the interesting markings on them.  You still get the sense of color movement, however- and I can reproduce any one of these, since the formulas are percentages of each color, and measured by weight instead of volume.

Yes, I am missing the single color red (fuschia) in the bottom left corner.  I accidentally dyed two blues.  But I still have fabric, so I'll get it dyed this weekend.  I think I am going to sew these onto a piece of muslin- it is a fantastic reference, and was well worth the time and effort.

I'm also working on a wholecloth quilt, hoping to get it done for an exhibition with AQuA at PIQF.  The front is done, and I was looking for backs in my stash after I got home from work.  One piece I thought would work turned out to be just a little too small, so I'm going to piece the back.

These are value gradations I did years ago using Kona cotton and only fat eighths.  Can't think of a better use for them, beats having them sit in the basket in the closet!  As for the front, here's a sneak peek--

I'm doing something else I've never done before- trapunto.  I got the first batting stitched on and cut away last night.  If it works like I hope, I think it will be very effective.

So now I'm off to cut off the serging on all those fat eighths, so I can piece them tomorrow night.  That is mindless sewing I can manage after a ten hour day.  The actual quilting won't start until Friday morning, when I'm at my freshest.  More to come as I get that done!