By George I've done it.

Woohooo, Dance! is done. It will not win any awards for quilting but at least I did not screw it up. I am happy with the results and may just have to buy this back at auction!!!
This is my last project for a while... I am leaving on vacation tomorrow morning. Hope to post some good photos. We are going to be driving through parts of Croatia and Slovenia. I have never been there before and I am looking forward to it.

Thanks to everyone for the public and private notes of encouragement. I am a neophyte at this but I love to try new things.

Dance!

This is a quilt I am making for a charity auction.....probably the only time someone will be willing to buy something I made! I have some stray stitching to do and then I have to quilt it. I will probably screw it up. Quilting stitches do not talk to me. I loved playing with the Tyvek and of course I had to use some of the fabrics I dyed.

Tossed the leftover dye onto a yard of fabric and this is what I turned up with. My photo abilities leave some thing to be desired as the colors are much duller here. That green is BRIGHT.
Dyeing is on hold for a while. I am actually working on a project and then I have company for a week.

Sherryl

In the limelight

Today has been a good day. My limes came out the way I wanted them to... I got them on the 2nd try. The first one is a bright Kelly green...... hmmmmm, also not one of my favorite colors but that is ok... I actually learned alot from that one. I also did up a multi color from some left overs I didn't use.... no picture yet... it just came out of the washer.

I am also celebrating today. I am 10 years cancer free. Whoooopie!

Sherryl

Breaking the rules

OK, so I was frustrated by the results I got from the browns and was upset to see all the used dye solution about to be poured down the drain. I said to myself...... "self, what do I have to loose by combining these into 3 new ones, even though I have been told you cannot use the solution again once it batches with soda ash?" So I did!!! I tossed in some more fabric and added more soda ash and let it marinate for about 4 hours. Boy, was I in for a surprise. I got the perfect brown out of one of them!!!!!! I was a very happy camper. The other two came out green. One was a medium fatigue green the other a shade lighter than that. I may over dye the lighter one eventually. So much for rules.

I have some (hopefully) Lime green's marinating.

Sherryl

Chocolate? Well, not quite

Today was not quite as successful as yesterday :-( . Did I mention that I am dyslexic? I decided to make some browns today... I needed them for a project, but I think I reversed the tablespoons and teaspoons. I made the mix up using the Chocolate Brown color I bought pre-mixed, however, it looked too red to me so I tossed in some black... 1 tsp each of the 2 I had. Ok, now the color looked better. I also decided I would experiment with technique a bit... why not? This is how I learn. I used a 200 ct bleached cotton that I soaked in Soda Ash solution for a while, wrung it out and tossed it into the containers. I also decided to see if salt did anything, except I added it at the wrong time. Silly me, I added it to the water I poured into the dye powder instead of making up the concentrate and then adding the salt... I did say I was dyslexic! Oh well... I can try it out another time.
I did not add any more soda ash and let it sit for about 4 hours and went through the usual routine of washing it out, drying and ironing. The gradation did not quite work because my concentration was too deep.
I am not happy with the color and I do not like the effect of the mottling. I think I will not soak my fabrics in the future. The color ranges from what looks to be a very purplish cast to a reddish cast. I wanted chocolate!!! Oh well, I am sure I can find one of my friends who will adore it.

Lime green is next but no gradations this time...

Sherryl

Luscious Color

Well, I have gone and done it, I have created my first blog! I am in love with color and finally got around to dyeing fabrics. I am in heaven! I did it the way I do everything else... I jumped in and I am relieved to report that I did not blow anything up ( that is another story). I am still waiting for my Ann Johnston book but in the meantime I was anxious to play. I started with some premixed dyes that I had bought a few years ago and never used. I got hooked fast. Even though I did not pick the colors I was very pleased with the results and of course I had to order my own dyes to mix. I never do anything the easy way so yesterday I decided to see what I could "cook" up. I bought red, yellow, and blue as primaries and some black along with Chocolate Brown and Chartreuse. I took the Berry Sorbet recipe from a Procion MX Color Mixing Chart I found on several websites as I was limited to the colors I had on hand. Now, most people would test out a sample to see if they liked it...... well of course I didn't. Not only that I decided to make a 9 step graduated color run. While I was at it I decided I would test out some fabrics to see what the results would be using the same dye solution on each. I made up my batch of color and tossed 2 fat quarters (1 of each fabric) into a baggie and proceeded to do my graduated color. The results are spectacular (at least to me). I used unbleached muslin from Roc-Lon PFD (Nature's Way) and some sort of bleached cotton that I bought way back when I bought the original dye kit. I haven't a clue what it is but I suspect it is Dyers cotton. I doubt if it is mercerized. The results are interesting and I like how both the fabrics took the dye. The muslin has a deep, sultry,sueded look to it ( it is the same fabric that Ricky Tims uses..... I bought a bolt from him), the cotton has a richer look to it and the dyes dispersed differently. Both finishes will have a place in my quilts. OK, so I have bored you enough... I am posting some photos.