Coming Soon!!!

More tiny "snippets" of something exciting coming up to share with you in the next few weeks -- keep tuned and you'll be sure to find out

Come Play at Quilting in the Piedmont !!!

These are are small samples prepared as visual examples of various techniques used in the three classes I'll teach at "Quilting in the Piedmont" - if you are near or would like to travel to Greensboro, NC for the September 26, 27, 28 event - we are in for a lot of fun and I'll be sharing some of my secret techniques learned through trial and error with students! Hurry -- contact Randy's Quilt Shop 1-336-545-5558 I'd love to meet you!!!

Still In Love with Color and Texture

A small sample of shibori pole wrapping - this luscious silk charmuese was dyed in soft cream and pink, pole wrapped and pleated before over dyeing with brighter pink.

A glimmer of the silk hankies dyed last week to be used for a very special project designed for my book - they are very lacy and the color reminds me of Vermont leaves - perfect for Fall!

Experiments with Shibori Puckers and Pattern

I've ironed a tiny piece to let you see the pattern. To achieve this, I simply "poked" my finger up through a section of silk, "poked" the center inward, took and stitch to hold it in place using quilting thread and tightly wound the thread around this bubble. I made these bubbles as close together as I possibly could before overdying the original color which was a soft robin's egg blue, with golden brown -- a little heavier in some areas. When I get a chance to play again, I'll dye the base using a mix of colors and then overdye again using a mix to see what happens! Great fun and what a surprise when you remove the thread. One hint: use magnifying reading glasses to remove the thread to avoid holes in the fabric!

I'm fascinated with shibori - there are many different types and I'm enamored with pole wrapping. Lately, I've decided I want to expand my knowledge and although I already own one fabulous book by Karren Brito "Shibori - Creating Color and Texture on Silk", I've ordered another from Amazon by Yoshiko Wada since I want to delve more into stitching and overdying.

Some time ago, I purchased a piece of shibori cotton that fascinated me with the color pattern so I decided to make an attempt on one the soft robin's egg blue silk pieces dyed last week and this is the yummy result of overdying it with a golden brown acid dye. I'm thrilled. This is a small piece and the color is variegated throughout - more brown in some areas than others as you see.

You must leave it to dry completely before removing the thread. When I pulled the puckers apart, there is a definite pattern and I ironed a small piece to let you see although I do love those puckers! You can iron the whole piece to use as a patterned piece for a quilt piece or other project; however to keep the puckers and use it that way, just iron some lightweight fusible web to the back - when I get the time to experiment more, I'll post the results.
It began with the silk piece below and you can see what it looks like after stitching and over-dyeing.

Dyeing to Tell (Not allowed to tell the rest)

More tidbits of projects that are keeping me very busy but I can't share what they are since they are projects for my book. The working title is "Magical Felting" but the publisher can change that.

This week's dyeing attempt - much more pleasing to me than last weeks although the lighting makes it look much paler than it is - I'm going to do Shibori stitching on the robin egg blue chiffon and overdye it - exciting to plan! Having some extra time to play really makes the dyeing experience much more fun and I learned so much!

Here is the silk habotai, silk gauze, silk chiffon, silk hankies, silk rods, a few wool curls and a bit of wool roving -- I'm feeling a bit more confident now working with the acid dyes - there's some pieces missing that are still drying - some red that was way too bright overdyed with a golden brown and now it's a lovely cinnebar - lovely for Fall.

This was last week's dyeing attempt - I wanted a "leafy" green but got this neon green instead. I've since overdyed it and and it's deeper and much more subdued which is what I wanted - it's still drying :-)