When dyeing fabric, it’s not at all unusual for me to wash out a fabric, decide it needs more, treat it (again) with soda ash, and continue on. Such was the case with this one. The eyeballs/ovals on this piece were originally pale yellow. Well, that was just creepy! It looked like a lot of…
I’ve been wanting to dye some luscious terra cotta and rust colored fabrics, but wasn’t having good luck with my usual primary mixtures. Therefore, I bought some “Strong Orange” and set about learning what it would do. First, I made swatches of it mixed with each of my other colors. Yes, it took A WHILE….
I’m beginning to realize that dyeing fabric is an endless process of learning. Although I can now predict much better what my results might be, I still miss the mark pretty routinely. And, of course, I’m still trying new things, so I can always count on surprises with that. But it sure is a heck…
I’ve finished my “kiwi quilt,” and I’ve named it Bounty Down Under. This photo shows it in the “tetris,” or puzzle stage. I’d about decided where I wanted the largest pieces, but then I had to figure out how to fill in and make it all fit. It definitely kept my brain engaged – which I…
I got brave and decided to cut into some of my specialized fabrics. These are hand dyes that have a variety of motifs, scales, or colors. They’re not “yardage” and are a little more challenging to use. These were my starting three. The left fabric reminded me of kiwifruit, so I began to think of…
After starting a new quilt at a retreat, it was time to continue at home. Now, where was I? Something like this. I studied the arrangement and knew I wanted to change a few things. (Remember the abundance of that favorite fabric bottom left?) While that was percolating in my brain, I looked for areas…
While on a recent retreat in Winter Park, FL, I started on a new abstract quilt. These were the fabrics I took from home. There are more here than I would need, but I wanted to have options. I was sure to include both light and dark fabrics. I auditioned them on my design wall,…
My Chicago area “Design Your Own Nature Quilt” students brought their artistic courage to class, and made some really great work. (These photos were showing on my computer when photographed. The quality is sometimes low, but you’ll get the idea.) My students always do an awesome job and…
After completing A Little Bit Tart, I had a nice collection of very interesting – and already pieced – scraps. Of course, I had to do something with them! See what I mean? I decided I could add a lot of blue as the primary color and get an interesting result. I auditioned additional blue fabrics. Then…
Last month I got to spend two and half days with members of the North Suburban Needle Arts Guild when I conducted my class, Design Your Own Nature Quilt. Because this group includes many non-quilters there was quite a mix of skill levels in the class. About half had never made an art quilt and…