Dying with Commercial Fabrics

I sure do have fun dying and printing fabric!

Dying Again. Ellen Lindner's fun dying fabric. AdventureQuilter.com/blog

As you can see, I make no attempt at keeping my clothing clean. (Usually around this point my stomach begins to look quite colorful, as well.)

It all starts by soaking my fabrics in a soda ash solution. Once they’re line dried they’re ready to react with the dye.

Dying Again. Ellen Lindner's fun dying fabric. AdventureQuilter.com/blog

In addition to the plain white fabric you’d expect, I also soak some previously printed/dyed fabrics that need some over dying. Sometimes they just need a little something more, but at other times they need the “completely cover this ugliness with a dark color” treatment. No worries. It all becomes useful in the end.

I did something new with this dye session: I overdyed some commercial ombre fabrics. They turned out beautifully. I’ll definitely do this again, although the commercial fabric frayed much more than I’m used to, so I probably won’t ever use it in a raw-edged application. The top fabric below is one such fabric. I like it a lot. But, I also like some intentionally messy ombre, so that’s what I aimed for with the bottom fabric. I like it just as much.

Dying Again. Ellen Lindner's fun dying fabric. AdventureQuilter.com/blog

In the photo below, the purple fabric on the right is a commercial ombre. The yellow one on the left I did completely. It has a few errors, but will still be very useful. I LOVE the way these two look together! I’m thinking they’ll end up in the same quilt.

Dying Again. Ellen Lindner's fun dying fabric. AdventureQuilter.com/blog

I dyed this one myself. MAYBE it can be included too. (Although it may be too much of a good thing.)

Dying Again. Ellen Lindner's fun dying fabric. AdventureQuilter.com/blog

I have many more results to show you in upcoming posts.

Which one of these is your favorite?

Ellen Lindner

 

 

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“Heat Wave” Complete

My latest piece, Heat Wave, is now complete.

Heat Wave, an art quilt by Ellen Lindner, AdventureQuilter.com

Heat Wave

I’m quite happy with it! The design was dictated, in part, by the triangular orange scraps I had on hand. I like the sharp points.

Heat Wave - detail, an art quilt by Ellen Lindner, AdventureQuilter.com

At 35 x 35, this piece is available for $1200. See more photos.

I used ALL of my orange and navy hand dyed fabrics in this piece. I’m looking forward to an upcoming dye session when I can make more.

Ellen Lindner

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Florence: Santa Maria Novella

In Florence, we enjoyed visiting the church of Santa Maria Novella. It didn’t have the opulence of some churches we saw in Italy, but it also had NO CROWDS! A big plus, which gave us the opportunity to explore at our leisure.

Even a “simple” church like this had beautiful arches and high ceilings.

Florence: Santa Maria Novella. Ellen Lindner, AdventureQuilter.com/blog

And a beautiful altar.

Florence: Santa Maria Novella. Ellen Lindner, AdventureQuilter.com/blog

But, I think we enjoyed the outside courtyard even more.

Florence: Santa Maria Novella. Ellen Lindner, AdventureQuilter.com/blog

Check out these ceilings! I think they’re gorgeous.

Florence: Santa Maria Novella. Ellen Lindner, AdventureQuilter.com/blog

But, the thing that amazed me the most was an antique tapestry. This was from the 1400s! Stitched with gold thread, it was in very good condition.

Florence: Santa Maria Novella. Ellen Lindner, AdventureQuilter.com/blog

Florence: Santa Maria Novella. Ellen Lindner, AdventureQuilter.com/blog

Whoa! Can you believe it? This is padded embroidery, where a base layer of stitches is put in and then others are added over top. This blew my mind.

I forget what it was used for. Some sort of vestments, if I remember correctly. It was the only textile item on display. Shockingly, it had very little in the way of a protective environment. It was behind glass in an area with low light, but the nearby windows were open and unscreened. How has this held up so well?

It was very interesting exploring this church on our own.

Ellen Lindner.

 

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Creative Whimsy Spotlight

As part of my spotlight on Creative Whimsy, I was asked to show several completed quilts.

Crotons served as an example of my earlier quilting style. This piece is one of my all time favorites!

Then, I showed some of my more recent abstract pieces, along with these words about my transition to this style.

My first attempts were definitely not great art, but I think they were necessary in order to develop my skills. I don’t regret the time they took or the fabric they required. The PROCESS was valuable! 

This is my mindset in a nutshell. It makes me a little bit fearless because I know the process is valuable, not just the product.

Ripples and Runs is a more recent abstract piece, featuring my own hand dyed fabric.

Ripples and Runs, an art quilt by Ellen Lindner. AdventureQuilter.com

Ripples and Runs

Ditto for Exuberance

Exhuberance, an art quilt by Ellen Lindner, shown in an intererior. AdventureQuilter.com

A big thank you to Creative Whimsy for featuring me and my art! Their website has many more spotlights of very interesting artists. I hope you’ll investigate.

Ellen Lindner

 

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Featured Spotlight on Creative Whimsy

Creative Whimsy, a website about artists and their endeavors has just done a spotlight on me. How nice!

Ellen Lindner Artist Spotlight - Creative Whimsy. Adventure Quilter.com/blog

They sent me a ton of questions and I answered most of them. (I mean, you didn’t want to read PAGES about me, right?)

I was glad they asked about my process. I explained how I make decisions at the design wall, since it’s the part of quilt making I really like the most. I showed this series of pictures as an example.

Composing with an Eye Toward Value. Ellen Lindner, AdventureQuilter.com/blog

Composing with Value. Ellen Lindner, AdventureQuilter.com/blog

They also asked for a photo of my studio. So, I bravely walked in, LEFT EVERYTHING IN PLACE, and took a photo. This gives you an idea of what it looks like mid-project, although it’s usually much worse!

Ellen Lindner's studio 2024, mid-project. AdventureQuilter.com/blog

I hope you’ll check out the full article (and be willing to scroll past all the ads.)

Ellen Lindner

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Planning as I Go

As usual, my current quilt started with a high contrast piece of hand dyed fabric. This is all I had of it.

Planning as I Go. AdventureQuilter.com/blog, Ellen Lindner

What could I do to best show it off?

Planning as I Go. AdventureQuilter.com/blog, Ellen Lindner

The additional fabrics added above provided interest, but the original fabric swatch still seemed rather straight forward.

It was kinda hard to judge against white. I knew I wanted a blue background, so I added some to the design wall to help me judge the overall look.

Planning as I Go. AdventureQuilter.com/blog, Ellen Lindner

I split the featured print and splayed it apart. I thought this added energy, plus some interesting negative blue space.

I began to audition additional colors and fabrics. What about a mass of orange on the right and across the bottom? I placed folded fabrics to consider options.

Planning as I Go. AdventureQuilter.com/blog, Ellen Lindner

My orange fabric was limited and I knew I’d have to work with the shapes I had: sharp triangles.

Planning as I Go. AdventureQuilter.com/blog, Ellen Lindner

That didn’t seem objectionable. However, I did get rid of the vertical yellow point near the center.

As you might imagine, there was some fiddly stitching on this one. It was actually easier than I expected and I’ll show you some about how I did it in the next post.

My next question: what to do with the lower left.

Ellen Lindner

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Famous Sights in Florence

I’m still organizing photos from our trip to Italy in March. Here are some noteworthy photos from Florence.

Florence is a very beautiful city and not that big. There’s no public transportation, which is no problem. It’s fun to walk and view!

Florence is known for it’s duomo (cathedral) with it’s amazing domed roof. It was the first of its type and was later copied for St. Peter’s Basillica, in the Vatican. However, it’s really hard to get a good shot since the duomo is surrounded by streets and buildings.

This is my best shot showing the front. However, it’s mostly hidden by a separate church building in the foreground. Both structures are built from white and green marble. The dome is brick.

Famous sights in Florence. Ellen Lindner, AdventureQuilter.com/blog

The smaller building is octagonal and has impressive doors. This is the east facing door during a moment of sunshine. Yes, it’s gold.

Famous sights in Florence. Ellen Lindner, AdventureQuilter.com/blog

This shows some of the ABUNDANT sculptural details all over the duomo.

Famous sights in Florence. Ellen Lindner, AdventureQuilter.com/blog

And here’s the “view” from the back.

Famous sights in Florence. Ellen Lindner, AdventureQuilter.com/blog

As an aside, we found THE BEST gelatto at a gellatoria around the corner. (Recommended in the Rick Steves guide book.) We got pistachio, our first time to try it. It was so good we got right back in line and shared another cone. We recommend it!

Off to see some art. First, we went to Academia, which housed an abundance of amazing statues. Of course, we saw David, by Michelangelo, which did not disappoint.

Famous sights in Florence. Ellen Lindner, AdventureQuilter.com/blog

It’s 12′ tall and is mounted above head height, which made for great viewing. There’s room on all sides, so you can move around it to study it.  Our tour guide said it depicts David before he killed Goliath, which explains his steely gaze. He seems to be sizing up the situation.

Famous sights in Florence. Ellen Lindner, AdventureQuilter.com/blog

And he still has his stones in his right hand.

Famous sights in Florence. Ellen Lindner, AdventureQuilter.com/blog

Nearby were incomplete works, showing Michelangelo’s technique. (Yes, he chiseled them.)

Famous sights in Florence. Ellen Lindner, AdventureQuilter.com/blog

Famous sights in Florence. Ellen Lindner, AdventureQuilter.com/blog

Later, we went to Ufizzi, which housed mostly paintings. The best ones were very crowded with all of us tourists trying to get a photo. Here’s my best attempt at The Birth of Venus, by Boticelli.

Famous sights in Florence. Ellen Lindner, AdventureQuilter.com/blog

Time for pizza. And gelatto, of course!

Ellen Lindner
P.S. Check out our fun pasta making class in Florence.

 

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“I’ll Bring the Kiwi” Complete

I’ve finished my latest quilt, I’ll Bring the Kiwi.

I'll Bring the Kiwi, an art quilt by Ellen Lindner. AdventureQuilter.com/blog

I’ll Bring the Kiwi

I especially like the hand embroidery I added.

I'll Bring the Kiwi - detail, an art quilt by Ellen Lindner. AdventureQuilter.com/blog

Another detail shot
I'll Bring the Kiwi - detail, an art quilt by Ellen Lindner. AdventureQuilter.com/blog

The artist statement says:
It’s a gorgeous day for a picnic. You bring the cherries and I’ll bring the kiwi.

This piece is made completely with fabrics I printed and dyed myself.

It’s a little smaller than most of my recent work. This in-situ photo gives you an idea of how it might look in an interior space.

I'll Bring the Kiwi, an art quilt by Ellen Lindner, shown in situ. AdventureQuilter.com

At 31”h x 28”w it’s priced at $395. I hope you like it!

Ellen Lindner

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Following the Fabric

I’ve been working on a new quilt, using fabrics I dye-printed during my last dying session. As you can see, I made them to go together.

Dyeing with Forethought. Ellen Lindner's fabric dyeing results. AdventureQuilter.com/blog

To get started, I pulled these out, along with every fabric I thought MIGHT go with them. As usual, this stage was a rather ugly mess.   (I was toying with the idea of using some pure red bits along with the pink.)

That seemed like overkill. I removed some busy high-contrast fabrics, most of the red, and tried out a little blue-green.

Following the Fabric. Ellen Lindner, AdventureQuilter.com/blog

Much better. I was ready to move ahead.

There was a fabric combo in this collection that was really exciting me: the pink and black polka dots and the yellow-green print top left, with the little twiggy shapes. I liked the way the sharp little twigs contrasted with the round dots. Unfortunately, the photo above shows ALL the twiggy fabric that I had. I knew I would have to use it very purposefully and that it’s limited size would also dictate the overall size of the quilt.

Here’s the entire piece of twiggy fabric plus what I thought was an appropriate amount of the polka-dot. I quickly committed to the central composition and stitched two primary seams. Everything else is shown in audition stage and is only folded and pinned.

I really liked the vertical strip of black and yellow-green stripe just right of center (above.) I made it by carefully cutting a strip from the fabric with the large yellow-green rectangles. I was very happy with that result

Below, I added more fabric on the right. The black spacer between the stripe and the dots was needed as a calming note.

Following the Fabric. An art quilt in progress. Ellen Lindner, AdventureQuilter.com/blog

I wasn’t sure about the large rectangles on the left, shown above. They seemed to be sorta taking over. I removed them and concentrated on the right side for a bit. This corner combination seemed about right.

Following the Fabric. An art quilt in progress. Ellen Lindner, AdventureQuilter.com/blog

The left side was definitely going to need some attention. At this point it needed some weight (black) and some pink.

In the next post I’ll show you my progress.

Ellen Lindner

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“Mr. and Mrs.” Complete

My quilt, Mr. and Mrs., is finally complete.

Mr. and Mrs., an art quilt by Ellen Lindner. AdventureQuilter.com

Mr. and Mrs.

Here’s a detail shot.

Mr. and Mrs. - detail, an art quilt by Ellen Lindner. AdventureQuilter.com

This quilt is about my parents. There were married 66 years. My dad was a hard-working farmer and my mom did the book work and cared for four children. Although not prone to romantic gestures, they were devoted to one another. Their complementary roles resulted in a thriving family and a prosperous business.

I printed all the fabric (with thickened dye.) I pieced the background like a complex Tetris game. That took a LONG time, but I’m very happy with it. And with the whole quilt.

Mr. and Mrs., an art quilt by Ellen Lindner. AdventureQuilter.com/blog

This quilt is available for purchase. I think it would look really great in someone’s home!
43.5”h x 42”w, $1900

Ellen Lindner

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