What I've Been Up To Lately.....

It’s hard to believe that it has been two weeks since I have posted, but when I look back to all that I have done…..
After my fun day of dyeing fabric, I invited several friends over for a Party to Dye For. Here are some of the pictures. We had such a great time sharing and learning from each other.



I manned the Parfait Dyeing table while Kathy taught us Soy Wax Resist and Screen Printing. Michelle brought natural dyes, Tumeric, Marjoram and I provided Avocado.
Many Thanks to Diana for taking pictures for us!

Most of the fabric that I dyed is now in my StudioJules ArtFire Studio. There are Fat Quarters, Half Yards and Full Yards of fabric. The colors that came out in the dye are wonderful and variegated. Some of the pieces are subtle, some are striking. Take a look, be enticed!

I just have the outside boarder left to quilt on the Traditional Batik quilt that I started quilting a few weeks ago. I’m hoping to work on it this weekend and finish the first of next week. I also got my pumpkin quilt back from being quilted. Just need to put the binding on it and I can hang it in the stairwell gallery. Okay, Jeff will hang it….

The planning and organizing for the Dallas Area Fiber Artist Annual Member Show is taking a lot of time right now. Contacting sponsors for prizes, working with the ArtCentre of Plano and our membership. Luckily most of my pieces are already complete, photographed and ready for submission.
Last week I also joined the Textile and Fiber Art List (TAFA). There are wonderful artists on this list! I'm inspired and in awe of what other artists accomplish and blessed to be listed among such wonderful people.
Well, that is it for today. I’ll try to be better about posting, but you know how time can just get away from you!

Dyeing and Quilting Day

This morning I got up in the mood to work on my Traditional Batik quilt and to try Parfait Dyeing (this is layering the fabric and dyes in a container for those of you that are new to dyeing like I am). I layered tank tops, 100% cotton fabric and a few pieces of silk from my stash. The dye colors I used (in order) were Indigo Blue, Chartreuse, Fuchsia, and Yellow. I love the results! I'm addicted now and Parfait dyeing will be my norm!








So, what did I learn? Well, be careful how you layer shirts to get the varieties in color and if you pull pieces out of your stash, make sure they don't already have MistyFuse on them. Yup, the silk piece did. It dyed wonderfully (picture not up yet), I just have to see if the MistyFuse is still fusible. Hey, if we don't make a mistake, then the learning process isn't as much fun!
So, I'm still working on my Traditional Batik quilt, almost done! I'm stippling, so it is taking some time to quilt and I'm taking a lot of breaks so I don't break down!
Wednesday some friends are coming over to have a Studio/Dye Party with me. Watch for pictures and what we learned in the process!

Kimono Jacket Finished! And Angel Quilts Started!

I'm so excited about my new jacket! I love the way the fabrics dyed and came together. In my previous post there is a picture of the Indigo fabric. The silk accent fabric was pink Silk Shantung that I discharged and then over dyed with Indigo, Turquoise and Chartreuse. I modified Lois Ericson's "Kimono Encore" pattern to suit my vision. I wanted the back to have some interest (other than the dyed fabric) so I created the lower panel of the silk. The neckline seemed flat so I made a scarf out of the silk too and attached it and then remembered I had a chiffon scarf of the same colors in my closet and added it.
I'm toying with adding some beads to the edges of the scarf, but right now I think I need to get on with creating some quilts and finish painting a quilt I've already started.

I made Hong Kong seam finishes. Hong Kong seam finishes always look so clean to me, especially in a jacket.


Friday I started two Angel quilts. I'm going to start quilting them this afternoon and adding the embellishments. Don't you just love the whimsical nature each of these has?

Dyeing to Show You What I'm Working On!

It is a beautiful day today. Overcast, cool and barely a breeze, so I've been outside dyeing the fabric and shirts that have been soaking in soda ash.
I can't wait to see how the pieces on the PVC turn out, there is even a shirt scrunched on one of them! I loved snow dyeing, so I tried using ice with one of the pieces, the results should be interesting...
I love the way the shirts look. I dyed the tank to go with white jeans and the jacket that I am making.






Here are my little cardinals that wake me up in the morning and keep me company all day. They even decided to get close to the area I was working in today! The feeders being refilled today probably helped too!

Dyeing Fabric and Trying New Techniques

Even though the day is windy, I'm dyeing fabric and setting it outside to dry. I've "cornered" the fabric with long straight pins so that it doesn't blow around the backyard. The first picture of of three yards container dyed in Deep Purple, just love this color! The second picture is three yards dyed Indigo Blue. This is definitely my favorite color! I twisted this fabric and wish I had left it twisted, I love the variation of the dye throughout the fabric.


















Picture three is of how I twisted the next sections of fabric before I added the colors or Turquoise, Chartreuse, Sun Yellow, Fuchsia and Deep Purple. When I untwisted the fabrics there were a few places I wanted the colors deeper, so I squirted more dye and twisted it again to mixed the dye into the fabric evenly.













The next three pictures are of the dyed fabrics. I can't wait for them to be dry so I can run them through the wash and iron them out.











I have another bolt of fabric sitting in the soda ash waiting to be dyed, so I'm off to dye some more. My plan is to dye fabric in the morning and start painting a new quilt this afternoon.
Till tomorrow, enjoy the sunshine and the music of the birds!

Dyeing Fabric on Saturday

I spent the day Saturday dyeing fabric. I have several books on dyeing, so I just kind of took from all of them and did some experimenting. The turquoise fabric is going to be a new jacket from a pattern I bought last week at the Dallas Quilt Celebration. The Fuchsia fabric is beautiful. I just love that color! The Chartreuse fabric looks so soft and very modeled. I added a salt water mixture to the Chartreuse dye mix, that may have added caused the dye to move differently in the fabric, I really like the movement. I also over-dyed some pink silk that I purchased several years ago. I think the deeper color looks very rich.
The Fuchsia has some modeling in it, but not as much as the Chartreuse.
I over-dyed a piece of commercial fabric in the turquoise, along with the PFD fabric. I want to use it as the back of the jacket I am going to make. I also tied one piece of the turquoise to give the lines across it. Hopefully this is enough for the collar of the jacket.
Well, my next posting will be on the snow dyeing I did yesterday. Since is snowed Saturday night I was able to test this process out too! Need to go set the fabric to dry!
Stay tuned for the next post!

Sunflower with a Passion for Color

I finished!!!! I finally finished beading "Sunflower with a Passion for Color" yesterday morning, just in time to visit the quilt appraiser. I'm really pleased with the way this quilt evolved. All hand painted fabrics, hand dyed fiber for the center and hand beaded...and beaded...and beaded.....
Today I filled out the form to enter this quilt and Mexican Sunflower in Batik in the IQA "In Full Bloom" exhibit. Now it is time to keep our flower petals crossed!
Next on the list is a quilt I am creating for a charity that supports Downs Syndrome kids. I'll tell you more about it when I get further on it, but it is designed and sketched out. This afternoon I'm going to set some fabrics to dye and discharge some fabrics that I bought several years ago and haven't done anything with. We'll see what happens, so stay tuned!

Looking Forward to Dying Fabric and Fibers

Today I'm going to spend the day catching up on shows on the DVR and researching dying fabric. I paint fabric, but I have never dyed fabric by myself. I've dyed in workshops/classes and everyone has their own way of dying, so today I am reading through my notes, books and online information...for tomorrow I plan on dying fabric and fibers!
North Texas weather is so fickle, a few weeks ago it was snowing, tomorrow it is going to be in the 70's, perfect weather for being outside and dying fabric! So, if you are local and want to dye fabric, give me a call, come over and let's have some fun together tomorrow!