My Experiment in Ice Dyeing . . .

turned out better than I thought it would. Let me say again that the instructions for this came from the August/September issue of Quilting Arts Magazine in an article by Lynda Heines. First of all, here's my set up. I found enough pie pans, racks, etc to do 6 pieces, so I did 6 half-yard pieces:

I used what I had--pie plates with holes punched in them on top of foil pans. I've found that the dye does something to the foil, and they leak. So I had to double up on the foil pan that "caught" the liquid dye as the ice melted.

Since I'm out of my very favorite colors of dye, the hardest part was trying to come up with color combinations that I might like. Some worked better than others. I also tried to keep records with my camera (I'm not so great at writing things down as I work!). But this is what they looked like after soaking the fabric in soda ash, scrunching up the fabric, loading on the ice and sprinkling on the dye:

Not very appetizing is it?

I was worried that I had mixed the colors too much, and had mixed some complementary colors that would turn to mud. But things turned out better than I hoped:

It was fun, but I'm not sure I'll do it again. What do you think?

Today's Fiber Frenzy

Today was such a treat! Jodie did the program on painting on fabric--her work is beautiful!

She explained first, how she took the photo, then talked about each step in painting the fabric--branches first, then leaves, then adding the shading to the tree branches (first medium, then dark, then light). At least I hope I got that right.

The she showed us some more of her work, talking about the details. For example, in this photo, she talked about painting the sky:

She showed us the various steps she took when painting the cafe scene below:

And explained how she got the feeling of an "old" painting on this work in progress:

This was the work that got her started, a class with Susan Brubaker Knapp

It was fun to see Jodie's work and learn about her process. A great meeting!

And then we had some eye candy to feast on!

Frances brought her thread painting of a kitty looking into a mirror:

She always does such wonderful and unique work! She also brought a work in progress that she's trying to make a decision about what to do next:

Anita brought some of her hand-made silk paper (more on that in another blog):

And finally, the supreme of eye candy, Cleo showed us some of her ice-dyed fabrics. Too yummy to even describe!

Cleo got her directions from the latest (August/September 2011) issue of Quilting Arts Magazine in an article written by Lynda Heines.

I couldn't wait to try it, so as soon as I got home, I got everything together and went to work. I'm afraid of what it's going to look like though. I think I may have mixed my colors too much, and forgetting that mixing complementary colors makes mud, I may have some done of that too. But good, bad or ugly, I'll show you my results. It was fun, anyway!

Mary Ann

I've Been Busy!

I've finally gotten out of my slump and have been busy this week.

I finished some minimees, this time, instead of mounting them on canvas or mat board, I made them into little quilts and I have to say I like them very much!

12" x 12"

City Street

c 2011



And a detail:

Watery Wonderland:

Watery Wonderland

12.5" x 13"

c 2011

And a detail:







And a landscape:

12" x 14"

Evening Song

c 2011

And a final detail:



I've also been dyeing. I got some gradation dyeing kits from ProChem and it's really been fun. These kits have only 3 colors of dye and will dye 30 fat eighths plus one yard. It's really an experiment (to me) in color mixing. I followed the directions to a tee for the first batch, using Tangerine, Sapphire Blue and Boysenberry from a kit called "Flower Garden." The three colors alone were gorgeous, but look what happened when they were mixed:

 I loved the colors, but I wasn't happy with the big blobs of white. So the next time I wet the fabric before putting it into the cups, and I dyed fat quarters instead of fat eighths. This kit was called "Sea and Sky" and produced some much calmer and cooler pieces:

AND I have an announcement to make! My work will be hung at Jittery Joe's (on the east side of Athens) for the month of July. I know, it's not the Met, but it's a start and I can't wait! If you're in the area, stop in and take a look. Jittery Joe's is on Gaine's School Road, in the Publix shopping center next to Chick-Fil-A.

Thanks for stopping by!