Thickened dye and lunch

I made up these 18" squares, dyed them a pale green/beige, thermofaxed graphic designs on them and soda soaked them in advance for our first foray into the application of thickened dye. I thought they could be used for a pillow or carrier bag.

This was an application to waxed fabric (batik).

and this was everyone at lunch.

The Indigo Vat

Indigo is the most addictive dyeing technique you will ever try. You just can't stop dipping!!! I call it the crack cocaine of surface design. If you've ever tried it you know what I mean.

Yes, even hair!!

Batik on silk and cotton

Batik on silk and plant fibers

Choosing the perfect tool from potato mashers to wrenches

Tools in hot wax in the electric frying pan and telltale left over wax on the cotton table cover.

Silk is a great fiber to learn batiking on because it is easy to either dye or paint and thin enough to making removing the wax simple for the first time. Afterward when removing wax on heavier fibers you already know how easy it will be.

Painting on the silk scarves with fabric paints

Drying in the sun

Batik on cotton with thickened dyes below

Blending colors and color gradation dyeing

Preparing for the color blending

Enthusiastic participants tearing fabric

Getting down to dyeing fabric and embroidery thread

Our exercises on the line. We blended complimentary colors from blue to golden yellow.

You can really see the colors blending in these two photos

An acid dyed scarf

Acid dyed wool 

This is the fabric and thread along with an acid dyed crepe de chine scarf.

The Maine Event (in pictures)

The "prequel"

Waiting for everyone to arrive

Here is the room all set up with everything clean and organized - for a while (smile)

Color Theory is the topic this year. I have a color wheel and a few indigo dyed pieces.

The narrow scarf was a "sample" of the acid dye colors available. The Rail Fence quilt is one I made as an idea of what could be made from one of our projects.

Acid Dyeing Central. Yes it's a microwave.

This was a table with measuring cups and spoons, bowls, vinyl gloves and other supplies.

making lemonade

I had a LOT of lemons so I needed to create some kind of happy ending. I invested time and money in making this gradated cloth. Some was so bad I over-dyed it. Now I needed some positive action

My lemons

I decided to make a rail fence so I cut one 45"square of fabric into 1.5" X 4.5" strips. I had a mountain. Next I tried to make bundles of four strips that had the same colors. I had so many pieces that were three perfect matches but a fourth was hard to conjure up. I sewed the strips together pair by pair, each two pairs making one block 4.5" by 4.5".

 Then I laid out the blocks in a pleasing pattern as best as I could.

I stacked each row and sewed them into strips then I sewed the strips together into one piece.

Now the big challenge is how to finish this into something useful.

Look what I got in the mail

Linda Kemshall from Design Matters TV has two daughters. the one that doesn't appear on screen is Francis who makes lovely personal items and sells them in her business, Max and Rosie. I have had my eye on a zip bag for a while and she recently had a summer sale and I finally bought it. It came today...

I love the printed cottons made from Laura's Fingerprint Fabric Collection.

They are beautifully made and I really like this fabric. I also was interested in the lining; in this case it was the same print on a softer fabric.