Quilts in the Sun

The sun came out finally, and I was able to catch a few snaps of these quilts. This red and white quilt is one I worked on all during the musical “Shenandoah Moon.” The red is a reproduction of a vintage red from the 1930’s and the play was set in 1933 so I felt like it was a good fit. There are also ecru parts in the design that are a little harder to see in this photo. I consider it a modified Irish Chain pattern.

I hand quilted it during practices and hemmed it during dress rehearsals between my scenes. I did about half of it by hand and other parts are machine quilted, which may seem a little strange but it actually works quite nicely in person. I will keep it as a reminder of the amazing people I enjoyed getting to know. I would come in to the green room, sit down and quilt, and my new friends would come and keep me company. It was good. The show is over and I miss them.

Baby quilt for Harlen (and Misde, my constant companion)

I used the quilt during the show. I entered folding it a number of times, as if it just came off the laundry line. It turned out to be too much to wrap the baby in, so I never was actually able to use it for its intended purpose but that’s ok. The second to last show it was draped over the porch railing in one scene. By the final show it remained on that porch railing through a number of scenes. I made a rag doll for another scene in the show out of the same fabrics. I think I’ll see that back one of these days, at least I hope so. They said they’d mail it. Thankfully the character that I played is long gone but the quilt remains, along with the memories.

These two small pieces are the first ones to come out of my first experimentation with procion dyes. They are a combination of cotton, silk and linen plus some dyed white on whites and I’m delighted with what the added texture does to the composition though it’s difficult to tell any of that from the photos.

The silks... oh they are soooo pretty! They are not finished, I need to bind them and that should do it unless I decide to add something more but I don't think it's needed at this point. I would like to name them but their mood perplexes me, not sure what all is there emotionally in these two. I was surprised at how somber they looked finished.

Dying for Color

In between all the adventures of the last week or so I dyed some fabric. It was stolen time in between everything else, just me in my studio playing with the things I love best... colors and more colors. I ended up with 22 silks:
24 white on whites, these were an afterthought and just tucked in to containers that already had fabric in dye so they only got the leftover dyes and attention. Some of them actually got some color and others are much softer but they make nice contrast with the vivid ones.

I also came out with 32 cottons; none of them are perfectly solid which makes me happy because I really wanted the hand dyed look. They are completely delicious!

I have 14 multi colored chunks of fabric in a bunch of different color ways. Some of these are really marvelous and I can't wait to sink into them.

I have 20 chunks of a heavy woven linen that took the dye in marvelous swirls and blends. These are so pretty and I even like the frayed thing that started to happen around the edges.

As all of these went through the dryer I also ended up with the most beautiful dryer lint, bet you think I'm joking. I've saved it, it will turn up in something but I don't know what yet.

I need to spend a little time mixing up the colors that are missing in these color ways. It was a good experiment with the 26 ready made procion dyes I was working with, now I need to see what can be done about mixing up the other colors that I would like to finish out the blends.

Plus, I have the seaweed and flowable paints and I'd like to try marbeling some fabric. Sometime soon, but not likely today. I'm still trying to recoup from last week. Seems like I feel every one of my forty years right now. So I am trying to take it easy. But color... nothing restores my soul like color.

For the Love of Color

I’ve got 26 colors of procion dye and instructions from the amazing Ms. Melody. I’m dangerous now, nothing in my house is safe at this point.

I did the little chemist thing, mixing all the stuff together and loving those colors as they soak into the fabric. I’m working with silk, cotton and linen. Oh, and some white on white as an afterthought.

I’ve got these laid out but they are not dry yet. I wanted some texture and color blending in these and I just can’t wait until they are dry enough to iron so I can see how they turned out. And I have one batch of all the fire colors in the washer and I’ll tell ya, I’m really impatient. I can’t wait to see how it all turns out.