Dippy Dyeing and Quilting

Two destinations in New Jersey

2012-01-21T11:19:00.002-05:00

Found this link on the Surface Design website: Textility, at the Visual Arts Center of NJ - that page has a slideshow. It's located about 20 miles from the Quilt Fest of NJ. Both will be open March 1 - 4, so plan on going!

Radio show archive is available

2012-01-16T22:07:00.000-05:00

You can now hear the radio show - I am in the archive. It was interesting to do, and I'm so grateful for the opportunity! I'm not listening to myself tonight - too strange. Thanks for checking it out!

Talk Radio to start the New Year!

2012-01-10T15:57:00.001-05:00

Wow – the time has flown by. I have some exciting news to share – I will be a guest on American Patchwork & Quilting Radio, hosted by Pat Sloan, next week, Monday, January 9, 2012, beginning at 4 PM EST. I have listened to several of the shows in the archive, and today I listened to it live. Pat has lots of great guests – I hope I do as well as they did. Pat sent me a list of topics to discuss – I’m sure we’ll have no trouble filling up the time slot!

Here’s a link:

You can listen live, or check it out later in the archives. Woo-hoo!

Somerset NJ Class posted

2011-11-29T19:04:00.001-05:00

It has been in the works for a while now - I will be teaching a 3-hour Dye Boot Camp at the Quilt Fest of NJ VIII, on Friday morning, March 2, 2012. Here’s a link if you want to learn more about it:
http://www.quiltfest.com/workshop_detail.asp?id=1105

And my name is in their advertisement in Quilters Newsletter – woo-hoo! Hope to see you there!

A benefit from the Halloween snow

2011-11-28T18:19:00.001-05:00

We got enough snow on the weekend of Halloween to enable me to make more snow-dyes. I used (Pro Chem names) Intense, Mixing and Navy blues, Mixing Red, Cerise (from Aljo), Strong Orange, Golden Yellow and Lemon Yellow. Without further ado, here are more pictures:

Thanks, Kay and Jan

2011-11-28T17:41:00.001-05:00

Well, after seeing all the eye candy over on Kay Sorensen’s blog, I was inspired to take a pipe to a fat quarter. (That probably sounds very odd to the un-initiated!) Here’s the result:

Thanks for looking, and thanks for the inspiration. I hope there will be more to come!

Pipe Wrapping

2011-11-13T20:33:00.001-05:00

Lots of recent discussion about pole wrapping, including on the DyersList and on Kay Sorensen’s blog, http://quiltspluscolor.blogspot.com/
Here’s a picture of my 9” long, 10” diameter polypropylene pipe, wrapped with 3 1/4 yards of silk broadcloth that was previously snow-dyed. It was folded lengthwise into 6ths – about 7 1/2” wide sections, and staggered so they aren’t all directly on top of each other. Then it was wrapped around the pole and string-wrapped. I was surprised that I could get the whole length onto the pole. Next step is discharge and/or vat dye and/or overdyeing with MX – pictures to follow. Oh, the black bands at top and bottom are lengths of rubber inner tube that act like giant rubber bands to keep the fabric and strings from sliding off one end as you push from the other.

OK, after getting Vicki's comment, I realized I missed a shameless commerce moment. I have the pipe for sale on my website, http://www.dippydyes.com/index.php/products/10-inch-polypropylene-pipe-for-high-temp-shibori, where it is priced by the inch. It's just plain expensive, but you should never need a new one, either. Right now there's about 60 inches remaining. Thanks.

New SnowDyed fabrics

2011-10-24T20:12:00.001-05:00

The recent talk on MXDyers made me pull out the screens again. Not everything is washed yet, and some of these fabrics were dyed in July and never photographed. We had great weather for it on Friday – the highs barely reached 60, so the ice didn’t melt as fast as it did in July. Anyhow, time for pictures! You should be able to click any of these to see larger images. Thanks for looking!

A square section of a longer piece of yardage.
The rest of these were dyed as square pieces, with fan-folds, 6- and 8-pointed folds, a couple spirals for fun, plus a square fold that I learned from Elin Noble.

There are some dark lines in the lower left corner of this piece. They are the result of letting the fabric dry with out washing it out. The blue dye, being the slowest to strike, wicked up to the top of the folds and bonded there. Not snow-dyeing in its purest form, but it adds to the fabric surface.

Above is the square fold. As you see, it was folded in half to start, so the left side is much lighter than the right. Not super-successful, but could be very interesting cut and pieced.

I was really thrilled when I unfolded this. I was afraid there was too much white in it, but it looks like a whole-cloth quilt to me.

Relative color / value

2011-10-22T20:28:00.001-05:00

If I do this right, a picture puzzle will appear. It is a good illustration of how color appears to change depending on the colors it is near. Assemble this puzzle, but don't place one of the blue pieces that goes into one of the right-hand corners. Before you finish, hold the piece and slide it over the other blue areas. It should look like the moving piece is changing color, because the background is changing. Interesting, I think.

Thanks again to Karen

2011-10-20T10:56:00.000-05:00

I have posted a PDF of my snow dyeing article that was inspired by Karen at Bunk's Blog. Thank you for sharing this cool technique, Karen - my customers and friends (and I) enjoy the results very much. Here's a link to her post which got a lot of us started: http://bunks.wordpress.com/2009/01/14/snow-dyeing-and-grannyland/. Now, when I make more fabric this way, I will post more photos.
Here's a link to my article, and it's also found at right, in the links section: http://www.dippydyes.com/SnowDyeArticle.pdf

Kanzashi book news

2011-10-20T10:13:00.000-05:00

For my long suffering customers who ordered a 'Kanzashi in Bloom' book from me at Oaks or Chautauqua: I finally got word that the publisher is shipping to my supplier on 10/19, so hopefully I should have them by the end of the month. Here's a picture:

Omnibus*

2011-10-06T12:51:00.000-05:00

DippyDyeversity

9/5 Have spent the holiday weekend getting ready for the show at Oaks. In addition to doing some vat dyeing, I made a list of all the different products I dye and the techniques I use; it turned out to be a lot! The products include cottons, of course: broadcloth, canvas, muslin, sateen, velveteen and others; blends like cotton-linen, cotton-bamboo and cotton-silk; some pure silk, though not a lot; wool, bamboo and polyester roving for felting, and polyester yardage and pieces, including NuSuede, felt from Kunin and Lutradur in various weights.

Unusual Sights

9/29 - 30 Saw a very unusual moth caterpillar, bigger than my little finger. Did not photograph it, though I should have. It seems most likely that it was for a sphinx moth. They’re the large moths that can be mistaken for hummingbirds. I’ve seen one in the garden once. The caterpillar is a hornworm type, but the horn at the back end looked like a painted eye.
Also saw a rainbow, which we did photograph. And then I dropped my reverse stitcher, and it landed perfectly in a crack in the floor! Silly, but memorable. One of those ‘couldn’t do that again if I tried’ moments.

Acid dyes on Radiance

9/30 or so - Have been working more with Radiance, and decided to try dyeing in in acid dyes, which don’t work on the cotton portion. Here’s a picture of both sides of samples that I dyed for discharge sampling. They are face down, with the lower left corner folded up to show the silk side. I had a DOS brain cramp and did not dye the yellows as dark as I wanted. Nothing like a visual example of sliding your decimal. The upper left piece is navy – gotta dye more of that!
*Omnibus adj (1842) 1: of, relating to, or providing for many things at once 2: containing or including many items.

Tempus Fugit, I think

2011-07-26T21:08:00.001-05:00

Good thing I can look it up in the dictionary. Anyhow, time does fly.

Well, before I start kvetching about having too much to do, I should say that the reason I was inspired to post again was that I now, suddenly, have over 30 followers! Thank you all so much! I’m sorry I don’t have any more eye candy to post; don’t remember the last time I took time for photographs. Found one – it’s at the bottom.

Back to time flying – there are just 7 weeks to go before the first show of the fall, so I have to crank up the production numbers. I did get a lot of snow dyeing done last weekend – still washing it out. Family visit this weekend, and a trip to the Hershey show (as a visitor), then another week to snow-dye or work on poly. (More on that below.) Then I’m teaching a day class on discharge the weekend of the 13th, one-on-one, so I’m starting to dye and fold fabric for that. Then I need to prep for a demo at Oaks on Kanzashi, and a speaking engagement in October, the day before the Quakertown Show. There’s also the annual Chautauqua Show in the end of October, too! And some exciting news – I’m going to teach a 3-hour class at the Somerset show in March – Quilt Fest of NJ.

I read a great article in Quilting Arts today by Marie-Therese Wisniowski on her ‘Multisperse Dye Sublimation’ technique for polyester. I can start painting papers with dye right away, and pull out the heat press once the 90-100 degree F temperatures are over with. And I want to do more sun printing on poly, too, and try some mandalas. Plus I found a source for the sheer iridescent polyester, like I got at Jo-Ann. That’s been popular, so I must order a roll, plus more muslin, maybe. . . . So I’m keeping busy. Thanks again to my followers; if I had a tail it would be wagging!

PS - here’s a picture I have been playing with – it’s the leftovers on the lid of a bucket of spackle. I’ve learned a good bit about using Photoshop Elements in working with this one image. Maybe I should get a Thermofax screen made of it. Forgot it was there!

Kanzashi Krazy

2011-07-06T20:26:00.001-05:00

Well, I heard about these from people who were at Spring Market, the annual trade show for the quilt industry. Kanzashi are a traditional craft from Japan – flowers made of folded fabric. Some of the folds are the same as Origami. I ordered a book by Diane Gilleland, called Kanzashi in Bloom and started making lots of petals and turning them into flowers while I waited for the nifty Kanzashi makers from Clover to come in. And I also found some patterns for brooches from la Todera patterns. Between those sources, I learned three different ways to make flowers and petals. Enough said – here are the pictures!

This is one of the first flowers I made, from a piece of snow-dyed fabric. It’s a little, well a Lot wonky. But we have to start somewhere.

Also an early effort, it was fun to incorporate different sorts of petals. More snow dyed cotton, plus white radiance.

This is a small flower made of hand-dyed Nusuede. Fun to have different texture choices.

The purple flower is made with rounded petals, which I think are the most versatile. Adding a little embroidery floss as a tie in the button adds a little flourish, I think.

The orange and white flower sports a center that was the button off a pair of pajamas. Did I mention I have 17 pounds of buttons? This double-layer style can’t be made with the Kanzashi makers, unless the fabric is very thin.

Here are a couple more early efforts. The center in
the left-hand flower is a piece of a plastic flower that looks like Queen Anne’s lace. Just the ticket for this use. Also, I learned that this gauge wire is way to thin to support the flower.

This black and copper flower looks super on the lapel of a linen-look blazer I have. The fabric is a commercial black batik that I discharged as a test. The button adds just the touch for a rather elegant flower (IMHO.)

The flip-flops were an idea from Diane’s Kanzashi book. The fabric, snowdyed; the buttons are from the stash – they were shoe buttons, I believe.

The final two lush flowers are made per the instructions in the Camelia Gigantus Brooch pattern from la Todera. The first is a mix of solid and snow-dyed cottons, the second is made from ombre’ Radiance. Both have padding under the petals to give them a greater three-dimensional quality. The smaller one has been living on a straw hat, when the larger one has a backing fabric attached, it will end up on a tote bag, I think.

Thanks for looking; and PS – the Clover Kanzashi makers are available at www.dippydyes.com!

Deadlines are past

2011-05-02T09:22:00.001-05:00

Well, I did my usual last-minute work last week, and got work submitted before the deadline – barely. One was a submission of photos of my quilts for inclusion in Mary Kerr’s upcoming book about art quilts. Of course, I didn’t pay for professional photography, and when I realized I hadn’t taken sufficiently high resolution pictures, my photoflood bulb burned out. And my dog ate my homework.

The second project was a little more understandable, but still somewhat Mickey-Mouse’d. (Oooo, I hope the denizens of Orlando and Anaheim aren’t offended.) Anyway, I have been working on a piece of fabric for about 8 months, contemplating how to add a layer of black over the snow-dyed cloth. My sample piece includes:

black paint
black and clear deColourant
black and clear Shiva Paintstiks
black and various other very dark colors of Tsukineko ink
deep navy vat dye
metallic paint and ink
black stitching

About 10 days ago I finally hit on using a potato dextrin resist and thickened dye. Then I washed it out and used thickened bleach over a new application of dextrin. Here’s a picture:

I really, really like the look and want to do both layers again to a large piece of cloth. Problem is I didn’t have time to do that to the piece of fabric for the quilt submission. So that can wait for a future piece. All that said, I do like the look of the final cloth for the quilt. Without more ado, here’s a picture of the quilt, and a detail:

I’m happy with the result, and now I have to wait to see if it is accepted in the Deep Spaces exhibit. Fingers and toes are crossed!

More vat results

2011-04-11T20:08:00.001-05:00

Got some better results on Saturday with clamped resists. The first picture shows the fabric I started with. I tested it with deColourant and a decent turquoise color remained, which is the result of using Intense blue in the mix. There’s also a general blue halo that creeps out into the white areas of the original cloth.

The first piece I folded into an equilateral triangle and then dyed the corners and edges different colors. That went into the yellow vat first for a fairly long time. The other colors used were medium blue and violet. I spent the most time working the yellow into all the crevasses. That seems pretty evident from the fact that there’s fairly even amounts of yellow throughout. Also, that there are less even amounts of the other colors is evident, and is due to the fact that I didn’t spend as much time manipulating the cloth in the bath. The center still has the darkest area showing, like the original fabric did. The green/olive area in the center it the yellow dye overlaying (converging!) with the non-discharging blue.

The second one was fan-folded cross-wise and lengthwise into a rectangle. One edge went into the yellow vat. It was the second use, and did not remain as long, so there’s less yellow on the fabric. It also went into the medium blue and violet vats, then into a vat mixed from violet and red. An interesting piece, and I did learn a bit from both.

About vat dyeing

2011-04-06T19:05:00.000-05:00

A couple questions came through regarding 'what is vat dyeing - the process, the effects to achieve? Vat dyes are a distinct class of dyes that are applied at fairly high heat, compared to MX, at least. Temperatures between 120 - 150 degrees F at any rate, with Thiox as a reducing agent (no oxygen in the bath) and lye to raise the pH very high. Because of the Thiox, color is removed at the same time that the vat dyes are applied. Because the thiox creeps farther than the dye does, you can get halos around the new color. And you can over dye a dark color with a lighter color, because the original MX (in my case) color is removed. Vat dyes also work on other types of dye than MX, but I'll have to check my notes to be sure. I do know other fiber-reactive dyes will discharge. But because of the extreme pH, you can't use vat dyes on wool. With TLC, you can use it on silk. Here's a close-up of a section of the gold and purple fabric showing some haloing where the darkest color creeps across the slightly lighter violet diamond:

The process is a little more hazardous than working with MX - more safety gear is required because of the lye. But the results are worth it, and once I practice, practice, practice, I hope I'll be able to get results like the photos in my March 26 post. Nothing like wanting to achieve the work of the master on day 3 of class! Elin has another class this summer at Whidby Island - go there if you can!!

I hope to continue with vat dyes, as well as MX and disperse and to keep adding pictures here and at DippyDyes.com, where I sell my fabric. Thanks for looking, and for the encouragement!

Wrong-color quilt

2011-04-06T14:32:00.000-05:00

I was reading Kay Sorensen's blog post on color: http://quiltspluscolor.blogspot.com/2011/04/i-have-ocd-think-color.html and had to post these pictures:

Is this wrong? I still like it. Below is a picture of it under construction converted to black and white. That really shows how important value is!

Kay, I do know what you're talking about, but from both sides. When I sell Tsukineko ink in the booth at shows, I always arrange them from neutrals to - browns - orange - yellow - green - blue - purple - red. Hubby is bothered that this is NOT Roy - Gee - Biv, the way he learned in science class.

Vat results

2011-04-05T21:04:00.007-05:00

Well, I have gotten some work done with vat dyes since I got back from class. Here are pictures of the results, from worst to best. A couple were started in class and at the least were soaped out here at home.

This fabric was pretty poor to begin with. It needs more work. In person it’s very bright and cheerful.

This was a reject from Barbara of MXDyers. I like it better, except the right end. A class experiment.

A 42 x 45 square of broadcloth dyed charcoal (my own recipe.) Not the results I had hoped for, but a nice piece as it is.

A boring, solid green fat quarter improved by hand stitching and a medium blue vat dye.

Cotton-silk voile – you can see through it to an 8 1/2” x 11” piece of paper in the upper left corner.

A yard of black Radiance, run through a smocking pleater and discharged and dyed in multiple vats.

Four 21” squares of broadcloth. Each was folded the same way and dyed in several vats in the same sequence. Each one is different, and I’m quite pleased with them! The set is for sale here.
Thanks Elin!

More vat dye eye candy

2011-03-28T20:23:00.002-05:00

Still on the road, and have time to post more pictures. Woke up with a better attitude about my own work. Current plan is to spend half the day on chores (i.e. filing taxes, shipping muslin) and mid-afternoon onwards dyeing fabric. But for now, revel in some pictures:
This is the orange and purple Radiance that I posted about yesterday (below.) After another sample that dyed only on the edges, I chickened out at putting this one into the vat. I need to start with smaller pieces first. The fold marks remain and will show where additional patterning will happen.

This is a piece of fabric that was dyed the fairly dark green that you see, then immersed in a light blue vat dye. It has not been soaped yet – we’ll see if the color or luster changes much.
One thing I would do differently would be to start with a variety of fairly interesting fabrics, rather than the mostly solid pieces that I took. That should be my starting point when I resume working with vat dyes. I also think I will stick more with analogous color schemes. They can be very arresting; classic and elegant without the jarring look most of my vat dyed pieces have. It's a plan, anyway! Thanks for looking!

Over far, far too soon

2011-03-27T20:45:00.001-05:00

Sunday night, somewhat bummed out in the hotel room. C’est la vie. I’ve been transcribing my notes while they are still somewhat fresh in my head, but after an hour and a half, it has devolved into just a list of headings. Somehow, I hit that wall when I got to the dreaded chemistry notes. Also set up a Yahoo group for the class members, and added links there as items came up in my notes. That was fun!

Have a couple pictures to share. Of course, I used up my batteries and didn’t recharge them Saturday night, so there are many fewer photos than I’d like.

Have been doing some contemplation on dyeing and a real job. The serious number crunching has to happen real soon, if for no other reason than the IRS. At any rate, the whole class process has been rather humbling, especially after three shows’ worth of oohs and ahs. But yes, I still want to get better at all forms of dyeing, and get good at vat dyeing. Best idea I’ve had today – look at everything I’ve done with vat dye and analyze what I like best. Pictures will have to follow!

The day I’ve been waiting for!

2011-03-26T21:55:00.001-05:00

Vat dyes have intrigued me since I first learned about them in Carol Soderlund’s Dyeing to Discharge class, or maybe before. When I saw this class listed on Pro Chem’s website, I was so excited. Well, finally I’m here! The first three days were good, and I certainly learned a lot. But today we got into itajame (also spelled itajime) – resists with clamped shapes. Elin’s work is so gorgeous! Here are a few samples, and click here to link to Elin’s home page. Again, hover the cursor over the picture for a brief explanation.

We also got to look at everyone’s work from Friday – except mine, since I didn’t dye anything. More pictures:

And Elin gave us a demo using a couple different tools for holding fabric. Still more pictures:

She also showed us samples made with these sorts of tools:

And I also got some of my own work done – at least to a point:

This is a piece of cotton-silk Radiance from Robert Kaufman. It was originally a purple – Amethyst. I had pole-wrapped it and gotten a little subtle texture on it before class.This improved version is striking, and it has also been re-folded, waiting for a vat tomorrow. Can’t wait!

Day three at class

2011-03-25T19:18:00.002-05:00

Well, I got nothing into the dye today, but did prepare some work. Spoke to Elin about a piece of fabric I brought with me that is good, but not great. I"m not sure it's finished, but I don't know what else I'd do with it, or if it needs more. She asked me: "What is the fabric for? Why make it?" My first reaction was 'uhhhh,' followed by 'for it's own sake.' Not a question I've considered before - I"m not terribly comtemplative by nature. We spoke some more, and I have it on the wall and will consider it more this weekend and get input from the other studends.
Here are some pictures of the goings-on and some other folks work.i Again I have added captions that appear when you hover the cursor.

Here’s what I worked on last night. It’s three strips of a rather bland snow-dyed sateen. I braided them and put them first in a vat of hot green, then in a vat of violet. I got it rinsed, soaped and ironed. Then last night I clamped it as shown and braided it again.

Here the braiding is almost done. As instructed by Elin, I kept clamping it closer to the grab bar. Now it’s ready to go into another bath, probably blue.
Today I got the remaining length of it braided, this time in a 7-strand braid. Took a good portion of the day, in between watching demonstrations. A good day all around; now for a shower and some ironing, folding and clamping.

Catching up and moving on

2011-03-24T19:35:00.001-05:00

Excited tonight (Monday) about going to class with Elin Noble, but still pooped from the Lancaster show. Taking the camera and hope to record every instant of class (ha!). I do plan to make some entries here for anyone who is interested.

OK, it’s now Thursday night, March 24. We’ve had two days of class so far, and it’s getting more interesting all the time. I have fabric to prepare tonight, so I’m going straight to the photos! I’m putting text on each that appears when you hover the cursor over the picture.

Friday night on the road

2011-03-18T19:57:00.028-05:00

Nothing all that exciting to post about, at least not without sounding really vain . . . . I'm in the lobby of the Lancaster Marriott listening to a jazz trio (?) - maybe more - catching up on my email and winding down for the day. They're good, just too loud to get close to. I've met so many new friends and old email-only friends that now have faces. I have had a good run at the shows this spring, and have gotten wonderful reviews of my fabrics (that's our booth above.) I've seen some growth in sales, which is a good thing, but have had less than I hoped here in Lancaster, so that will keep me focused and hopefully realistic. Off

soon to take a vat dye class in New England, then it will be time to get a temporary real job AND make lots more inventory. I am still planning to try to vend at Houston, just have to figure out how. Having a fair bit of fun with the 5th roommate - 10 month old Ashlyn. Pictures will follow. If you don't have kids/grandkids, adopted grandnieces are just as good!

Fun fabric flower bowls

2011-02-03T23:01:00.001-05:00

Had fun making these – they seem to be addictive, like I need another one. I will have dyed Peltex and the pattern for making them at the upcoming shows. Still dyeing like a madwoman getting ready for those – over 100 yards of new work and counting!

The shows we will be at:

Hampton, VA, February 24 - 27, 2011

Somerset, NJ, March 3 - 6, 2011

Lancaster, PA, March 16 - 19, 2011

Respirator selections for dyeing

2011-01-26T18:07:00.001-05:00

OK, I started worrying a bit about fumes created when I heat polyester on the heat press, in addition to the dust from the dried dyes. And I found the following PDF: http://multimedia.3m.com/mws/mediawebserver?mwsId=SSSSSu7zK1fslxtUN8tZnx_Uev7qe17zHvTSevTSeSSSSSS-- I plan to contact someone at 3M (if it’s possible) to be sure, but the guide indicates that an organic vapor cartridge should be worn when working with polyester resin for fiberglass. The chart is helpful anyway.

The look of Dimples

2011-01-11T10:04:00.000-05:00

Had a request from JaJa on the DyersList to see what Andover's Dimples, white on white, looks like when hand-dyed. These fabrics are all sold, and I'm glad I took pictures. Now to make more! The difference between the printed and unprinted sides is striking - much more pastel where the printing ink resists the dye.

'Back of the fabric, with printed side folded over.

Detail of above

Close up

Snow dyed Dimples

Published!!!!

2010-12-01T20:57:00.000-05:00

Wooo-hooo! The magazine article about snow dyeing has come out - there's a view of the cover at right. And you can buy it here, or at your local independent quilt retailer. Of course, now that we've spent several days working on getting the kitchen ready to paint, we still have to post all the fabrics and supplies on the website. Always more to do, which is good!

Subversive Stitchers: Women Armed with Needles: Good Advice from a Real Professional Artist: Susan Lenz

2010-11-30T10:10:00.013-05:00

Wandered across this post and found it very interesting.
Subversive Stitchers: Women Armed with Needles: Good Advice from a Real Professional Artist: Susan Lenz
Got to love the blog title. But seriously, the points Susan Lenz brings up are oh so valid. Work worth doing is worth doing well, and I need to remember that, and put the time in that my art needs and requires of me.

Polyester references

2010-11-20T16:32:00.002-05:00

Hi all – discussion of polyester comes up on the DyersList from time to time, so I thought I’d gather together the recent entries here. Plus it’s a chance to include some photos of my fabrics! Hover over the photo for a description.

In the books I have in my stash, there are three references to dyeing polyester:

Brackmann, Holly ‘The Surface Designer’s Handbook’ – chapter 7
Dahl, Carolyn ‘Transforming Fabric’ – chapter 8
Proctor, Richard M, and Jennifer Lew ‘Surface Design for Fabric’ – page 42 - 43

Caryl Hancock also posted to the DyersList and kindly allowed me quote her:

I have two more sources for information on disperse dyes: the first is a book by Linda Kemshall, "Color Moves, Transfer Paints on Fabric" published by That Patchwork Place (Martingale?), C. 2001. Explains a lot of the ways to "play" with these dyes. (http://www.amazon.com/Color-Moves-Transfer-Paints-Fabric/dp/1564773418/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1290198560&sr=1-2) Under $10.

The second is a booklet by Jan Beaney and Jean Littlejohn, "Transfer to Transform." This is one of their earlier booklets (about 20 pages, I think) and is available from Quilting Arts or Amazon $16-21. There is nothing in the notes from the 2 classes I have had with Lisa [Grey] about other reference books; she probably knows the most of just about anyone about these dyes, and is a great teacher.

I also saw that there is a disperse dye class being offered at the SDA conference in Minneapolis next June.I have also purchased some of the colors from ALJO (http://www.aljodye.com/main.html) that are different from what Pro-Chem offers - no affiliation.

Thanks, Caryl!

Donna Joslyn also added more information:

I use disperse dyes in printers. I buy them from Sawgrass. Sawgrass Inks also has a textile ink that prints from epson printers - the 4000 series prints 17" wide. http://www.sawgrassink.com/ they sell both desk size and large format printers, equipment and supplies. Conde Systems is another good supplier.

Jaquard also has dyes filtered very fine for printers. since they are acid and reactive dyes they need to be steamed - whereas textile pigments do not. disperse dyes need a heat set but not necessarily steam.
there is a lot of information out on disperse dyes in printing presses. I mentioned sawgrassink before in another reply, and conde systems. They are also known as sublimation inks to printers. If you google sublimation inks you will find quite a bit.

Thank you too, Donna!
And Nancy Evans came up with another reference -
Below is a cut and paste from Pro Chemical’s Product Instructions page.

Imagery on Fabric by Jean Ray Laury also has a section on disperse dyes as well as transfer papers (which is just paper that is coated with disperse dye). A couple of times, I've lucked into acquiring some transfer papers, and they are fun to play with - got them at a thrift shop and a fabric store that holds onto everything it ever carried - nothing is clearanced! My good fortune to find them. I find the transfer papers are much more intense than the papers I paint with the disperse dye. Might be a function of how I've mixed? I do try to follow directions tho.... so maybe the papers are just brighter. ---nan

Thanks to you too, Nan!

PRO Disperse Dyes Designed to permanently dye synthetic fibers -- in particular polyester, acetate rayon, nylon, and acrylic. Solid shade dyeing is done at a boil. A swelling agent, PRO Dye Carrier NSC, is necessary for the dye to penetrate polyester fiber.** Acrylic fibers do not dye dark; expect to achieve a pastel depth of shade only. Two ounces (58 gm) of dye powder will dye 25 lbs (11 kilograms) of polyester to a medium shade in a solid shade dye bath. Available in 13 intermixable colors. Note: many polyester and polyester-cotton fabrics have a permanent press finish. This must be removed before successful dyeing is achieved.

Solid Shade/Immersion on Polyester

Solid Shade/Immersion on Nylon/Acetate Rayon
Solid Shade/Immersion on Acrylic

Painting & Printing/Direct Application on Polyester

Painting & Printing/Direct Application on Nylon

Transfer Printing
Transperse Transfer Printing Dyes - Your best choice for transfer printing on polyester and poly blends. Available in 9 intermixable colors.

Transfer Printing

I have learned a lot from Lisa Grey through a few emails and a phone call. Here’s a link to her class description: http://www.lisagrey.com/Lisa_Grey/Printing_DD.html - be sure to click on the “student work” link at the bottom.
And don't miss the work of Barbara Barrick McKie at http://www.mckieart.com/!
>
**I have never done any of my polyester this way. It is all direct application of dyes, either regular or thickened, allowed to dry and heat pressed. The thickened dye is more frugal – all the color is on the ‘right’ side (important with NuSuede), with the back remaining white. I also don’t do heat transfers, because I do 3 – 4 yard pieces and want fairly consistent results. Have yet to do any screen printing – I’ve never gotten into that.

Reviews and Previews

2010-11-19T20:30:00.001-05:00

Hard to believe 6 weeks have passed since I last posted. If troubles come in threes, we’ve had it for a while. After the bad brake incident in September, we came home to a hole in the roof, with water running down from the third floor to the entrance hall. Yuck. Got it fixed (there went any profits,) and a couple weeks later the heater started making loud noises and shooting flames. Well, it was about 55 years old, like us, and that’s a pretty long time for a boiler. In the picture at right, the covers were removed for the funeral. It didn’t run like that all the time. Anyway, it got kicked to the curb and a new Energy Star gas unit has been installed. What a difference – and the basement smells much better! Plus, I will have more and hotter water for washing out MX dyes.

We did a total of six shows this fall; still haven’t crunched all the numbers, but it’s time for some other source of income. My current plan is to do the spring shows in Hampton, VA, Somerset, NJ and Lancaster, PA, and then probably no shows except Oaks, since it’s 20 miles away, until (drumroll) Houston, next fall. I spent almost as much to do the show in Chantilly, VA this fall, with the poorest results of any show. It was a good opportunity to have a different set-up (see picture.) The ladies from Quilters Remedy and I had our booths side-by-side, and we each had a cross-aisle next to us, so we both had corner booths.

Thanksgiving is a week away and as always there’s a lot to be thankful for. I’m thankful for all the opportunities that have come my way this year, and all the wonderful people I’ve met along the way. I’m thankful for the optimism necessary to keep trying for a while longer, and for the common sense needed to realize that some sort of ‘Day Job’ is necessary too. I’m very thankful that I won a ribbon at the Oaks show, and have the snow-dyeing article coming out next month in American Quilter! (Both of those actually came with a check!) Now I have to get more work done, including posting lots more fabrics on the website, and upgrading my inventory without spending a lot more money!

Back home – another interesting week

2010-10-07T21:30:00.001-05:00

Once we got over the whole problem with the brakes, we went on to vend at three shows in three weeks. Oaks, PA (see below), Chautauqua, NY and Chantilly, VA. As usual, we learned from every experience; the big lesson this fall has been to cut the overhead as much as possible. That means we need to sleep and eat cheaper. We got a microwave and TV dinners; to do that better we need to get the TVDs the day they’ll be eaten, not before. Pop Tarts still taste good when the hotel doesn’t have breakfast.

Got home on Sunday; then had to deal with the credit card issue and do household chores on Monday and Tuesday. Then Wednesday I headed down to Philly to report for jury duty at the Federal courthouse. Took the train to get there, and got a copy of the sports pages from the lady in front of me. That kept me busy in the assembly room, because I wasn’t smart enough to change scissors in my sewing bag. However, it took three guys to get them off me! And yes, I am back working on appliqué. Nothing like a little positive reinforcement for motivation. There’s a picture of the block below – it’s one of 256, and I’m halfway there. When I got home from the city (not selected), I sat back, watched Roy Halladay pitch his no-hitter and stitched. Aaahhhhh . . . . .

There’s an appliqué class this Monday evening (the 11th) in Red Hill – you can sign up at DippyDyes.com if it’s your first time. Thanks!

My Customers are the Greatest!

2010-10-07T20:51:00.001-05:00

This is to thank all the folks who purchased items from me at the recent fall shows. I especially want to thank the customers in Chantilly, VA who paid with credit cards. My charge card machine gave up the ghost after the show, so I had to call everybody to get their information again. Everybody gladly helped out, so I didn’t lose any of those sales, and on top of that, I had some really nice conversations with several of them. So, thanks again to everybody!

PS - I should also mention that the new machine is on its way, just in time for the Berks Quilters Guild show in Leesport. Nobody needs to worry about using a credit card with me in the future!

Bad brakes and the happy dance!

2010-09-15T22:03:00.001-05:00

OK, the day didn’t start out quite as planned. Had to wait for the UPS driver so I could sign for a package. Then it was off to the show in Oaks. Well, the pesky idiot light on the dashboard wouldn’t go out – it was the brake light. Not something to ignore! Problem is, the van was completely loaded with fabric and fixtures. Exquisitely loaded, if I may brag on hubby. So, back home, load everything into the pickup truck, with the fabric on the bottom, and follow the van to the garage. Shout-out to Scootie’s garage – Ken came back after his dinner to replace the ruptured brake line(s). Get that man a pickle! Finally, two hours after we first set out, we headed down to the show.

Then things started to improve. After beginning to unload, a spot at the door opened up, and we grabbed it. Unloading proceeded well, and at least it’s a beautiful day – no rain on the goodies. Everything came into the booth, and DH took a break. So, en route to the restroom, I decided to check out some of the quilts. There was a list of winners there and – shriek – I won!!!! Here’s a picture:

That’s it for tonight – very pleased about the quilt, AND that it wasn’t raining, AND that we were only blocks from home, going slowly in the van. See you at the show!

More Discharge

2010-09-14T22:06:00.000-05:00

Here are a few more discharged fabrics that I have produced lately. I think they look different than the other ones I’ve posted recently. The first one is a 44” square of broadcloth dyed a fairly dark blue-green. It was then accordion-folded in two directions and clamped between 4 CDs. Then it was discharged in Thiox and overdyed with yellow and red.

The second piece started out as a grey-green color. Then it was bound in the ‘onion bag on steroids’ and discharged, then overdyed with brown. The patterning from the netting isn’t as strong as some other, but it does evoke stone very will.

The last piece is a square of sateen that was also dyed a dark blue-green. It was folded in an arc shape from one corner, clamped and discharged. No overdye on this one – it works as it stands. Thanks for looking!

A blast from the past

2010-08-11T18:40:00.001-05:00

Digging through some junk boxes the other day, I came across a love letter from my Mom to my Dad. It was dated December 1 through 4, 1944, when he was in the Army, and two years before they were married. She would have been 27, he, 31. The following segment caught my eye:

Saturday finished, almost completely, my Christmas shopping & then met Mother. She and Dad are giving Fred[erika – Mom’s twin sister] & Tom bedside tables for Christmas & they wanted to give me an equivalent present, so I was to buy “a couple of tables’ worth of dress – “ or in other words, a very “yummy one.” We had no luck at our usual pet place & then went to another we like, a little place, & they had several pretty ones. I brought 2 home to “model'” for Dad – I am to have one & I think they may be giving Fred the other, of black wool jersey. The one I’m to get is so pretty – I just want to go & feel it from time to time & can hardly bear not bubbling about it to Fred. It’s a two-piece dress – really an unlined-jacket suit – of soft, light black wool, with a one-button-at-the-waist closing. Then into the front is stitched a very pretty crepe vest of pink, trimmed with black sequins (paillettes) & beads, & tied at the neck. It is lovely – will be nice for holiday festivities & theater later, & still later, with a frilly blouse will be perfect for spring. I “love it good,” as Mary Lib would say – now if I could just ‘doll up” in it & meet you at the airport like one Christmas evening -- -- !

This ended up being two full pages out of the 17 she wrote! It made me smile for several reasons: while he may have enjoyed a slice of home life, I doubt he cared that much about a dress. But mainly I smiled because she sounds like every textile person I know . . . ‘I just want to go & feel it from time to time’ are words I’ve heard more than once at a quilt show! Hope you enjoyed it too!

More on the Keeper

2010-07-20T21:53:00.001-05:00

Well after reviewing all the wonderful comments on ‘Can’t let this one go,’ below, I decided it was time to do some virtual design wall stuff. Plus it’s a good way to learn to mess with Photoshop Elements and DrawPlus Starter Edition. Not going to post everything I tried; the items below were worth keeping. Some I like better than others – what do you think?

More on the booth; life moves along

2010-07-14T13:44:00.001-05:00

Life continue to move on, as life is wont to do. I've sent off my article on snow-dyeing to American Quilter magazine, and they asked that I take down the parts of my blog that overlap the article. So I've done that; but I've saved them locally, so they’ll be back next year. I'm just about to ship a big box of samples to them - the Editor, Chris, is going to select from them and they'll take professional photographs of the fabrics. It's all very exciting.

Today I also went to a temp agency to try to line up some work between now and the fall shows. Hope something comes of that - it will mean less time, but a little more money in the bank. And I'm still adding items to the website, and there's a lot to add!

Two weeks ago we set up at the York PA Guild show, and I tried out the new garment racks. It made the fabrics a lot more accessible; here's a picture:

Cloud Photos Challenge

2010-07-03T12:58:00.001-05:00

Hello, quilting friends, textile tootsies and dye junkies! On the QuiltArt email list lately there has been some discussion of cloud photos, copyright free and otherwise. I thought to myself ‘Why not just send her your pictures? Nothing to be afraid of, right?’ Then I decided to go one step further and make a challenge out of it. Below are six photos I took a bit over a year ago, June 2009. My challenge to you is to create a piece of textile art, whether a quilt, complex cloth, clothing, object, vessel, weaving, whatever, inspired by these photos. Anything goes – you can print them on cloth, manipulate them any way you like, create a meditation; use stitching, beading, recycled materials – ANYTHING! And as an incentive, I will award DippyDyes gift cards to the three I judge to be the best. Nothing massive, sorry, probably $32 for first place, $24 for second, and $16 for third. And since this is all about me, the deadline is my birthday, September 7, just before I head out to a lot more shows.

More details will be forthcoming once I figure them out. These pictures are available for your personal, non-mass-market use. If you do sell, show, or otherwise profit from them, please just give me credit in the caption. If you are going to make 10,000 coffee mugs out of them, that’s another story! If you need larger, higher-resolution images, let me know.

About the clouds: I believe these are mammatus, or mammatocumulus clouds. It was fun to photograph them; the first two pictures were taken from the studio window, then I followed the group of clouds on foot; by the last picture the structure had pretty well broken up.

Polyester - not an original thinker!

2010-06-16T09:41:00.002-05:00

Hi all - just to give credit where it is due, Lisa Grey very kindly spent time with me on the phone and by email to answer some total newbie questions. We even had scheduled a class for at least two students at her studio, when I had to back out because of the wedding of a dear friend. Still need to reschedule the class at her convenience. It was she who mentioned that the dyes could be directly applied to fabric, then heat set. It makes sense, I think anyway (remember, newbie here) if the paper controls the dye sublimation, the teflon sheets on each side of the fabric would do the same. So here's a link to her site - her work is awe-inspiring! Lisa Grey. Plus click on her class schedule links - Mendocino, CA in July.

Polyester Sunprint

2010-06-15T18:23:00.001-05:00

Couldn’t wait to process this piece of Nu-suede. It’s my first effort at a sunprint. Looking at it critically, there are several flaws – boring, all-over placement of the leaves, a thread visible in the upper right of the detail, below, and general blurriness. Also, monochromatic doesn’t do much for it. But it’s still extremely cool and I can’t wait to do more, and do it better!

Auditioning Paintstiks

2010-06-10T19:55:00.000-05:00

Well, I have been giving some thought to the ‘keeper’ fabric and came up with a decent way to audition Shiva Paintstiks. This illustration shows about the third iteration, and the first I like. The paint for now is temporary – I applied it to Glad Press ‘n Seal™ cling wrap - you can see it best around the top fan. Once the paint has dried thoroughly, I can remove and reposition it all I need. I like how the curvilinear shape of the fans echoes the bound spider webs. Hope you do too. I did test out some intense green, but that might be best in very small bead-sized doses. Thanks for looking!

Pleasures of Polyester

2010-06-07T13:35:00.001-05:00

Well, my new shipment of PFD and dark fabrics arrived today from Robert Kaufman. The big ticket item is 100 yards of their 100% polyester Nu-suede fabric. It feels like a moleskin and does fray a bit. But is so very soft and luscious – it looks like a great fabric for warm blouses or else jacket/skirt/slack combos. Yes, garment sewing. Good thing my best friend taught sewing for 30 years! Here are a couple pictures of work in process and finished goods from the first 30 yard roll:

Started the first piece with an all-over pink color, then rag-rolled an 'orange creamsicle’ color over it.

The second piece shows a yard of fabric in process. It got turquoise dye (Pro-Chem’s Transperse turqouise) all over, then it was spread out on plastic (my favorite heavy vinyl from Jo-Ann’s.) Then I sprinkled it with salt and waited for it to dry. That piece sold right away, so I did it again with a three-yard piece, which is shown in the third photograph. That shows it mid-way through the heat-press process, which is when the color changes. Transperse is Pro-Chem’s name for their disperse dyes designed for transfer printing. The main problem with the whole process is the investment into the heat press. But everyone who handles the fabric falls in love with it – I did!

I still have more to learn, so I’d better get to it! Thanks for looking!

Can’t let this one go

2010-05-31T10:12:00.003-05:00

Well, spent a lot of time yesterday doing discharge. That’s in the washer right now, but I wanted to post a picture of this fabric. It turned out really neat, and I’d like to do more with it. I could make a whole-cloth wall hanging out of it and it would be just cloth and stitching. Or I could add more layers of complexity in surface design, or add appliqué - circles, probably. But I did hang it and placed some circles that are already made on it, and didn't like it. So I’m posting this here, and sending a message to the Quilting Art and ComplexCloth folks. FYI – this started out as a dark purple mixed from Turquoise & Fuchsia, and was discharged in bleach (I'm pretty sure.)

More discharge – on bamboo rayon

2010-05-24T22:34:00.002-05:00

These fabrics came out a lot nicer than the Kona. Part of that is because the fabric is thinner, and part is because I like the more organic nature of the patterning on at least two of them. The third, while more geometric, is a whole-cloth piece that hangs together well, IMHO. All three were discharged in Thiox, which leaves a nice pale color behind; the first piece, which measures 28” x 60”, was pole-wrapped and overdyed.

The second was done with what I call 'onion bag on steroids’ followed by purple overdye and the third was folded, discharged and dyed a coral color on two edges; green on the other two. Sorry to sound vain, but I’m pleased with all of these! Thanks for looking.

More on the booth & business

2010-05-24T22:33:00.002-05:00

Thanks to everyone who chimed in in comments below or by email. The majority liked the hanging idea, and in searching Store Supply Warehouse I found a rolling rack that measures 4’ wide x 2’ deep and folds flat for transport. We’ll have that in the next month or so; hopefully will pick up when we are in the Harrisburg area and save freight costs. Will post pictures after the show at York, PA in June.

Regarding business, I contacted a SCORE counselor with questions about setting up at Houston. That won’t be this year, but I will be learning more in the next weeks and months, and hope to be able to go to Houston in 2011. So far, while the counseling has been a reality check, I’m not yet ready to throw in the towel – rather, I’m energized! “Watch this space!”

Reworking the booth

2010-05-22T17:39:00.003-05:00

Hi – have done some boring, but eye-opening number crunching in the past couple days. I've figured out, with the help of a SCORE counselor and www.accountingcoach.com, how much I need to do in sales in order to just break even at the shows I’m doing the rest of the year. If I were to add Houston, I’d have to double that number. That won't be happening this year, alas. Because I have to be serious and business-like about this whole venture, I just plain have to sell more. In order to do that, I have to make my fabrics more accessible in the booth. To the right is a picture of a recent booth setup. It’s not bad, but the inventory is spread out on the tabletop and is difficult to sort through. The pieces range in length from 1/2 yard to 4 yards, and vary in width from 44” to 60”. So I think I have to go vertical, maybe with some sort of mini-bolts. Probably something like some quilters use to store their stash on - it needs to be easy to sort through, and show enough of the fabric to attract interest. It also has to pack away quickly and not weigh a lot. Foamcore or Corruplast are a couple ideas we discussed. I think for the sake of the budget that I will start with clean cardboard destined for recycling and cover it with some clean fabric to protect the hand-dyed goods. Then if it’s a useful system, mess with the shape and size a bit, then commit to a more permanent product. What have you seen? What do you think? Thanks!

Discharge on black Kona

2010-05-16T12:18:00.002-05:00

Have gotten some more discharge done. Here are some pictures of some ho-hum items, compared with some of the others at least. Each of these were done on Robert Kaufman’s Kona cotton, purchased black. (Click on the link at right to shop DippyDyes.)

Follow-up: a couple people have had questions: these were all dyed in an immersion bath of Clorox diluted with an equal amount of water. The amount of clamping and the amount of fabric exposed to the bleach makes all the difference.

Classes on website

2010-05-14T15:01:00.002-05:00

Finally! I have scheduled classes in dyeing, discharge and appliqué and posted them on my website. Appliqué is a monthly evening class held on the second Monday of the month. Well, this isn’t the usual picture of a quilt in progress, but I couldn’t resist. The quilt is done now, and the dog is gone, but he always makes us smile. The blocks are from Jane Townswick’s Artful Appliqué II book, which students can work from if they choose.

The dye class is an introduction for folks who haven’t dyed before and the discharge class won’t teach dyeing, but for people who plan to discharge only commercial fabrics, the dyeing step is not absolutely necessary. They are being held the first and second Saturday of June, and class size is limited to 4 people. Classes will be held outside; in the event of rain we will be in the basement or the garage. Here’s a link for a little more information.

That’s it for now; back to putting products on the website. Thanks for looking!

For my sister

2010-05-13T21:23:00.001-05:00

Hi Sister Sister (think little Ronnie Howard)– here are the pictures I promised months ago! The main blue fabric is on the right side. Each piece is cut off at the top a little. Thanks!

Back to work!

2010-04-30T21:30:00.000-05:00

So much has been going on since returning from Lancaster. Tonight I have started updating my website, dippydyes.com - updating the calendar, adding products and classes, and remembering how to work the program. In the studio, the heat press has arrived, so I have started processing some Nu-suede yardage. (Pictures coming soon.) That fabric was very popular at Lancaster, especially, and I need to dye lots of it and the poly-cotton blend to sell at the Chantilly, VA show, which attracts garment sewers as well as quilters. I'm looking at adding polyester scarves to dye and sell, and have been trying to dye polyester fiber for felting, with mixed results. Have done a little experimenting with devoré, and some discharge work as well. Also, I have a couple speaking engagements this spring and summer, and I've been asked to write an article about snow dyeing for American Quilter! Here's a link to the calendar page - hope y'all can come see me sometime. Now I must go work on a sample!

Hampton show was a success, (sort of)

2010-03-02T10:29:00.003-05:00

Hi all, and greetings to the new friends who visited my booth at Hampton, VA. Did some number crunching - the booth, one dinner out, and hotel rooms are covered, but still spending money for the privilage of dyeing cloth. Here's a chart of how the sales broke down, which the accounting side of my brain appreciates:
Snow dyes account for 31% of my total sales, so I'm headed downstairs to do more before the snow is gone. But yardage amounted only to about half my total sales, so variety is a good thing, as well as requiring less washing out.
And I've posted a photo of the booth - it doesn't change much, so this will give you an idea of what to look for.
Don't forget to say hi to my long-suffering DH. He's the best.

A few more pictures (edited)

2010-01-31T19:34:00.006-05:00

This is the third picture of the sateen snow-dyed fabric for my sister's perusal. Of course, there's no blue at all showing in this one. I'll take a look at all three again, next to the solid blue to see which looks best. Maybe post another picture at that time.

Snow dyes, samples & polyester

2010-01-22T20:38:00.009-05:00

After doing some snow dyeing last year, I couldn't wait to start again this winter. The first two pictures are ones I did in December; they're also posted there for my sister to take a look at, because I don't remember which one she prefers. Got nice dark, or strong colors this year because I used a LOT of dye.

The blue fabrics are the four fat quarters I dyed together to try different muslins. From top to bottom, they are the "new" muslin (substitute for Jan Myers-Newberry's choice), not scoured, new muslin scoured, Nature's Way muslin, scoured, and Testfabrics' broadcloth. The muslin quality, as I may have mentioned in my last post, is very similar between the new and Nature's Way brands. The new muslin is not what I would call sueded, but it has a nice hand. I was surprised that the two pieces I scoured reacted somewhat differently, but they are different brands. The new muslin looks better, though this was not an exhaustive test. The unscoured piece did dye, but unevenly and took a lot more squishing. The broadcloth dyed the best, and it came out bluer than the muslins. A small bit of this is due to it being whiter to begin with; mostly it's due to the fact that it was PFD when it got here, and it is mercerized. The process I used was a 'mid-water' immersion. The water to goods ratio was about 5:1, the pieces were stirred constantly for about 12 minutes before adding soda ash solution, and for about 6 minutes afterwards. Then they were put into slide-lock bags, all the air was squeezed out, and they batched overnight.

These next pictures are fabrics I dyed for Kate. They show six- and seven-step value gradations, plus a white piece of fabric at the top. The brown shades are a four-step value gradation. The two lightest lights are .6% and 1.3% OWG, but there is less difference in person than in the photograph, I think. She's going to let me know what she thinks.

The last photo shows a piece of Robert Kaufman's
'NuSuede' in process on a heat press. You can see the difference in color between the processed fabric on the platen, and the unheated fabric hanging to the right. A local sign shop let me have some time on it, because it's a big expense to consider without a test drive. There's a learning curve with the press as well as with the color mixing, but it's definitely worth pursuing. Fun, too.

Testing Radiance and Muslin

2010-01-18T16:37:00.007-05:00

Must be brief; here are samples of the fabric I dyed for the quilt below. Each row has the cotton side above the silk side. The four samples on the left of each row are mixed colors, the rest of the row are pure colors with Pro-Chem's names above.

Also received the sueded muslin. Did a quick water-drop test; it seems very like the 'Nature's Way' muslin I have gotten from Roc-Lon/Rockland Industries.

Unscoured muslin from Quiltworks

Scoured (by me) muslin from Rockland

TestFabrics mercerized broadcloth. This really shows the difference with PFD fabric.
I will be doing a test run with a piece of Nature's Way, scoured, and two pieces of the Quiltworks muslin, one scoured, one not. All three go into the same dyebath. Will post photos when they are washed out. Should do the broadcloth as well.
For your dyers out there, I have the Quiltworks muslin and the Radiance fabric for sale on my website, in quarter-yard increments. There's a link at right, or click on DippyDyes. Thanks!

Quilt for Lancaster almost done

2009-12-03T10:06:00.004-05:00

Hi - just wanted to post a picture of the quilt detail showing the great colors that resulted. All that remains is to finish the binding. After the Christmas projects are done, no doubt.

Oops - updated website

2009-12-02T23:19:00.004-05:00

My earlier post about the book - forgot to mention that I have both Artful Applique II and Applique Takes Wing for sale on my website, http://www.dippydyes.com/. And today I even put quantities into inventory so I CAN sell them. Thanks for being patient! A picture of the cover is at the right. The block is one Jane stitched - originally on fabric I dyed, but it was cropped out for the cover. The background shows on the Amazon 'zoom' page - the 7th image. Yep, still excited!

Early resolutions - getting all introspective

2009-12-02T22:17:00.004-05:00

Well, inspired by the weekly notes from Morna Golletz of The Professional Quilter & International Association of Professional Quilters, I got the book 'Your Best Year Yet!' from the library today. I've never been a huge fan of self-improvement books, because they often seem like I'm kicking myself lower down. So far this book is really different. The two coolest things about it: the 'how to use this book' section in the front says 'it's ok to go ahead and start with the exercises in the back.' The other is from the meat of the Values chapter - the two basic life pursuits models. One model is 'What can I do to prove myself? To be good enough?' The other is 'What can I do with the gifts I have?' Not going to spend a lot of time quoting from the book, but they are two very different approaches, the latter being focussed outward, not inward. (I confess I'm still surprised when people are impressed by something I do.)

Another book I borrowed from the library earlier this year was Chris Gardner's 'Start Where You Are'. He's the author of 'The Pursuit of Happyness' as well; the Will Smith movie of the same name was based on a portion of that book. And a couple years ago I borrowed 'Getting Things Done' by David Allen, after hearing a short bit about it on NPR. That one I now own, after the test-drive of the borrowed copy. All three books tend to have a lot of common sense in common. My goal for 2010 will be to make use of that sense and be more productive. That may sound somewhat silly for a 'sweet little old ladies' craft' (SHRIEK!); if this can be my life's work, I need to be treating it professionally!

One realization I've come to over the past year is that while quilting show and tell is wonderful, whether I'm showing a quilt, experiment or dyed fabric, it's not the same as serious feedback. The Boyertown Guild was kind enough to commission a value scale of blue fabrics for the monthly raffle, and it was very gratifying to see the reaction. When the members saw me holding up the fabrics at the front of the room, a lot of them jumped up to buy their chances. And the guild made a bit of money, even though hand-dyes are normally twice the cost of commercial fabrics. (I did cut them a break on the price.) So the objective reporting - that the guild sold more chances - was good feedback for me. I hope to do more of the same by getting together to do some serious critiques with a friend. At any rate, I've learned to place more value on serious, considered review of my work. But I still enjoy the oohs & ahhs!
OK, enough for tonight. Tomorrow I will be putting the plan in motion!

Book is now available!

2009-11-22T18:01:00.006-05:00

The long-awaited day is finally here! Jane Townswick's new book, Artful Applique II, is now in print, and for sale on my website. It's very exciting to see my work in the book, including on the 'Tools & Supplies' page, plus the back cover. That's because of Jane's great design. All but one of the design chapters are illustrated with work by her students; my Crown Imperial happened to be the one chosen. But the shape of it is so neat that it appears in the other locations too! Here's a link to Amazon's 'Zoom' page; my block is the furthest to the right, on the top row; the one in the middle row on the right below. The background I dyed, and the stamens are discharged black overdyed with fuchsia; doubtless there are other fabrics in the block that I dyed. And finally, here's a picture of my finished quilt:
Thanks for looking!

Catching Up part 1

2009-11-14T17:24:00.012-05:00

Hi - have been cleaning up in the studio after all the last minute work for the shows in September and October. Since then I have dyed a bunch of Radiance fabric in deeply saturated colors, spray-adhered them to black Radiance and cut many triangle pairs out on the shop AccuQuilt machine. They are now sewn together into a top that is going to Barbara Persing for quilting next week, and then will be entered in the Lancaster 2010 show where I will be a vendor again. Not posting a picture until after that time. Still have to locate the rest of the black so I can make binding. At right is a picture of the small pieces while in process.

Another item that made me laugh and may make you snicker too is the following tag that I, the consumer, removed from a carpet purchased for the floor of the show booth. I couldn't make this up! (Check out the content notice on the last line.)

OK, time to make some supper and start putting the dratted paperwork away so there will be room for work again in the studio. Next post will have to include the light box God sent me. Not my words, but doubtless true. Saw part of it going into a dumpster, so I went diving! - Later, all.

Dyeing with Kate

2009-08-30T19:12:00.007-05:00

Here are the results of the dyeing Kate and I did. The first picture
shows all the finished fabrics; the second picture shows a different view of all the fabrics, and the third picture shows a detail of the less than stellar results on a few of the pieces. Not bad altogether. These fabrics are all going to be used in Best of Strip Piecing I & II with Nancy Crow in October.

What I learned at the Hershey Show

2009-07-31T07:31:00.005-05:00

Went to the Hershey, PA show as an attendee and tried to learn more about this crazy business. Took notes, and took some photos to share with the ladies at Quilters' Remedy. We're both going to be selling at the PA National Quilt Extravaganza in Oaks in September. The more good ideas we can get, the better! Hope we'll see you there!

Pods for fabric bolts, with handle cutouts to make them easier to carry.

Halogen track lights with goose necks. Problem with these is how to mount them if you don't have overhead bars.

Overview of a booth with great antique quilts, and a good view of the use of skirt hangers. Booths at this show are 8' deep.

The advertisement is up! (click this title)

2009-07-22T20:15:00.003-05:00

Yikes! the long-awaited day is here. The video ad on-line at qnntv.com for DippyDyes is up and running. Bless them, they found it interesting and educational enough that they even super-sized it! It was loads of fun to make, plus you get to see the quilt I finished earlier this year. (OK, the binding is still only basted.) Make sure you click on the little 4-way arrow button next to the slider to make the picture full-screen. Woo-hoo!

More credit where credit is due: the quilt blocks are designed by Jane Townswick, and will be included in her upcoming book 'Artful Applique II' due out in the fall. The quilt was quilted by Barb Persing, and the setting was found in the book 'Setting Solutions' by Sharyn Craig.

Inspired by Daily Visuals

2009-07-21T20:39:00.007-05:00

Took a look at Jane Dunnewold's Daily Visuals blog again. There's a picture of hostas on it that reminded me of a picture I took several years ago. Here's the original picture, plus two cropped versions. The white bits are apple blossoms, mostly. What do you think? Thanks!

More on flat dyeing and other things

2009-07-21T19:32:00.004-05:00

A big thank-you to the folks who commented here or by email regarding the flat dyed samples. Just to clarify, I'm not taking the class with Nancy, I'm just helping friends with their dyeing. Doing the work did prompt me to get her two recent books 'Nancy Crow' and 'Crossroads' out of the library. I enjoyed looking at her work, and especially seeing her inspirations translated into cloth. Last year I took 'Dyeing to Discharge' with Carol Soderlund at Nancy's, and got to see her students' work in process upstairs when we took breaks. (Click on the subject list, below right, for links to my posts on that class. Then sign up for it!) The small samples were done with proportions from the Color Mixing I class, but only two primaries. Looking at the recipe book reveals that if you disregard value differences there are about 11 different ratios for two colors mixed together. Because of my fondness for discharge, I was trying to flat dye the darkest samples I could. I did get a question about the texture; it's the result of putting the dye on with a plastic pipette. It struck quickly in the center of each pool, with white/light areas around it. I used a squeegee to move the colors around, out from the areas where I applied it. That was an effort to minimize the white areas. The other thing I want to try is an 11-step color gradation, using those different proportions, and pure colors at either end. Then try the same thing with mixtures. Oh, to be able to dye all day, every day!

On a sad note, the dog is no longer with us. He got almost five months which he seemed to enjoy before illness caught back up with him. So we have a less hairy, much quieter house. Here's a picture of Dudley that captures a bit of his silly nature.

On the up side, another friend is coming in to dye on Thursday & Friday. And she recently returned from Color Mixing 2, so I'll get a preview of that class. If I do OK at the fall shows, I hope to take a disperse dyeing class; will post on that if it happens.

Thanks for looking!

Dyeing solids

2009-07-13T16:42:00.003-05:00

Got some work done a couple weeks ago with a friend, helping her dye some yardage for an upcoming class with Nancy Crow. Am I being too obsessive? The solid shade dyeing seems a bit uneven, but it also doesn't look like commercial fabric. The rosey piece is the worst one of the bunch - click on it to see a larger view. Those of you who have taken strip piecing with Nancy Crow, please let me know what you think.

Now to follow up on my last post, I have washed out and ironed the flat-dyed fabrics I was sampling. This picture shows several of them overlapping. The top one has the most varied areas; they're all textured more or less, but none have the usual crystalline LWI effect. What about these for the strip piecing classes?

Thanks very much!

Experimenting

2009-07-07T20:43:00.006-05:00

Have spent some time over the long weekend experimenting with disperse dyes on polyester (a post for another day) and flat dyeing, using a different set of primaries. Also trying to resurrect a barker, using the same primaries. And a new fabric that turned out pretty nice!

Here's a picture of 11" samples I did using the flat dyeing technique written about by Robin of QuiltAntics at http://quiltantics.blogspot.com/2008/04/flat-dyeing.html. Thanks, Robin. The primaries are Turquoise, Golden Yellow, and Boysenberry (Pro Chem names.) The pictures show the fabrics batching under plastic. I was going for a deep depth of shade, and started by measuring how much liquid the dry fabric could hold. Then I mixed my recipes and applied the colors - a total of about 15 ml of dye for each 11" square. When they have had their final washout and ironing, I will post again. Did find a hole in the new vinyl that I used between the layers. I get about 10 yards at a time at JoAnn with the coupon.

Here's a before and after in one shot photo of the reviving attempt:
The section on the left is fabric I flag-folded between wooden triangles, tied tightly and dyed with a mix that included the creepy turquoise. Not very nice, in my opinion (or fugly, if you'll excuse the expression.) On the right is a half-yard section I tore off and did LWI in a mix of equal parts of the above primaries, aiming for 10 -12% DOS. I rather like the crystalline LWI markings with the bound shibori showing through. Again, it hasn't had it's final washout, but it's good enough to test for discharge. If I decide I want to!

Finally, I have a picture of a 100% cotton Jacquard weave from Robert Kaufman that I dyed - same primaries, no surprise there, but just golden yellow with a hint of boysenberry. This was done full immersion. I think it's a little warmer in person than in the photo, and the flash really highlighted the weave more than in person, too. But it's lovely stuff. I will be adding it to the 'PFD' category at http://www.dippydyes.com/ - anything to make a buck to support this habit! It's not technically a PFD, but I did nothing to it before dyeing - no scouring, prewash, whatever, and I think it came out fine. Haven't done any LWI on it yet; I think the two kinds of patterning might fight each other. That is, the crystalline markings from dyeing and the woven pattern.

So, that's it for tonight. Please post a comment if you have one! Thanks.

Website update in process

2009-06-20T16:15:00.002-05:00

Well, the video ad editing by qnnTV.com is nearly complete, so today was the day to upgrade the website version and upload all the items I have photographed. That is turning into a major disaster. So now I have to wait for their tech support person to get back to me, which is why I shouldn't try this on a Saturday. Maybe I can print thumbnails of fabrics and fill out the important details, in a spreadsheet even, so when I can get back to it, I can do lots of cut and paste. Sounds like a good use of time that is otherwise filled with grumbling and nail biting.

Have created some new items, but I haven't taken pictures of them yet, so I can't post them here. I did order more PFD fabrics from Robert Kaufman, and should see them in about 10 days. Before they show, I will be getting another order from Pro Chemical & Dye - new dyes for cotton and polyester. I hope to make some fabrics for garment sewers that won't need as much ironing, and will be unique. And I'm dreaming and scheming about the next new process, but have to pay for:
Quilt Show booth fee - I'm going to be at the show at Oaks in September
Fabrics & Dyes I just purchased
Tech support for the $%#%(@ website shopping cart software

On a positive note, I will have enough white and black stuff to keep me busy all summer. No excuse not to have enough inventory in September. Hope to see you there! - Lisa

Idle thoughts

2009-06-03T21:50:00.002-05:00

Hi - had a couple nice emails from Kit Vincent, textile artist (for real). Wandering around her blog and ran across the following posts that I'd like to share:

http://art-at-work.blogspot.com/2009/05/art-of-gardening.html

http://materialmama.wordpress.com/2007/02/06/how-a-bobbin-works-and-some-free-pattern-ideas/ Scroll down a bit on this page to see the GIF animation.

Now I need to go check out my niece's blog, to see how that's going. Possibly get some studio work in later this month - sooner would be better by far!

Go Phillies! (Sorry)

Just got a look at Dyed & gone to heaven

2009-04-14T18:56:00.004-05:00

A friend put me on to Lisa Walton's inspirational site. Go there and look (by clicking on the title of this post.) Got to go muck about with my website now. (Grrrr)

Lancaster show aftermath

2009-04-10T19:49:00.016-05:00

Last weekend was my first big show as a vendor. I thought I'd post a picture of the booth taken before the show opened, and some pictures of discharged pieces that sold.

This is the booth, complete with the 'Casbah' look. The floor is actually the ballroom carpet, but it adds to the look, I think.
The remaining pictures are of fabrics that underwent various resists, then were discharged and overdyed. From top to bottom, they are Kaufman's Radiance,
a Moda batik,
Kaufman's Panda

and Sateen,
and a white broadcloth that was dyed several times before discharging the final dark purple.

The studio is at present a disaster; not wasting any pictures on that! And I have three weeks before the next show to restock. Gonna get DH to do some tyeing and ironing, I think. Thanks for visiting!

Happy puppy

2009-02-27T22:30:00.002-05:00

Huzzah! Dudley came home this morning. He's understandably sore, but just about dragged me to the car for the ride home. Boy, a golden retreiver sure looks dreadful with his belly shaved. Just waiting on biopsy results. It's good to have him back. Thanks for listening!

Updated the blog

2009-02-25T18:57:00.003-05:00

If you've visited before, you might notice a new look. I also added labels to everything, and was a bit surprised to note that the category 'Discharge' had the most entries, by 10 to 4. And I enjoyed looking back at my earlier work. It's supposed to be in the 50s tomorrow, Thursday, so I'm planning to fire up the hot plate outside & do more discharge. Tonight I must get more stitching & tying done in preparation. And it's time to mix up some new dye stocks, or else work on taxes. Hmmm - which will be better? Maybe my reward for getting taxes done will be to start dyeing again. Oh, if I had such self-control!
Time to mess with the black fabric.

Doggie recuperating

2009-02-25T18:54:00.002-05:00

Keeping this brief -- spoke to the vet twice today. Dudley has had his spleen out, and two bits were sent off for biopsy. Getting fluids & checks on blood count, etc. Maybe home Friday with luck.

More stress

2009-02-24T20:19:00.003-05:00

Not a dye-related post, but had to vent. My poor puppy is in the hospital tonight. He barely got out the door to do the usual this morning, finished and then laid down on the spot. Long story short: a mass on his spleen, internal bleeding, hopefully he will be strong enough for surgery in the morning. So I posted this picture of his furry self with his pink piggy in his mouth, chewed-off tail & all. Prayers, crossed fingers and toes, touching wood all gratefully accepted. Thanks for listening.

Another discharged piece

2009-02-14T23:04:00.003-05:00

Hi - not lots of time, just wanted to post this picture. It's black radiance fabric with some shibori binding & capping, discharged in Thiox and overdyed. The cotton side is on the left, silk is on the right. Thanks to Carol Soderlund for getting me to this point!

More discharge samples

2009-02-09T13:33:00.003-05:00

We had lovely weather for February here in Pennsylvania - up into the 50s and 60s. So I got outside and did more discharge, including sampling the Robert Kaufman products in bleach. Here's a picture of the two:

The sateen is on the left - it's still very lustrous, the 'Panda' cotton-bamboo blend is on the right. The lines on the Panda are very crisp. No time for more. Hope these pictures inspire! - Lisa

Discharge Samples

2009-01-24T15:42:00.004-05:00

Just received fabrics from Robert Kaufman. The photo shows four fabrics, labelled by maker and fabric type. All were tied the same way and were discharged in a hot (but not boiling) Thiox bath for varying amounts of time. The Radiance (cotton-silk blend) is pinned back to show both faces of the fabric. The Panda is a cotton-bamboo blend. I sponge-painted a large piece of it (50+" square) with Thiox in print paste, and washed it out in the sink. It has a lovely softness, and I understand will get softer with more washing.

I have these fabrics on my website in both black and PFD white, except the Blank black, which is available from my local shop, Quilter's Remedy. See the links at right to go to the DippyDyes site or to their site. Robert Kaufman wants purchases of $1500 per year for me to keep getting wholesale prices, so if I can sell some yardage to other dyers, it will help - thanks.

First quilt show as a vendor

2008-11-09T16:10:00.003-05:00

Just got back from my first fabric-selling show (at a quilt show) and am pleased with the results. It was a small local show, and on top of that had changed its date and location. Sales were reasonable, though I can’t really compare to anything, but as someone wrote, hand-dyes are a niche of a niche of a niche. But I had quilt guild members ask if I wanted to be a vendor at their upcoming show, and if I wanted to speak to their guild. And I had an inquiry from a teacher who has a couple high school seniors who want to do tie-dyed shirts as a fundraiser for their senior project. I said I could teach them. I also need to impress on them the business aspects of dyeing.

People who weren’t scared off immediately by the prices said they liked my work, which was very gratifying! Even more rewarding was my first customer, who accounted for 40% of my sales! She was very excited, and so was I! Here's a picture of part of my booth.

To give credit where credit is due, thanks to the Variable Star Quilters for letting me be a vendor; to my sister who used to do tie-dye with me in the 60s’; to Carol Soderlund for her wonderful instruction and inspiration; and to my husband for putting up with all this colorfulness!

Now back to real life: paying bills, getting the DippyDyes website whipped into shape, and doing all the paperwork generated from the show while I still remember what my notes mean.

Taking the time to continue discharge studies

2008-05-15T22:07:00.007-05:00

Well, one hope I had for Carol's class is that it would help serve as a means to get me re-motivated, energised, etc. It has succeeded in doing that! Yesterday I fired up the hot plate and Thiox and Clorox solutions (outside) and tested a rainbow assortment of fabrics I dyed the day before, plus a commercial batik that had produced good results in class. (That's on the left in the picture.) We tested pure MX dyes in class, so now I'm starting to build a reference of discharged simple mixes. Someday with my free time (!) I'll get through the simple mixes and mess about with three primaries.

Looking at the amount of time involved in one simple page of swatches has made me decide to sign up for Color Mixing for Dyers. There are some spots left in the fall, and I'm calling dibs on one of them! That and a check in the mail might get me somewhere. Now I just need the cost/benefit analysis to persuade DH.

One thing I learned this week is that a warm solution of new chlorine bleach is far, far superior to the old, cold mix I made up. Got around it, but add that to the long, long "learn by doing wrong" list.

Well, it's 11:30 and time to quit for tonight. One more week of the under-paying, gas-drinking job and I'll be focusing on dyeing and quilting! If that's not scary, I don't know what is.

Back to reality

2008-05-12T21:33:00.008-05:00

10:30 PM Monday, 5/12/2008
Back to reality again. I have, however, managed to unpack, launder and iron the pieces that came home with me. The final two days were full of work, including cleaning up the studios and packing, as well as the real work for our final project. I did not post anything on this on Thursday night because I was taping my first Thermofax screens with Gorilla brand tape. It’s a really neat technology that may have spoiled me against silk screening.
Here’s a picture of the 12 squares I dyed, two at a time,
using the same recipe from Carol but changing the primaries for each. I used three different yellows, four reds and four blues. I only made twelve samples, which is only a third of the possibilities. One set was saved as a control, and the other set was discharged, using either Thiox in print past, Thiox by immersion, or immersion in chlorine bleach. A couple were left in the discharge solution too long, and one lost the rubber band resist, but they are a good example of the differing results attainable. I did not do any screens with thickened bleach – something to try in the future. To the right is a fabric I machine stitched, discharged and overdyed while the stitching was still in place. This is a picture of the stitched fabric before gathering, discharging and dyeing.
Also still to try: wrapping fabric around a thick piece of rope and tying it tightly, and also illumination – replacing one color with another by discharging the fabric with Thiox containing a color that doesn’t discharge. One fellow student tried this, but was working on top of a color that wouldn’t discharge. However, the replacement color seems to sit on top of the original color without the transparency you’d expect. This is a blue on top of a yellow that did not yield a green. Very interesting, and could be hard to re-create.
Friday night most of our group went out to dinner together to a very nice Italian restaurant (Scali’s) near the hotels. That’s definitely a place to return to! Didn’t return to the room until almost 11, I think, so there was not going to be any posting done then. Got almost completely packed and managed to sleep in, relatively speaking, until 7:30. Then off to the airport to drop off my commute-mate and fellow student in time for her flight to the west coast, and I was on the road home before 10 AM. The return trip was harder, because I was more tired than I was coming out, but I got home in one piece. The greatest pain involved was refueling my truck after 430+ miles, for a mere $101.27! Yikes!!!
Thanks all, for looking. If you were in the class and I have posted any pictures I should not have, please let me know - you have my e-mail from the attendee list.

Day three - final project looms

2008-05-07T22:02:00.004-05:00

11:15 PM Wednesday May 7
Will be very brief tonight! We did a display of all our discharged and overdyed fabrics this evening:
Our homework is to start thinking about a final project that will incorporate the various techniques we have learned over the past three days - dyeing, resists and discharge methods - into one piece of cloth or a series of pieces. We will also start building our sample pages with the untouched dye, bleached fabric and thioxed fabric. We touched on illumination - simultaneously discharging one color while applying another. Way cool!
I also got to use my first Thermofax screen, and have two more to tape up. (Gorilla tape is awesome.)
That's it for tonight. I do have a large sketchpad page of ideas for the final project that I hope will be achievable. Looks like the beginning of a series to me.

A second lovely day at the Crow Art Barn

2008-05-06T21:46:00.008-05:00

10:30 PM
Another late evening, but well worth it. This will be brief, however, because I have homework to do before bed.
Today we saw some examples of bound, discharged and overdyed fabrics, and proceeded to make our own attempts. By the end of the day we had variously clamped and rubber-banded 18” – 21” squares of black fabrics, soaked them in bleach solution, rinsed and antichlored them. Then they went into the washing machine still clamped. When they came out, two of mine had come apart because I used some old elastic on a spool that didn’t hold up to the wash cycle. They were rebound, and then, after letting them dry a bit, we applied dye followed by soda ash. They are batching overnight, so more in tomorrow’s post.
I also tried discharging a black tee shirt from Michael’s. After a long time in the chlorine bath, it appeared to be just black and charcoal, and wasn’t worth overdyeing. So it went into the washer and dryer with the towels, and here’s how it looked after a good washing out. (Excuse the squint!)
We also discharged the fabric we had put potato dextrin on yesterday. There’s a good view of an assortment of pieces hanging on the line, and also a look down from the deck onto our work area.
We ended the evening with a PowerPoint presentation on what many top artists are doing or have done recently with discharge. Wow! When I don’t have homework to do, I will have to surf to their websites and post a list with links to their sites.
Goodnight for now!

Day 1 of class

2008-05-05T21:13:00.007-05:00

Well, I don’t know how people can produce such great blogs. I’m determined to keep up on this, but I’m not sure if it will be interesting! Today was the first day of the 'Dyeing to Discharge' class with Carol Soderlund, and it was quite interesting. Some things we did were driven by the availability of good weather – we’re supposed to have rain later in the week, so we’re taking advantage of the outdoors where possible.
Today we did some very basic dyeing with Procion MX dyes – all single pure colors on cotton and silk, and made pieces big enough so all of us could have a sample of the un-discharged control, and the end result using one or two methods of discharge. We also brought in commercial blacks and batiks on a variety of fibers, and discharged them with the same methods, leaving one piece for a control. Carol gave us great instructions for small scale immersion dyeing and discharging using both Thiox and bleach.

Our last task was to make up batches of potato dextrin resist. Then, while it cooled, we went upstairs for another wonderful dinner by Margaret Wolf. I have refrained from licking the plates, but it’s a tough struggle. After dinner and conversation, we went downstairs for a lesson in applying the resist. Of course, I jumped the gun, and had potato starch soaking into my fabric a while. It may be ‘spud crud’ when it’s all done, but I did learn to pay attention. Of course the glass of wine with dinner had nothing to do with it!
That’s it for tonight – images include hanging samples on the line on a beautiful spring day, and my larger pieces with the potato dextrin applied. Tomorrow – dried dextrin and post discharge pictures, and my first foray into Thermofax screens. We’ll have a little more classroom time when it rains.

Coming to Columbus

2008-05-04T11:17:00.012-05:00

All the supplies are loaded in the truck waiting to be delivered to the barn late this afternoon. I'm glad to be driving a truck; here's a picture of what it's carrying:

These include tubs of fabric and tools, quart mason jars with lids, 5 gallon buckets, and paint roller, iron, 'Big Board', sewing machine, desk lamp, floor lamp (not shown), camera & accessories, power strips, rotary cutter, rulers and mat and note-taking materials and sketchbooks. This all was loaded on Saturday morning; arrived at the hotel about 6:30.

The hotel (Best Western) is nice - it has all executive suites, so there's a kitchenette and sitting room. Breakfast is OK - 4 or 5 hot choices plus the usual suspects.

Nearby is Pickerington Ponds Wildlife Refuge. Great place to walk and birdwatch. Among other things, they have a viewing deck with a spotting scope trained on an Osprey nest. I saw a chick in the nest, and was lucky enough to see a parent swoop in for a landing. This is a decent view of the nesting stand - you had to use binoculars or the spotting scope to get a good look.

I also found an oriole nest from last year on the ground, and got to see a yellow warbler. This is stuff I like - tonight we get together at Nancy Crow's. More then.

Starving artist is starting to sound good . . .

2006-02-13T19:24:00.000-05:00

Well, there have been no posts here for a month, due to the three week job interlude.

Yep, I made it three whole weeks - a new personal best, er, worst. You name it, it went wrong. So, now I am thinking of re-thinking the whole thing, which is just putting major stress on DH. However, I think he was more stressed in those three weeks than I was, so he might not think it's so bad.

First, though, have to dye up some spring colors and get them into the two shops that have my fabrics on consignment. Then try another two local shops, but that won't happen until after vacation. Signed up last August for the Elly Sienkiewicz applique academy, which begins in 1 week!!!!! Then back to reality plus charge card bills.

As a result of travel plans and job changes, I've been cooking. The last time I cut up leeks, I thought "how neat;" this time I got a photo:
Sorry, it looks a little dingy, but the colors and textures are neat. Now to translate them into fabric.

Have also had GOOD results using the double needle with machine quilting thread at long stitch length for gathering. Beats hand stitching, and, either way they get stitched I love pulling them apart again. The one good sample I have I overdyed -- Black, which is a tribute to the job that didn't last. Well, I'll make another better one!

That's it for tonight - thanks for looking!

Thanks for the surprise Karren

2006-01-11T23:35:00.000-05:00

Decided to try discharge on turquoise Procion MX. Got this piece dyed yesterday and today I folded it and stitched circles in it following the directions in Karren Brito's Shibori book. Then I immersed it in 50% bleach solution - the bathroom exhaust fan and Darth Vader mask in use. Left it in a relatively long time - probably 10 minutes. Anyway, there was a general lightening, I think, but where the cotton quilting thread was left the bleach soaked in a lot. So, even though this looks like white fabric that was stitched and then dyed, it was largely turquoise that was bleached. Very fine detail - the circles are 4" if I remember the template size correctly.

Now I just have to figure out what next. With the detail, I suspect beads will figure into it, or the next one, somehow.

Snow hanging from the rafters

2006-01-10T08:55:00.000-05:00

Wow - close to a month since my last post. Lots of good excuses - you know the story. So anyway, after the Christmas last minute projects were done, I got started on a piece of art cloth which I have entered in the 'Never Static' show. The juror is Jane Dunnewold -- nothing like aiming high from the start.

At left is a picture of the cloth in progress. I think it's attractive; anyway I like it a lot more than a lot of the art quilts I see. It isn't going to challenge anyone, I suspect, but I like it. I feel rather like I should apologize for it, but I'm not gonna.

There's a lot I've learned already in working on it -- especially the importance of keeping the stencil clean, and marking the front of the fabric at the start. I discharged several of the snowflakes before stencilling on paint, and because the fabric was wet, I couldn't tell which side was up. Naturally, the back has several discharge snowflakes on it.

The next thing I learned was about curing paint properly. Yes, it was pressed, just not long enough. So when I gave it another neutralizing rinse for the bleach, you know what happened.

The next picture shows it hanging from the rafters preparatory to taking pictures for the juried show. Some brilliant person on the Complex Cloth forum suggested using grey felt for the print table so it could be used as a photo backdrop as well. That works great! Just need a better camera sometime . . .

One good thing I tried on this cloth is the use of gel medium. The white snowflakes are a very small amount of white Jacquard paint mixed with about six times as much medium. I haven't yet tried just white paint alone, but the mixture has a lot more density than the other paints do, both in terms of value and thickness / texture. It also globbed off on adjacent fabric the most because of not being cured properly. I probably won't re-make the whole piece, but it has crossed my mind.

Enough for now - gotta find pleater needles to replace all the ones I broke. That piece of cloth has been pleated and dyed three times so far, and I probably have eight hours into it to date. Picture another time.

Pleater - neat & neater

2005-12-13T19:43:00.000-05:00

Sorry, just felt the need to rhyme. Anyhow, it's amazing how much better the pleater works at 5 PM than 10 PM. Got the first scrap test done, and it is awesome. Heather might never get it back! (Thanks so much for the loan!) I do have it until the end of January - maybe I'll have money and she'll want to sell it then?

Enough for now - gotta go pleat something!

Progress, I hope

2005-12-12T19:43:00.000-05:00

Well, it’s now been two weeks since posting here. At least I have some dyed goods to show off. I also made some bead necklaces that my sister bought, but no pics of those.

The textiles include dyed broadcloth, cheesecloth (first picture) and muslin, painted sheers plus some green cheesecloth that is in the midst of an appliqué block under construction. The orange and blue (third picture) is for the commission – I hope they like it! The other items are for sale – I planned to deliver them to the appliqué classes at Ladyfingers on the 9th & 10th, but the weather and other problems interfered. I was also going to get alum in bulk to try marbling, since I found I have good fabric paints, but that shop (Echo Hill Country Store) was completely parked up on Saturday. The first experiments will end up with grocery store stuff.

Picked up more sheers to paint today – JoAnn has them half off this week! Just standard white and ivory fabric, not sparkly stuff like the blue. The detail (second picture) shows a couple starfish – they were printed with a Goyutaku rubber mold from Dick Blick – neat stuff, and not stinky like the not-so-recently dead creatures would be. When I got it, it had been handles so much that it was grey - they're very tactile objects. Some dish soap and spray cleaner took care of the hand prints, and gave it surface tension again.

The green cheesecloth and detail is in the appliqué block – the reverse shows the all-over stitching I used to tack it down. If you try this at home, use a rubber eraser to manipulate the cheesecloth, and also do prepared edge appliqué on top, *not* needle-turn. I also made up a sample using machine stitching to hold down the cheesecloth, which will probably get used for foliage. Both work.

On the job front, had two offers I turned down - they both wanted someone for less money than I'd like (until I'm desperate) as well as starting tomorrow, which is tough when it's two weeks before Christmas. Plus I have an interview for a 'real' job Wednesday afternoon, and I DON'T want to mess that up!

Here's the cheesecloth in the appliqué under construction. The left picture shows the back side, and the right picture shows the front in detail.

Well, that’s it for tonight, but better than nothing! Let me know what you think – thanks!

Oops - it's been a little while, or happy domesticity

2005-11-28T16:37:00.000-05:00

Well, there are a few things in the works.

On the job front - sent resumes out today on 5 jobs, and still waiting to hear about 2 with agencies. These I first heard about on the 18th, but either they are filled, or last week was a complete waste as far as the agencies go. I'm guessing & hoping the latter. Have another one to send to at my alma mater, Muhlenberg College. I'm not really a poster child for them, but maybe they'll interview me anyway.

Sewing-wise - the local babylock dealer came up with an owner's manual for my old machine and made me a copy. Huzzah! Sandy said she can pick it up for me - Thanks!

Blog-wise - Well, I'm here anyhow. Got a look at Melanie Testa's blog and website today - click the link at right for a look. Neat stuff, and a nice lady.

Quilting-wise - Have our little group Thursday, so there's a deadline. Will photograph when the machine quilting is done. Outside chance tonight, though it will be better if bound.

DippyDyes-wise (ooh! a rhyme!) - Did decent sales in the shops for November, including the two yards in the picture with Dudley below, but largely by going to Jane Townswick's class and pushing it. She gave me her upcoming schedule, so she doesn't seem to mind. She's getting the work to date on the new designs out to Martingale, the publisher and they'll let her know if they want a book proposal. Jane has been unable to hand stitch for 11 months - I'd go nuts! She's teaching at Applique by the Bay the end of this week, and at the Elly Sienkiewicz Applique Academy in February. And I'm going! Click here for her teacher bio on the ESAA page. She's interested in some hand-dyes for the background for her next quilt, so I'll be making up samples. My best customer!

Happy domesticity: besides applying for jobs, I made pumpkin bread and muffins (cupcakes, really), did two loads of wash, got all the non-dyeing ironing caught up and probably other important stuff that has slipped my mind. Still have a couple missions, then off to machine quilt.

Guess that does it for tonight. Thanks for visiting.

A busy week

2005-11-19T22:24:00.000-05:00

On the job front - had a good interview that went nowhere. Got a call from the former employer - rather peculiar but as I said when asked "How are you doing?" "Calmer, which is good; unemployed, which isn't." Calm. Dyeing helps! Selling dyed goods also helped.

Have gotten lots done on the studio and am finally moving in! Now where am I going to keep all the stuff? The first two pictures show the two sides of the space after mopping the floor, the last picture shows the return of the fabric bins.

Guess it wasn't the right job

2005-11-14T18:40:00.001-05:00

Well, turns out that the temp job I went to today was "filled from within" when I got there. Guess it was the wrong job or the wrong time. It did free me to apply to another 3 places, though.

Tomorrow will be household chores then more dyeing! Here's a couple things I've been doing lately, draped over the supplies waiting to go to the studio. All cotton - the right hand one is Hoffmann black batik stitch resisted and discharged. Plus the Dudley Budley in the foreground. He's 5 1/2 and getting grey! Dinner's done - thanks for looking!

My mentor

2005-11-14T10:15:00.000-05:00

My mentor is Jane Townswick. She's also my biggest customer. She teaches applique three times a month at Ladyfingers Sewing Studio in Oley, Penna and is a great artist, inspiration, and if I dare say so, friend.

Go out and buy her book "Applique Takes Wing." A quilt of mine is in there - page 40. Real casual how I mention that, huh? Otherwise, buy any of the previous books, like "Color Blend Applique."

Enough for tonight!

(Originally posted Sunday night, deleted & reposted it to get rid of comment spam.)

Actually got to dye something again

2005-11-12T18:16:00.000-05:00

Well, it has been a topsy turvey week after leaving the 'real' job. This was a rather sudden departure (my choice), so the past week has been spent job-hunting and trying not to throw up thinking about the old one. Stress CAN be a great motivator, however (see yesterday's post.)

The dye workshop had been set up on two 6 foot tables that had been borrowed from work, so mid week I cleaned them off and today we returned them to the job, and also picked up that dratted library book. So the only thing that remains is to wait for the final paycheck and I can close that page in the book.

Not having the tables is a real drag, but the substitute is at least in the wood shop. So in order to dye today I returned to the original space - on top of the stove. (No counters in the 9-year-old temporary kitchen, but that's another story.) Anyhow, got about 3 yards of fabric dyed, did the rinse job in the upstairs almost studio. If the energy level permits, I'll get more staining done tonight, so the second coat can go on tomorrow.

Also got the washer tub and lid picked up at the powder coater - it's a beautiful finish, and will protect the aluminum from the dye solutions. I could even do solid-color immersion dyeing, rather than low-water stuff. Took a picture of all the disparate bits of washer for a future 'before and after' post.

Here's a picture of the owner's manual (found on eBay):

I consider myself lucky because this model has a pump - not all did! Why a wringer washer you ask? That's a story for another post.

Oh, and my book came from Honolulu - OPULENCE: The Kimonos and Robes of Itchiku Kubota. Another eBay purchase, recommended by various dyers, including Paula Burch on her great site. (Have to add that to the links column.) Incredible images, inspirations, Itchiku.

That's it for tonight!

Trying to be serious about this

2005-11-11T22:05:00.000-05:00

Well, I've accomplished a number of things today in the 'yes, this really is a business' department:
Filed for sales tax license on-line
Decided against fictitious name registration at this point because of fees
Looked at tax implications of for-profit vs. hobby income
Printed up business cards
Set up new e-mail account for DippyDye

Also got the left hand wall of cabinets stained while hubby finished making doors for the under-sink cabinet (see pics!) With a studio like this, I'd better go pro. If not, it's going to be the greatest hobby room ever.

Got a call from the powder coating company. $70 to coat the tub and lid for the wringer washer. That's a really reasonable amount, and I've seen his work, but it does argue against the trip to the PMA craft show.

NB - find a closer craft show - Boyertown Belsnickel is Thanksgiving weekend, and supposed to be very good.

In general, the problem I've had with craft shows is that I usually can make what I see, but don't want to. Likewise I'm too cheap to buy what I see there. Now I must go with a different focus, like what would it be like to set up at this show? (PMA is a whole nother deal, with serious juried competition.)

That's 10 minutes for tonight!

Sat 7:00 AM added the pictures above. Someday there will be textiles to see!

Starting out fresh

2005-11-10T21:55:00.000-05:00

OK, first blog, first post ever. This, unsurprisingly, is going to be a test to see how it looks, etc.

Significant stuff:
Leaving the old job.
Trying to get closure, or I left a dratted library book there.
Starting the new, temp agency job Monday the 14th.
Gotta thank Sandy for her support.
Gotta thank hubby for support and for the studio. This year HE's the Saint (usually it's me.)

Coming up:
Going to PMA Craft show this weekend - will it be worth $15?

Seriously:
First, finish working on the studio.
Second, work on textile art every day.

No idea if I'll be able to keep this up, but it is the sort of thing that can be done while waiting on hold, instead of playing solitaire.