The blog has moved

 I hope you know that already! Here's the new address: https://www.dippydyes.com/blog-posts/

Thanks!

Transparent fabric?

This quilt is a really neat example of transparency in quilts. Boy, I wish I could say it was my work! It's by Modern Quilt Studio, and it's super! It is a good quilt to dye for, once you know some dyeing basics.

"Swatch" by Modern Quilt Studio

And transparency is the subject of my upcoming class on Saturday, May 11 at  Quiltfest Lancaster!

You'll learn all the basics of dyeing, plus receive lots of recipes for colors that you can use to create your own unique transparency effects!
At the bottom of this post for the first time are all three versions of my Shoo-Fly Transparency quilt. What all these quilts have in common is the illusion you can create that one fabric is laying on top of another, and the combination of the two creates a third color.
P.S. - for a look at more samples of transparency quilts, check out my Pinterest board. Thanks!

2019 Schedule!

There are just 25 days left this year. Yikes!! Time to share the plans for the new year. Click on the links below to get more information and Sign Up!
Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival: February 28 - March 3.
Metro Modern Quilt Guild, New York, New York: Saturday, April 6 (Vending)
Quiltfest Lancaster: May 9 - 11 at the old 'Host'. Class: Transparent Illusions, Saturday, May 11.
Dynamic Disperse Dyes class at Peters Valley School of Craft, July 26 - 30.
Lancaster Modern Quilt Guild: Trunk Show and Class: No Muss, No Fuss Thickened Dye Exploration, August 10.
(updated 2/21/2019)

Doesn't everyone use three timers at once?

At DippyDyes, we dye a lot of solid fabric. The easiest way to do this is with a washing machine. For three-yard pieces, a table top washer is ideal. The washer does the stirring for you, because if you want solid fabrics, you must stir. A lot. And then stir some more. Up to 90 minutes for the darkest values.

From left: phone timer, washer base with timer, kitchen timer.

Here's where three timers comes in. There's a timer built into the washer. That runs, stirring the fabric for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes of being still, it needs to run for another five minutes. So when I start the five minutes on, five minutes off period, I set the washer at five, the kitchen timer at ten minutes and I set my phone timer for 30 minutes. The ten-minute timer reminds me to jump up and restart the washer for another five minutes. The washer does a good job of stirring AND of snarling a three yard piece into a mess, and it just doesn't have hands. So at the 30 minute mark, it's time to completely rearrange the fabric.
Yes, there's a little compulsiveness going on here, and thanks to that, I get good solid fabrics. If you'd like to learn more, you can sign up for my email list here: (http://eepurl.com/cHfygr)  Thanks!
Gotta run - my timer just beeped at me!

Spring Clean Your Studio Blog Hop

Oh, my. Where to start! This 12th century quote is attributed to St. Bernard: "Hell is full of good intentions or desires." (That's a hint.) Cheryl Sleboda annually holds a blog hop focused on cleaning our studios. When she announced it, I thought the timing couldn't be better. I had just acquired this:

That is a full set-up for painting silk, including a whole array of Tinfix dyes. The big beast on the right is as steamer, and I've already steamed cotton painted with MX in it - it works great! It will live either in the garage or the basement, because I need to use it outside, not in the studio.  And, yes, even I need a step-ladder to use it!
My first step was to make sure all the studio stuff was up on the third floor where it needs to live. The before pictures of the storeroom show the existing mess with new goodies added.

Well, it does look a little better in the after picture. The UFO pile at the top behind the door has actually been added to, but for me that's organized.
Here are the views from the door into the storeroom.

Still an improvement. But the dirty secret is that the adjoining room looks no better. That's where half the junk got relocated. And that's just the two nice corners of the room.
The actual studio space is in about the same condition. So, to make a tedious story shorter, I moved the needle some, but the tank ain't full!
The up side of all this is that I've learned a lot of things I shouldn't do! When you have every weekend in a month already booked; when your income taxes still aren't done; when the total rework of the website is barely begun, do not, I repeat DO NOT commit to any more time-consuming projects! Look for future posts on studio cleaning, because I am not going to allow myself to play with the silk-painting goodies until taxes, website and studio cleaning are done.

Here is the awesome list of all the rest of the participants! There's a lot of great inspiration to see, with more to come!

April 23 – Lori Crawley Kennedy – http://theinboxjaunt.com/ 
April 24 – Jennifer Thomas – http://curlicuecreations.blogspot.com
April 25 – Robin Koehler – http://nestlingsbyrobin.blogspot.com
April 26 – Andi Barney- https://www.andibarney.com/
April 27 – Misty Cole – http://www.mistycole.com/blog
April 28 – Carolina Moore- http://alwaysexpectmoore.com/
April 29 – Heather Pregger – https://heatherquilts.blogspot.com/
April 30 – Linda Bratten – https://lindabcreative.blogspot.com/
May 1 – Lisa Reber – dippydye.blogspot.com/
May 2 – Teresa Coates – http://www.crinkledreams.com
May 3 – Lisa Chin – http://www.lisachinartist.com/
May 4 – Jamie Fingal – http://www.jamiefingaldesigns.com/
May 5 – Sam Hunter – http://www.huntersdesignstudio.com
May 6 – Jessee Maloney – http://www.artschooldropout.net/blog
May 7 – Randa Parrish – http://www.sewartsyfartsy.com/
May 8 – Sarah Vedeler- https://meaningoflifedesigns.com/
May 9 – Jessica Darling – https://jessicakdarling.com/
May 10 – Melody Crust – http://www.melodycrust.com/
May 11 – Debby Brown – http://higheredhands.blogspot.com
May 12 – Cheryl Sleboda – http://blog.muppin.com

Happy Fall

Various pictures of the season. There's color inspiration everywhere. The transparency samples are not an autumn colorway, but they are what I'm working with right now. I love seeing how the different backgrounds make the colors change.

Small business Saturday: some numbers, and eye candy

DippyDyes isn't the only merchant that has been filling your inbox with holiday shopping emails. Yes we have a sale too, and nobody else is apologizing for all the emails. Why do I feel like I need to apologize?

But anyway, this was to be about numbers. Today is the fourth day of the sale and it continues until Friday the second. Total emails sent: 1322. Total unsubscribes: 9. Total orders: 2. Gross profit: $85.16. So now you know why micro-businesses flood your inbox!

Now, borderline whine and gratuitous accounting stats over, here are some recent additions to the website. Click on any of the pictures to be taken to that fabric on the website. (Go ahead - you know you want it!)