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!)

Back to school and teaching and quilting

Greetings! Busy as usual here and ignoring the blog. Just took a look at my recent photos to try to figure out where the time has gone. My family surprised me with an early birthday present - a trip for everyone to the Phillies-Mets game. So now I have a Phanatic dangle hat, because I've always wanted one! And the Mets won, so the nice guy behind me was happy. And we got to see Rhys Hoskins first hit. Once he got that, he's been on fire! He's the NL Rookie of the month for August, and I'm personally taking all the credit. (Ha!)
It's almost time for our last show of the year, the Pennsylvania National Quilt Extravaganza at Oaks, PA. That's just west of Valley Forge, for those of you outside the area. There's still room in my Dye Basics class - and you can still sign up online here, by phone or in person next Wednesday 9/13 or Thursday morning, 9/14 before 9 AM. Let me know if you want to buy a kit with fabric.
Coming up next spring I'll be teaching at MAQF in Hampton, VA in February and - New Date and Location - QFNJ in Edison in April. If none of those dates or locations work for you - I have some really big news! I will be teaching at Pro Chemical and Dye on May 17 - 18. Sign-ups begin in October - watch this space for a link! And below is a picture of one of my class samples.

Look for quilts by Lisa in next year's shows - there are currently three on the to-do list that tie into either the upcoming classes or general business of dyeing.
The to-do list also has 'blog more' included - hope I will see you here!
P.S. - in you are coming to the show at Oaks and don't get the newsletter 'Hues & News' from DippyDyes, please sign up (we send show coupons.) There's a link at the top of the column to the right, or click here. Thanks!!

True Colors Class by Carol Soderlund

Here's my first picture from the class I took earlier this month at Pro Chemical & Dye. It shows a series of skinny quarters, each with an increasing number of layers and colors of dye. The last two have the same number of layers, but the top one was folded twice as much. Loved this class!

So you want to dye some fabric?

A recent Facebook post by Robbie E. turned into a wonderful discussion all about dyeing and washing out cotton fabric. I made a couple new friends that way; one wrote: "This is making me so confused. All I want to do is start dyeing! Any tips on where to start?" Lots of people pitched in before me to praise Ann Johnston's book "Color By Accident." It's still the standard reference, and I was happy to recently revisit some of Ann's techniques. I've been able to scale up to larger pieces of fabric, given the right container.
Another excellent book for beginners is "Tray Dyeing" by Claire Benn & Leslie Morgan. Time to re-read that one!
There are great on-line resources available at Pro Chemical & Dye and Dharma Trading, plus Paula Burch's website here.
And, if you're coming to the Pennsylvania National Quilt Extravaganza show at Oaks, PA, I'm teaching Dye Boot Camp on Thursday, September 14.
Now that the nice weather is here, it's time to give dye a chance!

Testing, testing

Took a photo of my upgraded methods to test for bleeding.
1- fold a piece over and iron between white fabric
And
2- throw a white swatch into the hot wash to look for bleeding in the washer

Dye Cadets, at ease.

Dye Boot Camp is coming up at MQX - the Machine Quilters' Festival in Manchester, NH. I will be teaching and lecturing there all week - the first class is Dye Boot Camp on Wednesday, April 5 at 8 AM! It will be a quick four-hour version covering everything you need to know about dyeing cotton quilt fabric - AND about washing it out! #MQX
Sign up here! (It's the third on the list.)

Class hard at work, learning something new. :-)

 Colors, colors and more colors!

No hat this year, but the whistle might have to be pulled out!

One time event!

This week is the Quilt & Sewing Fest of New Jersey. It's in Somerset, at the Garden State Convention Center. I'm teaching on Saturday, and it's the only time I'm taking this class on the road. There are only three seats left, and you can sign up Thursday and Friday at the show. Here's a peek:
https://youtu.be/0ugDcsgLvr8

It's show time!!

The spring quilt shows are here!
Join us at the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival, February 22 - 26, booth 605.
Join us at the Quilt and Sewing Festival of New Jersey, March 2 - 5, booth 604.
Join us at the Machine Quilting Exposition, April 5 - 8, booth 180.
If you receive our newsletter, you already have a coupon you can use in the booth. If you don't get it - why not? You can sign up here in the box to the right. Thanks!

Knitting and Dyeing and a Factory, Oh My!

The ladies in the Shoo Fly Quilters of Boyertown know that I have a soft spot in my heart for old machinery. Hubby and I used to own Bahr's Mill - an historic woodworking mill just outside of town. And when we travel, we try to find factory tours where ever we can. (Tip - Lowell, Massachusetts, north of Boston, is home to Lowell National Historical Park. Go there!)
Last week I was able to get my factory fix at Kraemer Yarn in Nazareth, PA. (Yep, Nazareth, and that's close to Emmaus and Bethlehem for those of you who aren't from around here.) And it turns out that they sell skeins of yarn - thirty-six different varieties - for dyeing! I have eleven here now and need to narrow that down to about three or four to add to my collection, er, inventory. I'm definitely keeping the super-chunky thick and thin variety. It's at the top of this picture. I also got some already-dyed yarn, but can't share the details until after December 25th. Another plus is that not only is it spun right here in Pennsylvania, it's made from US wool!
Now around here I'll dye anything that can't run away. Can you help me by answering some questions? There's a survey here. And if you're not on the DippyDyes mailing list, you can sign up at the bottom. Thanks!

1000 Yards of Fabric Looks Like This:

The FedEx Ground guy stopped by the house today and delivered my winter's work. It's 500 yards each of Pimatex and Kona in PFD bleach white. For comparison, if this was on 15-yard bolts, there'd be 67 of them.
The next step - moving them to the storeroom on the third floor. And if you wonder - the three boxes these came in weighed 341 pounds all together. Who needs a gym membership?!
PS - praying for snow next!

What I did on my . . . sabbatical(?)

Is it a sabbatical if you don't work in academia? Well, I spent three weeks away from home focusing on surface design, and I got to sell some fabric too. That seems to parallel the idea of a break from the normal routine to take time to study. I've taken single week classes before, but never longer. I wish I could say it was an instant-gratification, earth-shattering, life-changing experience, but life doesn't work that way. This was certainly gratifying, but any change will have to come from within, which, like thinking, is hard. Whaaaa. :-)
Using this sticky keyboard is a pain, too, so let me see what pictures I can find.

Twenty-four monoprints in one day!!

Critique of 'Impaired'

Lovely fungus - need to make printed fabric in these colors

First stage of a monoprint, worth repeating

View from the B&B where we spent three nights. At dawn. I don't do dawn.

This is where we spent the remaining eighteen nights. Much more affordable. Plus we visited my sister on the way out and back. Great way to break up the trip - thanks!

Very grateful to have the opportunity to attend, to be able to sell fabric and dye tools & toys to be able to afford to attend, and support from family to encourage me to attend!

Two minute intro to deconstructed screen printing

Friday, August 12 is the deadline - if there aren't enough sign-ups for my DYE Classes at Oaks - the Pennsylvania National Quilt Extravaganza - they will be cancelled. To pique your interest, watch this:

Thanks, and here's a link to the class descriptions! Classes are September 16 & 17.
Next up, an introduction to the other class - a vest that is machine stitched, then dyed. Time to take more pictures!

Back from the Barn!

Last week I was privileged to attend Carol Soderlund's  Neutral Territory class at Nancy Crow's Art Barn retreats. With the work of our fabulous group of 15 artists choreographed by Carol, we came home with hundreds of samples of ways to mix three (or four) colors together. The results include a great palette of blacks, browns, greens, blues, greys, purples, umbers, ochers and reds. And we did one bright and sassy 12-step color wheel and shaded it with black. Altogether over 600 new samples - with no duplicates! In addition, Carol taught us a new sampling technique and provided great tools for doing the sampling.
Now I'm home and I'm still trying to get the right colors for a client. Great time to use what I've learned! Above is a picture of the washout step of a yellow shaded with two different amounts of black, and each color is done in six values. Two down - 94 cups to go! And as much fun as I find that, there's still business chores and household chores to be done. Rather than whine about that, I will sign off and go 'Git'r'Done.'

Samples are slowing progress

My plan was to start digging into the 400 yards today. If I do 20 yards per day for four days, take a day off, then repeat five times, I'll hit 400 by May 25. I do have 20 yards done, but they are 'extra' yards. Not counting them yet! Anyhow, the picture at left shows two tests on the left next to two supplied swatches on the right. Tonight I did two more to try to match the bottom blue. I got the value better, but still not there with the color. It's also one of those blues that shifts according to the light. Using the Verilux lamp makes it look closer to violet.
I'll keep you posted on my progress - good and mediocre!