Some people make dinner for their families. Nice healthy, hot dinners.
Not generally linen dyed in pomengranate juice and then boiled in hot water.
Or fall leaves ready to be cold bundled.
But those people just aren’t having as much fun as I am.
These results will take a few days. So stay tuned. I should have bundled more but am out of usable fabric. My daughter warned me I under no circumstance use any piece of fabric in her room that was white.
Be creative, my friends!
With a name like Colleen, you have already figured out that I am Irish. I remember growing up and smelling corn beef and cabbage cooking on March 17th. My dad always did a better job of cooking it than my mom( no offense at all to mom’s cooking) and he loved to take his time making it. Unfortunately, I haven’t carried that tradition on. I just don’t like the corned beef. But, I love all things green and the shamrocks are very cute but hard to come by. And someday, I would love to travel to Ireland and see where my relatives and ancestors came from. So, in the spirit of the day and in keeping with my Irish heritage, I had to at least wish you a Happy St. Patrick’s day!
And what are those things on- my silk I have unwrapped ! Remember how I wrapped up one piece of silk in onion skins and vinegar and the other in crushed frozen flower petals-about two weeks ago? Well the flower color only lightly dyed it light pink which I am sure will be gone when I rinse it. But the onion piece was very surprising. Look at this little heart that I found.
Even if it rinses out, it made me smile this morning. I need to decide if I just want to rinse it in clear water or add alum-the book says it may produce olive green … on a green day maybe I’ll try it.
So Happy St Patrick’s Day and Happy Sewing, my friends!
I really missed watching the Olympics last night. I would sit down with the kids and just do a little hand sewing each night. Just loved snuggling on the couch with the two kids and it was amazing how we all scattered so quickly last night finding other things to do. Have to think of something else.
I have been trying to play catch up to my online class I have been taking with Melanie Testa at Joggles. We are making a small book which is filled with different techniques and stitches. Time-consuming but she is a great teacher and has plenty of notes to explain things. I need to figure out how to post these on their forum.
Different from what I have been doing but fun to play.
This was a piece of fabric I had stamped last month. Glad to use it for something fun like this.
I also purchased this amazing resource that Robin Ferrier from Simply Robin suggested recently. (She’s published this month in Art Quilting Studio magazine. Don’t forget to get your copy!) I, too, have been thinking of trying dyeing with natural products. But the processing with mordants seemed not worth the hassle. This book, EcoColour by Indie Flint does a great job of explaining natural dyes and is an great resource. I was so inspired that I rolled up a bit of onion skins, silk and sprayed it with vinegar and put it away in a bag for a month. I know, that’s a long time.
Then, I froze some flowers-only had a bunch of light colored tulip leaves- squeezed them into warm water and placed them in another vinegar solution. (Daffodils are toxic-good list of toxic plants, too.) I didn’t used cotton but silk. I chopped up a silk scarf blank that was put away.
I’ll see what happens. I am sure, just as in using Procion Dyes, there is going to be a huge learning curve. I am all over the place this month , aren’t I? Sure did cure the winter blahs though. Now I have so many ideas in my little head that I can’t stop!
Working away on some machine quilting today. Happy sewing, my friends.