Ok everyone. Here's your chance to get some hand dyed fabric. I'm asking for comments on my blog to get into the drawing
www.letscreatetoday.blogspot.com
Luann

Hi Ritzy, come and sew them in the virtual retreat it got my baby quilt finished. A bit of encouragement goes a long way
thequiltshow.com/forum/beginners-corner-ask-anything/7538-virtual-retreat-join-anytime?start=210

Hi friends! I am well but working desperately to get twin baby quilts done. I promise I will be back with pictures as soon as I get them done. I miss you all! ritzy

Ritzy,
Your friends are looking for you. Stop by and say hi,
Luann

ritzy wrote:
Ritzy,
Were you able to browse through the 'fire blog'? Right about the same time you asked, I saw that some very informative posts were done. I didn't get a tutorial onto my blog as of yet. Sometimes, life just gets in the way!!
Hope you're enjoying your day,
Luann

Hello everyone,
Just wanted to pop in and invite you to check out a new discussion that we started yesterday. It's title is Virtual Retreat - Join Anytime
My first message pretty much introduces it. But if you have any questions, let me know.
Luann

Hi Ritzy,
I just checked thru my blog and I realize that I have never actually described it. I'm sorry for my lack of proper instruction. I'm not all that accomplished with the technique, but I will give you a run thru of my way. Kerr Grabowski is the one to look for on a you tube video, and she has a DVD out too.
So here is my method, not detailed. I will try to have a detailed one on my blog by end of the week. Hopefully I kind find how to put up tutorials, so my post wouldn't be so long.
1: I cut pfd cloth into manageable sizes, and put them into a solution of soda ash and water to soak. They should soak at least 30 minutes. I then squeeze them out and lay them flat to dry. You can work with them wet for a different effect. Good experiment to try.
2: I take blank screens, and put designs onto them with thickened dyes. These need to completely dry. But I could see another experiment possibility here.
3: I lay out the cloth I want to print on, place a dried screen on top, and pull another color of thickened dye thru the screen. Subsequent pulls result in more of the dried dye being brought through with the new color and mixing occurs.
4: Batching for 24 hours with warmth and keeping thins damp give the best results. This is probably my hardest step. I have no patience for waiting and I have been trying all manner of ways to speed the process along. Sometimes, I am pleased and other times I could just kick my backside! Like the time I left about 5 yards of gorgeously colored cloth on my fenced in lawn. Went to town and got sidetracked. When I returned home they were all up against the fence, it had turned cold, and started to drizzle on them! Needless to say, things turned out very pale. But then again, I did have a lot of ready to be over dyed or over printed fabric ready for the next experiment!! Yep, I'm a 'make lemonade if you get lemons' kinda girl! I've even been known to make lemonade without sugar, it's downright amazing what you can find in your cupboard to sweeten something up with, try maple syrup sometime. Just not too much.
5: after the batching it's pretty much rinse and wash like you would any other dyed fabric.
I will try very hard to get a post up on my blog. If you have any questions, do ask. Others may have more information to share also.

I hope this helped
Luann
www.letscreatetoday.blogspot.com
And you may want to check out the fire blog,
andthenwesetitonfire.blogspot.com

"deconstructed screen printing" could you please tell me what this is. I know what screen printing is.

Beautiful sheets.

Do you remember a TV show called The Smurfs? I,ve actually posted pictures of the time 'both' gloves failed! I washed them repeatedly and keep my hands down in church that week!!

I just called myself Granny Smurf for a few days,,,

Glad to hear you're enjoying the eye candy.

And for the sheets,,,,

Wonderful eye candy here. I had a little go at fabric dyeing a few years ago, but I did my dyeing in plastic bags following Helen Deighan. This is also when I discovered my rubber gloves had died

AnnieLu wrote:
I now have the 'labels' link working on my blog! Should be easier to find things just remember I didn't use labels in the beginning and I don't know if I can go back in and edit them, and have them stay on the original posting date.

The class I refer to is given by Candy Glendenning over on Candiedfabrics.com.
In 100 she has you measure by tablespoon. I think this is so it doesn't get expensive for a dabbler. But in the next class 101 and subsequent classes she gives you proportions by weight for those powders. There really is a big difference in volume when you weigh a yellow as compared to a red! She is very thorough and I would recommend taking a class from her. If you only want the pure fun of it, and don't care if you can duplicate a specific color, then, it may be a bit intense. I was horrible in chemistry, but this is pure joy for me. I have also found it important, for repetition, to be consistent with the fabric. Candy also helps you buy pfd dyers muslin at a very nice price. And this 'muslin' isn't what I thought of as muslin. Nice weight and supple.

One more thing, for your dyeing workbook/journal. Cut a swatch big enough to really see the colors. If you are doing full submersion and going for solid a snippet is good. But if you do low water or work to get some color splitting a larger swatch will be most helpful.

Have a pleasant day,
Luann

For my dye the color wheel experiment I carefully measured the ingredients and recorded that information. I am interested in locating the class you mentioned about weighing materials. I have only worked in small amounts up to a yard before my friend just had to have a special back for a quilt. I took three yard sections and basted the raw edges together. I used turquoise and golden yellow sprinkled over the ice with 1/8 t & 1/4 t. My friend wants to have the quilt finished by this weekend - a special gift for her brother. I felt like an area of one the pieces needed a little more blue so I squirted some liquid dye on it first thing yesterday. We put the three fabric sections in a bucket for her to take home and wait a few hours before washing. At the time I did not know this conversation was active. I am going to visit her Tuesday and will take pictures then. And joyfully post them - love the sharing!