Oh, Lois ! I remember that odor..Not aroma !..very well ! I was the chicken plucker when we did the fryers that
we raised on our farm when I was a kid ! And grampa singed the litlle pin feathers over the burn barrel ! That's
a smell of it's own. too ! Well, they did taste pretty good when served up for dinner later on ! No dyeing
feathers for me, either !

When I was a little girl I remember watching my grandmother butcher chickens. I remember their heads being place on a wooden block between two large nails. I don't know how my grandma swung that hatchet and held that chicken but she did it. What brought this up. I'll tell you what brought this up. It's the thought of wet feathers because that is the next step, that is the next after the chicken dance was over. Ever hear the expression "she's/he's running around like a chicken with its head cut off." Anyway, the next step is to scald the chickens in hot water so you can pluck the feathers. Dyeing chickens feathers brought this memory and that aroma alive for me. I'll tell you this, I may someday dye fabric but you can be sure I will never dye chicken feathers and I wouldn't recommend it either.

twiglet wrote: Dyed chicken feathers anyone?

oooh a whole new adventure!

Thanks Nancy - the overall effect looks better than the individual stitching, trust me.

As for the fabric dyeing Wendy, I did my dyeing in batches of 3 yards so that there would always be enough to back a quilt if nothing else. But I couldn't resist not wasting all that dye even after I had finished the 3 yard batch, so I dyed some Ikea fabrics with patterns on them and they will be used as backing for quilts too. It's sort of hard to stop once you start.

Rita - Your quilting turned out spectacular! I love the designs on both sides!!

Nancy

Wendy, once you have a dyebath up and running, it is very addictive to just add another piece - a bit like eating chocolates Although if you are using Procion Dyes there is a limited window of oportunity about 3-4 hours I think, If you are using Dylon cold-water dyes, it keeps going as long as you can find fabric to soak it up Which, I believe, is why some dyer ended up dyeing undies - it could be Ami Simms

and 30 yards of fabric dyed. Now what made you do so much or is this normal - I've not done any yet. I shouldn't make comments like that on here Limbania, the size of some of their stashes takes my breath away .

Limbania55 wrote:
Limbania, I am understanding you just fine. I feel the same way about TQS and the Forum. So glad you are joining in the conversation. It will get easier the more you do it! Welcome!

Absolutely, Limbania, join the club. English is not my first language either... it's Italian!

Thanks ladies. You are all so kind and encouraging - it's great! Wendy, I had no idea how good the quilting pattern would turn out. And even the SID worked into the overall design. Just as well I couldn't find soluble thread here.

Limbania, please keep posting - the more the merrier.

It's beautiful Rita Did you have any idea how beautiful the pattern on the back would be?

Rita, your quilt turned out great. I imagine your big smile.

Limbania, it's just great when you take your time to post. You can travel a lot of places where you can use your first language. I have to speak something else, because not many speak my first language, Danish. I'll tell you a story. Many years ago (20+) I was ordering all the books on quilting I found interesting. They of course was in English. One day I came across a book that was translated into Danish and thought I had to support a project like that, so I bought it. When reading I found myself translating it into English . How clever was that? It was a weird experience.