Sunday, September 11, 2016

A Stash To Dye For


 A couple weeks ago, I posed the question of possibly of attending a fabric dyeing class to Dave the Quilt Engineer.  The class would be a several hour class on simple immersion fabric dyeing.  At first he was a bit reluctant, but with minimal begging (actually none at all) he agreed to attend the class with me.  Hey, who can turn down the possibility of walking away with 6 yards of fabric each.

So Saturday, we drug our butts out of bed and headed to town to try our hands at creating our own personal fabrics.


The class would consist of our instructor, Suzan, ourselves and a lady from my quilt guild.  We would each be dyeing twelve 1/2 yard cuts of white fabric.  Six would be a gradient color change and the second would be six going from one color to the next on the color wheel.  Both David and I chose to do our gradient color dye using a deep blue.  For my color change I would go from magenta to turquoise and David would go from yellow to magenta.

We made sure we had our masks for safety.



 And we kept everything neat and organized by using zip lock bags and plastic tubs.   


I didn't take a bunch of pictures once we really got into what we were doing.  I didn't want to spill anything, plus playing on your phone with gloves on isn't the easiest thing to do.

After our fabrics had set in their dye baths, we rinsed them to remove the soda ash (the ingredient that makes the magic happen) then headed home to finish the process by boiling them on the stove to remove all the excess dyes.


Much applause to David for taking over this process.  It took many 10 minute boilings before the water started to leave the kettles empty.  But the results from all the hot baths totally paid off!



Fabrics 1-6 (left to right) are my blue gradient fabrics and the the last six are my color change from magenta to turquoise.


One of the most exciting parts of the process, was opening the zip lock bags so see exactly what the fabrics looked like. Did they marble?  Did you create a super cool design?  For my gradient blues, I had one corner of the fabric in each hand and kind of pulled it up like you would a mini blind.  Then when all the fabric was in my hand I would give the tube a twist, then fold it in half, put it in the bag and massage the dye into the fabric before sealing the bag up.  Above is the design that was created.


For the color change fabric, I simply wadded the fabric up into a ball and placed it into each bag.  This created a great marbling effect.

I cannot put into words how much fun this class was.  I think David had an even better time than I did.  You can read more about his view of the experience here.  We've been in contact with the instructor and she was excited to hear that we would both love to do a follow up class to learn more about printing and stamping (David's idea).  Hopefully, we will be able to make that happen in the next few weeks.



And to change the subject just a bit, I was finally able to grab a few more pictures of my Snowflake Shimmer quilt...minus the wind.



And just for giggles, how about my version next to David's version?


I hear there is a post coming soon on Dave the Quilt Engineer talking about creating his version of Yvonne's Snowflake Shimmer Quilt.  There was some extra planning that had to be considered, but I think it totally paid off in his finished top.  Boy, I'm glad 1/2 of his stuff is legally mine :)


Today I'm linking up with Main Crush Monday and Sunday Stash with the marvelous Molli Sparkles.

21 comments:

Cheryl said...

I love your hand dyed fabrics! Such great colors and I love the different subtle patterns you and Dave were able to achieve. I look forward to seeing them make their way into a quilt.

Nancy J said...

gradient shades and colour wheel changes, fantastic. Love your shimmer quilt, and Dave's too. This would be more than enough to persuade me to go to a dying class, if I ever see one near here. Wonder what you will do with your fabrics now?

Yvonne from Quilting Jetgirl said...

The dyed fabrics turned out beautifully, Tish. And I love the new photos of your Snowflake Shimmer quilt - I can see the shimmer! :)

Puppilalla said...

Tish you are cracking me up as always. The dyed fabric turned out fabulously, as did the snowflake shimmer quilts. Half his stuff being yours indeed =) Have agreat week.

Beth @ Cooking Up Quilts said...

There's no turning back now - you've got the fabric dying bug! It's so interesting how different your fabrics came out simply by the way you fold or squish them into the bag. It will be fun to see what you make with these!

Vicki in MN said...

Super gorgeous fabrics, and how nice to do this with your hubby! Have projects in mind for these aready?

Val's Quilting Studio said...

Great variety of colors. Looks like you had fun!

Jayne said...

How much fun was that?! Taking your husband to a dyeing class! Your fabrics turned out beautiful and I'm sure you will make something just as spectacular with them! Both your Shimmer quilt tops are amazing...you taught Dave well!

Rachel said...

Lovely hand dyed fabrics! (My rainbow loving self noticed that if you pool resources, you have every color but green. ^_~) I really like how Dave put multiple colors in the corners of his Shimmer quilt!

summer said...

Beautiful! The fabrics are pretty.

summerdaisycottage.blogspot.com

Ariane said...

Looks like you guys had a great time dying the fabrics. They look amazing. I love both of your quilt tops too.

helenjean@midgetgemquilts said...

The couple who quilt together stay together ! Isn't that what they say ? We went to a fish cookery school together and it was great fun . Until I ate the oysters ...
The photo of all your yardage is a brilliant photo. As if the photo of both your quilts .

Julie said...

I think it's so cool that you two took the class together, and you picked the subtle transitions while Dave picked the vibrant rainbow! Fabric dyeing is either something you love or hate, I think, and it's easy to tell which side you two are on.

Stitchin At Home said...

Fabric dyeing is fun and to have Dave doing it with you a definite bonus. Love the colurs btw. I may just have to dig out my dyeing supplies.

Melva said...

How fun! I just did my first dyed fabric last week as well. With my husband's help and after watching about five youtube videos... I jumped in and was pleased with the outcome. I'll be appliqueing a large peace sign in the center of the fabric for a customer. :)

KaHolly said...

Beautiful fabrics! What fun! XO

Lisa J. said...

This is a great post Tish. I've done immersion dying before and liked it but I haven't done it since. I love the new pics of the snowflake shimmer quilts. I don't think I knew David was making one. His is gorgeous as well.

Sandra Walker said...

Drooling over your fabrics here, just wonderful vibrant colours you guys got! Hilarious that I just read something about a quilter having an ironing board set up 24/7 but never ironing clothes, and I was thinking there's a clothesline but it has fabric hanging out to dry on it! Great photos. Beautiful Snowflake Shimmer quilts too.

Heidi said...

Brilliant photo! All that color on the line is spectacular & you both have amazingshimmer quilts!

Anja @ Anja Quilts said...

It sounds like you both had an awesome time dyeing fabric. Great results. Make sure his Snowflake Shimmer is in your 1/2 of his stuff. LOL I love how he changed the colours.

Lorna McMahon said...

I don't have a clothes line... But that photo of all those yummy fabrics sure makes me wish I did! The work that went into dyeing all those pieces sure was worth it. They are gorgeous and I can't wait to see what you decide to make with them!

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