Seeing Red

I dyed several metres of fabric yesterday. Alas most of it is useless to me due to a severe case of RED-SPECK-ITIS:


Lisa, Annie and others have previously shared helpful tips for combating RED-SPECK-ITIS and I have been a faithful whisker and pantyhose filterer ever since. However, these dye solutions seemed to separate AFTER the whisking adn double-filtering.

I believe that pre-mixed dye powders are the cause of my problems. Normally I only use pure single-hue Procion dye powders but recently I was seduced by some yummy mixed colours. Never again! the results are just too unreliable.

Another Kind of String Theory

As part of exploration of the mathematics theme, I considered a pipe and string shibori piece and got this far [same panel: B&W; True Colour; Enhanced - thanks to Photoshop]:
I’d love to be like Gloria Hansen and have the opportunity to do a shibori workshop with Jan Myers-Newbury.

Allagai Bay

This afternoon we were witness to the unexpected but uplifting spectacle of a wayward whale doing backflips and belly flop splashes in the middle of the bay. (It is the time of year when whales are heading back south but generally their southward migration is further out to sea and out of sight.)

This reminded me that I have not yet posted an image of my 2008 Guild challenge quilt. The challenge theme was Coast and Country and this seemed an ideal opportunity to use some more of my water shibori fabric in Allagai Bay (a companion piece to Tudibaring). Click to enlarge:

My studio overlooks Allagai Bay, the combined waters of Copacabana and Macmasters Beach (see this view from above). The ever-changing patterns on the surface of the water created by light, waves, currents (and whales!) are a constant source of inspiration and delight.

Beyond the Pale

After reviewing the results of my last dyeing session, I decided to pull out the surplus golds and teals leaving behind a set of “Keepers” that I think will work well together in a quilt (Photo 1). I then overdyed the “rejects” with a fresh set of dye to make up a new burgundy set (Photo 2) with some lovely rust and caramel tones. Theoretically, they should all be able to be merged and used together (Photo 3) but I’m not so sure.
  

Puzzled

What is wrong with this picture?
Today I grabbed some new dyes that I bought back in June and set out to dye a 21-step gradation with base “primary” colours of “burgundy”, “antique gold” and “teal”.

I can see evidence of the gold and teal (and I LOVE the greens in the middle) but all the “burgundy” has washed away. The piece on the far left is 100% “burgundy” but, in reality, is murky grey. In the morning, I will decide whether some overdyeing is in order or I will dye some fresh pieces separately. Either way, I need to give the burgundy another go.

Illumination Shibori

My latest bright idea for my “illumination” theme Twelve by Twelve quilt was to try to capture lit windows or lanterns in shibori. The results were not quite what I had in mind but a couple of pieces have potential:

Whale Tracks

Time management is all very well but I make no apology for spending a lot of time gazing out to sea, especially at this time of the year as the whales head north for winter. (I’ve seen four today.)

I love the ever-changing patterns created on the surface of the water by the wind, waves and currents. Here at Casa da Praia, we call these patterns whale tracks.

This is a detail shot of my latest quilt inspired by my surroundings. It shows some of the shibori dye work that I did along the way with the Twelve by Twelve Water Theme Challenge.

Autumn Leaves Transformed

After putting in my order with a local book store weeks ago, at last I have my hands on my copy of Eco Colour - botanical dyes for beautiful textilesby India Flint.

What a breath-taking publication! The images are beautiful. It makes me want to rush out and collect some leaves and try some natural dyeing straight away.

Meanwhile over at Dragon Fly Crafts, Fiona has posted some images of her version of my Autumn Leaf Flurry design that features in the May issue of Homespun.

Shibori Serendipity

In my continuing quest for water, here are today’s efforts:
  
Although the colours are not very saturated, these are my two favourite pieces. Finding a quilting design that complements, rather than competes with, the shibori may be a challenge.
 

These pieces are destined to be backs:
   
In answer to Jody’s question, I followed these steps in making these pieces:

• Soak the fabric in soda ash solution. Squeeze to remove excess solution.
• Wrap the damp fabric around a PVC pipe or soda bottle - it will cling.
• Scrunch/slide the fabric down to the bottom of the pipe or bottle, using string to clamp it from time to time.
• Put dye solutions into bottles - I used a “green” drimarene dye and a “midnight blue” procion dye.
• Drizzle the dyes over the wrapped fabrics.
• Leave to batch for a few hours.
• Unwrap, rinse, dry & iron.

The results will vary depending upon the density of the scrunching; the amount and strength of the dye solutions; and the extent to which the fabric “wicks” up the colour. Shibori serendipity!

Shibori Water

As longtime readers will know, I have had mixed results with shibori in the past. However, once again, a Twelve by Twelve theme has me reaching for my dyes and resists. This time my quest is water.

As I pulled the fabric off the PVC pipe and bottle, I was excited by the watery effect that unfolded. Alas, subsequent washing and rinsing removed all the drama and I was left with two rather boring pieces of fabric.
  

  
There are many possible causes for these disappointing results - I didn’t prewash my pima cottons; I used old mixed dye solutions; the weather was coolish; and I didn’t leave the fabrics to batch for very long. The centre two pieces show the potential of this technique and I decided to try again with some fresh dye solutions. Come back and look tomorrow.