Snow Dyeing

We got 6 inches of snow this weekend.  I am in the middle of a 5 week online course at Quilt U on dyeing cotton from Marjie McWilliams, so my studio is all set up for dyeing.  Perfect circumstances to try snow-resist dyeing. This wasn't part of the course, just a side project.

Looks like a giant snow cone, doesn't it?  the fabric is scrunched up on a screen over a bowl.  the dye is squirted over the snow.  As the snow melts the dye runs down into the fabric, making pretty patterns (or not).    

The photos above look better than the actual results, which are not quite as bright.  The only one I am in love with is the red/orange/yellow one.  The other two have ......possibilities.....

I also tried this on a yard-and-a-half of t-shirt fabric, which I think is a poly/cotton (based on the flame test).  Because of the polyester content I knew it would not absorb the dye as well, I just wanted to see what would happen.  The photo again is better than reality

Three Baby Quilts

I've been sewing up a slew of baby quilts.  My friend Amber had a twins (boy and girl), and my niece Ravon had a little girl.  And how nice that the younger generation discovers the gender of the babies before they are born--how nice for us quilters!  Because I could get a head start, I actually got Amber's quilts delivered before the babies arrived.  I didn't quite make it with Ravon's (Christmas took up a bit of time), but I did get it done in time to take to the christening.

I used (and modified) a pattern from Jenny Wilding Cardon's Little Box of Baby Quilts, which is just adorable.  The quilts are very cute, there is a wide variety, but it's the "little box" format that I just love.  Each quilt is on a laminated card or two, so you just take them out to use--no book to prop open.




Amber and Greg painted the baby room green, and I had her send me a paint chip so that the quilts would coordinate.  I chose colors to coordinate with the map on the back of the quilts.  here's the map on the back of Nellie's and Carla's quilts.  the map on the back of Clint's is similar.











On Nellie and Clint's quilts I embroidered the label--actually the info is scattered around on the back of the quilt.













I popped Carla's quilt into the frame right after I took Nellie and Clint's off, and I forgot that I hadn't done a label yet.  I had to add it after it was quilted, but that actually worked out quite well.  Aurora had been to see the baby by then and had an adorable photo of her.  So I did a printed label, the first time I have ever printed on fabric. Cute baby!






I do love making baby quilts.  The vivid happy colors are among my favorites in the color world.  The photos above do not do them justice.  I recently took a course in Photographing Quilts at Quilt University, and they have gotten better but I still have a way to go.  Better lighting is the answer I think.