Short Break

I'm taking a short break this week for some family time!  See you next Monday!

Deborah

Friday Inspiration - Maryanne Burr's Quilts

If you like quilting, silk, and fabric painting you have to visit artist Marianne Burr's web gallery!  Marianne paints and dyes the silk, then quilts it with hand stitching.  And her designs are gorgeous - bright color, interesting shapes, and fun textures! And I love how they don't look like anyone else's work - such fresh, new work to be inspired by.

Eleven 3 Eleven, 43" x 32"

Cotton Candy, 47" x 37"

Guavas, 12" x 12"

Marianne also writes a blog about her work and the many shows she's in - definitely worth reading.

Happy Creating!  Deborah

Indigo Tie Dye

More tie dye experiments!  This time with indigo .... see this past post for more info on dying with indigo.

This was very easy!  I started with a white t-shirt, folded it accordion style starting at a corner so that the folds ran diagonally.

Then I tied it off about every 2 inches by looping artificial sinew around the shirt three times, pulling it tight, and making a knot.

And into the indigo pot it went!

Now this experiment I like!  Even though I had no idea what I'd get.  Sort of reminds me of comets!

Happy Creating!  Deborah

Tie Dye Experiment

Hmmm .... I haven't yet decided whether or not this tie dye experiment was successful.  They did turn out interesting and a little along the lines of what I was going for - I was looking for a kaleidoscope effect and while they are a little reminiscent of one, they're not all I'd hoped for.  But sometimes after a few days go by, I've forgotten what I hoped to get and I end up liking my experiments!

In case you look at these with unbiased eyes and love them, here's how they went together:

1.  See basic tie dye instructions here.  I used Procion fiber reactive dye powder in Alpine Blue, Medium Blue, Terracotta, Yucca, Baby Pink, and Ice Blue.

2.  I started by folding the T-shirt in half.

3.  And then brought the bottom up until I had a square.

4.  I then folded the top and the sleeves over the square.

5.  Next I folded the shirt in half again to get a triangle.

6.  And then folded it again to get a long triangle.

7.  I drew lines with a washable marker to show where I wanted to put the rubber bands.

8.  Put the rubber bands on tightly.

9.  And began applying the dye - one color in each section.

10.  Into the bags they went until the next day.

And voila ... sort of!  One thing that may have helped would have been to put on more dye and to then squish the section around to make sure the dye was reaching all the fabric - that's why I have large white spots.

Back to the tie dye drawing board!

Happy Creating!  Deborah