Laura Nownes

[Catherine S.]

Two of my GDs (15 and 14) are coming to visit on the 2nd. I am going to encourage them to take the class with me. That should be fun, and keep them from getting too board. They will be here for 3 weeks, so they can get a good start on it. They can finish it at home. I haven't decided if we are going to shop my stash, or go to the LQS. Probably some of both.
I have a list of other fun things to do with them too. They can each pick out what interests them. We can't be going everyday, but at least a couple of days each week. I am really looking forward to their visit.

[Catherine S.]

I had some dye left over from costuming so I decided to use it up with some nice white egyptian cotton pieces I get from Empress Mills and have a range of 6 shaded red, through orange to yellow fabrics to play with, just got to get them rinsed & washed & starched and I will be ready to go.

Some pretty delicious colors, Rosemary... are you going to add something different to the mix or are you playing with a monochromatic palette? Can't wait to see them.

I was thinking of going monochromatic, I had red & yellow left, so I made up shades of
6 R
5 R & 1 Y
4 R & 2 Y
3 R & 3 Y
2 R & 4 Y
1 R & 5 Y
6 Y
Then after the first dyeing period was over, I though that the jump from 6Y to 5Y & 1R quite large, so I combined those 2 bags of dye & threw in another piece of fabric for luck.

I also discovered that my rubber gloves had rotted at the finger tips :roll: , so I think that I might well be calling this quilt 'Caught Red handed' :wink: :lol:

[Rita C.]

I also discovered that my rubber gloves had rotted at the finger tips :roll: , so I think that I might well be calling this quilt 'Caught Red handed' :wink: :lol:

:lol: :lol:

I am definitely going to be shopping from my stash - which recently increased with a bequest from some dear new friends (you know who you are and thank you so much!). I haven't decided what colours yet. We have 4 of our 5 children's birthdays this coming week starting tomorrow so a little preoccupied with present wrapping, cakes etc. :shock:

[Renata L.]

We have 4 of our 5 children's birthdays this coming week starting tomorrow so a little preoccupied with present wrapping, cakes etc.

That's a lot of cake, Rita! Happy birthday to all, hope they (and you) have a great time together!

Rosemary, I can't wait to see your hand-dyes... I loved what you did with Izzy's costume, my imagination is running wild with what you might do with the sampler quilt. I was also thinking... if you are making the sampler monochromatic, it could be fun to pick a different color to add some mini-piping in the border, just to break it up (in my imagination, I was thinking green...). I think it's going to be fun to see what everyone comes up with on this sampler.

[Renata L.]

PosyP wrote:
I also discovered that my rubber gloves had rotted at the finger tips , so I think that I might well be calling this quilt 'Caught Red handed'

Love the title of your quilt Rosemary

Wow, busy week for you Rita. Happy Birthday to everybody!!! Have lots of fun. Hope you don't mind me asking, are your kids anniversary babies? A dear friend of mine back in México has 3 kids, 2 of them are anniversary babies, born February 2, two years apart.

[Rita C.]

Thanks Limbania, no they are not anniversary babies - but DH and I finally realized that we should probably take separate holidays around November every year! :lol:

[Rita C.]

:lol: :lol: :lol:

[wendy w.]

Oooh Rosemary if your fabric is anything like your robe effort it's going to be really interesting.

[wendy w.]

Thanks Limbania, no they are not anniversary babies - but DH and I finally realized that we should probably take separate holidays around November every year! :lol:

:lol: :lol: :lol:

[wendy w.]

Just got my hand dyes dried & ironed (excepting the last piece which was a bit pale & wan, so I've made up the last of the yellow dye, and it is soaking it up as we speak)as you can see the jump between the pure yellow & the 5 Y & 1 R is quite a big jump, that is why I am messing about with the last piece in the dye remains, to see if I can get something that will bridge the gap a bit.

Next problem - deciding where to use each colour :roll: I am planning on using white for the b/ground

And yes green piping would probably look good with these, hadn't got that far in my thinking.

(PS. hope they don't bleed - I'll find out when I starch them, probably tomorrow)

[Renata L.]

Your red-handed dyed fabrics are gorgeous, Rosemary. When I saw the pale yellow one, the first thought that crossed my mind was that it could replace the white background fabric beautifully, if you had enough of it. I get the feeling you are having a blast doing this dyeing. Can't wait to see the rest!

[Betty J.]

Just got my hand dyes dried & ironed (excepting the last piece which was a bit pale & wan, so I've made up the last of the yellow dye, and it is soaking it up as we speak) as you can see the jump between the pure yellow & the 5 Y & 1 R is quite a big jump, that is why I am messing about with the last piece in the dye remains, to see if I can get something that will bridge the gap a bit.

Next problem - deciding where to use each colour :roll: I am planning on using white for the b/ground

And yes green piping would probably look good with these, hadn't got that far in my thinking.

(PS. hope they don't bleed - I'll find out when I starch them, probably tomorrow)

I really love your red handed dyes! Can't wait to see the blocks you make from them.

[Betty J.]

Definitely not enough of the yellow for background, and yes dyeing is highly addictive and great fun. I do my dye baths in plastic bags a la Helen Deighan, good for fqs sized pieces and means that you can play with lots of graduation of shades at once (having a large tray to keep all the bags in order is very useful too)

[wendy w.]

Rosemary why are you starching your fabric?

[Rita C.]

Wendy, we on this side of the water discovered, through our TQS friends, that if you starch the fabric it makes it easier to piece and it also cuts down on the loose threads. Try it, you will love it.