Adventures in Snow Dying

A couple of weeks ago a few of us from our Quilt Guild got together to try our hand at Snow Dying.  We are members of an Art Quilt Interest group that gets together about once a month, to try out some art quilt techniques.  None of us are experts, so we just pick something to try, do abit of research on it, and then give it a go!

We soaked our fabrics in a soda ash solution, wrung them out and scrunched them, placing them upon raised platforms made up of dish drying racks, shoe drying inserts for the clothes dryer, deep freeze baskets, tupperware vegetable keeper inserts, etc.  It's amazing what one can find at home to use! 

We then ventured outside and collected snow into buckets, and made a pile of snow on top of our fabrics.  The snow was a granular type, quite icy even, but once it warmed up inside, it stacked and stuck nicely.

Dawning masks and gloves, we sprinkled dry dye powder onto the snow using straws with the ends cut on the diagonal as scoops.  I used this technique (sprinkling the powder) in a class at a quilt conference a couple of years ago, and really enjoyed the results of this method.  

We also tested some dye solution that was about 10 months old, from our fabric painting workshop, it had been stored in the fridge and coldroom all this time, and it still seemed to work!

I had some "bonus" fabric lying around, stuff that wasn't of the best quality, so I decided to place it in the bottom of my tray, to soak up the leftover dyes once the snow melted through.  It had not been pre-washed, being an after-thought, and soaked in the soda ash solution.  It still came out very well!

                          

The was the red/blue dye stripe, it wasn't very impressive

I just love the intricate patterning

Overall, we were all excited and pleased with the results.

3-D patterning

Smoke-like patterning

Bonus Fabric

Bonus Fabric

Bonus Fabric

Oh, Christmas Tree!

....how lovely were your branches!

I hate putting Christmas away.

December was such a busy month, and I was late at getting everything done.  It was a struggle trying to accomplish what was expected of me!  By the time we got the tree up a few days before the boys came home, to after the New Year'd been rung in, seemed like such a short time, and already I was faced with the task of undressing it!

I was kind of sad, and grouchy about the job at hand.  But what started out as a chore, was transformed into a walk down memory lane, a trail of blessings.

I guess I must have missed it when I decorated the tree a couple of weeks prior, being under the pressure of having to get it done!

Taking those trimmings off the tree, one at a time, made me think of all the people who gifted the ornaments to our family over the years.

I made a series of crocheted balls one year.

Another year, folded stars with cross-stitch

The homemade ones that the kids made while they were in school, or spending an afternoon with Granny.

The ones I, and sister-in-law Gail made.  We were an over-achieving bunch!  When did we ever have time?

Gail made these adorable Santas

Deda's spray-painted pinecones

The bronze spray-painted pine cones tied with cotton string, remind me of Dan's grandfather, who is long gone from our lives...

Quilted spools one year.

Who would've thought, that these adornments would serve as frozen moments of time?

from a family whose kids I'd taught Sunday School one year

I'm glad I didn't miss this blessing the second time, because it communicated the love shared over the years.... that surfaces but once a year.

Plastic canvas Santas held Hershey's kisses

clothespin reindeer

Log cabins

button wreaths

made after his first Christmas!

nail-punched frozen juice tins

dough ornaments made before I was married

Cougars, Wolves and Grandmother's Flower Garden

What do all these have in common?

My husband and I just spent a few days at our family's cabin on a lake, with no power, internet, cable, satellite, or telephone.  Well, almost.  We do have a generator for big jobs, and solar enough for lights.  And sometimes I can get cell reception out, if I remembered to take my cell phone!  But for the most part, we only use these conveniences if we have to.

At first, it seemed awfully quiet, after a busy December.  But then, it just felt so peaceful, with just the crackling of the wood stove, and the ticking of the clock.  I had thoughts of how nice it would be just to live this simply all the time!  I would sometimes feel the urge to look something up on the internet, or email someone, but it was satisfying enough to just make a list of things I needed to remember to do once I got back home.

So, what did we do while we were there?

Well, my husband Dan loves to photograph wildlife, so he was off every morning, seeing what he could see.  And a couple of afternoons he took me along with him, to share in his discoveries.  One afternoon we hiked up to the top of a small hill and made a fire on which we boiled some water and made some tea.  (Hubby likes to practice his survival skills) We did find some wolf tracks, which is very unusual for the area, and he came across a wolf kill (3-point elk), that made our dog very uneasy being around.  We even went out one night with a thermos of tea and some chocolates, hoping to catch a glimpse of, or hear the howls of a wolf.  Don't worry,  I was too scared to get out of the vehicle!

The area is also known for cougars, which sometimes show themselves in the community.  We have never seen one yet, but my hubby met up with some cougar hunters on the days he was out.

He did get some amazing shots of bighorn sheep, which frequent the roadsides.  Our dog is getting real good at keeping quiet (in the Jeep) while Dan attempts to capture those perfect images.

I must admit, he didn't take these shots recently, I just couldn't wait for him to download the new ones!

As for me, I did a number of things on our getaway.  I did some reading (local history is a favorite).  I took some crochet projects, but soon realized I didn't have the right sized hooks for one, nor the pattern for the other.  I addressed some envelopes for my Ireland Tour, but my most fun activity was working on my Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt.

I started it a couple of years back, yes, one summer at the lake!  In fact, I even blogged about it at the time (July 27, 2010).  It was the perfect little hand-work project, and I've take it to my guild meetings once in a while.  I'm convinced the ladies there don't believe I will ever finish it!  Well, I'm finally at the stage where I can put it together, and see where I need to add and subtract hexagons from it.  It is just going to be a wall-hanging.  It makes me smile every time I pass by it.  Don't you just love those kind of projects that bring you so much joy?

I'm so thankful for the plastic picnic table cloth that I use as a design board, it helps to keep my pieces in order while I assemble it.  Otherwise, I don't know how else I could do it!  I take a photo of it every time I move a few pieces, updating my "plan", and deleting the previous photo, so it doesn't confuse me.  This is my "backup" system!  I'll be rolling it up and taking it to guild meeting with me, to show the ladies that I really do have a plan for all those hexagons they saw me piece!

I will put the body of it together first, then decide how to finish it, auditioning it against different fabrics, and bordering it, possibly with a viney applique, and then hand-quilting it, hopefully in time for our quilt show in September.

If these last few days are an indication of the year to come, then 2013 will be a great year!

Happy New Year!

Fairy Tale Wedding Quilt

Heidi brought me this lovely quilt top she had made for her niece.

The niece is living in Switzerland, and she and her husband had a "destination wedding" in Tuscany or Provence (I can't remember exactly which).  They rented a whole resort/castle/winery estate where all their family gathered to celebrate their union.  Wow!  Talk about being blown away!

Vineyards surrounding the Estate

Heidi had made this quilt with photos from the wedding, using a Stonehenge fabric to represent the stone architecture, and fabric with grapes on it representing the surrounding vineyards. 

The photos themselves were gorgeous, the bride and groom so happy!  A wedding to remember!

Because I couldn't quilt over the photos, I had to be careful not to overquilt it.  You can see I chose to "frame" the photos, and place some curly vines in between.

The quilt was completed in time to send to Switzerland in time for their 1st Anniversary!

International Quilt Festival of Ireland, Here I Come!

If you hadn't already noticed, there is a button on the right in the sidebar, that invites you to come to Ireland with me!

This is my story.

I've been a subscriber to Quiltposium Magazine http://www.quiltposium.com/  for a few years now.  Sew Many Places offers all sorts of trips around the world, specifically for Quilters, and I would drool and dream over them, as I read through this excellant free online publication.  Not to mention the interesting people featured, quilt patterns and recipes that were shared.  With most issues being around 200 pages, it often took me days to get through all the information!

the Quilter's Castle!

Anyways, in last Winter's issue, I learned about Jim West's latest project, the International Quilt Festival of Ireland, and there was an advertisement, asking if anyone was interested in being a tour escort.  It lit a fire in me, and I couldn't get it out of my mind and I finally decided "oh, what the heck" and I sent them an email.

I promptly forgot all about it till I received an email from them this summer, after the first Festival had been ruled a success, (even with the few glitches experienced, being their first year).  After a week of deliberation, I decided to join the team of escorts to my first visit to Ireland in June 2013!

Cliffs of Moher

My tour is a 9-day one, which includes 2 days at the 3-day International Quilt Festival, where we will view several different Quilting Exhibits, and have the opportunity to take classes from some high-profile quilters and shopping at the Quilter's Market!  How exciting is that!  That is my idea of fun!

But the fun just begins when we start touring around Ireland, seeing some of the historical sights and castles we've only heard about, the wonderful landscapes and experiencing the Irish hospitality.

A perfect trip to combine our love of quilting with that of travelling, and meeting like-minded people from all over the world.

Kylemore Abbey

To learn more, just "click" on the link in the sidebar, and it will take you to the International Quilt Festival website.

Let me know if you have any questions!

I'm counting down the days!

I've been tagged!

Sam, from The Quilting Curve http://quiltingcurve.blogspot.ca/2012/11/tag.html has tagged me! Normally, this would cause me to hit the DELETE button, but since I've been in a blogging funk lately, I decided to have fun with it!

These are the rules:
-Every tagged person has to tell 11 things about themselves.
-The person who tagged you asked 11 questions over at their blog. Answer these questions in your post
-Ask 11 questions of the people that you tag (any quilting blogger with under 200 followers)
-Mention the person who tagged you (but for heaven's sake, don't tag them back!)

So, here goes: 11 things about me:

1) I am married to an incredibly talented man, a jack of all trades, a dying breed!
2) I have two handsome, amazing young sons aged 23 and 25, living on their own, with jobs, of whom I'm very proud, but I still worry about them, in this hi-tech age and all the distractions that come with it (games, texting, videos, and mind-numbing tv shows to name a few).
3) I've been quilting for about 21 years, and longarm quilted for others for 6 or 7 years.
4) I like to do other crafts such as crochet, rug-hooking, paint furniture, and mosaic.
5) I like the outdoors, gardening, hiking, biking, kayaking, camping and cross-country skiing.
6) I am 50 years old and been married for 26 years.
7) I like old stuff, especially family heirlooms, things hand-crafted, and hand-made, they speak to me of my past, where I come from, and those who came before me.
8) I love chabby chic style of decorating, lots of white with pastel accents.
9) I like to travel. My first trip was to Tijuana Mexico and Disneyland with my parents when I was 12 years old. At 16, I went on an Educational Cruise around the Mediterranean Sea on a school ship, complete with dormitory's and classrooms. I've been to New England a few times to visit my sister-in-law. My sister and I went to Cuba last year, and had fun laying on the beach.
10) At the time of writing, I have 2 border collie dogs and one tortoiseshell cat. Bailey, the eldest dog is 17 years old, and her days are numbered. I said goodbye to our 17-1/2 year old tabby cat earlier this year.
11) I love going to garage sales, flea markets, and thrift stores, searching for treasures!

a TV stand I just finished this week

Sam, here is a before photo, it started out as a new, unfinished piece .

My answers to questions asked of me:

Q-Did you have an artistic background leading up to quilting?
A- No. I just took up sewing clothing for myself as a teen, and made my first quilt at 17 years of age from scraps. I still have it!

Q-What would you change about your quilting/studio space?
A- Not much at this time. I just moved into it a couple of years ago, and it is a good size already. It is my "public" sewing space, and I still have a private sewing space in the laundry room, that's where I keep my stash under lock and key!

Q-If you could describe your quilting style in one word, what would that word be?
A- QuickAndEasy for the moment, need to use up some fabric.

Q-How many UFO's do you have?
A-Too many! I am good at starting projects, but not good at finishing them! 15 might be a good guess.

Q-What inspires you to quilt?
A-Photographs of nature, others quilts, sayings and quotations that would make a good quilt name....

Q-What kind of information quilt-wise, have you had trouble finding on the internet?
A-Nothing, really, the internet has way more info than I can use!

Q-What is your favorite organization technique? (quilt-wise)
A- Organized?  Who, me?  My peg board. I can hang up alot of tools, they are visible and accessable.

Q-What colour would you like to paint in your quilting/studio space?
A-Pink and black

Q-If you could visit any country or place, where would you go?
A-Russia. That is where my ancestors are from.

Q- What is your favorite meal right now?
A- Anything with Tomatoes, Spinach and Feta!

Q-Where do you buy your fabric?
A- Ouch! I've been behaving myself lately, but I do love shopping online from the States. (Head hanging down in shame) And locally at Flamingo Quiltworx http://flamingodebra.wordpress.com/


Okay, so that is it, folks! Since I do not want to torture anyone else by tagging them individually, anyone who reads this post and has a blog, consider yourself tagged if you want to! And just use the same questions I had! Leave me a comment with your blog address, so I can read what you've written!

Happy Blogging!

It's Been A Long Time.....

Well, I suppose some of you are wondering if I dropped off the face of the Earth or something!

I got busy and stopped writing posts, and I missed reading yours, too!  So, I have alot of catching up to do!

When life gets too busy, something has to give, and I guess blogging had to drop off my plate.  But I'm going to attempt to get back at it, as I've missed seeing what you all have been up to, and getting inspired by all your amazing projects, and being jealous of all that you accomplish!  (I'm speaking to the fellow bloggers out there). 

And I've missed not keeping in touch with my other followers and supporters, whom I've receieved much encouragement from.

I've got a year's worth of client quilts I still want to show off, as it has been a priviledge to be a part of their completion, and I'm so proud of my customers!  I just have to show off their work. 

Since this summer, I have considerably down-sized my business, choosing to semi-retire from custom quilting.  I have felt the need to try to simplify my life, and get back to the basics, having time for my retired husband, who likes the freedom of just picking up and going somewhere, to spending time finishing my own projects and exploring a few more out there. 

So, wish me luck, and hope to hear from all my friends out there!