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Last year about this time, I was inspired by a group dyeing adventure at the Interweave offices to host my own dyeing party at home . An invitation to dye. Ranging in age from 13 to 70-something, our band of seven women--most of whom had never tried textile dyeing before--dyed silk and rayon scarves...
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Whenever a new batch of commercial fabric samples arrives in our offices, everyone gathers around to ooh, aah, and dream about how they would use this or that pattern to make a quilt, bag, accessory, or baby item. I'm always first in line to see what's new, hungrily eyeing every stack of new...
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Last year when Pantone announced its Color of the Year — Tangerine Tango — I was a fan. I like cheerful, sunny colors, and this one hit the spot for me. I could see using it in different modes, from fabric to embroidery to surface design techniques . The blues and golds of the batik fabric...
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Usually when we hear the word shibori, we think of dyeing . Shibori dyeing come from the Japanese term for several methods of resist dyeing using binding or tying, stitching, folding, twisting, compressing it, or capping to create patterns. 'Fall Birch Scene' (detail) by Holly McLean. Shibori...
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When I returned to New England from QuiltCon in Austin, Texas, this week, I couldn't help but notice: it snowed again while I was gone. Yes, while I was in the climate-controlled comfort of the exhibit halls surrounded by colorful quilts--and quilters--Mother Nature had thrown another heavy blanket...
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Last week I shared a pillow project by Candy Glendening, noting how the simplicity of the design allowed her hand-dyed fabrics to take center stage. Today I thought I'd give you some insight into Candy's fabric dyeing process. Candy Glendening Colorful baby clothes ready to be picked. By Candy...
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Recently, I shared Marcia Derse's tips for making your own fabric stamps for resist dyeing . The way that Marcia came to surface design and incorporates fabric painting and dyeing techniques into her quilt art fascinates me so much, I thought I'd give you some insight into her thought process...
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Art quilting can be an expensive hobby. A good-quality sewing machine, specialty threads, and stacks and stacks of fat quarters, are just the beginning. It always seems like there's some new gadget, tool, or surface-design supply I absolutely must have. But I come from thrifty New England stock,...
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I just love the Fall. If I had my way, it would always be Fall. Perhaps I'm so enamored because I grew up in San Diego, where Fall is more a designation of time than an actual season, and now the beauty of the New England Fall has enchanted me. Maybe it's because I love the feel of the cool,...
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In the June/July issue of Quilting Arts Magazine we offered to share our stash of hand-dyed fabric strips with you, our readers, as part of our reader challenge: creating a "Staycation" postcard. We have been delighted by the postcards we have received so far and hope to get many, many more...
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Note from Vivika: This is the fourth in a series of blog posts by Candy Glendening showing you how to create unique functional pieces with artistic flair. Now that you've dyed a spectacular piece(s) of multi-colored fabric ,it's time to show it off. What better way than to make a one-of-a-kind...
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Several friends and I got together this past weekend to enjoy a beautiful, warm spring day and eating, drinking, laugh ing— and dyeing fabric by hand! Our dyeing party started with these colors. Ranging in age from 13 to 70-something, our band of seven women — most of whom had never tried...
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Sometimes an idea for surface design is so simple, you wonder why you never thought of it before. That's how I felt when I first saw Rose Hughes' tutorial on using crayons — the kind kids use, nothing fancy-as a resist method with fabric paint. Fabric painting with crayon resist by Rose...
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Batik is one of the oldest methods of dyeing fabrics for surface design. Using hot liquid wax as a resist for dye, batik yields beautiful patterns and rich colors. But traditional batik is time-consuming and labor intensive. But what if you could learn how to batik without the hassles? In this free eBook...
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Fabric designed with baby rice cereal, by Lisa Kerpoe. Now that I'm all moved in down here in Houston, I'm ready to get cooking on some fabric dyeing and other surface design techniques. Although the weather here is relatively warm and sunny, it's too cold for outdoor dyeing (for me, anyway...