Now I've gone and done it

Dangit. I've been successfully resisting the lure of dyeing my own fabric for YEARS. Too many chemicals, too messy, too much work, I can just buy them, I like using commercial fabrics, blah, blah, blah.

Yeah, well, resistance is futile. Dyeing is too much fun and the results are too freaking yummy. And I can make the colors I want instead of hunting high and low. It's that last part that got me. I REALLY wanted an 8 step gradation of a bright clear pink (also a bright clear yellow, but I haven't gotten to that one yet). The most I could find was 4. And so 2 weeks ago on a Friday afternoon I got a crazy idea and this is the result:



Here are some of the individual pieces:





These are actually a little more mottled than I want for the particular project I have in mind. Just on general principle however, I completely love the mottled effect.

Much credit must be given to Melody Johnson and her wonderful blog post, The Lazy Dyer. Because, hey, I'm lazy too. I've read this post many times and it's the thing that convinced me that maybe I could dye fabric without the too many chemicals and the too much work.

The method I used to get the gradation came from the book Dyeing to Quilt, Quick Direct Dye Methods for Quilt Makers by Joyce Mori and Cynthia Myerberg. Nice simple methods similar to Mrs. Mel's and excellent step-by-step instructions for a wide range of gradations, color runs and different effects. I had every intention of buying this book until just now, when I looked it up on Amazon and discovered it's out of print and a used copy will set me back $85. I guess I'll keep checking it out from the library.

Spokane Quilt Show

The big WSQ-Spokane quilt show is this weekend so I headed to the gigantic new convention center after work last night. I only had a couple of hours at the show and I have my priorities well in line, so naturally I headed straight for the vendors after a quick dinner with mom. There are over 500 quilts in the show and I saw only a fraction of them, but there were a few things I liked quite a bit in the art quilt category.

I'm really liking Kris Calney's work right now. She did the Marble Manifesto quilt in the Kress show that I have pictured below in my post about the opening of that show. And then last night there was this:



Improbable Conspiracy of Genetically Modified Organisms by Kris Calney

I also really liked these two by Lisa Calhoun:



Three Pink Flowers by Lisa Calhoun



The Blue Cup by Lisa Calhoun

Helping Hands

This is the block I'm donating to the 2007 Cheney Relay for Life raffle quilt project. I think they're hoping to make 3 quilts to raffle off this year with all proceeds going to the American Cancer Society. I had planned to do some embroidery on the flowers, but the block is due and, well, I'm tired.

Cool new(ish) stuff

Well, it's day 35 of the Sinus Infection from Hell. I've got a new and different antibiotic and now a corticosteroid to reduce the swelling in my sinuses. Still not much going on here - yesterday I read a book and listened to the football game as my Huskies beat Arizona. Go Dawgs!

I did get something really excellent and lovely in the mail on Thursday so I decided it's time for a photo-roundup of a few of the cool things I've managed to acquire during this strange interlude of being so dang busy and so dang sick.

Rayna Gillman does wonderful and amazing surface design work. I love her blog and I love to drool over pictures of her work. Lucky me, Rayna put some pieces of her art cloth up for sale a few weeks ago and now I have my very own piece to drool over:



Yummy!

Next up is this adorable apron that my aunt gave me back in August. It belonged to my grandmother and goes perfectly with my red and black retro kitchen decor:



Also way back in August, at Pacific Northwest Quiltfest, I couldn't resist this little package of buttons or this little package of retro fabrics. I have no idea what I'll do with the buttons, but I had to have them. I do know what I want to do with the retro fabrics...a quilt with circles!



And finally, on the way to my cousin's wedding at the end of August, mom and I noticed a little quilt shop about a block from the grange hall where they were having the wedding. We were a bit early, so naturally, we stopped and I got these: