BIRTHDAY FLOWERS

 I eco-dyed onto paper some of the flowers I received for my birthday.

RAINY SATURDAY FUN

 On our morning walk this morning, I saw this absolutely gorgeously vibrant orange Azalea bush.  I stole a couple of flowers off it.  

I came home and did some eco prints to see what color I could get from them.  I just used alum and steamed the flowers between watercolor paper. 

It didn't come out like I thought.  That's half the fun sometimes.  You never know what you'll get.  It's an indigo blue and yellow.  It's definitely more blue than it appears in this photo.

I pulled out a batik print that I thought I might use for the end of the Pegasus Bars quilt.  I pinned it up to audition it.  What do you think?

BLACKBERRY FABRIC DYEING

I picked some blackberries and put them into the freezer for a few days.  I took them out this morning, to let them thaw a little, then put them into a colander and started crushing the liquid out of them.  That got old fast, so I just took the mess and spread it over a fat quarter of pre-mordanted cotton fabric.  I put another fat-quarter on top and rolled the mess up in a piece of plastic sheeting.

I'll leave it like this for a few days.

I took some of the liquid and put it into an aluminum pot and heated it to 130 degrees F and then dropped another fat-quarter into the pot and removed it from the heat.  I'll leave it in there overnight also.

Boy, does this smell delicious!  No kidding...way better than rotting petunias!