ICE DYEING RESULTS

 Here's how those t-shirts we ice dyed turned out:

ICE DYEING ON A HOT DAY

 After my morning walk I stopped and bought a bag of ice because our icemaker doesn't work anymore and we needed it for our project.

I had put some PFD T-shirts into a soda ash solution last night.  This morning I squeezed them out, set up a table with a plastic sheet.  I got out my powdered dyes and Hailey and Victoria came up to the studio.  We folded and scrunched up the t-shirts and arranged them onto the screen over a tray.

After spreading the ice cubes over the t-shirts, they then applied the powdered dyes of their choice all over them.  This is such a beautiful process.

We'll have to wait until tomorrow to see the results.

AN UNUSUAL SUNDAY

Our Sunday's have become somewhat routine.  But all of this snow has upset the routine.

We did go to PCC in Burien for a breakfast sandwich.  But we only needed to pick up a few items, since I had stocked up last Thursday.

We usually go for a nice walk when we get back, but where can you walk that doesn't have 8 inches of snow.  We decided to suit up and walk up the street.  The dogs didn't complain too much about having to wear coats.  They really enjoyed being out and about.  So did we.  The sun was shining, but off in the distance you could see the really dark clouds approaching.  It's supposed to snow again this evening. 

I decided to take advantage of these great icicles and do some ice dyeing.  I figured Denise would love a tie-dyed back for her quilt.  I watched a few youtube videos, then folded and wrapped a huge piece of fabric (actually two pieces I sewed into one big square about 88" by 88").  I mixed up some dyes - red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple and black.  I squirted the dye onto the fabric, both sides.  Then I added the icicles and wished it a good night.

QUILT BACKING

After lots of measuring and figuring and head-scratching, I made the back for my Chain Reaction quilt.

I barely had enough fabric to make it and had to piece some of the last 6" squares.

DYED HAPPY

I'm really pleased with the results of my dyed fabrics from yesterday.  

I was trying to match some of the colors from the quilt top.  I think I got really close.

This is the ice dyed yard.  Always a surprise.

This is the three colors: teal, light pea green, and a bluish green next to the quilt top and the ice dyed fabric.

A closer look at the ice dyeing.

FIRST HALF

I thought I might dye some fabrics for the back of the Chain Reaction quilt.  I haven't done that in a while!  So I re-read parts of my favorite book, Fabric Dyer's Dictionary by Linda Johansen.  I can't say enough about this book, it has made dyeing fabric so easy for me.  Love it!

So, I got a yard each of fabric into three different dye baths right after breakfast.  Then I got to thinking about ice dyeing.  I decided to go ahead and do another yard that way.  It's always amazing how it turns out.

I prepared a yard with soda ash and salt and put it into tray.

Then over the tray goes an old window screen, then the ice goes on top of the screen.

Then I added some of the leftover liquid dyes from the other dye bags (lots of golden yellow) and some other dry dyes, mainly fuschia, orange and peach.  I dribbled a little bit of the liquid cobalt on there, too.

Several hours later, as ice melts, it looks to me like I didn't have enough dye powders on here, so I added some more.

More dyes added and I poured more liquid cobalt into one end, hoping it would mix with yellows to create greens.   I don't think that is what's going to happen, so later I tilted the tray to keep cobalt away from fabric.

Now, we'll have to wait until morning to see how it all turns out.

And, while all that is percolating, I sewed the second quadrant of the Fancy Forest and sewed the two upper quadrants together.  I'm half way there.

ICE DYEING ON A SNOW DAY

Wednesday, this week, we got 5-6 inches of snow here at our house.  The Seattle-Tacoma area was slammed with 5 to 12" of the cold white stuff.  It brings this town to a standstill.  Since it was treacherous to go out and I didn't need to, I made good use of the time, spending it up in my studio, sewing.

Then on Thursday, we got freezing rain on top of it.  

Since I'm working on my Connecticut Winter Quilt, and I'm getting close to finishing the top, I naturally started thinking about the back.  I knew I didn't want to use the leftover fabrics - then the back would be too much like the front.  And, I really don't want to buy fabric for it, because all of these fabrics were purchased while on our trip to Connecticut last winter.  That leaves just one option - dye my own!  I love this idea.

As my mind wandered while piecing the many blocks into rows, I thought remembered ice dyeing.

I had done a little of that a while ago - and the fabrics where beautiful.

I started some fabric heating in some soda ash mixture.

Then I let it drip dry for a short while.

I got out a large tray and over that I put an old window screen, where I arrange the folded prepared fabric.  I was thinking about using it as binding, so I folded it into strips, thinking that when cut on the diagonal for binding it would look very nice.

And then I headed out to get some of the 'local' ice.

  Brrrrr.  With bucket in hand, I smashed through the thick ice crust and broke some up and brought it in.

I had to break it up into even smaller pieces - it was soooo cold  - and arrange it over the fabric.

Then sprinkle the dye over the ice...

And wait, and watch as it melts.....

....and drips dye onto the fabric beneath....

...and does weird and magical stuff....

...it is so beautiful to watch as it slowly melts....

Then, the next morning, the ice is all melted into the tray below and the fabric has absorbed the dyes.

The dye-design on the fabric is like none you'd get in a conventional way...

Here's some close-ups...

Beautiful and strange and so much fun.