THE OWL AND THE ICE STORM

 We had an ice storm this morning with freezing rain.  It covered everything in wet ice, making it very treacherous to walk on or drive on.  Almost everything was closed or closing.  The Metro buses weren't even running.

I was a little afraid to walk out to the studio, but I did.

I made the legs and feet for the Dastardly Owl and finished him.  He's too cool.  Now he just needs a name and a place to roost.

 

Here are some pictures taken in our backyard this morning.  Beautiful but dangerous.

Our Japanese Maple

So much for traction devices.

Sidewalk with wet ice.

A WALK IN THE SNOW

 We finally got out of the house and made it down to Lincoln Park for a snowy walk in the park.  The snow is about 5-6" deep, dry but crunchy.  It's cold, too!

I made it a short walk because it was too cold and I was worried about slipping and falling - even though it wasn't really slippery.

Jelly wore her little coat and ran around and looked to be having fun.

There's a little tree that people put Christmas ornaments on every year.  I wanted to see it with snow on the ground.  That didn't happen before Christmas, but it finally did (the day after).

Last week, I noticed the dead-looking tree leaning precariously, and the ground around it starting to rise.  Well, it gave in and fell sometime over the weekend - and it's left a big hole right on the trail.

Seen:  the reddest, red of this Redwood - it looks great in the snow.

It's a beautiful morning!

Afterwards, Darrell took me and my machine to Renton to Sewing Machine Service to get it fixed.  And, they did it while we waited.  They said that the needle plate was mis-aligning - and I don't have any idea how that happened - and I don't know why I feel guilty about it.  It might have happened when they serviced it last week - or not.

Here's how yesterday's fabrics turned out --

MONDAY SNOW

 It's been snowing since yesterday and, boy, do we have snow now.  It's also much colder than we are used to, it was down to about 19 degrees last night.  Brrrr.

Darrell has had a fire going downstairs since yesterday and that helps.

The cats have been inside looking out since the snow began.

This morning, Darrell and I were out clearing off the sidewalks and putting out ice melt.

We aren't going anywhere - so my machine will have to wait.  

A WALK IN THE SNOW

 The weather has cleared after the snow and then the rain making it possible to get out and about.  The skies cleared and there was blue!  I took the dogs to Lincoln Park for a muddy walk.  They loved it and so did I.

SNOW!

 We got really hit with snow.  Officially it was over 12", the most snow since 1968.  Nicole and Victoria spent a few nights with us so they could take buses to work instead of driving.

SATURDAY SNOW

Nobody was going anywhere today.  It snowed a bit last night.    Yesterday there were runs on the grocery stores with empty shelves where the bread, milk and eggs had been.  Oh, and the salt was all taken, too.

The dogs were fascinated and a little horrified by the snow.  They didn't spend much time outside, preferring to watch the snow fall from the warmth of the inside.

I finished this up...

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.