A Good Day to Dye!

There are these friends that I have that are at least as crazy as ME. It is now 8:00 pm and still 94 degrees outside. (We won't talk about the humidity!) But when it is a good day to dye...you just gotta dye.

I hand-dyed 11 of my 15 bamboo scarves, plus a bit more. This scarf was dyed in peacock and then (because I have to play with something new...) I stamped a Jacquard textile color on top of the dyed fabric with a homemade stamp. Whew! barely made it from end to end with my little sample bottle of ink. I'm lovin' the texture. It will be for sale at the upcoming Azzurro Luna Studio sale that happens in November. 

In the meantime....check out the classes that are being offered at Azzurro Luna!

Pretty much feel "dog tired" tonight, but can't wait too get started tomorrow morning!! 

Happy coloring,

Tana

Quilt in a Box

Square #1 of a pizza box exchange quilt left me today...it will come back home at the end of the year full of 12 1/2" blocks made by my friends of the Have Knots, Will Travel quilt group. I am absolutely terrible at keeping secrets, so I hope no one asks what I made for them. (Of course, they might just find the beans spilt right here on the blog...) I did a variation of the Friendship Star pattern. This quilt just seemed to need that pattern :)

This is the other project I have under the needle. The raspberry orange block on the left was the first 2014 BOM from the local quilt shop that is way way too close to my house. Instead of the 12 1/2" block, mine is 20" finished. I made the half-square triangles from 5 7/8" squares. The pattern is Barbara Fritchie Star, I was so inspired by the pattern and color, I decided to make a small children's quilt from 4 - 20" blocks (and probably a border). Not being able to wait for the February meeting, I cut out more half-square triangle blocks to make the Depression Square pattern. Those two patterns just seemed happy together. The fabric from A Nimble Thimble for our block of the month is the green in between the monkeys. How did she know that would be a perfect fit across from my Depression Square block??

Alternate layout of the squares....

I think I like how the dark green frames the corners. The turquoise and green are from my hand dyed stash. 

I did flip 2 blocks after this picture was taken. Funny what you see in print that you don't always see in real life. Guess I'm off to sew this up quickly, before I start rotating blocks around again or cut into the fabrics I was marinating over.

Happy coloring,

Tana

Finishing

FIRST came paint (and lots of it!!) and next came new kitchen counter-tops. (Oh, and replacing the fridge that moved in when we did 26+ years ago...) Delivery times kept us without an oven/stove top for a week. (Enter the crockpot.) LAST has been a full week of flooring, but the pro's have left and we are adding our finishing touches. (Yes, we probably have control issues. We would have laid the tile if we could justify the cost of the tools for a one time event.) 

A Well Furnished Living Room

It was about the third day of "flooring" when I told my mother "We should have furniture and watch tv in the living room tonight." Furniture...yes....TV...no! (And yes, that is the OVEN by the back door...couldn't get to the crockpot either. Thank goodness the phone could dial take-out.)

So glad that this is now the path I take...

Notice the pug in lower right. He is glad for the finish too!

The quilt is also finished! I call it Backyard Blooms because of the hand dyed fabrics that I did...well...in the backyard! The actual pattern is from Bling Bling Blooms by Annie Unrein. It came as part of a tutorial from Superior Threads. 

The tutorial was for Charlotte's Fusible Thread. 

You wind the bobbin with the thread; sew around your applique shape; cut it out and then fuse to the background fabric. The great plus was being able to cut away the background fabrics. 

 

I really could see the shadow of the black borders from the front before cutting the excess fabric away. It was however, the scariest thing I have ever done!! 

FINISHED!

I think I am for only watching programs that are broadcast in blues, greens and a touch of orange. Don't you think Daffy was a perfect accent for my quilt!

Happy coloring,

Tana

One Thing Leads to Another (and Another)

So, the painting and decorating that has been happening in the living half of our home sometimes goes by "the remodel", but there isn't anything structural being done, so that really isn't accurate. Then sometimes I will say, "Updating," but since I am not necessarily young and fresh and I like what I like...updating is a relative term. Face-lift....I think that is the description I have been searching for and as I suspect, when you get a face-lift, you then need to color your hair, then you need new clothes, and then you need....well, then one thing leads to another and then another.

Needing another thing is where this large expanse of freshly painted light gray family room wall has found itself.

All the nick knacks and wall hangings have circled round and round, into the entry hall and into the dining room and when the music stopped, this wall remained empty. And this is when I broke my main New Year's resolution.  (Finish the 2013 projects before starting anything new in 2014) 

Enter the new project to hang on the empty wall. The thing that sent me off to sew, was 

being able to finally use some of the hand dyed fabrics in a project for me.

My hubby estimated the wall quilt to be up in about 2 days. (He was seriously being generous on the time frame.) I am ready to trim the blocks and the borders are cut.....it has taken, just shy of 40 hours to get to this point. I am doing raw edge applique on the sewing machine, I would never finish if I was doing hand applique!

It was so hard to make the first cut into my batiks, but so glad I found a fun project where they look really happy.  Wish I were ready to do the quilting...

Happy coloring,

Tana

Doing for Others

Well, this is not a post on my being a benevolent humanitarian,(insert snicker) but rather the crazy idea that I can create items from another person's vision.  It started this morning when I checked my etsy shop and had a request for a custom art pillow.

This is the pillow that she liked...BUT....could I do the same muted tones with a frog/toad theme. (If you must know...I'm not very fond of frog/toads.) I decided to make a little sketch of an idea and look through some fabric to see if there was a vision.

I think this toad would be very "hoppy" if the pillow back was cut from a piece of hand dyed fabric. Waiting now to see if our ideas are mutual. He may get a little color pencil anyway just for fun...

Happy Coloring, 
Tana

Confession ~ Lawn Sabotage

Crafty Serenity ~ the hubby is with fishing buddies, playing 42 on the cabin porch while it rains ~ I'm home alone with yards of freshly colored and waxed fabrics that are waiting their turn in the pot of boiling water ~ hot water frees the fabric of batik wax ~ returning the material to soft and supple ~ all the emerging patterns and colors makes me as giddy as a school girl with a new box of crayons...

Suddenly ~ totally encircled by a steam that smells like cooked greens. Wait, was that right? NO! cooked GRASS! 

In my haste to dash between raindrops and the overzealous desire to remove ALL the wax from EVERY project ~ I cooked my yard with a pot of boiling, wax saturated water. 

But ~ I sure am happy when I look at the fabrics and scarves I made that weekend.

Happy coloring,
Tana

P.S. Some of the fabrics and scarves are slowly being listed on my etsy site, www.grannysgift.etsy.com