Sunday, August 2, 2009

Fabric Day

Today I am working with a lot of fabric for different reasons...


This morning I started out dyeing fabric for my upcoming vendor booth at the East Cobb Quilt Guild Show (Sept. 18 - 20 in Marrietta, GA), so I decided to try another direct dye technique. I bought some Elmer's Gel School Glue and used it to make designs on fabric yesterday as discussed in a recent Quilting Arts Mag. article.





The glue dried overnight, and this morning I mixed a small amount of Procion MX dye solution with its fixative, soda ash solution, to make dye paint. Here's how the experiment turned out.





When it dries I'll rinse it with my other dyed fabrics to remove the water-soluble glue.



I have also been collecting fabrics for a string quilt for my nephew AJ's freshman year at RIT (Rochester Inst. of Tech.). Gotta start sewing because he moves into his dorm room on Aug. 30th! The school colors are orange and brown but some of the sports uniforms are orange and black, so I'll use all three colors for his quilt. These shirts from Goodwill (re-used fabrics can be wonderful) will go into the quilt to add a "male" touch...



And I found these fabrics in my stash...



The colors will blend in the quilt to make an overall look of orange, brown & black. That's the beauty of string piecing.

Duh, it just occurred to me that I can use this direct dye technique to add words and rough pictures to AJ's quilt! Fellow crafters and artists, this is why we write our ideas down!

3 comments:

Julie Bagamary said...

the glue technique looks fun.

Anita Heady Fiber Arts, LLC said...

It is fun and it's very easy. It works with textile paint too as long as it doesn't sit in liquid (the glue will dissolve). Great craft for kids, but the glue has to dry completely before painting.

colorcrazy said...

Awesome! I like the glue technique. Can't wait to see your nephew's quilt.