Quilt Camp

Have you heard of MAQ? If you're a regular reader of my blog, you probably have. For those of you who have not, it's 3 days of quilting immersion where quilters can make friends with people who speak the same language and renew that friendship each summer. I just returned yesterday. This year there were 300 quilters who had the choice of 60 some odd classes offered by 20 different teachers.

Some people call it Quilt Camp. We sleep in the dorms at Mount St Marys University in Emmitsburg, MD, located not far from Gettysburg, PA. We eat in the cafeteria where I love to table hop. Sometimes I eat with my students. Sometimes I eat with other teachers and sometimes I eat with my friends from my quilt guild.

There are evening programs too. On Friday night, we are introduced to the wonderful volunteers who put on this 3 day quiltaganza. There are vendors, door prizes and a speaker.

This year I taught a silk applique class, the Curvalicious backpack class and fabric dyeing. I had the most wonderful students. I love the bond we form spending so much time together. Here are some photos from my classes.

The irons are set up outside of the classrooms for all to share.

Some students brought items from home to dye.

Here's a reincarnated pair of gardening sneakers.

And a t shirt.

Saturday night is Show N Tell. Students show what they have made during their first two days of classes.

The teachers present what classes they might teach next year.

It's such a great time. You should consider joining us next year. I promise that you will leave with new friends. You can check it out at www.MAQonline.org.

 

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Fabric Dyeing My Way

I have been juggling many, many quilty things. Soon I'll be able to share a magazine article about my mosaics and some news about teaching on a quilting cruise. I'm also excited and nervous at the same time about a trip to Houston at the end of October to exhibit Curvalicious at the largest wholesale quilt industry show. Right now I am working on prepping for a 3 day educational seminar in MD that starts on Friday. Oy!

On Sunday, I have a full class for my Fabric dyeing workshop. This is what it looked like as I was putting the kits together.

Most of the fabric in the kit is PFD cotton (Prepared for dyeing). That means there is no sizing or any additives that would interfere with the chemistry of dyeing. The black and white fabric is off the bolt from a fabric store. It needs to be scoured before it is dyed to remove any additives.

Yesterday was a dry run. Here's my dyeing set up. I used 3 different dyes from the red, yellow and blue family and combined them in varying amounts. It's important to be very organized. However, I'm quite messy, so I try to remember to wear gloves.

 

I use sandwich baggies to add the different combos of dyes to the fabric. I let them batch (sit) overnight.

Today was washout day. After rinsing until the water ran clear, everything went into the washer and then the dryer.

 

Here's a beautiful stack of fabric. I love all these colors.

I used a combination of PFD fabric, white on white prints and black and white prints. This is what it looks like when I divided them into the three piles.

PFD

White on white

 

And the black and white prints.

This was one of the black and white fabrics I started with.

I love the way this fabric dyed. I haven't seen any other fabric dyers starting with the white on white or any B&W fabrics. I love the results and think they are so interesting. I have been experimenting like this for a lot of years. It's fabric dyeing, my way.

My workshop is this coming Sunday. I think my students are going to love it.

 

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It's All Fun!

What could be better than a workshop where you don't have to bring a sewing machine, fabric or any sewing supplies?  How about a workshop where you don't have to stress about color choices or if you have the exact seam allowance?  What if you got to choose from lots of colors to dye yards and yards of fabric?  It's a no brainer and it was lots of fun today as Calico Cutters Quilt Guild had a fabric dyeing workshop - at my house. 

 

I spent a day making up about 10 gallons of dye in about 20 different colors for my fellow guild members to play with.  I'm so happy I didn't have to schlep everything to a different location.  The workshop was Chez Lynch. They just had to bring lunch and come in clothes that they didn't mind were splashed with dye.  Fiber Reactive Dye is just that - and it's permanent. OOPS!   Holly didn't mind! Who spilled that dye on her???  I won't tell.  It matches her shirt.

 

The plan was to dye outside.  No mess indoors and if something spills, the grass would hide it.  But Mother Nature wouldn't co-operate.  It was chilly, the grass was wet and the forecast called for some intermittent spritzing.  So I waited for the last minute to clean out my garage.

 

 We started the day by ripping 4 yds of fabric into fat quarters.

Soaked them in a soda ash solution and started dyeing.

 

Everyone had their own dishpan to keep their baggies.

it was a beautiful thing to watch them fill up.  Everyone went home with 18 baggies each with its own fat quarter.  They would sit overnight and washout would come in the morning.

 

We did single color dyeing, single color gradation dyeing and 2 color gradation dyeing. We had some extra time and those who wanted dyed some cotton thread.

 

Our guild meeting is tomorrow, Wednesday.  I am keeping my fingers crossed that some of my new dyers wake up early enough to do a washout and dry their fabrics in the morning. This reveal is the best part of dyeing your own fabric. And,  I'd love to see some hand dyes at Show & Tell.

 

I do really enjoy sharing the fabric dyeing experience.