Blocking My Quilt

This quilt was NOT flat, no way, no how. Part of that is because of the improvisational way I pieced it.

I also had to smoosh a few areas when I quilted it so I didn’t have tucks.

I have it laid out on my cardboard cutting board on the peninsula in the kitchen.

I also have a spray bottle filled with distilled water.

I have sprayed almost the whole bottle of water to wet the quilt.

I then patted it into place, making it as flat as possible. It looks darker in this picture because it is wet.

Sometimes it is necessary to pin the edges to hold it in place, but even with the irregularities in this quilt I was able to pat it flat.

I will check it in about an hour to see if it needs any more water of patting.

This ceiling fan is just a few feet away and I will leave it on all night to speed the drying.

When it is dry I will trim it to a rectangular shape and face it and add a casing.

It will take on a whole new look when I do that.

You Can Now Receive An Email When I Add A New Post To My Blog

Thanks to KM for sharing with me that it was possible to add a space on my blog so that you will know when I put a new post on the blog.

You do not have to be a member to sign up for Email notification. I posted this section so you can see where to find it in the right hand column.

You are also very welcome to sign up as a member.

I hope this makes it easier for you to keep up with me!

That is, of course, it you want to!

Quilting Gentle Curves

I do love quilting these curvy quilts. As you can see this one is very irregular. Chances are I will trim this to a rectangle shape.

I think you can see a lot of the quilting in this photo.

You may be able to see the quilting even better on this close up.

I think I have 85% of it quilted so I am definitely on the home stretch.

This is quite a bit bigger than the last two I made with freeform curved seam piecing and has taken longer to create.

I’m always happy to see something I’m pleased with at this stage.

Ice Dyeing Revisited

In addition to the Mandala I showed you recently I dyed several other pieces of fabric and two tee shirts.

I used tee shirts that I had worn and washed many times and got some interesting results. The colors on this one are very similar to the colors in the mandala.

This piece of fabric also contains similar colors.

This piece shows remarkably different coloration. You never know what is going to happen when you use mixed colors of dye.

Here we have a little hint of colors from all the other pieces.

I believe one of the reasons I keep coming back to this process is the exciting results I get. They are totally unpredictable. If they were predictable I wouldn’t have to do them ever again!

Throwback Thursdays From Face Book

For the last several weeks I have been sharing vintage family photos on Facebook.

I thought by sharing them again here I’d have easy access to them and could share them with all my friends and family who are not on Facebook.

These are my paternal grandparents Matilda Gruenwald Koeper and Casper Koeper.

This picture is my Dad and his family.
Left to right: Caz, Bill, (my dad),Casper - my Grandpa, Catherine, Matilda - my Grandma, Catherine, Jerry, and Charlie in front of the families Chandler car. I hope I have the names right!

My grandmother Matilda Gruenwald and her siblings. She and I each had 3 sisters and our brother was the youngest.

From back left to right  clockwise Alma, May. Matilda, Elsie and Sonny.

 

These are my great grandparents Charles and Emilia Gruenwald, parents of my paternal grandmother Matilda Gruenwald.

I will be continuing to post more vintage family pictures on Facebook for the enjoyment  of my family and friends.

I inadvertently became the keeper of these family treasures. Things happen for a reason and I now know they are in the right hands.

I also had the forethought to look at all of them with my Dad one time when he was visiting and labeled them with his memory still sharp.

Simply Gorgeous!

It’s always a surprise to see the results when I do ice dyeing. This was my “masterpiece” from today’s fabric finishes.

It is quite bright, and the pattern can be seen through all the layers. The basic fold creates 16 layers but secondary folds create many additional layers in places.

This one is about 44 inches square.

One More Finish!

I still am working on the other pieces I showed you but this one is done.

The red squiggles I added are just a part of one of the designs on one of my screens. I think they pull it together.

I believe I put 4 layers of pattern on this one.

I also got all the other pieces rolled and ready for the dye pots.

I won’t be dyeing until I get more rolled or clamped to fill up the pots.

I have a batch of ice dyeing “cooking” in the garage and it should be ready by tomorrow afternoon.

It’s really hard to have patience while the ice dyed fabrics are processing. It’s such a surprise when I open them. The way I do things it is totally unpredictable.

Is It Done Yet?

I have been working on layering pattern on fabrics these last few days.
I consider some of these finished and I know I want to do more with others.
YESa

Although the surface design is done on this piece I do now know what else will be done to it.

The birds pulled it all together and gave it movement.

Two different pieces that are each finished.

Three layers worked on over several years!

Three similar strips ready to use.
NO

Needs something but I don’t know what!

I’m not even sure I can save this one, although anything that doesn’t work can usually be cut up and used in piecing!

I have a pretty good idea what I am going to do with this one but haven’t decided on what color to use.

I’m debating whether or not to put these two in a shibori dye pot.

These also could end up in a dye pot.

• There are other pieces I didn’t photograph but this gives you a pretty good idea of what I’ve been up to.

Don’t Put All Your Eggs In One Basket, Put Them On Your Blog!

I’ve decorated a variety of eggs for you. 19 to be exact!

 

 

 

Hope you have a Happy and Blessed easter.

Watching Paint Dry!

I have everything ready to start painting. I am working on my kitchen table.

I put the pieces I painted on the kitchen island to dry overnight.

This is a piece of light weight silk. It has been painted previously and I just added some thermofax printing on top of it.

This is a piece of a heavier silk, a shantung. Most of the fabrics I will be showing you are not finished. I will be adding either more layers of paint or overdyeing them.

For this one I started with a piece of cotton print and used the wrong side. I had preciously layer painted it. After adding the screen print I consider this one finished.

After layer painting this silk shantung I added two screen prints. I don’t consider this one finished.

I will continue to work on this.

Printed on the back side of a cotton print, these were the bottom layer in a layered stack of painted fabric.

It will be interesting to see what happens next as I layer more pattern and color on some of these fabrics I shared.