Marrying Fabrics From Different Dye Sessions

As I study the fabrics I have pinned up on my design wall  I can see what may work together. This is a finished top that will be quilted in time.
I am breaking my rules about not showing unfinished work again, but this is how I can keep track of what I am doing and when. I have a vague idea as to how I will quilt this.

Contemplating How To Use These Fabrics

I have a lot of fabrics I have dyed.
I find one way I can think about possible uses is to just hang some on the design wall and leave them there so I can look at them and get ideas to use them.

I have already made a decision on what to do with one of these pieces and started on creating with it.
A few of them have gone back to the table with the other dyed fabrics.
One of them told me I should use it on another project I will be working on soon so it has also been taken off the wall.
I may be doing some very simple things with some of these. After creating for my shows recently, working on my Olympic quilts and finishing some works in progress it may be time to slow it down a little.
Another advantage of having them hung on the wall is I start to see possibilities for quilting designs.
It’s not a race, it’s the enjoyable process of creating.

It’s Not Finished Yet!

Y’all have asked to see this so I am sharing even though it is not done.

This is that yarn it took hours to untangle.
Everyone else said they knit it in an hour or two.
I’ll be lucky to knit it in 8 hours or so!
I don’t even like it as I don’t wear boas but it never said it would be a boa.
But I will keep it because I LOVE the colors…my current favorites. I'll come up with some way to wear it.
It’s a yarn that has been discontinued for several years.

I Am Sharing A Quilt Block I Designed With Corel

The color scheme for this one is very unique.

Here it is as a rectangle.


Here it is as a square.
Feel free to use the block but be sure you include my name as the designer of the block.

My Life Is Filled With Color Everywhere

Color is a passion of mine.


Dyeing fabric is a passion of mine.


Seeing a range of colors like these examples makes my heart beat faster.


Creating with fibers and fabrics is a passion of mine.


These dyed silk fabrics make me want to play.


Indoors or out color is important to me.
When I chose the name Quilts plus Color for this blog I really nailed it.

They Are Sewn Together!

Once the pieces are sewn together it makes the entire piece more exciting and clearer.
I haven’t measured it but I am guessing it is about 8 feet wide and 24 inches high.
Of course the next steps will be to layer and quilt this.
I am pleased with it so far.
This would look fantastic hung above a double doorway or a large window. I can also visualize it hung above a sofa, bed or buffet.

Minnesota Family Departure

It was great to have the entire Minnesota family here at one time.
They’re heading north now.

Family Visit This Weekend

These are the first two cars of family to arrive. They are trying pizza from the new pizza place in the Village. They gave it a heads up and said they’ll order from there again.
Jeff (on the right) just stopped over to see everyone.

This group finally arrive at midnight.
Does anyone recognize the guy in the middle?

Mystic Movement- A Favorite Of Mine

                        Mystic Movement   18.5 x 15.5 inches   $400

I love strong graphic images. Mystic Movement definitely fits that description.
I started this by simply sewing together some carefully chosen strips I had cut with no idea what was going to happen.
This happened and I couldn’t be happier with it.

It is another one of those pieces that will work in any decorating scheme with any colors.
Machine quilting enhances the design and gives the sharp edge necessary for strong graphic images.

Time For Another Corel Draw Quilt I Designed

I love to use Corel Draw to experiment with possible design ideas.
While this would be something that could actually pieced with fabrics it is not something I would choose to undertake.
Yet taking a section of it could be an interesting design and doable.

This could be a quilt if I took off that triangle section on the right side. I can’t figure out how to do it with Corel Draw but I certainly could create it without that section in fabric.
It would only require 2 templates although you would have to reverse the long triangle when cutting.

When Is More Too Much?

I just found this picture of a quilt I showed you recently.

You’ve got to know when to hold em,
Know when to fold em,
Know when to walk away
and know when to run!

Yes, I needed to RUN away and delete the lower part of this piece I was working on.

So I just took my rotary cutter and made a large gestural cut to eliminate that lower part and I had a wonderful work of art.

Just because I had spent time adding that was NO REASON to keep it when it spoiled what I had created.
I still have the part I cut off and I tried to do something with it. I cut it into smaller pieces and so far it still failed!

Designing On My Design Wall

I shibori dyed this group of fabrics a few years ago.
I decided to put them on the design wall to see if I like what is happening.
Showing it with the furniture gives you an idea of the size.
I do like this so I hope to join and quilt them.

Variations In Fabric Dyeing

I am sharing another group of dyed fabrics.
I hope you find them interesting.

I can’t even remember how I did some of these shibori fabrics. Many were experiments.
I have used quite a few from this group in my work.


Some people dye with intent to use fabrics is a design they plan to create. My normal method is to create dyed fabrics and let them inspire me to create my designs.
This was an example of dyeing with intent and it really didn’t work. Yet, nothing was lost as I had more fabrics to design with and I have used quite a few of these.


This was created with a method of ice dying that was different than what I use. I just slapped it into a few folds or something very quickly. I love the results but so far it has not told me what it wants to be. Some fabrics don’t start talking as early as others, just like some children.


This is a fabric parfait. The fabrics are layered in a container and each one gets a different color of dye and the dyes mix to a degree.
There are just so many ways to dye fabric and so many wonderful results.
If you are not satisfied with them you can always over dye them, paint on them, discharge them, cut them in strips or smaller pieces and put them back together.
With the hundreds of pieces of fabric I have dyed I have never had one I couldn’t see a way to save.

Lucious Hand Dyed Fabric

I have used a few of these in my quilts but there are so many more to use. Everything you see in this post is some method of shibori dyeing.

I played with new ideas creating this group of fabrics and also used some more common methods.


Common palette, different manipulations.


These were dyed black and then discharged with 3 different products.
Dyeing holds my interest as the possibilities are endless.
It is a challenge to decide how to best use each fabric.

Fabrics Considered For June Quilts & Quilting Close Ups

The top right one made it into one of the June Series quilts.
I also think I used a part of the bottom left one.
The others have been overdyed once or more and there are some that need a 6th dying!

I found some close ups of the June Series where you can see the quilting. I thought you might enjoy seeing how I handled a few of them.






As you can see my quilting is suggested by the patterns in the fabric but I only let it influence me to the degree of creating a similar pattern.
I quilt “free and easy” and sometimes it is done in a relatively short time and other times it takes forever. It I the overall feeling that is created with the quilting that makes the quilt. 
I really LOVE to machine quilt when I can design as I go. Often no decision on what I will do is made until the needle hits the fabric and I do something original and something I've never done before.

And Even More June Quilts

It was an intense and enjoyable June creating all these pieces and challenging myself to use as many of the fabrics I had dyed as possible.


June 2


June 14


June 6


June 7


June 8

The quilts vary in size as they each told me what they wanted to be and when to stop and finish them! I was able to use a great variety of fabrics I had hand dyed, some very complex and others very plain and simple.

June Is Just Beginning–Let’s See More June Quilts

There are 20 quilts in the series so I am showing you some more today.

June 4


June 5


June 3


June 1


June 19

You can see similar colors in this group. In fact some fabrics may have been used in more than one quilt.
These gave me a chance to design and use some great original quilting designs. I like to keep the quilting related to the work and design free and easy quilting patterns. Nothing is marked before I quilt and sometimes I don't even know where I am heading until the needle goes down in the quilt.
On some of these you may be able to see the quilting by clicking to enlarge them.

It’s June So Time To Share Some June Quilts

After dyeing a group of fabrics I decided that rather than let them sit on a shelf I would use them right away to create quilts.
I pieced 20 unique quilts from those fabrics.

June Quilt 10


June Quilt 9


June Quilt 12


June Quilt 16


June Quilt 15

These are 5 of the 20 quilts I made in just one month.
It takes studying such a diverse group of fabrics I had dyed to come up with ideas to use them.  I often had several of them in progress on my design wall to see what they were telling me they wanted to be. Once I started the ideas flowed. I was never afraid to just start cutting these fabrics and see the work take shape. It was a great feeling to create 20 pieces in 30 days.
It took me about a year to quilt and finish them for a solo show of my work.