Monday, August 1, 2011

Indigo Dye Day and Shibori Weaving

warping the loomssome would rather knit!shibori weaving on the loomweaving and munchingwhite on whitethe elegant scientist weighing up the chemicals the mad scientist prepares the indigo concentratesee the lovely clear yellow green dyebath with beautiful scummy "flowers" floating on top?ready to go - dyepot and drip panShibori weaving heading for the potgoing . . .gone! here it comes (after a minute in the dyebath)almost outopening the folds to check the dyeIt's starting to make the magicinto the drip pan to let the indigo oxidizeItajime in the clamp Itajime comes out of the pot all green and niceafter oxidizing for a while, the excess dye is squeezed out.shibori weaving on the drying rackthe woven shibori pattern is revealedthere's that amazing browninto the dye pot it goes

The Vashon Spinners Rock and the Vashon Rigid Heddle Weavers have an indigo dye day - handspun yarns, carded fibers, silk scarves, and Shibori woven scarves all go in the pot and turn blue!

OK, the pictures are really small here, but if you click on the link to the flickr set, the pictures are bigger and if you look at each one individually, it has a caption - and there are a lot more pictures! (This "share this on blog" business is a little limited, it seems to me)

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Quilt Show sneak peak

More than 200 quilts from extra large to extra small, including everything from traditional quilts to holiday quilts to art quilts to jackets, bags, and table runners. Quilts are both machine quilted and hand quilted, and all made by members of the Vashon Quilt Guild! (My quilt is near the rear on the left on the aisle - back with the big quilts!)

There's also a section showing charity quilts (American Hero Quilts, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center Quilts, and Seattle Children's Hospital Quilts).

And there's even a store to buy quilted items, and a fabric store (from our wonderful Island Quilter) and more!

The Vashon High School gym is FULL of quilts, from end to end, and open for your visit from 10AM to 5PM today and tomorrow. So
please come to our show!
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Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Quilt Show on Vashon

If you live in the Vashon Island/Seattle/Tacoma/King County/Kitsap/Puget Sound neighborhood, or just want to take a nice excursion to a lovely Puget Sound Island (complete with a fun ferry ride out of Fauntleroy, West Seattle - or Point Defiance, Tacoma - or Southworth on the Kitsap Peninsula), then come over this weekend to the

Vashon Quilt Guild's quilt show, "Life in Stitches".

I'm on the committee, so I've seen the quilts coming in, and they are pretty fabulous.

And, I'm right now putting the final stitches in my first ever quilt - designed (with a little guidance from Kaffe Fassett), assembled, quilted (after several classes and much sampling), and finished by me (and it only took me 2 years! Yikes!) - which will be in the show (the quilt will, not me, though I'll be there taking a docent shift)! AND, if you come out on Saturday, you can vote for the people's choice award (hint, hint, nudge, nudge)! No photos til after the show (you have to come out to see it), so hope to see you this weekend!

Show is at the High School Gym (right off the main hwy, down at 204th SW) from 10AM to 4PM Saturday June 25 and Sunday June 26.

Friday, June 10, 2011

I'm back

No excuses. Life is just what it is. I will post old news (and new happenings) as I can. My goal right now is once a month! Until then, here is a not so brief photo journey through the last 9 months! If you see anything you're especially interested in, just leave a comment and I'll bump that topic to the top of my list. Wreath of Roses Diamonds quilt without sun streaks Damitra teaches us all to cook Indian food the glory of fallCascade Fox by the road Richard and Nancy on the mountain Amana Star baby bonnet #2 Raggedy models the whole outfit silk bonnet baby   Knot Hysteria Silk Retreat #3 Knot Hysteria Silk Retreat #1 Knot Hysteria Silk Retreat #7 Knot Hysteria Silk Retreat #6 malabrigo scarf Sue Willingham's continuing weaving class Caora Dubh back piece - blocked spinning Dicentra's BFL/Silk Knot Hysteria silk retreat #9 flower hat for baby Rigid Heddle fabric handwoven vest from class at Madrona another naughty fox on the road snowshoeing on Mt Rainier baby quilt design process baby quilt in process Machine Quilting from Quilting Loft class Machine Quilting from Harriet Hargrave class Mary Lou Weidman story quilt class starting to machine quilt the big quilt! And that is not all, oh no, that is not all!