Dyeing and a Correction

I dyed some fabric last night and washed and ironed it today. These dye powders (Procion Mx) are several years old so I was delighted to get such rich colors and nice mottling. These will be used in the quilt I started last Wednesday. I wasn't thrilled with the way it was turning out, so I am going about it in a different way. I had used up quite a bit of fabric and needed to dye some more.



This green is just yummy in person. It's one I dyed a few years ago. I had dyed it blue then over-dyed it with Strong Orange attempting to get a rust color. While it was wet and went into the washing machine, it was a deep rusty brown. Imagine my surprise when I pulled it out of the wash and saw this. It wasn't what I wanted, but was so gorgeous that I knew it would be perfect for something. And it is! It's just the right shade of green that I need for this project. This is just a section of the yard piece. It has a lot of variation throughout.

There was an article in Quilting Arts magazine about using Oil of Olay cleansing cloths in a quilt. Well, I've been using them to wash my face at night for many years. It always seemed a shame to throw them away since they are so sturdy, but they are pretty crummy looking after using. They remove every bit of makeup, including waterproof mascara (I need all the help I can get). I thought I would give them another try and I put them in my blue dyes after giving them a wash and you can't see the stains at all. I'll think of something to do with them and definitely will save them from now on. The orange piece is a dye grabber sheet, put in the wash load with the Golden Yellow batch of fabrics. It is also very sturdy and has a nice leathery texture, which doesn't show in the photo.

And last , but not least, is my portrait from the last post with a slight correction . Vivien left a comment , saying that the left side of his face (facing you) looked fatter than the photo and she was right. I used a Prismacolor pencil that matched the fabric perfectly and that quarter of an inch really helped, I think. Thanks, Vivien! Now I have to quilt it before Easter when I'll give it to my niece.

Now off to cutting strips of those blues and yellows and greens. Wish me luck. I hope this one is a success.