So.....

My photo
New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada
Welcome to my world where I try to figure out what I'm going to do next! These days, it is mostly quilting, but you never know what it might be... come find out with me!

Sunday, October 5, 2014

playing in an indigo vat

Accordion pleated, held with clothespins
A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to do some more indigo dyeing in a workshop with Catherine Nichols.  I have to say, I find it truly amazing how you can start with white cloth, put it in the indigo vat, pull it out and it's a pretty yucky yellowy green, and then you can watch it change colour right before your eyes as it oxidizes, and you end up with these wonderful indigo blues.  I don't think I will ever tire of watching this happen.

I can say, with all certainty, I am not really great at planning out a design and spending a lot of time stitching it, as much as I love the designs that can be created - just check out my friend Momiji's blog for some beautiful - controlled! - indigo pieces!   I am definitely more of the lets just try this and throw it in mentality!  Either way, I love the thrill of waiting to see what I am going to get.  This time, I got some pretty interesting pieces!

 I did try a little stitching, and quite like my circles in the middle of this one


 I think this one is a fave, though.  Catherine had pre-dyed some bamboo skewers in fuchsia.  I rolled them into a length of dupionni silk, and then into the indigo vat.  Love the strippy effect!
Here's a sampling of what I ended up with;

sample 3

You can see more of the pieces in my Flickr photostream

More fun happenings this weekend, details to follow!
Happy quilting! 
Janet

6 comments:

Renate said...

What a wonderful array of indigo pieces. Love the piece done with the bamboo skewers. Oh how I wish I could have joined you.

Vicki Miller said...

I love these pieces, especially the cerise and blue striped one!

momiji said...

What fun--looks like you had a great time! The fuchsia/indigo piece is really interesting, and I'll look forward to hearing more about the process sometime. Did the dye just sort of leach off of the skewers?

Gina said...

Great pieces! I have a stack of clothes and fabric waiting for the indigo bath. Such fun.

Maggi said...

What a great selection.

Beth said...

HI! For a while I was unable to comment on your blog posts, but I was reading. The Hubby got me a new laptop and after a bit of frustration I am back.
Love the dyed fabric. The circles and those stripes are so cool.