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;

You can see more of the pieces in my Flickr photostream

More fun happenings this weekend, details to follow!

Happy quilting! 
Janet