Going orange!

Today I took a break from working on the Geisha quilt and decided to try my hand at dyeing some orange fabric.  A friend of mine had given me some samples of orange that she needed. (see below)

Orange sample

These are my results today. (top row)  A think it has too much red and not enough yellow but I will have to wait to try again until a new batch of dye arrives next week

The bottom fabrics are dyed using the same dye as the top fabrics but this was dyed on fabric that I sourced locally.  The man assured me that it was 100% cotton and that I would be able to dye it. ("yes yes can!")Well all I ended up with was 5 shades of Blah!

It was heartbreaking seeing all my lovely  (and costly) dye disappearing down the sink!  Moral of the story.....Buy from a reputable source!

Friday is a public holiday here (Vesak Day) and the kids have a day off school.   If we have time we might try our hand at marbelling fabric using shaving cream.  It will have to be yellow, blues and green as the red is all gone.  Will let you know how it goes......

On a brighter note, my parents are coming in less than two weeks! I am looking forward to spending time with them and showing them around Singapore. Im sure they could use some warm weather too!

Graceful Geisha

Today I managed to work on my Geisha quilt.  This is a pattern from Lonni Rossi that I have had sitting in the cupboard for ages.  It still needs another background and plenty of stitching.  This is to hang up in the very empty hallway of our new abode.   As much as I have enjoyed the making the horse quilt (pattern by Toni Whitney) and this one, I still feel like I want to  be doing my own designs. Finish this first and then I can get my creative juices flowing.

No More Buying Quilt Kits!!!!!

Over the weekend I also managed to make and hang a design wall in my new sewing room.

A trip to the library over the weekend with the kids also meant that I could get some books out about fabric dyeing...my new favourite hobby.  Found some interesting pages on marbelling fabrics using shaving cream, batik and  shibori dyeing.  I think that might be next weeks project!  Ohh I am just soo excited!

will keep you posted....

My apologies for the photo...not sure why it is on it's side...will have to ask the technical dept!

It's finally finished!

Today was a great day!  I got to spend the day in my new sewing room and finally finished the horse quilt for my daughter Celine. (With some helpful support from Misty!)  Celine is mad about horses and used to go horse riding in NZ but unfortunately that is not possible here in Singapore.

I even started planning my next quilt.... Watch this space....

But the best part of today was that when I finally ventured out of the sewing room, the good little elves had been around and cleaned my house.....

Yeah!

Going Green

Yesterday was "Green" day! 

The top row is the broadcloth which is only 90cm wide and the bottom ones are on the calico which is 150cm wide.  I have to say that I prefer the broadcloth to the calico with regard to texture.  There wasn't much difference in colour between the two  but my all time favourite would still be the mercerised cotton from Dharma trading. The mercerised cotton is about the same price as the others except for the shipping of course.

 This is my progress to date.....now to find some buyers.......

My Etsy shop

Before and After

We recently moved into another house and so we have spent the last few weeks making feel like "our" place.

At the back of the house was a small "rock garden".  Yesterday the builders came and transformed this area into an area that we can use.  We are planning to put the outdoor table and chairs there....with sun umbrella of course as it gets HOT HOT HOT!

                                                                    "Before"

"After"

Yesterday I went and bought some calico and some broadcloth from a local fabric supplier and will see how they go with dyeing.  I think I still prefer the weave of the mercerised cotton from Dharma Trading.  Pity they are so far away!

If anyone knows of a good supplier of mercerised cotton in the singapore region, I would love to hear from you.

I have listed my dyed fabrics on my Etsy page.....check it out.

Fabric Dyeing

Today I spent the day dyeing the remaining fabric that I had bought at Dharma Trading.

Here are today's results:

2 sets of blue

2 sets of red/pink

1 set of blue/green

I still need to find a local source of good quality fabric suitable for dyeing. Perhaps thats what I'll do on Thursday as tomorrow I will be at school for most of the day.

Can't wait to try purples, yellows, greens and oranges!

Dyeing experiment

With all the hustle and bustle of moving house there has not been much time for quilting or anything else really!  But now the house is pretty much in order and even my sewing room is starting to look like a sewing room! Yeah!

A few weeks ago I had ordered some procion dyes from Dharma Trading and they arrived a couple of days after we moved house.  On Friday the kids had a day off school for Labour day and so Celine and I decided to give dying fabric a go.  We were using "the lazy dyer" method by Melody Johnson.  I mean, why make it any harder than it needs to be!

The aim was to make blue fabric going from light to dark........

Its not bad for a first attempt but there does need to be more difference between the shades.  It was a lot of fun and so I will give it another go this week.  Our biggest achievment was that nothing else inadvertently turned blue. (which was a REAL possiblity!)

Im hoping I can source some of the materials here in Singapore instead of importing it from the States as that can get quite costly.  Will keep you posted.

Managed to work on the horse quilt this week too...Nearly finished! 

Till next time...happy quilting!