If the phrase "Let the Sun Shine" rings a bell with you, we just might both be Baby Boomers with ties to the 60's! Remember tie-dyed shirts, love beads, and Earth shoes? I had them all back in the days of macrame room dividers and patchouli incense! Earlier this month, a good friend invited me over for an afternoon of artfilled camaraderie over tubs and squirt bottles of liquid dye in her backyard. Since my tie-dye experience to date has been very limited, I was excited about the invite! I'd taken two fabric workshops with Cathy in the past, so I knew what to expect... a casual afternoon in the warm June sunshine, mixing a little of this and a little of that just to see what might be the result. No careful measuring, no particular rules, just playing with fabrics and dyes...kind of like being a kid again! At the end of the afternoon, I went home with bags filled with dyed cotton fabric and yarn. The hardest part was waiting at least 24 hours to allow the dyes to penetrate the fibers before rinsing the cloth and yarn. It was worth the wait when I was finally able to untie those lusciously colored fabrics! Later this week, I'll be heading out of state to visit with my daughter and her family. This got me thinking about how to adapt this tie-dye process for two little boys, one seven and the other not-quite-five. Soda ash and Procion dyes might be more than necessary for these two young artists, so I bought this kit at my local JoAnn's Fabric and Crafts. Looks simple enough...maybe...for a little bit of driveway art-making! Check back next week for an update on how our tie-dye adventures turn out... and, quite likely, some tips for driveway tie-dye with kids!
I recently bought a random selection of yarns from the Darn Good Yarn company that included some lovely turquoise silk ribbon yarn, made from reclaimed sari silk. With no particular plan in mind, I started knitting to see what it would look like after a few inches of stockinette stitch. The color, sheen, and texture changed as the work progressed and after about five inches of knitting, I decided to see if there would be enough of the silk ribbon yarn to make a small clutch. It was and with the addition of a lining made from some cotton fabric in my quilting stash and a cute little felt and button trim, here is is! I need to work on my lining technique, but overall, I like the way this turned out! Last weekend was just what I needed...a creativity boost! I spent several hours on Saturday in the company of a fabulous group of women, led by friend and art quilter, Cathy Jeffers. It was a bit of "Project Runway" and a bit of just plain fun. The invitation just said to bring a sewing machine, fabric, thread, and whatever other supplies we thought we might need for a day of quilting. Being my usual procrastinating self, I packed my bag about an hour before leaving with whatever random supplies were readily on hand. We were each given a 14-inch square of quilt batting and roughly two hours to create a face, using whatever materials we had on hand. When time was called, we cut our quilt into four equal sections, kept one for ourselves, and traded away the remaining three. The final challenge...create a whole new face! |