Prepared for Dyeing

  • June 27, 2011 1:57 pm

Prepared for Dyeing supplies

A few weeks back I made a custom flag from scratch for some dear friends and I really wanted to share a bit of the process here. I had made a similar one in the past for them and was looking forward to a revisit to batik dying after learning a lot the first time around.

First on the list of essential supplies that made this project a success was a couple yards of PFD Kona Cotton (Prepared For Dyeing) which I found at my local Quilt Shop. PFD means that no extra starches or sizers were used to treat the fabric which allows for as much dye to be soaked up as possible.

Above you will see the image I used to trace the design onto the cotton. I reversed the colors of the original file to reduce how much ink would be used by the printer and split it into 4 parts so that it would fit on standard paper. I taped it to the cotton and traced it with a pencil. I wanted mostly the shapes and larger details to use as a guide and was not concerned with drawing on finer details. I also procured a very large hand quilting hoop to stretch the cotton in making it much easier to move around and also keeping it very flat.

Tjanting tool and double boiler for wax

Here you see essential tool #2 – a Tjanting. This I would use to dip into the hot beeswax and then draw with. This clever tool has a wide opening on the top (facing away in the top pic unfortunately) and a fine funnel tip at the end. Check out this video to see a sample of some girls using this tool and also a large wooden stamp being used.

CRAP!

Things were going well – slow but steady, but then in a mindless accident I tipped my tjanting and spilled hot wax all over the middle! AGH! I had to literally put down the tool and walk away I was so upset. No seam ripper would fix this mistake unfortunately.. well, this is why I traced TWO flags to do. It is always good to have a backup plan and I knew I wanted to make 2 anyway incase something happened in the dye bath, but perhaps I jinxed myself. I carried on and finished the little woodgrain lines. That part took the longest, but was probably also the most fun part of the flag to do.

Another oops moment

Here I learned that if you decide to take a break it is best to take your tool OUT of the wax first. The wax must be very very hot in order to penetrate the fibers fully. You can tell the wax is not hot enough when it starts sitting on top of the fabric instead of soaking in. Having the fabric in the hoop made it very easy to flip over and check the back when I was done to touch up any spots.

Dye Bath in the sink

After waxing both flags they went into the sink with some extra strong black dye. I left them in there for at least an hour or so and would stop by and gently stir them around to make sure there wouldn’t be any funny creases in the black. At this point it is important to not bend the wax too much because it will actually crack and allow bits of black dye to seep in. That is a strong characteristic of batik dying, but for this project I did not want much crackling.

Ironing out the wax

Here is another time where I took an easier route than last time. I ironed out all the wax using some old newspaper. I did this outside since the wax fumes can be stinky and bad for you. I did feel a little bad for how much newspaper it took to soak up all that wax, but I have to admit it was ten hundred times easier and faster than trying to boil all the wax out.

Inspection

Here is Kuma looking somewhat unimpressed with my accomplishments.

Finally - A Flag!

Here is the final flag after hemming the sides and adding grommets. I used a fabric screenprinting ink that was slightly watered down to paint in the red bottle and heat seat that with the iron. I also had to touch up that horrible mistake with some black ink, which was still visible but not worth trashing the flag over. My friends absolutely loved their two flags which is what was important in the end and totally worth the time spent sitting next to the hot pot.

I am really looking forward to using my PFD cotton scraps and tjanting tool to dye some fabrics to incorporate into my sewing. The website I linked to earlier Dharma Trading Co has a ton of yummy looking dyes that I am itching to order now! I am also thinking it would be fun to wax some patterned fabric to dye.

Sod Cabin Quilt

  • February 10, 2011 9:37 pm

2.5" x 44" strips of fabric

Here is the fabric I used for a quilt I made for Ruben & Maria (my older brother and his wife) for Christmas. This quilt started with the dark brown sprout fabric. It is actually called Maple from the Timber line by Jessica Levitt. They are maple seed pods, but to me they looked like a little plot of soil with some sprouts coming out! When I saw this fabric I bought a couple yards knowing that I had to make something for Ruben & Maria. They are organic sustainable landscapers in Eugene, Oregon and kinda do with plants what I do with fabric (talk to it nicely and then cut it into submission).

I knew I wanted to see the sprout fabric in rows, so I decided to use a Log Cabin quilt block. Traditionally log cabin quilt blocks have a red center to represent the hearth of a home, but I was really in love with the blue fabric you see above that I had bought on a whim at Stitch Lab. It is a very girly rose print  by Jennifer Paganelli from her Flower Power line for Freespirit. I bought it because I was in love with the aqua colors, but it hung around in my fabric stash for a while being decidedly too girly. From there I stuffed it full of Tula Pink fabric, which I have been doing a lot lately.. I knew Maria liked this lacy butterfly print (the light brown) because she had actually picked out a fat quarter cut of this in another color when we found ourselves in a mad dash to buy fabrics once in Frederisckburg, TX.

Once I had a couple fabrics that I knew for sure I wanted to use filling in the rest went pretty quick, although knowing that I had at least a couple yards of each was part of the decision making process. I sewed a couple test blocks and gave the OK to cut up all the fabric into the 2.5 inch strips you see above. This part can be hard if you don’t have a plan! A lot of time in quilting can be spent before you even touch the fabric- just thinking about what you are going to do with the fabric and how you need to cut it. So after cutting came a lot of time sitting at my machine with my iron ready and waiting right next to me- stitching a few rows and then ironing the seams flat. Every time you add a ‘log’ around the center you have to iron it flat before adding the next log, lest your structure be wonky. Sometimes when wonkiness or color is not a problem you can speed through everything I just said and just cut up the first fabric you can find quickly and sew it together with maybe some scraps. Check out this Wonky LogCabin Tutorial from Tallgrass Prairie for a good view a the block making process.

Furrows

I got through making several blocks and stuck them up on the design wall to see where it was headed. I had planned on doing the rows design that you see above, but at this point I was somewhat disappointed that I hadn’t considered the contrast between the 2 brown fabrics to be too much. The dark brown was making this step effect instead of the straight rows I had expected. Time to re-arrange the blocks! One of the great things about the log cabin block is how versatile the layout can be:

grid

squares

plus medallion

sun medallion

This final layout is the one I ended up sticking with. I felt it took advantage of the dark brown structure the most. It also convinced me to keep the quilt square even though I had 3 extra blocks that I ended up not using. I sewed all these rows together and ironed it all one last time. I bought a few yards of espresso Kona Cotton, which is a nice dark brown, and I pieced together a scrappy strip of some of my favorite browns blues & greens to go down the center of the back. Then I made my quilt sandwich and stayed up late one night with Mum basting it with 200 safety pins. This time I used a method of basting that involved rolling the top and back onto separate boards and rolling them out as I got it pinned. This method worked really well except for the fact that Mum’s help was needed.

quilt ready for binding.. almost.

This quilt was pretty small – 60 x 60 inches so it wasn’t too hard to quilt on my machine. I bought a big spool of aqua thread (the last one was waiting for me at the Quilt Store!) and quilted in a simple diagonal pattern. I felt it needed additional quilting but at the time was thinking more aqua thread would be too much, so I went to another local quilt shop, Honey Bee and bought a big spool of dark brown thread to stitch in the ditch of the blocks.

The result is a lovely little quilt that Ruben & Maria were very pleased to receive!

detail of quilting

binding and quilting detail

I had enough of the aqua rose fabric left over that I decided it would be the perfect binding and I am soo glad I did. I think that may be my favorite part of this quilt!

embroidered label detail - Gina Pina 2010

Here is a shot of my name and the date that I embroidered on the back. I feel it is always important to label and date your work, even subtly. I do feel bad for that poor horse that got his head quilted through. The Heather Ross pony fabric up there is another one that we bought during our Fredericksburg  shopping spree! Also the snails above it Ruben & Maria bought from Spool in Portland, Oregon as a gift. There are always lots of little details like that hiding in quilts.

Sod Cabin quilt back

Here are Maria and Ruben holding up the little quilt! It was so nice to have them in Austin for Christmas. We only get to see them about once a year usually so we always try to make the most of it. This is the scrappy back I made. Another shout out to my sister Rebecca for helping me decide what to do there. I always like the back of quilts to be as cool as the front.

Sod Cabin quilt front

They may have to fight for space under this little quilt, but fortunately they have other handmade quilts from Maria’s family in Wyoming to keep them warm too. Quilts do take quite a bit of time and effort to make, but it really is the perfect gift because it is functional art that will last a lifetime that is full of love and personality! I want to find the time this year to make everyone in my immediate family a queen or king sized quilt. Hopefully I can manage to do that and also keep sewing enough to keep me fed!

Right now I am trying to combine my patchwork addiction with my bag making skills and have been working on some new designs and products that I hope to be photographing and offering online. Fortunately custom orders have been keeping me busy enough this winter, but unfortunately that means that my product stock is currently very low! I would love to get it back to craft show levels, but at the same time I love working on something that I know already has a home.

In the meantime, check out my flickr stream to see some fun quilt a long blocks I have been doing for the Bloggers Block A Palooza! It has been a nice challenge to get a couple mystery block designs to complete a week and then see how others have made the same block. The Flickr Pool is full of fun stuff!