Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Preparations

It will still be at least a couple of weeks before I'm ready to try setting up an indigo dye bath, but I'm already busy gathering supplies and even prepping some fabric.  Remember the grid that I started stitching last week on a fat quarter of Kona PFD?  Here's what it looked like after I finished and then pulled up all the threads:


I can now see why some fiber artists like to stop at this stage.  These cinched-up fabrics have such an interesting and attractive sculptural quality--there's something very organic about them.  It will be a bit of a pity to throw this one in the dye bath.

I stitched up another fat quarter for nui shibori as well:


Here it is with the threads pulled up and knotted, both front and back:



I also started gathering supplies.  I went to a local place that's one step up from a dollar store, and I picked up a few plastic tubs, spatulas and measuring spoons for making up the dye stock, tongs for retrieving fabric from the dye bath, and chopsticks and clothespins for itajime resists.  I also managed recently to find various acrylic quilting templates and rulers at half price--I will be using these for itajime as well.  Here's my haul:


I did even better today at Dressew, a local Vancouver institution that always has all manner of great sewing supplies at ridiculously low prices.  I found all sorts of quilting template packages there this afternoon, most of them for just 99 cents each, so now I have a wonderful assortment of shapes to use for itajime (clamp resist) shibori dyeing.  But I still have lots of hunting and shopping to do, especially for a large stainless steel stockpot that I hope won't be incredibly expensive.  If you have one that you're looking to get rid of, let me know, particularly if you're in the greater Vancouver area!  Maybe I'll be able to compensate you with indigo-dyed cotton...?

Last night I went to the always-inspiring VMQG meeting.  I picked up some great tips on quilt bindings from three expert guild members, who did presentations on some finer points that they've developed over the years.  You can find some of those tips over at What Comes Next?  I thought I already knew how to bind quilts, but even so, I learned some great new techniques, especially for an easy faux piping that I can't wait to try out.

Linking up to Freshly Pieced and the Needle and Thread Network.  Happy quilting!

7 comments:

  1. I've done silk shibori dying before (the string wrap around a pole style), but never with indigo. I love the design you're creating, it's going to be gorgeous!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have never seen this done before, but I would love to catch you next time and see how they turn out! What a neat idea!

    Stopping by from Lee's WIP hop http://www.domesticdeficitdisorder.blogspot.com/2014/04/wip-wednesday-april-23rd.html

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love what you are attempting. As for big pots, do you have a walmart in your area? They actually carry supplies for canning and you could find a big pot for boiling jars. They have good prices too. Just a thought. Best of luck. Look forward to seeing it finished

    ReplyDelete
  4. Will you post process shots? I'd be very interested to see how you go about this operation! Can't wait to see how your stitched pieces turn out.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anxious to see the results here! Good luck! It all looks fun!

    ReplyDelete
  6. What an amazing project! You are doing such a great job with these fabrics.

    ReplyDelete
  7. cant wait to see how these pieces turn out! You've got me itching to do some more indigo! Thanks for the shout-out - I'll try and get a quick tutorial up on the faux piping technique and added it to my how I do it page.

    ReplyDelete