tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70641681545312951562024-03-13T01:33:42.043-07:00Momiji Studio<em>Quilting tales and other creative adventures</em>
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<br>www.momijistudio.etsy.commomijihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269568370387980525noreply@blogger.comBlogger164125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7064168154531295156.post-73438234551626146352017-12-27T17:55:00.000-08:002017-12-27T17:55:58.531-08:00Ecoprinting, part II<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
In addition to the ecoprinted scarves, I also tried dyeing some larger pieces of cotton and linen-cotton mix PFD fabric. I ecoprinted with various leaves, and I also dyed some solids, all with logwood. This time I let the bundles sit a good four days or so before checking the results. Now I have the beginnings of a quilt on my design wall:<br />
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This was back in November, and as the weather got colder and more and more leaves dropped from the trees, I thought I was done for the season. One day, however, I was walking in the neighborhood, and I saw a smoke tree in which the late season growth had produced enormous leaves. At the October dye night with India Flint, one of the participants had mentioned to me that leaves from smoke trees made good prints. I knew I had one more silk scarf blank at home, so I couldn't resist gathering some leaves and conducting one more experiment. I made sure to dye my silk bundle just before an out of town trip, so that I wouldn't be tempted to open it prematurely. Instead, it sat for more than a week, and the results were fantastic:<br />
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I laid the leaves onto half the scarf, folded the other half over, and rolled it all up. Luckily, the ends were on the outside of the bundle, which meant that they took up more dye, and the string lines made a nice pattern, as shown in the first photo. I rolled the bundle around a piece of PVC pipe in order to maximize contact between the leaves and the silk, as well as to minimize wrinkles and achieve more consistent results. It was thrilling to see how beautifully the leaves printed. The remains of the original leaves were like tissue paper in the end, which also suggested just how well the pigments from the leaves transferred to the fabric.<br />
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I made just one error: the printing on the PVC pipe also transferred to the fabric. D'oh!<br />
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Fortunately, the numbers are on the back side and right in the center, so they're at the back of my neck when I wear the scarf. Next time I'll make sure there's a layer of scrap fabric between the pipe and the silk.<br />
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I hope I'll be able to report progress on the quilt over the next few months. I'm planning to use some of the silk scarves from my previous round of dyeing, in addition to the cottons and linen-cotton mix fabrics. I need to interface the silk, and then I can start playing with it.<br />
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Happy holidays, and happy sewing!<br />
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momijihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269568370387980525noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7064168154531295156.post-82947503527261312752017-12-20T14:24:00.001-08:002017-12-20T14:25:49.325-08:00Ecoprinting with logwood, and yes, I'm still alive<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I've now managed to go more than a year without posting, despite, or perhaps because of, a diverse array of fiber-related adventures. I'll try to catch up a little bit, starting with more recent endeavours and then working my way backwards. Apologies for the photo quality, but part of laziness means taking photos with an iPad and not doing any editing.<br />
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At the end of October, I had the good fortune to enjoy an evening of ecoprint dyeing at Maiwa with <a href="http://indiaflint.com/" target="_blank">India Flint</a>. She introduced the group to the basic technique of bundling leaves or other plant material into a piece of fabric and then steaming or immersion dyeing in order to transfer plant pigments onto fabric. The workshop moved too quickly to get much in the way of actual leaf prints, but I ended up with a nice silk scarf dyed in a range of amber browns from the eucalyptus leaves and branches that we used in the dye pot.<br />
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Afterwards, I bought some alum, gallnut tannin, and logwood chips and experimented over a period of several weeks. Using <a href="https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1086/6542/files/natural_dyeing.pdf?2077475857497476456" target="_blank">Maiwa's natural dye instructions</a>, along with miscellaneous other sources, I mordanted some silk scarf blanks and applied both tannin and mordant to some cotton and linen-cotton mix fabrics.<br />
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For my first dye session, I gathered all manner of fall leaves:<br />
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I had asked India about using fig leaves, and she suggested soaking them in iron water first, which is why those leaves are in a bucket, along with a few leaves from our backyard smoke tree for good measure. The other leaves, which came from various spots in the neighborhood, I used as is. Here's how things looked after layout, bundling, and dyeing:<br />
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I managed to wait about 24 hours before unwrapping. Here are some of the results:<br />
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The Japanese maple prints didn't stay red--they faded to a light caramel brown after washing. Meanwhile, the fig leaves in iron water (underneath the top scarf, on the lower part of the photo) didn't print very clearly, but that scarf ended up with an interesting yellowish cast that the other scarves lack.<br />
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The best results came from a heavier weight silk charmeuse scarf:<br />
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I don't know how or why, but some of the leaves printed strongly with a beautiful gold-bronze, and there are all sorts of green splotches in addition to the purple tints from the logwood, and gold-browns from the leaves. The charmeuse seems to give everything a remarkable pearly sheen. I've pressed the scarf properly since taking these photos. I'll cut up the other three scarves for fabric, but this one is worth wearing. It's not the most sophisticated example of ecoprinting, especially since I didn't think about how I was bundling--hence the rectangular-ish purple block in one corner. But it's not bad at all for a first solo outing.<br />
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More soon!</div>
momijihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269568370387980525noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7064168154531295156.post-5743933183135946662016-12-13T12:58:00.002-08:002016-12-13T12:58:24.692-08:00More block printing!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Inspired by <a href="http://www.lysaflower.com/" target="_blank">Lysa Flower</a>'s great <a href="http://momijistudio.blogspot.ca/2016/12/block-printing.html" target="_blank">block printing workshop</a>, I splurged on Speedball fabric inks and other supplies, and I spent some time carving additional blocks and printing with them on fabric. Here are the blocks that I've cut thus far:<br />
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A couple of these are variants on my workshop blocks. I recut the hexagon to try and avoid a few nicks in the original, and I did a new, improved version of the scattered leaves in the hopes that this one would print with better registration.<br />
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The orange peel block prints nicely:<br />
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It also pairs beautifully with the block of narrow straight lines:<br />
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It was fun to try combining a couple of the different leaf blocks. I love the clean-looking red and white print here:<br />
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The new leaf cluster block registered pretty well, but I didn't mark any particular guidelines. As a result, by the time I worked my way around to the lower right corner, I ended up with a bit of a mismatch, as you can see above.<br />
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The other leaf blocks also work well together: <br />
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Based on some advice online, I tried using carpet tape to mount my blocks onto some cheap acrylic quilt templates, so that the printing would be easier. That worked well the first time, but I think that when I washed the blocks afterwards, it weakened the adhesive. As a result, the blocks started sliding off the acrylic when I used them a second time, and the registration wasn't as precise as I wanted it to be when I tried printing the leaf clusters again:<br />
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The registration isn't actually too bad, but it's a little bit off, and I think I can do better. I didn't try printing the new hexagon block, because I want to make some registration marks first, and I was too lazy to do it during this past round of experiments. Now I think I'll wait until warmer weather in the spring when I'll be able to work outside. The fabric inks are oil-based and smell like hell, and they need to cure for about a week until the odor goes away.<br />
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I wanted to save the best for last. Here's the horizontal line block, printed in red on gray. It makes a stronger impression in person. I love the mid-century modern look here, so simple yet so dramatic:<br />
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Happy crafting, everyone!<br />
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momijihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269568370387980525noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7064168154531295156.post-16801121500988790092016-12-11T16:08:00.000-08:002016-12-11T16:10:46.458-08:00Block printing!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
As I mentioned a few days ago, back in early October I took a block printing workshop with the fabulous <a href="http://www.lysaflower.com/" target="_blank">Lysa Flower</a>. In addition to being a <a href="http://vancouvermodernquiltguild.ca/blog/" target="_blank">VMQG</a> member, Lysa is a graduate of the <a href="http://www.ecuad.ca/" target="_blank">Emily Carr University of Art and Design</a> and a working artist and fabric designer, and she gave us a jam-packed day to explore the joys and possibilities of block printing. <br />
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We started with an introductory design exercise, in which each of us received a random card with some directives. I think mine were something like "hexagons," "small scale," "random repeat," and "narrow spacing," and I came up with the block on the lower right. Everyone did multiple test prints on construction paper, so that we all took home different samples that illustrated principles of scale and placement.<br />
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For our second block, Lysa introduced the class to methods for registration that involved drawing a basic design on paper, cutting the paper in half and taping it back together with the cut edges on the outside, adding more details, and then cutting again in the other direction and re-taping. It sounds complicated when described, but is easier to understand with pictures, as in this <a href="https://www.skillshare.com/tutorials/5-Steps-to-Illustrating-a-Repeat-Pattern-by-Hand/59" target="_blank">online tutorial</a>. Leafy shapes are among the few non-geometrical objects that I can draw reasonably well, so I carved the block on the lower left. Then, in the late afternoon, I had just barely enough time for a hexagonal design that I had in mind before the workshop. I think it's an Islamic tiling pattern--I knew it would tessellate and make a great block for printing.<br />
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Here's how the fabrics printed with the second and third blocks turned out:<br />
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The Moo carve block that I worked with for the leafy print wasn't exactly square, so it didn't register as precisely as I would have liked. I learned the hard way that the carving materials aren't cut all that carefully by the manufacturer! I also decided that I prefer to work with the black Easy-Cut material. The white, eraser-like stuff tends to be a bit more crumbly. Although the black Easy-Cut is a little harder to carve, it allows for sharper lines, and I think it will hold up better in the long run.<br />
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I did a lot more block carving and experimenting in the weeks after the workshop. More soon!</div>
momijihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269568370387980525noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7064168154531295156.post-46758275765312852232016-12-04T16:30:00.000-08:002016-12-04T16:30:22.294-08:00Happy sewing, in dark, gloomy days...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Between two months of dark, rainy weather and a long-deferred photo-editing software upgrade, I've stayed away from blogging. <a href="http://poppyprintcreates.blogspot.ca/2016/11/28-days-of-rain-and-other-things.html" target="_blank">Here's Poppyprint's comment</a> on October's weather, and November wasn't significantly better. <br />
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Remember the indigo medallion quilt I was working on a while back? In mid-August, I took the scraps and pieced tops for two small wall quilts. Here's how things looked back then:<br />
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Although I haven't been blogging, I've had a reasonable amount of time for fabric-related activity this fall. In particular, October was a fun, fiber-filled month: block-printing workshop with VMQG's fabulous <a href="http://lysaflower.com/" target="_blank">Lysa Flower</a>, mid-month quilting retreat, and a katazome workshop at <a href="http://schooloftextiles.com/" target="_blank">Maiwa</a> with the always-inspiring <a href="http://akeminakanocohn.blogspot.ca/" target="_blank">Akemi Nakano Cohn</a>. I've also started sewing some clothing for myself, to start dealing with the fact that I hate all of my old clothes right now, but don't particularly want to go shopping either. I'll try to take some photos of the results the next time the sun comes out, but for now, I'll just say that although I haven't been as active in the sewing room as I had hoped over the past few months, a few things have gotten done here and there.<br />
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Among the finished projects was the first quilt above, "Stray Thoughts," which I actually completed back in September but didn't get around to photographing until today:<br />
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"Stray Thoughts" is now listed in <a href="http://momijistudio.etsy.com/" target="_blank">my Etsy shop</a>. I also made a few pouches back in October, and they're finally going into the shop as well.<br />
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Happy sewing!<br />
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momijihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269568370387980525noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7064168154531295156.post-16672653179718560512016-08-27T11:03:00.003-07:002016-08-27T11:03:49.765-07:00Modern Quilt Showcase, Vancouver: Today and Tomorrow Only!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I'm posting at the last minute here, but in case you're in Vancouver this weekend, please head over to <a href="http://vancouvermodernquiltguild.ca/blog/" target="_blank">VMQG</a>'s first-ever quilt show, our "Modern Quilt Showcase," over in North Van at the Pipe Shop (and no, that's not where they sell pot paraphernalia; it's a former industrial site turned public space). We'll have over a hundred quilts by guild members on display, plus an education/demo area at our "Modern Mini" exhibition. Four of my quilts will be there: "Indigo Summer," "Quilt with Attitude," "Drama Adorno," and "Oakshott Lattice."<br />
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The Pipe Shop is easily accessible from Vancouver proper. From Waterfront Station in downtown Vancouver, you can just take the ferry over the Lonsdale Quay and walk from there. Once you arrive at Lonsdale, cut through the public market, jog over to the right, and you'll find your way without too much trouble.<br />
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I'm planning on heading over this afternoon, so maybe I'll see you there?</div>
momijihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269568370387980525noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7064168154531295156.post-31825991015834497542016-07-30T16:57:00.000-07:002016-08-03T08:43:29.171-07:00Done!!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It's taken me a lot of weekends, but the new bed quilt is finally finished! It's a big one, close to 90" square:<br />
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The binding features a faux piping that I learned at a VMQG meeting a while back:<br />
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I wasn't confident enough about my FMQ skills to use a more visible thread on the border, but I like how it came out:<br />
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Now what do I do? Cheers!<br />
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8/2: Technically, this isn't a WIP, but I'm still posting to WIP Wednesday on <a href="http://needleandthreadnetwork.blogspot.ca/2016/08/wip-wednesday-256-tn.html" target="_blank">The Needle and Thread Network</a>. Gotta show off!</div>
momijihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269568370387980525noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7064168154531295156.post-34786667517102156442016-06-12T18:20:00.002-07:002016-06-12T18:20:32.996-07:00Happenings<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I hardly know where May went, and June is already speeding by as well. Amid lots of travel related to the day job, however, I've managed some sewing here and there. I'm trying to ramp up the action in my Etsy shop, and in May, I made a half a dozen kimono silk drawstring bags, five of them pictured here:<br />
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Things were so busy, that I've only just started to list them over the last few days.<br />
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Also, remember the bed quilt I was working on last summer? I've resumed quilting, with significant progress:<br />
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There's more travel headed my way, so I'm not sure I can get the quilt done by the end of the month. But in July, there should be a brand new quilt on our bed, to replace the sad-looking duvet that's there at the moment.<br />
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Happy summer, and happy quilting!</div>
momijihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269568370387980525noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7064168154531295156.post-54026852501988634812016-05-04T20:01:00.001-07:002016-05-04T20:01:25.237-07:00Spring cleaning, spring sewing<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It's been a long time since I've posted, for good reason through March, since the day job was keeping me too busy for any sewing. But since then, I've made some serious progress, even though I haven't been blogging about it.<br />
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First and foremost, I finished the top for the indigo medallion quilt. It's so large (about 50" square) that I couldn't get far away enough for a full photo from inside my sewing room, so I've just photographed the upper right quadrant:<br />
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I never did so much curved piecing in my life, but I love how the orange peel blocks turned out in the end. I've also pieced the back, so now I just need to go ahead and get this thing basted, so that I can start quilting!<br />
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At the moment, the quilt top and back are sitting on the bed in our guestroom. The completion of the medallion top provided a much-needed opportunity to clean up my completely cluttered disaster area of a sewing room: I put lots of things away, dusted thoroughly, washed the ironing board cover, and vacuumed for the first time in <i>months</i>.<br />
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With the sewing room in good shape again, as well as more free time right now, I decided to get back to my long-neglected Etsy shop. I've begun to list a lot of passport covers:<br />
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Now that the passport covers are done (mostly), I'm prepping kimono silk drawstring pouches.<br />
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Meanwhile, we're enjoying a beautiful spring here in Vancouver. Our lilac bloomed spectacularly this year, and I took a photo a couple of weeks ago:<br />
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Happy spring, everyone!</div>
momijihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269568370387980525noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7064168154531295156.post-8604830583731272382016-01-01T22:48:00.001-08:002016-01-01T22:50:11.895-08:002015: The Year in Fabric<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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A year ago, I reviewed my progress in indigo dyeing and outlined five goals for 2015, three of which I thought I might possibly achieve. In reality, I only got to one of them--the zinc-lime vat--plus just a bit of the second one, namely, a pole wrapping technique that was new to me.<br />
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But I managed a few other new adventures, pictured in this year's quilt and fabric collage. Back at the end of May, I experimented for a weekend with bleach discharge dyeing with shibori techniques. I'd like to do another round this spring or summer to build up my stash before making any quilts with these fun fabrics. In the fall, the idea of small, boro-inspired quilts with matchstick quilting seemed to offer the perfect way to use some of the traditional Japanese cottons in my collection. For the year as a whole, I finished one major quilt and two small ones: "Indigo Summer" is my pride and joy, plus I made a small lattice quilt for <a href="http://vancouvermodernquiltguild.ca/blog/" target="_blank">VMQG</a>'s special exhibit at the <a href="http://craftcouncilbc.ca/happenings/2015/10/23/vancouver-quilters-guild-fall-show/" target="_blank">Vancouver Quilters Guild show back in October</a>, and I completed my first boro-inspired quilt. I'm afraid that my collage also includes four UFOs, not counting the green and purple shibori cottons that don't really count as a WIP yet, since I have yet to take a single stitch.<br />
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What are my quilting and dyeing goals for 2016? Here are a few:<br />
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1) Of the UFOs pictured above, I am determined to finish the second boro quilt before too long, and to complete the bed quilt that I was working on in the summer. I will also at least finish piecing my current WIP, the indigo medallion quilt in the bottom right corner. Whether or not I actually manage to quilt all of it depends on how much hand-quilting I decide to do.<br />
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2) As mentioned above, more shibori bleach discharge dyeing! I bought about four or five yards of solids earlier this year with that intent, so I'd better go through with it.<br />
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3) A fructose indigo vat--perhaps the most environmentally friendly indigo vat around, at least for the occasional dyer. I've read that the fructose vat can be finicky, but if it doesn't work for me, I'll switch to a ferrous sulfate vat.<br />
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4) More itajime dyeing with Osnaburg cotton (for the loose weave), more pole-wrapping, more stitched shibori, and more tied shibori. Really, I guess that just amounts to as much indigo shibori as I can mange this summer, and with as many different techniques as possible!<br />
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5) Maybe 2016 will be the year that I finally get to take a katazome workshop? Eco-dyeing is also on my mind these days. <br />
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Here's to the New Year!</div>
momijihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269568370387980525noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7064168154531295156.post-34915074737948770112015-12-09T14:35:00.001-08:002015-12-09T14:40:28.421-08:00Indigo Medallion: WIP Wednesday<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I really ought to finish the <a href="http://momijistudio.blogspot.ca/2015/11/in-works.html" target="_blank">boro quilt</a>, but my own shibori indigo dyed fabrics have been calling for too long, and I couldn't resist starting the medallion quilt that's been on my mind for the past several months:<br />
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I dyed the center panel back in the summer, and I've been envisioning a medallion quilt ever since. The center is an itajime variant that combines origami-like folding with clamped resists--it's sort of like folding and cutting paper snowflakes. I used Osnaburg cotton, a fairly rough and loose weave of cotton, combined with a lot of massaging of the fabric while in the vat, in order to maximize dye penetration. The rest of the fabrics come from both this summer's and last summer's indigo dyeing extravaganzas.<br />
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Currently, the top is about 28" square. I don't know how many more rounds I'm going to do, but I'm guessing that it will finish at about 40-48" square. Here's a hint of the next round, which will take me a while to put together:<br />
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Linking up to WIP Wednesday on <a href="http://needleandthreadnetwork.blogspot.ca/2015/12/wip-wednesday-222-tn.html" target="_blank">The Needle and Thread Network</a> and <a href="http://www.freshlypieced.com/2015/12/wip-wednesday-decking-halls.html" target="_blank">Freshly Pieced</a>. Happy sewing, everyone!</div>
momijihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269568370387980525noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7064168154531295156.post-75978396994035862222015-11-25T21:43:00.001-08:002015-11-25T21:44:33.531-08:00In the works<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It's been quiet in my sewing room recently, so I can do a little more catching up in this post. Back in mid-October, I went on a retreat for a fabulous weekend of sewing with some fellow <a href="http://vancouvermodernquiltguild.ca/blog/" target="_blank">VMQG </a>members. It was <u>so</u> <u>much</u> <u>fun</u>! In addition to just gabbing away with fellow quilting fiends, I finally managed to make a name tag for myself, only five years after joining the guild, and I also contributed a block to a group quilt that's in progress. But I spent most of my time working on the following:<br />
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It's the second in my new series of boro quilts. Alas, I haven't worked on it since the retreat, but it's a high priority, and I will finish it soon.<br />
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A couple of weekends ago, I made another two indigo scarves for my Etsy shop:<br />
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Although it's pretty late in the day, I'm linking up to WIP Wednesday on <a href="http://needleandthreadnetwork.blogspot.ca/2015/11/wip-wednesday-220-tn.html" target="_blank">The Needle and Thread Network</a> and <a href="http://www.freshlypieced.com/2015/11/wip-wednesday-pre-turkey.html" target="_blank">Freshly Pieced</a>. Hope all of your fiber-related adventures are happy ones, and for those of you in the U.S., happy turkey day tomorrow!</div>
momijihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269568370387980525noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7064168154531295156.post-59942588007339993562015-11-11T13:11:00.000-08:002015-11-11T16:22:27.607-08:00I'm still alive and sewing, really...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I've been lazy about taking photographs and blogging over the past several months, but that doesn't mean that I haven't been busy with textiles. I did a lot more indigo dyeing beyond what I showed a few months back, and I've been working on various projects since September.<br />
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Over the past several months, I've admired the matchstick quilting that a lot of <a href="http://vancouvermodernquiltguild.ca/blog/" target="_blank">VMQG</a> members have been doing lately, which beautifully transforms the texture of a quilt--it becomes almost like a woven wall hanging. I had been waiting for the right project to try the technique myself, and when I happened upon some photos of Japanese boro patchworks online back in September, I knew I'd found the right inspiration. Boro typically involves the use of old indigo-dyed cottons, which are given new life through patchwork and heavy quilting by hand to keep worn scraps together. I decided to dig into my collection of Japanese cottons and use matchstick quilting to produce an updated, boro-inspired wall hanging:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx3GE5wbEb0Kq47YgDVf6Azo7MoX3rigOSFPbcnIKdLstKhhCcB20upBQw_4t3z6omieU_Sbwmm2B8CCrlDXl4dOmWL3iB77mqStF0TaalUkcXP-ar_4c9UBEQ_DDWydcIlabzulAeaXZV/s1600/_DSC5999a.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx3GE5wbEb0Kq47YgDVf6Azo7MoX3rigOSFPbcnIKdLstKhhCcB20upBQw_4t3z6omieU_Sbwmm2B8CCrlDXl4dOmWL3iB77mqStF0TaalUkcXP-ar_4c9UBEQ_DDWydcIlabzulAeaXZV/s400/_DSC5999a.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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I just love the results. There was something wonderfully meditative about doing the matchstick quilting, which didn't bore me at all, and the visual effect from using two different variegated threads (40 wt YLI and 50 wt Mettler) is really eye-catching. This quilt is the first of what will be a series of boro-inspired wall quilts.<br />
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VMQG was the "featured quilter" at the recent show of the Vancouver Quilt Guild, so our guild did a special <a href="http://vancouvermodernquiltguild.ca/blog/2015/10/modern-mini-showcase-at-vqg-show/" target="_blank">"Modern Mini" challenge</a> to showcase modern quilting: solids only, maximum 80" around, and an emphasis on modern techniques and designs. The exhibit had about 26 quilts by guild members, including mine:<br />
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"Oakshott Lattice," another of my lattice quilts, features a repurposed classic block and an emphasis on graphic design that are both characteristic of "modern quilting." The quilt ended up looking very Amish, thanks to the black and jewel-tone <a href="http://www.oakshottfabrics.com/" target="_blank">Oakshott shot cottons</a>. But that seems entirely appropriate, since the 1970s quilting revival grew in part from the modern art world's recognition of the powerful design qualities of Amish quilts.<br />
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More recently, I've started making scarves from my indigo-dyed gauze fabrics, so that I can add some much-needed inventory to my poor, neglected <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/momijistudio?ref=hdr_shop_menu" target="_blank">Etsy shop</a>:<br />
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Finally, here's something on my design wall:<br />
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I'm not sure where it's going, but a dear friend gave me some gorgeous shibori dyed cottons from the grand old days of Kasuri Dyeworks in Berkeley, and I really, really want to work with them.<br />
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Linking up to WIP Wednesday on <a href="http://needleandthreadnetwork.blogspot.ca/2015/11/wip-wednesday-218-tn.html" target="_blank">The Needle and Thread Network</a> and <a href="http://www.freshlypieced.com/2015/11/wip-wednesday-spin-cycle.html" target="_blank">Freshly Pieced</a>. Cheers!</div>
momijihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269568370387980525noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7064168154531295156.post-33304497514902130892015-08-22T15:09:00.000-07:002015-08-22T15:09:08.026-07:00From the vat: Arashi and cotton gauze<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I've been slow to post, but here are the remaining highlights from my first major round of dyeing this summer. I did a little bit of pole wrapping, with narrow strips of fabric about 6-1/2" wide:<br />
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The piece on the right is more or less the same technique, but there's a way of twisting the fabric as you push it up the pole that produces the broken lines. I haven't quite figured out how to do it consistently, but it's a nice effect.<br />
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Here's a little experiment, in which I pleated the fabric before winding it around the pole and wrapping it with string:<br />
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I was hoping for less white and more blue, but the result is interesting.<br />
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Finally, I dyed some cotton gauze in scarf lengths:<br />
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I love working with gauze, because it takes up the indigo so beautifully. The first piece is tesuji, while the second is a non-traditional technique in which you wrap the fabric around a piece of string, and then pull the string tight so that the fabric is in a kind of ring-shaped scrunchy before it's dipped into the vat. It's an easy, easy technique, with oh-so-pleasing results.<br />
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There's not much time left for me to dye this summer, but I still have more results to post. Stay tuned!</div>
momijihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269568370387980525noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7064168154531295156.post-83867275442535924232015-08-02T09:14:00.002-07:002015-08-02T09:14:49.497-07:00From the vat: Nui shibori<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
As I mentioned in a previous post, when I saw that my vat had reached optimal conditions, with the dark amber color that indicates well-reduced indigo at a reasonably high concentration, I reached for the pieces of stitched shibori laboriously prepped earlier. After six rounds of dipping and oxidizing, I took a seam ripper and opened up the first piece, which was a small test piece about 6-1/2" wide meant to try out a design that came into my head:<br />
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I had three more pieces of nui shibori which I put through an additional four rounds of dipping and oxidizing before carefully undoing the stitching. The results were thrilling. First of all, here's my pride and joy, a selvage-to-selvage quarter-yard piece using a technique that I learned from Jane Callender last fall:<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">mokume close-up</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">another mokume close-up</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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I also love how this tatewaku pattern turned out:<br />
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Sorry not to offer a close-up. My photo-editing program managed to eat up the image as I was editing it--a really strange glitch that I hope won't become a regular thing.<br />
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Mokume stripes on the diagonal also turned out well, although closer rows of stitching might have avoided some of the uneven breaks in the dyeing:<br />
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More to come! </div>
momijihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269568370387980525noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7064168154531295156.post-36699997574537235002015-07-22T08:41:00.001-07:002015-07-22T08:48:17.027-07:00Yes, I still remember how to quilt...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Although I haven't been in the blogosphere much lately, that doesn't mean I haven't been getting my hands dirty. In addition to indigo dyeing, I've also been working on a bed quilt, which I started basting last night:<br />
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I'm tired of our ratty old Ikea duvet and decided that we ought to have a real quilt on our bed. A couple months ago or so, I bought on sale a kit of Birchtree Lane fabrics, with their fun bird, leaf, and feather designs, which I supplemented with various tone-on-tone fabrics in whites and light browns. I didn't make the actual quilt design of the kit, but did simple diamond-in-a-square blocks. My sewing machine is headed to the shop for a thorough cleaning, and when it comes back, I will be ready to quilt!</div>
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Linking up to WIP Wednesday on <a href="http://www.freshlypieced.com/2015/07/wip-wednesday-painting.html" target="_blank">Freshly Pieced</a> and <a href="http://needleandthreadnetwork.blogspot.ca/2015/07/wip-wednesday-202-tn.html" target="_blank">The Needle and Thread Network</a>. Happy sewing!</div>
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momijihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269568370387980525noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7064168154531295156.post-51542168505863492252015-07-20T09:51:00.002-07:002015-07-20T09:51:37.490-07:00From the indigo vat: Solids<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I'm always like to test the vat out by dyeing a range of solids:<br />
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From left to right, the six shades involved, respectively, 3, 4, 5, 8, 14, and 20(!) cycles of dipping and oxidizing. The 4- and 5-dip pieces were done separately from the rest of the lot, after I saw some final results and wanted to fill in a couple of gaps in the gradation.<br />
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The solids taught me a lot about the vat. After the first half dozen dips or so, the fabrics didn't seem as if they were getting much darker, and at times I wondered if they were actually losing color. Very frustrating! But I kept going anyway, to see what would happen, especially after the vat reached a dark amber that made me think it just had to be working properly and adding more blue. After I washed the final two pieces on the right, the true color underneath was significantly darker. Somehow, the zinc-lime vat seems to leave a lot of unreduced indigo on the surface of the fabric, which later washes out and reveals some happy surprises.<br />
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At the same time, I was able to get to dark shades more quickly with last year's thiox vat. The 20-dip piece on the far right isn't really any darker than a good dark blue that I got after about eight dips last summer. In the workshop that I took last fall, <a href="http://africancraft.com/artisan.php?id=gasali" target="_blank">Gasali Adeyemo</a> says that he gets a dark blue in just 3-8 dips, which suggests that if I want really dark blues, I can be much braver about using a heck of a lot more indigo than most of the standard vat recipes suggest. I tried to look up the maximum solubility of indigo in an alkaline environment, but no luck thus far in getting that particular chemical statistic.<br />
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I also can't honestly say that the blues from the zinc-lime vat are significantly different from the ones from last year's thiox vat. Maybe the difference in tone from the Japanese fabrics in my collection comes from the indigo? Or something else in the vat chemistry? I wish I had some Japanese indigo that I could try, for purposes of comparison. If anyone wants to bring me some natural indigo from Japan, derived from polygonum tinctorium, please feel free to do so! Or if you want to grow it yourself and ferment it for me, I will happily try it out!<br />
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momijihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269568370387980525noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7064168154531295156.post-64855139716784808512015-07-18T23:35:00.000-07:002015-07-18T22:52:57.349-07:00Indigo 2015: The vat<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I've been lazy about blogging, but I've been busy with this summer's indigo dyeing. This year I'm trying a zinc-lime vat, which takes time to set up, but is supposed to produce deeper, richer blues than the thiox vat. In mid-June, I prepared my first stock solution:<br />
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The stock looked really good after five hours of reduction--the dark amber color was just what it's supposed to be, and there was a good, thick layer of indigo "flower" with a nice bronze sheen on top.<br />
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This vat uses zinc as a reducing agent in combination with calcium hydroxide (lime). Although the zinc-lime vat has a reputation for being a bit tricky to manage, it has a number of advantages in addition to the colors that it produces. It reduces indigo efficiently, works at room temperature down to about 60 Fahrenheit, and can be revived even after months of non-use. Unfortunately, as I noted in an addendum to a <a href="http://momijistudio.blogspot.ca/2015/01/2014-year-in-indigo.html" target="_blank">previous post</a>, the zinc is rated as a hazard for aquatic life, so the vat has to be disposed of properly as hazardous waste and can't be poured down the drain. In the longer term, if I want a room temperature vat, I'll have to switch to a ferrous sulfate vat. It doesn't have the efficiency and longevity of the zinc-lime vat, but is better for the environment (at least as far as anyone knows at the moment).<br />
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I had difficulty with the vat for the first several days. Various dyeing guides talk about looking for a "French mustard" color or a color ranging from yellow to dark amber, depending upon the amount of indigo in the vat. I thought I had a vat on the yellow-ish side when I first started dipping, but after several rounds, I didn't seem to be building additional color, and my first fabrics weren't very well dyed. In retrospect, I think the vat was too green and the indigo wasn't reduced enough. The initial vat also didn't stay chemically balanced as long as I thought it would, and when I went away for a weekend after the first few days of dipping, the vat died completely. I fiddled with sharpening the vat by adding various combinations of additional zinc, lime, and indigo, and eventually, after about ten days after the original stock solution, I got the following result:<br />
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At this point, the vat seemed very bubbly and lively, with lots of dark blue "flower," flecked with bronzy blue bits. The vat liquid itself reached a perfect dark amber, and I felt certain it was just right. I immediately started dyeing some elaborate nui shibori pieces that I had laboriously stitched and tied a while back, but didn't dare dye until I felt confident about the vat.<br />
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I'll discuss the results of my initial round of dyeing in the next few posts. Indigo Summer 2015 is well underway!</div>
momijihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269568370387980525noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7064168154531295156.post-41837337707639776982015-06-02T17:34:00.001-07:002015-06-03T08:58:51.203-07:00Bleach discharge dyeing<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Yes, it has been a while. The day job took me away from home for all of March and April, and I was too lazy to do anything on-line in May. But my quilt "Indigo Summer" is in Lethbridge for this year's <a href="http://njs.canadianquilter.com/">National Juried Show</a>, plus I've been quilting and dyeing, and I'm getting ready to get back to the indigo vat later this month. In the meantime, I saw an article on bleach discharge dyeing with shibori techniques in the most recent issue of <i>The Canadian Quilter</i>. It sounded fun and easy, so I decided to give it a try this past weekend. On Saturday and on Sunday morning, I worked on prepping fabrics, and then I spent Sunday afternoon in the backyard:<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">prep work in progress</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">discharged fabric in the neutralizing solution</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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I used black, dark brown, and dark blue Kona cottons. After bleaching, the black fabric turned a nice shade of brown, while the blue produced a plummy pink, and the brown became reddish orange. I used a range of techniques, including pole-wrapping, tesuji, stitched shibori, and itajime. Here are some of the results:<br />
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Not bad, huh? The colors don't have the depth, richness, and sophistication of indigo, but bleach discharge dyeing is quick, easy, and still very satisfying. If you want to try dyeing with a process that isn't too fussy or difficult, bleach discharge is a great technique--I highly recommend giving it a shot!<br />
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6/3: Linking up to WIP Wednesday at <a href="http://www.freshlypieced.com/2015/06/wip-wednesday-countdown-to-summer.html">Freshly Pieced</a> and <a href="http://needleandthreadnetwork.blogspot.ca/2015/06/wip-wednesday-196-tn.html">The Needle and Thread Network</a>. Cheers!</div>
momijihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269568370387980525noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7064168154531295156.post-6956148868251033042015-02-04T11:35:00.002-08:002015-02-04T11:36:22.193-08:00WIP Wednesday: Log Cabin quilt<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Apologies for the lousy photo--the lighting is really atrocious today, and the weather is not expected to improve for at least another week, but I still wanted to do a quick WIP Wednesday post. I was out of town for four days and didn't actually make any progress last week, so what you're seeing are the four blocks (minus a couple of strips) that have been waiting around for the past week: <br />
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The colors are really a lot more attractive in person, although the green and blue are both of a certain range of darker shades that make them hard to distinguish in low light. I think the greens were some kind of yellow that was overdyed with indigo, which would explain why they tend to blend so easily with the blues.<br />
<br />
Next I get to start piecing green and brown blocks and see what results!<br />
<br />
Linking up to WIP Wednesday on <a href="http://www.freshlypieced.com/2015/02/wip-wednesday-fabric-y-goodness.html">Freshly Pieced</a> and <a href="http://needleandthreadnetwork.blogspot.ca/2015/02/wip-wednesday-179-tn.html">The Needle and Thread Network</a>. Happy sewing!<br />
<br /></div>
momijihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269568370387980525noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7064168154531295156.post-14036352397030109682015-01-28T08:42:00.001-08:002015-01-30T23:02:03.791-08:00Finished! "Indigo Summer"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
"Indigo Summer" is finished, binding and all:<br />
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I loved every moment of making "Indigo Summer," from the dyeing of the fabrics, to the improvised piecing, to the hand-quilting, and then, finally, the faced binding. It's quite a stunning quilt, if I do say so myself. I'm thinking of entering it in the National Juried Show of <a href="http://www.canadianquilter.com/events/quilt-canada-2015.php">Quilt Canada 2015</a>, although I haven't quite decided whether or not to face the nervousness of putting the quilt into the mail.<br />
<br />
I took the photos with my snazzy new 50mm lens. This lens avoids the curved distortion on the edges that comes with my telephoto, plus the large aperture (to f1.8) allows photos in lower light conditions. Definitely a good addition to the camera bag, especially if I start to enter shows on a regular basis.<br />
<br />
I also made progress on the log cabin quilt this week. No photos, alas, but I'm just about finished with the fourth block, and I'll try to have pictures next week.<br />
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Linking up to WIP Wednesday on <a href="http://www.freshlypieced.com/2015/01/wip-wednesday-steppin-out.html">Freshly Pieced</a> and <a href="http://needleandthreadnetwork.blogspot.ca/2015/01/wip-wednesday-178-tn.html">The Needle and Thread Network</a>. Happy quilting!<br />
<br />
1/30: Now linked up to <a href="http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.ca/2015/01/a-mish-mash-of-finishes.html">Finish it Up Friday</a> on Crazy Mom Quilts, <a href="http://blog.richardandtanyaquilts.com/2015/01/link-finish-friday-153.html">Link-A-Finish Friday</a> at Richard and Tanya Quilts, and <a href="http://ninamariesayre.blogspot.ca/2015/01/curves-at-cabin-off-wall-friday.html">Off the Wall Friday</a> at Creations...Quilts, Art....Whatever. Cheers!</div>
momijihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269568370387980525noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7064168154531295156.post-85471101797867923732015-01-20T23:52:00.001-08:002015-01-20T23:52:19.774-08:00What comes next?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I've just about finished the indigo quilt (photos to come), so the question was, "<a href="http://round22.blogspot.ca/">What comes next?</a>" I have all sorts of plans for other quilts with indigo dyed fabrics, and also quilts without indigo dyed fabrics, not to mention plenty of UFOs. Did I decide to work on any of them?<br />
<br />
Why do that, when I can pursue yet another idea? On Sunday, while I was poking around in the <a href="http://www.maiwa.com/stores/supply/supply.html">Maiwa Supply</a> store on <a href="http://granvilleisland.com/">Granville Island</a>, I started rummaging around in the scrap bin there. Now, I'm supposed to be on a fabric embargo, since I already have more than enough fabric to quilt for the rest of my life. But as with any embargo, a little smuggling gets through here and there. <br />
<br />
In the Maiwa scrap bin, I found long strips of beautifully dyed, mostly solid cotton fabric, and I immediately thought, "Log Cabin quilt!" I figured I could fill a small paper bag ($3) with these scraps, take them home, and just see what I could make from them. Of course, I kept pulling out fabrics and digging down to the bottom of the barrel, literally, and in the end had to get a medium bag ($6).<br />
<br />
The bag wasn't actually that large, but it weighed close to five pounds, and after I ran the fabrics through the dryer to remove some lint, I had an enormous pile. I folded and sorted everything to see what I had:<br />
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Although there are only about seven or eight main colors, there are lots of subtle differences. For example, I think the dark browns amount to five or six different shades. Since all of the cottons are dyed with natural dyes, they also go together beautifully.<br />
<br />
But what kind of log cabin quilt to make? I want to try for something understated and sophisticated, in which the quiet differences in tone will add up to a powerful visual effect. I looked at a lot of photos of quilts by <a href="http://www.emikotloeb.com/gallery/oral_tradition1.htm">Emiko Toda Loeb</a> and <a href="http://davidscottagedownthehill.blogspot.ca/2011/05/shizuko-kuroha.html">Shizuko Kuroha</a>, two quilters whose work I've admired over the years, for inspiration. Both of them incorporate a lot of traditional Japanese aizome (indigo dyed) cottons into their work, and Kuroha's indigo quilts have a particularly wonderful luminosity to them.<br />
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I had originally thought I would use only the Maiwa fabrics, but I settled on a log cabin block with a large center cut from my own shibori indigo dyes. Here's the first block:<br />
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Will this work, or will it just be kind of boring and monotonous? We shall see!<br />
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Linking up to WIP Wednesday on <a href="http://www.freshlypieced.com/2015/01/wip-wednesday-modern-maples.html">Freshly Pieced</a> and <a href="http://needleandthreadnetwork.blogspot.ca/2015/01/wip-wednesday-177-tn.html">The Needle and Thread Network</a>. Cheers! </div>
momijihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269568370387980525noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7064168154531295156.post-75425389237805834882015-01-03T09:01:00.002-08:002015-07-15T21:27:28.209-07:002014: The Year in Indigo<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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For me, 2014 was an incredibly exciting year of exploration into the possibilities of indigo dyeing. Here's what I learned by experimenting in my outdoor "dye studio" during the late spring and summer: <br />
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1) how to set up and manage a thiox vat<br />
<br />
2) improved dipping technique: how to work the fabric to promote even dye penetration, a particularly important issue when trying to dye solids<br />
<br />
3) the properties of different fibers and how they take up indigo: Kona PFD, Essex linen, cotton gauze<br />
<br />
4) the possibilities of different shibori techniques: itajime (clamp resist), nui (stitched) shibori (especially shirokage, or white shadow shibori, which I think is a particularly exciting technique), kumo (spiderweb) shibori, and arashi and bomaki (two different pole-wrapping techniques) <br />
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I was sad to put away the dyeing supplies in the fall, but two Maiwa workshops helped with my indigo withdrawal. Jane Callender helped me to refine some of my stitching techniques, as well as to try Procion dyes for the first time. Gasali Adeyemo provided an introduction to Yoruba techniques, along with major insights about the indigo vat. I also started quilt-making with the fabrics that I dyed during the summer, which will give me the needed indigo fix throughout the winter.<br />
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What's up for 2015? A big project at the day job will require much more of my focus, so this year's indigo dyeing probably won't be as intense as last year's. I do have some goals, however.<br />
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1) First and foremost, I want to try a zinc-lime vat. The zinc-lime vat offers the advantage of working at low temperatures (down to 60 Fahrenheit) and relative ease of building to dark shades, with minimal waste of indigo. It has fallen somewhat out of favor (at least in the U.S. and Canada--I still see quite a few British dyers using the zinc-lime vat) due to disposal issues. <strike>A chemist friend tells me that the real problem is less the zinc itself, however, than cadmium, and as long as I use highly pure zinc, disposal won't be an issue.</strike>*<br />
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2) More complex arashi techniques and patterns are on the agenda as well. I love pole-wrapping, and I've only tried the most basic possibilities thus far.<br />
<br />
3) I splurged and purchased a <a href="http://www.maiwa.com/home/supply/japaneses/shibori_ikat/shibori_kit.html">special shibori tool</a> so that I can try more intricate knotting techniques. It's still slow going, but I'll see how much prep work I can manage of FQs this winter.<br />
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4) I'm not sure I'll have time to explore capping (a method for resisting large areas of fabric), but I've seen so many beautiful samples that require this technique, and I'd like to try it someday.<br />
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5) I really, really want to try katazome dyeing, although I don't know if 2015 will be the year. I see that John Marshall will be holding a <a href="http://www.eugenetextilecenter.com/home/etc/page_2452/three-day_intensive_katazome.html">3-day workshop in Eugene, Oregon</a> in June, which is highly tempting, but the trip might put too big a dent in my budget. If I'm lucky, perhaps Maiwa will have a katazome workshop that will fit my schedule. <br />
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Happy New Year!<br />
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*update on 6/16/2015: I looked up the MSDS information on zinc, and the issue is not the cadmium, abut the zinc itself, which is dangerous for aquatic life. I had hoped once the zinc oxidized it wouldn't be a problem, but zinc oxide is also rated as an environmental threat to aquatic life. If you decide to try a zinc-lime vat, you <u>must not</u> pour it down the drain, but instead, let the water evaporate, and dispose of the solid residues properly through a hazardous waste facility.</div>
momijihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269568370387980525noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7064168154531295156.post-51017280660428061522014-12-02T08:44:00.000-08:002014-12-02T08:45:39.532-08:00Adire eleko and batik with Gasali Adeyemo, Part II: The vat<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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My account of the Adire eleko and batik workshop with <a href="http://africancraft.com/artisan.php?id=gasali">Gasali Adeyemo</a> would be incomplete without a discussion of the dye vat. In addition to his ability to render designs with enormous elegance and
strength of line, Gasali is a master of the indigo vat. Indigo in the
Yoruba region of Nigeria (to the southwest) comes from the <i>elu</i> plant
(Lonchocarpus cyanescens, according to my Google search), which dyers
grind with a mortar and pestle, mix with wood ash, and then form into
balls by hand before letting the indigo balls dry.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXnYHgfo6Wbl7k0bWZBFD-zoBOYeF-DeXIll81UuVd-YR1Bd7HcPcoCoP3wFBMpOHGxxlFl61lA0XX7X2ek_cfbIfZpjcVxjpa0a7lpa4PZIKce6D80Z925j1x3kdDoQgY274ZQPCxS7_o/s1600/_DSC4447a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXnYHgfo6Wbl7k0bWZBFD-zoBOYeF-DeXIll81UuVd-YR1Bd7HcPcoCoP3wFBMpOHGxxlFl61lA0XX7X2ek_cfbIfZpjcVxjpa0a7lpa4PZIKce6D80Z925j1x3kdDoQgY274ZQPCxS7_o/s1600/_DSC4447a.jpg" height="215" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Indigo balls</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnfERHwDjWAIkp5KYD30F0f_ujbRHyO482fXVJy9MtXjiSKMA_bEzxsuVTXmhUYMTqxTO7Kfq_iauFgOtPA0KTrgwZ217GLpYrdFtWqt3EzbYeJG4UtMbxvdur0rxYnx_rdYPwBhoABxDd/s1600/_DSC4448a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnfERHwDjWAIkp5KYD30F0f_ujbRHyO482fXVJy9MtXjiSKMA_bEzxsuVTXmhUYMTqxTO7Kfq_iauFgOtPA0KTrgwZ217GLpYrdFtWqt3EzbYeJG4UtMbxvdur0rxYnx_rdYPwBhoABxDd/s1600/_DSC4448a.jpg" height="203" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dried <i>elu</i> leaves</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Gasali
prepared a small vat for the class ahead of time--I think it was maybe five gallons
or so--and told us that it required about 60-70 of these indigo balls for
just the one dye bath. He uses an organic fruit vat, so it had to be set up well in advance in order to allow sufficient time to reduce the indigo. Alas, I don't have a photo of the actual vat, but the dye solution was gorgeous and strong, with a powerful, bubbly bronze sheen on the top of the dark blue surface and a beautiful
dark amber color below. (This level of reduction isn't possible with the thiox vat that I used this summer, because when the solution is reduced to that amber state, the thiox reacts too quickly and will strip off (re-reduce) the indigo from the fabric and prevent the build-up to dark shades.) Although we only did one dip for each of our fabrics, they still came out a rich
medium blue, and with great dye penetration to boot. Even better, I experienced little dye loss when washing and rinsing the fabrics, and the run-off was virtually clear in the final acidic rinse.</div>
<br />
Now I know what to look for in a truly great vat, and I am more eager than ever to try a zinc lime vat next summer!
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momijihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269568370387980525noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7064168154531295156.post-76361942794258714412014-11-24T08:09:00.002-08:002014-11-24T08:14:29.152-08:00And the winner is...!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Blogathon Canada 2014 has made for a busy week online--more than 3000 hits, and well over 300 comments (compared to a previous high of about a dozen). That's a lot of action for this humble blog!<br />
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And--drum roll please--the winner of the 10 Chérie fat quarters is:<br />
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Lucky #164: Lolly, of <a href="http://redworkquilts.blogspot.ca/">Redwork Quilts</a>! Congratulations, enjoy the FQ bundle, and happy quilting!<br />
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momijihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269568370387980525noreply@blogger.com0