Fabric Dyeing

Before the cooler autumn weather started coming, I was able to get in some fabric dyeing.  I dye fabric in my garage and on the driveway so the temperatures need to be above 70 degrees.

This year I only had about about 10 yards of white fabric to start with.  I did not purchase more. Instead, I pulled out some of the fabrics I know have been sitting on my shelf for some time to over-dye.

Here are some of those old fabrics.

Why did I pull these?  There were several reasons.  I pulled out fabrics that I thought were very similar to another color I already had.  When I started dyeing my own fabric, I created a much more mottled look.  Now, I like to work with more solid color.  So, I pulled out some of the very mottled ones.  Those would need to be over-dyed with a much darker color.  I also pulled colors that I didn't think I would use or didn't appeal to me.  Some colors were just too bright and I wanted to tone them down a bit.  You don't always know exactly what color you get until the end when the fabric is rinsed and dried.  Sometimes I make something I don't like.

Work in progress.

And here are the colors I ended up with.  I think, overall, I am happier with the new colors.

They will get integrated back unto the shelves and, hopefully, get used!  I also had some muslin scraps that I had brought home from the museum left over from covering pedestal tops.  Here is how they turned out, along with a few more over-dyes.

Most of these are smaller pieces and some have holes in them or marks that I will need to work around.  But I am happy to be able to get some use out of the fabric that otherwise would have ended up in the trash can.

Discharged

In an earlier post, I shared some photos of when we did some discharging of fabric at my friend's studio.  I have used some of the black discharged fabric to create a small artwork.

Dusk

hand dyed and discharged fabrics, machine pieced, free-motion stitching

14-3/4" x 12"

©2014 Lisa Flowers Ross

Here is a detail of the free-motion stitching.

  

Holding Back In Vein

It's that time of year.  The Quilt National deadline is drawing near.  Sept. 12th to be exact.  I have read on a few blogs that some people are trying to finish up their entries for this most well-known international, juried art quilt exhibition that comes around every other year.

Like others, I planned to enter some pieces this year.  But I have now changed my mind to work on some other things/events instead.  I did make a piece at the beginning of the year, back in January, that I was considering to be an entry.  But I have not posted it here.  Why?  Because the Quilt National committee has very strict rules about publication of a work before being juried into their exhibition.  Here are the rules:

Disqualifications include
"- any work that will have appeared prior to May, 2015 in an American fiber arts exhibition that draws artists and/or visitors from more than 100 miles from its venue;

- any work that will have appeared prior to May 2015 in an American publication that has national or international distribution; this restriction includes SAQA publications;

- any work that has appeared, after September 2012, on an internet site other than the artist’s own site. Facebook pages are NOT considered an artist’s website. Images appearing on Facebook will be disqualified." 

The last rule states that it is o.k. to post to your own site.  However, I heard a story that one year someone had only posted an image to her own site, but that someone else had copied the image and posted it somewhere else and was, thus, disqualified because of that.  So, most people wanting to enter don't usually post anything but maybe a small detail in progress.

This is all so they have fresh, new artwork for the exhibition that has not been overly seen before, which is understandable, yet taken to an extreme, I feel.

Since I have decided not to enter this year, I can now safely share with you (unless I wanted to enter it in the next one in two years) my In Vein pieces.

I started out making one big piece.  But after having it all together and looking at it.  I decided it really needed to be two pieces.  I ripped seams and reconfigured and now I have In Vein I and In Vein II.

In Vein I

hand-dyed fabrics, machine pieced & appliquéd, machine stitching

60-3/4" x 17"

©2014 Lisa Flowers Ross

$1050

In Vein II

hand-dyed fabrics, machine pieced & appliquéd, machine stitching
64-1/4" x 35-1/2"

©2014 Lisa Flowers Ross

$2900

I think the shape of the first piece is interesting and might like to work with it again, but it would not be in this series.  I do see these pieces as the start of another series, but am not sure when I will work on it again.

Good luck to all those you are entering Quilt National this year.

Bobbin Work

Here is another new artwork I managed to finish recently.  It started out as part of a larger piece which was part of a new series I have started.  But when I had it all pieced together, I decided I didn't like it.  So I cut it up, ripped seams, added some new parts, re-sewed and now I have this piece, which no longer fits in the series.  And I have another part that still needs some work.

Lined Up Around the Block

38-1/4" x 22-1/4"

fabrics hand dyed and rusted by artist, 

machine pieced, machine stitched

©2013 Lisa Flowers Ross

$1100

You might notice the darker horizontal lines of stitching.  This was done with a heavier, perle cotton thread.  The problem with using perle cotton thread is that it is too thick to go through the machine needle.  So to use it in the machine, it needs to be in the bobbin.  I have a separate bobbin case for this because you really need to loosen the tension on it a lot.

Using the perle cotton in the bobbin means it will be on the bottom of whatever I am sewing. Therefore, if I want it on the front, then I have to sew the piece back side up.  But then I can't see where I want to go.

What I did was pin where I wanted the lines to go from the front and then flipped it over.  On the back I could see the pins and then I placed 1/4" masking tape along the pin lines, removed the pins and I was ready to sew.

Here is a picture of what that looked like when I was sewing.

I learned this bobbin work technique in a class I took many years ago.  I have not used it in my work before.  But I'm glad I had the knowledge to do it now because I like the look of those thicker lines.

New Artwork, New Gallery

Between all the summer trips and other activities, I have been trying to get some work done.  I have several pieces put together.  I just have to do the stitching on them.   But I can show you this piece that I have finished.

It is the first, in what I hope will be a series (although there is only this one just now).

Foliaris I
33-1/4" x 29-1/4"

fabrics hand dyed by artist,

machine pieced, machine stitched

©2013 Lisa Flowers Ross

Here is a detail of the stitching with orange thread in the middle.

This piece will be available for purchase at the Robin B Gallery in Chicago when it opens in September.  I am happy to have this gallery representation.

Their physical doors may not be open yet, but they do have the website up and running. Click on their name above to check it out.