Friday, June 8, 2012

The unwanted

At times you may come across a few things that others no longer want (or have use for) I look at these things as a terrific opportunity to experiment at little or no cost. In the spring I purchased a bundle of remnants at a rummage sale, it was white....appeared to be cotton, it contained a couple of decent sized pieces of plain white...for half a buck, how could I go wrong?
And recently, a close friend offered me a number of things she no longer wanted, in that, was a box full of old dyes that she had used many, many years ago to dye wool when she was into rug hooking.
So I decided to see if these dyes were still usable and pulled out that rummage sale bundle. I did a quick search online for some dyeing tips and set about to see what results I might achieve.
I dyed all the pieces using the same dye mix, crumpled up in a couple of freezer bags. I was going for an inky, evening sky sort of appearance.
here are a couple of close up shots of the nice effects I got.

I then cut the pieces and put them all back together to create one large piece (about 5 foot square) that will be used as a "background" for something that is currently percolating in my brain.



14 comments:

Anne Huskey-Lockard said...

Oooooo....very nice dying!
And don't you love getting a bargain and having it turn into a REAL BARGAIN???
Can't wait to see what the brain is working on.

XXOO~~
Anne

Mary-Kay said...

Good Job! Before I read the whole post, I knew the fabric was for a sky and as I read it, boy did you do it right. I love the way it turned out. Guess the dye was still good.

Ariane said...

Wow!! It turned out beautifully!!

Marianne Bos said...

WARNING!

dyeing is addictive!

Love the colours and the texture!
Marianne

imquilternity said...

That's one gorgeous piece of fabric! Can't wait to see what it becomes.

Michelle said...

That is BEAUTIFUL!

Maggie R said...

Nice work Jill.
I love the look of the second piece especially but it all works.
xoox
((((hugs))))
maggie

Clare Wassermann said...

Lovely...I've just gone back to dyeing...maybe it's the sunny weather? very inspiring inky sky colour I must say

Diane J. Evans said...

I was hoping that the title of your post meant that you dyed the fabric and didn't want it anymore, because I would have taken it off your hands in a heartbeat -- this is the exact color of deep blue fabric I'm currently seeking. It's going to make a beautiful background for your next project -- can't wait to see the results.

Diane

Robbie said...

Wonderful blue! Looks better than indigo! What color dyes did you end up using for this piece? I'm currently taking the online mandala class and we'll be dyeing this week (I hope!). I'm using MX dyes vs indigo vat dyeing...want to use up the dyes I have rather than ordering more. Just curious! Thanks!!

Quilter Kathy said...

A beautiful night sky!

Sherri said...

It almost looks like a square swimming pool surrounded by a grassy border. The type of pool that is painted dark or perhaps a stormy sky's reflection in the pool. I have swimming on my mind today. It is hot here! Nice job Jill. Of course we all look forward to see where you go with that luscious piece!

Royce said...

Very pretty. I love the delicate look.

Joan said...

Jill, love those colours - did you do this the same way you made the most recent? How much soda ash did you use - or did I miss that?

Copyright Jill Buckley