Fabric Dyeing

I’ve been using hand-dyed fabrics in my quilts since I met my mother-in-law and she taught me the ‘real’ way to quilt.  They add so much dimension and fun to a piece that it’s hard to resist.  It also helps that my mother-in-law is an expert fabric dyer – teaching workshops and classes and everything.  I’ve come to be a decent dyer myself – but I don’t like to follow the recipe so I’m not the best teacher.A few weeks ago we had a fabric dyeing day open to our local quilt guild members – the Lodi Valley Quilt Guild.  It was a fun morning full of fabric and color!  Here are some of the ladies prepping their fabric for the first lesson – a color family!Before we dye our fabric we like to soak them in water with soda ash.  My kiddo’s love to watch the adventures in fabric dyeing.  They’ve gotten pretty experienced at observing for the beginning of the dyeing workshop.  Don’t worry – when most of the folks are done – we give them a pile of fabric, some squirt bottles of dye and let them have fun!Diane likes to start by having the group dye a color family – going from one color to another basically.  It’s a great way to get use to the ‘recipe’ and adds some really great colors to anyone’s stash.I did a quick 12 yards of two different color families –  yup – that means 8 sets of fat quarters in giveaway’s coming up on my blog throughout the year!Everyone works in pairs for this – it helps keep things straight and slightly less of a mess – but I have to say – these ladies came prepared for the mess!By the end of the workshop they all went home with at least 12 fat quarters of dyed fabrics!  And it looks to me like they had a bit of fun! Yesterday, Diane taught a day long workshop in fabric dyeing for the Quilts by Barb Fabric Hand Dyeing Day.  Again – we had a bunch of enthusiastic women over dyeing some amazing fabrics!  Diane showed a new technique – ice dyeing – and I just couldn’t resist!  I ice dyed the yard of fabric you see above and a shirt.  I think I have a new addiction!  I’ll post some ‘post-wash’ fabrics once they’re all washed out and pressed!