More experiments from the dye pot ...

Saturday morning found me back at the dye pots with some more wool yarns ...

My first attempt at natural dying with Queen Anne's Lace ... hubby and I picked a TON of the flowers Friday afternoon on a slow drive through the country ... I dutifully cleaned the leaves and stems away ... and yuck, they stink and are a bit sticky ... I simmered the flowers for an hour or so and let the concoction cool ... strained the dye through cheesecloth ... and what a disappointment ... not much color ... the end result was not good ... I ended up overdying the yarn with Cushings ... I think I'll stick to my onion skins for yellows and golds ...

And here it is ... Cushings dye in the left pot ... clear water in the right pot ... thought I'd see if I could get some good varigation in the yarn doing this ... and it worked!

My first attempt at dip dying ... it was fun to mix up small amounts of this and that dye and dip, dip, dip ... I'll be dip dying again very soon ... I want to dip dye some fat quarters of wool for a new rug I have drawn up ... see the background yarn hanging on the far right side of the old drying rack? I love how it turned out once it dried.

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All my finished goodies ...

Confession ... remember that vow to not buy any new fabric except for quilt backings and bindings?

I didn't make it ... but I didn't blow it by much really ... only three fat quarters and a new little purse pattern ... not bad really ... you should have seen this quilt shop!!!! Actually, you CAN see the shop ... here's the link ... http://www.quiltersgeneralstore.com/ Gorgeous fabrics everywhere!!! Civil war and reproductions galore!!!! I bought the backing for my king sized quilt and my twin quilt for $4/yard in the clearance section (NICE selection too!!!) ... I got such a deal on 16(!!) yards of fabric, I "rewarded" myself with the fat quarters and pattern. All my new fabrics have been washed and dried ... it's time to start ironing and piecing the backings ... can't wait to take them to the long arm quilter ...

Experimenting in the dye pots this afternoon ...

Something new for me ... wool yarn ... fun, fun, FUN!!!! I started with off white, a brownish tweed, and buttercup yellow yarns ...

The colors are scrumptious!!! I can't wait til they're dry ... I'm planning to punch a new chair pad ...

Of course I had to throw pieces and scraps of wools in too ...

It was interesting to see the different colors in the same dye pots ... the wool pieces were light pink, a gawdy bright BLUE(!!!!), and camel ... interesting things happen when I dye in my copper pot ...

Peacock and robin's egg blues ... hooking them will be fun for sure ...

These are some of my favorite pieces from today's experiments ...

The perfect red continues to elude me ... I'm truly beginning to believe it's impossible for me ...

Lots of nice mottling ...

A far cry from the flat boring camel, pink, and bright blue that I started with ...

Off to the quilt shop in the morning with two good friends in search of quilt backings ... and ONLY quilt backings ... I'm still determined to not buy new things until I use what I have ... except quilt backings ... tomorrow is going to be a SEVERE test of my resolve ... wish me luck???

Pickin' blueberries ... drying herbs ...

Hubby's new dehydrator that he received for Father's Day ... sweet basil and chives ... we did several trays of herbs this weekend ...

lemon thyme ... mother of thyme ...

blueberry/apple fruit leathers ... three trays that should be dry in the next hour or two ... no more Fruit Roll Ups for us!

Blueberry cobbler for dessert with vanilla ice cream ... YUMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!

Hubby and I got up early this morning and went blueberry pickin' ... 10 pounds between the two of us. We froze ALOT of them ... made the leathers in the dehydrator (our first -- can't wait to try them!!) ... made the cobbler ... and ate a TON! They are oh soooooooooooooooooooo good!!!! Just think how good fresh blueberry cobbler will taste this winter!!!

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Marinated pork roast, taters, onions and carrots from the garden are cooking on the grill ... homemade coleslaw ... cuke salad ... fresh cottage cheese ... call it dinner.

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A satisfying weekend craftwise -- finished a couple of small cross stitches, cut some wool pieces out to applique a pillow, hand quilted one of my two doll quilts, did some sketching, wound all 174 skeins of floss that I dyed a week ago -- that was ALOT of winding!!!! I'm working up a new little punch project using them ... tonight will find me winding some wool yarn skeins to dye for a punched chair pad ... I bought a dye book and some awesome new dyes while in Pennsylvania that I'm just itching to try out. A nice, quiet, not-too-hot Sunday evening in northern Illinois ...

Busy weekend ...

A nice, long holiday weekend filled with projects ... still clinging to my pledge to buy nothing new, finish what I have ... I'm finding that I don't NEED anything new ... I have pretty much everything I need ... at least for now - tee hee ...

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I finally finished it!!!! My reindeer sampler stitched on 28 count evenweave ... I believe it will become a holiday wall quilt ...

Playing in the dye pots ... a new dye for me ... Cushings for cottons ... I picked it up in Pennsylvania ... I love it and have to have more ... today's colors were Light Brown and Khaki Drab ...

Another sampler I started AND finished this weekend ... stitched on 32 count linen ... my favorite ... laying on the top of the stack in the dye pot ...

Into the dye pot ... 174 skeins of brightly colored cotton floss that a friend gifted me with ... in it goes ...

Out of the dye pot ... MUCH better!!!

So long as I'm dying ... in goes some 32 count linens ...

and some feedsacks ... and even some weaver's cloth!!!

And the weekend's almost over ... trying to decide what to work on this evening ...

My punkin cross stitch on 32 count linen using a French overdyed cotton floss that is just YUMMY!!!

Or maybe I'll do some hand quilting on my two new dolly quilts ... oranges, browns, greens, and whites ... 1930's prints ...

Wonderful new blog and a great giveaway ...

Everyone needs to run right over and see Maureen's new blog and her sweet, sweet, SWEET giveaway!!!! Although I do realize that by posting this information I'm reducing my chances of winning that sweet babe! lol Off you go everyone ... http://www.sweetmeadowsfarm.blogspot.com/

Finished the quilt top ...

I woke up early this morning and finished the quilt top! That was my first quilt-in-a-weekend type quilt top. It's all pressed, folded, and on a hanger waiting to go to the quilt shop to select a backing and then off to the long arm quilter for an all over meandering stitch. I LOVE FINISHING PROJECTS!!!

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I also finished the binding on another shabby chic table topper from the scrap basket. It will be listed on the website soon.

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My next project is a rail fence dolly quilt made with green, brown, and orange 1940's prints. The fabric is in the dryer and headed to the ironing board soon. I'm on a roll!!!! I have two baskets filled with quilt kits -- table toppers, wall quilts, dolly quilts, full sized quilts, you name it, it's in those baskets! And I'm clearing them out! My goal is to use it allllllllllll up -- shelves and drawers of fabrics -- NO buying ANY new fabric except for quilt backings. That's it. I'm TIRED of all this fabric stacked and stuffed in every nook and cranny. It's gotta GO!

How I spent a hot summer day ...

QUILTING!!! And doing a big of cleaning in the sewing room. I'm digging through kits and UFOs ... today I ironed two batik table toppers that have been pieced for hmmmmmmm ... two years???? I've ironed the toppers and their backings and have them ready to sandwich and pin. And then I dug out this kit for a twin sized quilt that I bought last year at Quilt Festival. I remember I loved the sample I saw there ... it reminded me of a worn, sun-faded quilt on grandma's front porch swing and I just had to have it. The name of the quilt pattern is 5 and Dime and it's a quick-pieced, fat quarter-friendly pattern. In one afternoon I've done all my cutting and piecing and tomorrow all I have left to sew are the long seams between the pieced strips and the focus fabric strips. I even have all my binding ... an enjoyable afternoon in the air conditioning ...