If you have been following the process:
It started here with some hand dyed fabrics; then I began the design process;
and now for the final results:

This was the result of the sample at the last installment:

Now I needed to add a little green because what’s purple and yellow without green? So I added some small machine embroidered leaves around the edges of the stalk and stem to liven things up.

Now for the edges. It would be really easy to simply bind off and finish it at that, but I wanted to give the piece a “soft edge” finish. As I had already used small circles as part of the flower design, I decided to use the circular design to finish the edges. I placed some water soluble stabilizer underneath along the edges (a great application for using up all those small scrappy pieces of stabilizer), then quilted a couple of rows of circles all around the edges – very organic looking.

Then I carefully snipped away the fabric from the outer edges being careful not to cut into the stabilizer.

Using an embroidery hoop to keep the stabilizer taught, I extended the circular stitching onto the stabilizer.

Then I washed away the stabilizer leaving a soft lacy edge.

The final touch was some hand beading to the central design;

and some bead clusters along the edges.

I then mounted the embroidery onto a quilted greenish colored hand-dyed background. The final size is 14″ x 21″. Considering the fabric that I started with, I’m really happy with the results.

I still have a few pieces of hand dyed fabric left over, so I might use them up in a similar fashion over the next month or so.

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As the weather here in Florida turns nice and warm, I finally got the chance to go play in my dye room the other day. I’m currently working on a new quilt and wanted a very specific colored background fabric, so while I had everything set up in the dye room I also took the opportunity to spend a few extra hours “playing”.

Sidenote

As a sidenote, some years ago I actually took the time to make a sample folder of dye recipes. This really is a time consuming process because you have to label everything and be very precise about mixing your dyes. However the samples have proved invaluable to me over the years particularly when I need a very specific color or combination of colors. With the dye recipe and sample right at your fingertips, it is extremely easy to reproduce the exact same color.

If you are interested in producing your own sample folder, I highly recommend the book Dyeing To Quilt : Quick, Direct Dye Methods for Quilt Makers by Joyce Mori and Cynthia Myerberg. While I have read a number of good dyeing books, I found this one particularly easy to read and understand, and very easy to follow. It also includes record sheets that you can copy and use to create your sample color runs.

Back to the story

I dyed it using a variegated range of complementary colors which I don’t work with very often, but gave me the perfect color I needed. After I was done I had lots of leftover dye which I never like to waste, so I decided to use it up.

I am very good at experimenting; in fact I love to do it. However when I know the outcome and the results are not good, I usually don’t want to go there again. And if you know anything of color theory, then you know that mixing complementary colors normally results in a “mud” color, usually (but not always) a good thing to avoid.

So here I had six fat quarters and various mixtures of complementary color dye. Will I or won’t I? Ok, let’s do it.

I pre-soaked the fat quarters in some soda ash. I figured they might have half a chance of turning into something useful if the colors took quickly. Then I squished them into a container one at a time, pouring different colors of leftover dye onto each piece as I squished it on top of the next. I was careful to try and not let the dye colors blend together too much, but a certain overlap was inevitable.

The resulting colors were not at all what I expected; the colors in the dye seemed to separate really quickly except for a few areas that turned a “light mud” and are not at all displeasing. The results in fact were a pleasant surprise so now I can’t wait to use the fabric on a project!

The moral of this story

Don’t ever be afraid to try; even if you think you know the outcome. The results just may surprise you.

Results

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