Dyeing Pearl Cotton

I've been working on a new folk-art design, something a bit more traditional with some snappy new techniques for my woolfelt. Usually I do my handwork with a size 5 pearl cotton, the thickness of this wt. thread pairs nicely with the beefy woolfelt in applique for blanket-stitch etc. But for this piece, I'm using a finer size 8 or 12 pearl cotton in variegated colors. I have some beautiful colorways in these sizes, but I needed a solid black for part of the design. I called our local needlework shop, no luck. Living in a small town, no one else within a 40 minute drive carries any sort of pearl cotton, and of course, I need it today. Finally it dawned on me, silly girl, it's solid black, just dye it yourself! Now I've never dyed thread, and all I could think of was the occasional mess I've had when unwinding those skeins and I get in too big of a hurry. I could just see that happening to my thread during the dyeing process. Not sure how the pro's do it, but here's a simple technique that worked for me.

First I thought, I need to wind it around something so the thread doesn't get all tangled up. I thought about a wooden dowel rod, but I was afraid it would be all curly. Then I remembered the wheels I use for my pincushion bases. I found a 2-1/2" wheel (from my "Ms Delia's Dress Shoppe" kits) that was a second, my lucky day! It had a little split going up one side, just like the little notch at the top of a thread spool. I measured off about 4 yds. of a dark variegated pearl cotton that had areas of tan in it, folded it in half twice, and "threaded" it onto a small bobby pin. I looped the other loose ends through the side notch of the wheel, and started winding the thread around the wheel, trying not to overlap as I passed through the center hole. When I reached the end I clipped the loops holding the bobby pin on and looped them through the same side notch.

I had some black Rit dye already mixed up in a jar, so I pulled out a plastic bowl (in this case a Cool Whip container) and poured the dye into the bowl. I added a bit of very hot water to warm it up, then placed the threaded wheel into the bowl. Then I turned the jar upside-down to weigh it down, covering up the wheel with the dye.

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I ran some errands for about an hour, then came back and checked my project...all black, even the wheel! I removed the jar, poured the black dye back into it, and rinsed the threaded wheel with warm water then cold. Then I pulled the thread ends out of the notch, unwound the thread and let it dry. Voila! Black pearl cotton, it worked great!

Afterward I had a thought: I bet you could use this same technique to make variegated pearl cotton too. Next time I'm going to start with white, and try a shallower dye bath and do one color (like turquoise) on one side of the wheel, then flip the wheel into another shallow dye bath of, lime green or something. Or you could do red and blue, they might be purple on the sides where they blended. Who knows? Anyway, a fun and simple technique, if anyone else tries this with some fun results please let me know! Or if you have another dyeing technique you'd like to share, I'd love to hear it too!

April Nuno Scarf Class

We had such a great class at The Fibre Studio in Charlotte last Saturday! I have to share, this was one of the most pleasant classes I have ever taught. Everyone got along so well, each gal really put her own spin on her scarf, while chatting amongst themselves as the day went on, it was wonderful. One thing that made this class so unique was the color choices; I had assembled kits in a somewhat monochromatic fashion

, and several of the gals kept the fiber and embellishment colorway, while swapping out their scarves for more contrast, it really made for some eye-catching designs! Also, each scarf layout was totally unique: one girl's scarf was like a spring flower garden, another a fiesta of color, then we had a flow of posies and vines, and last, a swirl of flaming color! All in all an awesome class, and their scarves just turned out gorgeous.

Needle-felt Sweater Purse Class

Saturday we had a fun day at The Fibre Studio in Charlotte making needle-felt purses out of felted wool sweaters, everyone's turned out so cute! The girls could either bring in a felted wool sweater or use one of ours, or they could bring a purse they had knitted and felted. Even though most used the same basic pattern and layout, because of the diversity of what they started with and their choices of color and embellishments, each one turned out completely different! I love the velvet leafy border Sonja chose for her knitted/felted bag, and Christi's bag was just adorable with it's little rhinestone buttons on the back. Pam's bag was so colorful and abstract, what fun! And then we had some beautiful bags in periwinkle, purple, and charcoal gray, each of them a work of art on their own. The girls worked very hard to come close to completing their bags, most of them just need lining and to attach the straps, and did a magnificent job! Here's a group "before" shot, and then the beautiful "afters".

Art Quilt Exhibits

There are a couple of phenomenal art quilt exhibits in Cary, both inspired by the element of water. They're by PAQA-South (Professional Art Quilters Alliance), and run through the end of March. The ArtQuiltsRivers exhibit is at the Cary Arts Center, and the ArtQuiltsWater exhbit is at the Page-Walker Arts and History Center. A broad range of techniques is on display by these very talented art quilters: felting, dyeing, shibori, quilting, photo transfer, beading, and upcycling fabrics and things, just to name a few. Here are some photos of some of the quilts.

Felting at The Fibre Studio

I'm so excited to be teaching my Needle-felt Sweater Purse class at The Fibre Studio in Charlotte this Saturday, March 16! All it takes is a felted wool sweater or bag, I'm bringing lots of goodies for the "embellishment buffet" like these yummy hand-dyed silk velvets, metallic mesh in a rainbow of colors, sparkly Angelina fibers for a bit o' the old bling, hand-dyed merino fibers, yarns, and curly fibers to name a few. We'll poke and embellish to our heart's content, then turn that old wool sweater into a purse worthy of an artiste!

This will be a totally different (but equally fun!) class than the one we had this past Sunday, where we rolled up our sleeves and pulled out the elbow grease and Dawn for our Wild Wooly Flower class! The girls made some gorgeous flowers, each one turned out totally different, no 2 alike. They should be very proud of their unique creations..I know I was proud of my students!

Charlotte Quilt Show

I had such a treat this past weekend - I got to go to a quilt show and not work! The show had filled up last fall before I could get my paperwork in as I was getting ready for Houston, and so I had a break from vending and decided to go and be a "spectator". Wow, I could get used to that! As much as I do love vending the shows and visiting with people, it was nice to actually walk around and shop, see the quilts and special booths like the art doll guild's booth, and visit with folks I ran into.

The show had lots of great demos, and I was so lucky when I first arrived to find Pat Lorenz sharing how to dye her lovely silk scarves. There were several gals there I knew, and I enjoyed Pat's demo and repertoire so much. Then right across the aisle was a nice machine I'd never seen up close - a feltloom! The gal was happy to show me all it's tricks and how it worked, pretty neat...I guess us "woolies" always find each other. The quilts were lovely, the art dolls exquisite, and lots of goodies were available for purchase...all in all, it was a great show, here's a few photos of some things that caught my eye.