Celtic Illusions

This wall hanging belongs to Trina.  Trina and I met when we both lived in Flin Flon, she now lives in Kentucky, but made this at a class when she was living in Austria!  The pattern is called Celtic Illusions by Karen Combs.    

I was able to catch these photos in the last few moments of sunlight yesterday afternoon.  Trina and I decided on some non traditional feathers with bubbles in the plumes to play off the bubbles in the background fabric.  I changed up the spine a little bit in the outer border just to keep things interesting.

 In the end I opted to only stitch in the ditch around the brown.  This pattern goes together in a neat way, but the width of the brown pieces is not consistent - you don't see this when looking at the knot but I didn't want to spoil the illusion.

 Some "u-turns" on a few of the inner sections added a nice balance.

 I am fairly pleased with the results of my snow dyeing.  I was expecting a little different result from the black, and I thought some of the pink would have been more prominent,  but I think I can work with it. When I was picking my colors and adding the dye I was thinking stormy sky and blooming canola fields.

Rail Fence Runner and Some Snow Dyeing

Trina sent this lovely runner.   The inner border is a flange, so to keep it free we decided on a separate border with a free hand "swirly tails" allover in the center.  A denim blue Magnifico thread and Quilters Dream Blend Batting were used.

Since we got some fresh snow yesterday I decided it was time to do some snow dyeing again.  I am hoping to create the background for an art quilt to fit the theme "Prairie Sounds".  Pieces have to be long and narrow.  I am doing two, hoping that one will be perfect, but in reality I am expecting to do some piecing to get the effect I am looking for. The G&S Dyes I used were: Cotton Black, Hot Pink, Royal Blue, Bright Yellow, Navy.

Here is my process in pictures.

 Only time will tell the results of this experiment!  

Snow Dyeing & Infinity Scarves

I took a little time yesterday to do some dyeing.  I was low on my inventory of infinity scarves and my daughter wanted to give a few as Christmas gifts.  Her request was for a color kind of like strawberry yogurt, but darker.  Not sure that I quite understood what I was shooting for, but decided a variety of pinks and purples was the way to go.

She also requested some a mini snow dyed mandala for a special friend.  My normal mandalas are about 40" square.  These ones are about 20".

 

 Most of them came out a little lighter than expected.  We both picked the same favorite and she and her dad got to work stretching it over a simple frame.  

I also found some time for a little costume sewing. Here is a peek at the maid's dress.  It only needs a zipper. This one feels really good to have off my to do list.  Now, one last day to get everything done before school is out....

A Little More Snow Dyeing

Welcome to everyone who has arrived here as part of Blogathon Canada sponsored by Sew Sisters Quilt Shop.  It has been so interesting to connect with so many creative Canadians!

I'm Lori and I been blogging for about 6 months now. I took my first quilting class 17 years ago, but for many years I only sewed clothes for my children.  Quilting has now become my main focus.  In June I took the big leap into longarm quilting when my Innova arrived, and September marked the official opening of Night Owl Quilting & Dye Works. I use this blog as a place to share my own projects and the work I do for my clients.  I hope you have a little time to look around and see what I've been up to.

You should also know that I have a little bit of an addiction to fabric dyeing!  Here is a little more of the snow dyeing I did with the season's first snowfall.  The colours turned out lighter than I was anticipating, but I still love the results.

And a few closeups to show the really cool texture that results from the snow dyeing process.

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of the Blogathon!

Winter is Here

What a difference a day makes.  Here is my Batik Diamonds Quilt on Friday afternoon.

   Here is it in the same spot today.

Winter really came overnight.  We have received at least a foot of snow and it hasn't quite stopped yet.

A picture of the front of my house.

There is a lot of this going on around town.

Thank goodness for a good snow blower.  My husband and a neighbor blew out six driveways and most of our cul-de-sac as we are not top priority on the city snow cleaning list!

But on the bright side fresh snow is the perfect opportunity to do some snow dyeing.  I decided to try to make a backing for a quilt I currently have under construction.   Here is a peek into my process.

 The snow had not finished melting before I went to bed so I had to wait until this morning to wash it out.

 It turned out more purple than blue, but I think it will still be usable.
 

Here are a few more pictures of the Batik Diamonds quilt.  It was made from an Island Batik roll and about another 20 strips from my stash. Why is it cornerless you may ask?  Well I just didn't have enough length in the strips to cut enough triangles.  I think it worked quite well this way. The sashing, binding and backing were one of my regular hand dyes (not snow dyed).  I used the Tickle Panto and I am very pleased with the resulting texture from the Quilter's Dream Puff Batting.