Just Call Me The Silly Shoveler!

Thank goodness we only had 6.5" of snow last night. I have a weak back and I only shoveled two strips so my tires could get on pavement without packing the snow down to turn to ice. We had a new bed delivered today so I was sure to shovel a portion for them to get the bed out of the truck too. I am afraid of the snow blower so I am saving some fun for my hubs when he returns home tonight! I didn't want him to miss out! Tee Hee! I suppose you could call me the lazy shoveler...but I will blame it on my back!

I went on a road trip to do some shopping the other day. Found some wonderful fabrics and a few wools.

Can't wait to find the perfect quilt to use them in! I have been on a tiny print kick lately for a few mini quilts I am working on. The more fabrics the better when it comes to quilts!

I did a little experimenting with some garment wools I have had laying around for a while...like maybe these clothes have been waiting 4 years to become something! I read about dying wools with Kool Aid recently and decided to give it a try! It was super fun and super easy! Some did not all do well, so I will try again, but here are a few of my finished recycled wools that I am happy with. This first picture is from an off white skirt I used to wear in college. The colors turned out very very bright! I have no idea what I will do with these, but they sure are pretty! Maybe they would make cute Easter eggs around a cute little bunny...hmmm, ther's an idea!

This one below is from some tan pants my mom used to wear. It looks like a great tomato color, variegated nicely. This fabric is fraying, so I will most likely need to needleturn it when I use it in a quilt.

This one is a plaid blazer of my mother's. The original color is laying on the bottom right. I used blueberry and grape Kool Aid if I remember correctly. Next time I will take notes!

I did the Kool Aid dying in the morning, and then decided to try tea dying in the afternoon. I didn't have any plain tea bags so decided to use instant coffee. I cooked the fabrics a while on the stove, then layed the fabrics out on cookie sheets and baked them to dry. That gives the dark stains. I am very happy with most of these! Although, I will have to figure out how to get those deep wrinkles out! I am afraid to put sizing on the fabric for fear it will wash out those good stains! I will keep you posted on how that works!!! The base fabrics from left to right are 3 colors of tiny checks, 2 homespun plaids and a solid unbleached muslin. Yummy!

And last, I'll show off a quilt I made in the year 2000. I have not had it on my wall for a while. It's one of my favorites. It is double cross hatch quilted and has that good wrinkle that makes a quilt look old. It is a Lisa DeBee Schiller pattern called Le Fleur De Jardin. It was a BOM gift from my mother. I changed a few of the fabrics and you know I didn't follow the pattern! Haha! I set it a bit differently than the pattern called for...just a little change.

Here's a few pics of the quilting and inking details. The designer spoke at a guild as I was making the blocks. I took them to show her and she signed one of the blocks. She also added the inking twigs to the block, so when I finished all of the blocks, I had to add inking too! It was scarey as I thought I would make a mistake...but I went slow and after a few twigs, I was comfortable with the process. It adds quite a bit to the quilt!

 

 

Thanks for stopping by today! Stay warm and take care,

Missie

 

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