Tie-Dyeing Fun and a Milestone!

What a fun weekend we had! Lucy Ann spent a few nights here with Nana and PawPaw, she was eager to complete the sewing portion of her quilt top from a few weeks ago; we had big plans to tie-dye the back for that quilt as well. In anticipation of this activity I ordered a tie-dyeing kit from Dharma Trading Co; it included everything needed for good results at home, this was a first time experience for both of us. 

We read all the instructions through and Lucy Ann chose the effect (spiral) of tie-dye that she hoped to accomplish. 

Along with a prepared-for-dyeing extra-wide length of fabric for the backing I had also ordered a plain, white T-shirt for her. Armed with all the knowledge from the booklet, we set up our dyeing area in the garage on Thursday afternoon, it had been was raining, more was forcast, and we didn't want to take any chances doing this outdoors. We mixed up her chosen colors; she was quite liberal with the application. Then, after she was satisfied with her dye-soaked bundles, we wrapped them tightly in plastic and let them sit undisturbed for twenty-four hours. The waiting was the hardest part!

In the meantime on Friday, between virtual school sessions (more on this later, in another post), she finished her piecing. Finally, late in the afternoon, it was time for the big reveal. All day long she had repeated how she "couldn't wait" to see how the tie-dye turned out. I had commented to her at lunchtime that I hoped the results would be what she was hoping for, she said: "Nana, however it turns out will be perfect!". We all need more of that Lucy Ann attitude, she is a happy ray of sunshine.

Finally, it was time! We unwrapped her T-shirt first, and she rinsed it off with the hose. It's hard to believe that those white areas were hidden inside that tightly wrapped, dye-saturated shirt. She loved it!

Then, the backing fabric! To say that this was a successful experiment would be an understatement. Look at her smile! From this point, it was into the washer with hot water and Synthrapol detergent. 

The quilt top is complete and the backing is ready to go. One more weekend for loading it onto the longarm and she'll have it quilted; she is very hands-on and wants to do this project herself, from start to finish! I cannot remember a time when a quilt student was more enthusiastic (or this Nana was any prouder).

Saturday was our sons's birthday, a milestone one this year. Our DIL had a surprise outside for him!

If someone can please explain to me what kind of warp-speed time trick exists that has transported us  from the top picture to the bottom one in what seems to me to be only a blink of an eye, I'm all ears-- how in the world did this happen? I certainly don't feel any older.

One more shot of the newest quiltmaker because the joy on her face says it all. 

💗

Life is Good!

Gettin' Chubby

I'm getting chubby these days; well, maybe (hopefully) not me, but I'm getting chubby with my binding! "Chubby binding" is the preferred binding method of Kim Diehl and it is explained in all of her books. I spoke about it here, having used it on a quilt last month. The appearance is quite nice and the corners turn perfectly square each and every time. "Brother Bear" has been prepared with this binding for hand finishing.  

This method uses a Clover tape maker (size 25) for turning a 2" cut strip. Since this method uses a single-fold over the raw edge instead of a customary, double-fold, binding I wouldn't recommend it for any quilt that gets a lot of use. For a wall hanging or light-duty quilt, however, it's my new go-to method.  

"All American" is quilted and off the rails. It will hang on a brick wall out on the porch, it will get  its chubby binding applied this afternoon. I can't wait to get this one done and hung! 

"The Quiet Road" has been loaded and the quilting's begun. I almost talked myself out of quilting it with orange thread and considered a neutral linen color; I'm SEW glad that I didn't listen now! 😍

The Tie-Dye kit that I ordered arrived yesterday. I've never done this before but am looking forward to having fun with this along with our oldest granddaughter. Lucy Ann decided to tie-dye her quilt backing fabric, I'd better get busy and read through all the directions in preparation for our dyeing day. 

Another year, another batch of nap blankets for the Pre-K program at a local elementary school. I'm not sure how long the small quilt group of which I'm a part has been contributing 45 nap blankets (three classrooms of fifteen), but I'm guessing somewhere between seven and ten years. This years' contributions will be "held" until the Pre-Ks return in person (at least nine weeks from now) given the amended school calendar concessions for COVID-19. They've been delivered and we'll start looking ahead, the need is ongoing; it's never too early to get a head start on next year's batch. 

Life is Good!