Surface Design Challenge

I belong to a Surface Design Group on Yahoo, and they have a challenge that I found interesting. The challenge  was open to members and limited to 4 people per group. Each group was to hand dye a piece of fabric and then send it to the next person in the group who will apply some sort of surface design or embellishment. The next embellishment can be painting, more dyeing, stitching, stamping, foiling... you get the idea. Then it is passed to the next person in the group until it gets back to the owner. This is called a Round Robin, and this is the first time I have participated.

In the end, the owner divides her piece when it has gone around into Fat Quarters and each member of the group gets a piece. I love the concept!

I've been holding on to several yards of Radiance PDF which is 45% silk and 55% cotton. I have been waiting for warmer weather to dye it, but last time it was warm, was, well, I can't remember. So I gave it a try last night and did some immersion dyeing with Dharma's Fiber Reactive Dye #47 Chartreuse. I dyed two yards, and stepped them into the bath to see what gradation I would get. I actually liked the second piece that didn't get as much dye, but they both turned out very nice.

I'm sending it off today - which wouldn't have been possible if it hadn't been for my friend Lisa. I misplaced my Soda Ash, and everyone knows you can't dye fabric without it. Any way, it was fun and I love petting my new fabric.

Here are some pictures. It is very hard to capture the sheen, when laying flat, so I have it folded and you can see the depth of the fabric and sheen. It really looks like silk. Love depth of color in the piece. It is very rich looking. I can't wait to see what will be done when I get this back.

Winter Quiltette Challenge

Finally finished working on the challenge for the Miami Valley Art Quilt Network Winter Quiltette Challenge. I'm giving it away today, so had to delay the posting so no one knows what it looks like. I had fun with this little quilt.

It is 6.75" x 8.75" and is made from fabrics in my stash (mostly Ginny Beyer fabrics.) I have also added raw edge applique using a new technique that I am loving. More about that later. I've also embellished it with beads. It has a little southwest flavor to me, but I think that is because of the fabric I chose for the vase. I also use my new couching foot that I just got for my new Bernina 820. (Wonder when a machine quits being new?) This is quilted with Rayon and Cotton thread on my machine also. I decided to bind it with a couched yarn, since this quilt has an irregular shape. I hope you like it.