Wordless Wednesday

Adventures in Shibori

Shibori pieces fascinate me!

What is Shibori?

Shibori is traditionally dyed with indigo 

but when I first started to dyed fabrics 

several years ago; I experimented with 

setacolors paints instead.

Hardly anyone was doing that at the time;

now a lot of people are making


beautiful colored shibori pieces.

I have been making Shibori pieces on and off 

for a couple of years now.

Trying different experiments and asking 

myself "What if" - going beyond

the traditional.  Sometimes making a 

traditional piece but the a twist.

And twist I did with this Arashi shibori.

(This is one of my first)

Which is basically fabric wrapped

around a pole but you can use a 

PVC pipe.

The way I did the pole wrap about

to experiment with is - I hand 

sewed runny stitches horizontally 

every couple of inches and then

gathered them  but not too tight.

I then wet the fabric and wrapped around 

the pipe twisting as I went around.

I then applied the paint with one of 

those sponge brushes. Waited until it

dried and then removed the fabric.

I was pleasantly surprised with the

results!

Lately I've been doing another "What If"

experiment 

again, I used Arashi shibori technique.

I call it Shibori Sun and it's done

in pastels - I love the way this one

turned out!

Then I used a larger piece of fabric

and made this "Blue Moon" shibori piece.

I'm very happy with both of the results!

Opening Windows

It's Sunny outside and 72 degrees here in

Lancaster county!

Finally I can open up the windows and air

out the house! A wonderful breeze is blowing

through.

Spring cleaning has begun and I have a

lot of fabrics that I'm selling in my Etsy shop.

I have opened another shop there just for

my hand dyed fabrics - called Materialistic

Visions. My other shop is just for my quilts 


and quilted items.

I have lots of strips and have made a bundle 

of 30 pieces. Various colors, textures and designs!

A set that is 2" wide and various lengths

A set that is 2 1/2" wide

and 3" wide

These are mostly cut offs from larger pieces.

Lots of ideas - weave or make an abstract collage.

I will be adding more pre-cut squares during the week.

I had to stop feeding the birds for awhile thanks

to these silly crackles that chased them away 

and were eating their food. blah!

Landscape Fabrics

Dyeing fabric is like playing 

to me.

So I have been playing for awhile

and creating some landscape fabrics.

Here's what I've come up with so far.

A Shibori Sun shining - pole wrapped -

Arashi Shibori. This is a Fat Quarter

but I made a larger one

This one measures 26" x 46" using

the same method of pole wrapping.

I love the lines and ghost prints

on this one. 

The very first one that I made was a

couple of years ago And used it on

one of my Landscape quilts.

I didn't want the entire sun in the quilt

so I cut part of it off. I love the effect

that it has on the piece.

Another piece that I was working on is

Fabric for Stones and Rocks - you could

also used it for mountains and cliffs.

Here's one on a larger scale

One more

Wood Grain is done the Shibori way.

Nui Shibori technique - which is basically a 

runny stitch.

By stitching rows and rows of small stitches 

closely together and then pulling the thread 

to gather the fabric tightly before dyeing.

This piece was dyed twice - over dyed. 

I'm happy with the results!

All of the above Fabric are now on sale

in my Etsy shop.

It was so much fun to make!

Spring Cleaning

Finally - First sign of spring

 A bit of color in the landscape!

Lots of work ahead - cleaning out the flower beds.

And House cleaning - blah

but it has to be done. Curtains, blinds and windows

but I'll save that for next week.

I'm starting in the closets and with my tubs 

of my hand dyed fabric.

Remnants ---

and pre-cuts 60 pieces   3" x 3"

Pretty colors for spring - in my Etsy shop.

I have a lot more to got through!

Happy Spring!