Showing posts with label beehive 2015. Show all posts
Showing posts with label beehive 2015. Show all posts

Friday, April 24, 2015

INDIGO inspired quilts

This past winter I have had the opportunity to sew with a great group of children.  We've made pillows, wallets, tote and  drawstring bags, headbands and an assortment of garlands and holiday decorations.  
As I was looking for fabrics for a quilt project, I had the idea that they could create their own fabrics, making their quilts truly unique works of art.  I remembered that Susanna gave me an indigo dye kit (buy yours here) that I had wanted to experiment with. 
I LOVE it when things work out this way and I bought a boat load of crispy cotton muslin. 
We rolled, folded, twisted and tied up big squares of fabric. Everyone had four big pieces of rolled up tied up twisted muslin to dye. 
The process of the dye bath is a little tricky but we fell into the groove and cheered each other on as the results are truly magical. We spent two classes dying fabric for the quilts. The directions included in the kit are very specific and easy to follow. 
The sewing was a breeze.. everyone had 16 squares to work with, 4 squares from each of the 4 pieces of fabric they dyed. They then chose 4 pieces to match and sew together to make new larger squares, piecing and patch working together. 

 
bundling, tying, twisting muslin
                                                        squeezing fabric in dye bath
unwrapping first batch of indigo 


                                                                     hanging to dry


                                                        sewing squares of dyed indigo 

 We  are still working on the quilts, we've got batting and backs to tackle next. 
 I  couldn't wait any longer to share the process so far, I am so proud of these kids. 
 YAY INDIGO!   and thank you Susanna for the kit! 


Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Marbling with shaving cream

 Adding drops of color 

Gently swirling

                                                   Pressing  paper on to swirled color

                                         Peeling paper off, this is where it gets globby but keep going
                                                    Scraping excess shaving cream off of paper
                                                                               MAGIC!


Printing is big at beehive
Marbling is also. 
This is a combination of both. Colorful, magical AND it smells good. 
WE could have printed all day.
We used photograph paper for a smooth glossy surface and finish.
Liquid water colors, shaving cream, droppers, scrapers and paper - you will need a stack!