The Avocado Dyeing Project Saga continues...

The avocado pits were dried and put in a bottle with some water and are now out in the backyard taking in the sun. They'll probably be out there for a couple of weeks before I add any fabric to the mix.           

I put the avocado peels in a stainless steel pot, put in some water and simmered for about 30 minutes.  I then removed the peels, added ½ tspn cream of tartar and 1 tspn alum, and added the wet fabric pieces. I continued to simmer this mix for 15 minutes. I think I'm going to leave the fabric in the liquid for awhile, maybe even overnight.  I'll show you the results sometime tomorrow. I have a feeling the color change is going to be very subtle based on what I'm seeing so far.

Update on the Avocado Peels & Pits

The peels dried within 12 hours exposed to the air. The pits are not dry yet. I'm feeling that inability to be patient so I've decided to put the peels in hot water with the alum treated fabric.  Will probably have time to do that on Wednesday. I will put the pits in water and out in the sun as I planned.  Hope to post an update on Wednesday or Thursday. If anyone gets any other information on the best way to do this, please let me know. I'm sure I'll be doing this again if I get any kind of a decent color.

Dyeing Fabric with Avocados

I came across the blog Gerdiary where I was amazed to see fabric dyed pink with avocado shells. I did some research and just had to try it. There were no exact instructions anywhere so I'm doing it my way based on what I've gleaned from others. I bought 4 avocados, peeled them and cut up the pits into small pieces. I'm drying both -- don't really know how long that will take. When they are dry, I plan on putting the peels and the cut-up pits in separate jars with water and will put them out in the sun for weeks -maybe-if I can hold out that long. I'm planning on treating some fabric pieces with alum, that you can find in the spice section of your grocery store. I'll then put the fabric in the jars with the liquid and leave them in the sun until it looks like the fabric pieces have picked up the color. I'll keep you posted on how this goes. You can see from the pictures that the pits are already turning orange.  And of course, I cut 2 fingers with the knife when cutting the pits.  So, if you try this, be more careful than I was.

More on the Quilt from the other day...

I just had to do something to improve all those UFO blocks I put together the other day.  They just didn't look like they belonged together and I am very determined to quilt it and use it on my bed, so I made a bunch of 4 patches using the same fabrics and appliqued them on the plain blocks.  I think it helped and I think I can live with it now.  It is now ready to be sandwiched which I hope to complete tomorrow.  Then comes the problem of deciding how to quilt it.  It will be hand quilted--a good project to work on at quilt bee every Thursday and great for something to do while watching TV in the evenings.  Here is a before and after picture.  Would love to hear if you think it's somewhat improved.   Blogger keeps changing the way things work and this new way is driving me crazy. I finally thought I knew what I was doing but looks like I'm in trouble again.

BEFORE                                                                            

                                                                                          AFTER       

Knitted Ballet Flats

Saw these ballet flats

in this knitting book

and decided to try making a version of them with some alpaca yarn I had in the house

They are a little wide but otherwise fit perfectly.  I think I will order the yarn indicated in the book and make another pair.  I also bought some 'jiffy grip' from Joanne's and added it to the bottom.

I think they're kind of cute.  Great for trips to wear in the hotel.

Another UFO on its way to completion...

I've been on a mission to work on, at least, one UFO while working on other newly started projects. I'm always working on 4 or 5 things at a time. I spent the whole day putting together some quilt blocks that  I  had made in an online class several years ago.  I decided to use them to make a quilt for my bed but didn't have enough blocks for that size.  Since all the fabric I used on the project was bundled together, I just cut 12½" squares of some of the fabrics used in the blocks so that it would be 60" x 72" when complete.  I plan on handquilting it and hopefully by then all the blocks will look like they belong together. I knew if I started to obsess about the colors, it would go back in the box as a UFO. Here are a couple of pictures of what it looks like so far.  Not looking forward to sandwiching with batting and backing.  That always poses a problem because I don't have a table that big.  Guess I'll be crawling around on the floor. Some of the blocks look like they have yellow fabric but the color is actually a mottled beige color.

Another video to Inspire you...

ENJOY.

Small Art Quilt Completed

One UFO has been completed, but that doesn't even make a dent in what is left. I started this little art quilt in an online class with Pamela Allen quite a while ago. It had tatted flowers and 3D fruit and I was really never happy with it. I removed those elements and added one of the flower designs I learned in my most recent class with Leslie Lacika, Bodacious Blossoms. I also added a border so that the flowers could be stitched off the edge.  It measures 16"x16". It includes rusted fabric, sheer fabric, and hand dyed fabric.  Click on the photos for a closer view.

Finally a Butterfly....

This time of year, late spring, I usually see lots of butterflies in my yard. This year seems to be different. I caught a butterfly feasting on some flowers just the other day and ran out with my camera.