Friday, March 13, 2015

lots of pics today...

First I must show you the beautiful Amaryllis sitting on my kitchen table. It sat outside all winter and I brought it in the first week of February. So far, one bud has produced 4 huge blooms. Each bloom is 7" in diameter and such a soft pink.

click on the images...

Amaryllis ... each bloom is 7" in diameter

I did finish that crocheted headband I showed you last week and my knitting/crochet teacher says it is the 'SAND STITCH'. I'm sure google has lots of instructions for the stitch, if you want to play with it.

crocheted headband using the sand stitch


I played a bit with watercolors this week and then embellished them with some pen doodles...

watercolors and pen doodles

....and I did say I was going to do some dyeing with black walnuts...I soaked a mesh bag holding about 15 black walnuts in water overnight. I then boiled it all for about 2 hours. I filled 2 glass jars with the prepared cloth and poured in the boiled liquid. I left it in the jars for about 3 days....not really necessary....a shorter period will give you a lighter shade. I then opened all the bundles and washed the cloth in hot, soapy water a couple of times....rinsed and hung to dry. All the cloth I started out with was a light beige or white in color.

soaking some rose and chinese tallow leaves that were saved from last year

preparing some cotton with shibori stitching

using a strong thread for the shibori stitching

all the bundles in 2 medium sized glass jars

bundles ready to be opened

subtle markings on the shibori cotton

this one was pleated and stitched down both sides. that yellow is turmeric that was sprinkled on the cloth.

a cotton bundle wrapped with old rusty keys

a silk cloth with a tone on tone design wrapped with leaves and sprinkled with turmeric and paprika

silk with imprint of the rose leaves and the string wrapped markings

top is silk with an embroidered design....bottom is a piece of linen where i had done some free motion embroidery

and here they are all together. that yellow one, 3rd from the top, is silk velvet. i used too much turmeric on that one.
Some of these pieces will be redyed because I don't like that strong yellow color. I need to use the turmeric sparingly as a little bit goes a long way. Silk always seems to give the best results but it's nice that the black walnuts easily dyes cotton. Hope some of you who have access to black walnuts will try this. There is lots more info online and different methods. Google is a wonderful thing.

Today was a most glorious Spring-like day....sunny and in the 70s. I did do some planting....parsley, swiss chard and a lavender plant and some radish seeds. It looks like two snap pea plants are coming up from seeds planted in the Fall. They probably will not survive as it gets hot real fast here and we usually don't have much of a Spring.

Hope the weather is settling down for everyone and that all the snow will soon be gone. Have a great weekend and see you next time.

20 comments:

Rachel said...

Very intriguing. There's something a bit silvery about some of those effects.

Els said...

Lovely dyeing Deanna !!!!

Your headband turned oout so well !
(still hoping on cold weather ?)

Ahhhh Amaryllis bulbs are sooo wonderful ! I had a red and a striped one myself : indeed very big flowers !

Magpie's Mumblings said...

Interesting experiments with dyeing. I still have some leftover walnut ink from when I made it several years ago. It's languishing in a drawer and should be used. I thought I'd like to try writing with it using an old straight pen that I know I have and can't find.

liniecat said...

Great dye results, that yellows vibrant and used sparingly would look smashing so seems a shame to overdye it
Really

Nancy said...

Oh Deanna!!! The dye results are gorgeous! I rather like the yellow of the turmeric, and the stripey look of the turmeric one too. Wish the neighbor still had their walnut tree. The headband came out so great, love the earthy colors.
I'm planning a post with you in mind :)

Jane said...

Interesting results with the dyeing, look forward to seeing what you do with the fabrics.

karen said...

wonderful post Deanna, your detailed images of cloth preparation and dye results tell a wonderful story. The cloth you have produced is unique and very beautiful. I hope to see it in the future with some of your lovely embroidery added....The flowering Amaryllis is convincing me that spring may indeed be on the way, we just need it to warm up a bit!

Mosaic Magpie said...

Thank you for the name of the stitch. The amaryllis is it the same bulb you had last year? I remember that one produced beautiful flowers as well. The dyeing adventure produced some interesting results. I love the rose leaf imprint and agree with some of the others the yellow is vibrant....maybe not the color you were looking for but stunning just the same. Dyeing is always so much fun and a surprise what your final result will be. I visited Michaels yesterday and they had a big display at the entrance of the store with indigo dyes.
Deb

Elizabeth said...

You are an industrious woman, Deanna ... you accomplish a lot in a week ... have a great weekend!

Stitching Lady said...

Deanna, I am enjoying you post - wonderful - I like your dyed fabrics even if it is too yellow for you.
I discharged once a very yellow dyed piece of fabric and took care not to leave it too long in the solution. And the result is very light yellow and nice.
Your headband looks wonderful. Our weather ---well, well, middle Europe - still too cold to do planting.

Nat Palaskas said...

I'm glad you did some dyeing. You inspired me to dye with black walnuts I gathered from my work last week. It looks like Spring is coming your way - Hugs Nat

Anita said...

The crochet headband is so pretty.Gorgeous dyed fabric..I have never used turmeric anywhere other than cooking. I always enjoy reading your posts about dyeing.Thank you for sharing the dyeing experiments.

Louise@ElsieMayandBertha said...

I love the colour of the silk velvet myself. Is the cloth colourfast when you do this? I'm just thinking about damp stretching if you use it for embroidery?
Your headband is beautiful too.

susan hemann said...

love the dyed fabric!! isn't it fun to see what happens? your amaryllis is beautiful. Was just outside and my pussy willow is starting to bud! Yeah!! Have a wonderful week!

deanna7trees said...

Louise, i do try to wash out the pieces until all the dye stops running. don't think damp stretching would be a problem. don't have your e-mail address so hope you get to see this.

Judy said...

Your Amaryllis is beautiful. Mine did not bloom this year. So much for buying bulbs at Trader Joe's! LOL I missed having one.
Love your natural dyes. I've always been too heavy handed with the Turmeric.

It's warm here today - YAYYY! Blue skies have never been more welcome!

xxoo

Deb G said...

So much to love here...Glad to hear you have been able to do a bit of gardening. Hope your peas survive. :)

neki desu said...

my god!everything in this post is divine!starting w. the amaryllis then progressing to the watercolors and then the dyeing. you are entitled to a heavy dose of smugness ;)

Jillayne said...

The cloth you've created with your dyeing is fabulous. I am amazed at the various colours and textures you've been able to get - it's so inspiring.

Anonymous said...

I love those watercolour and pen doodles - fabulous vibrant colours. The walnut dyeing has worked really well. I forgot to use gloves the time I used walnuts and ended up permatanned!

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