This Year’s Dyeing

 

There are activities and projects that return every year. One of those projects is dyeing. During the whole year, I collect suitable pieces of fabrics, lace, threads, old ones but new ones too. I always dream about „one week dyeing“, but every year, my plans shrink inevitably to two or maximum three days. Nevertheless, I enjoy it every summer again and again. 

Like last year, I used Jacquad Procion MX, thus fibre-reactive dyes again. My aim was on one side to achieve more vibrant colours than last year, on the other side to try out overdyeing of printed fabrics.

The first goal was achieved only partly – the colours are really nice, stronger than last year indeed. But I use the dyed fabrics in projects which have to be washed sometimes. For that reason I wash the dyed fabrics in really hot water (60°C) which makes a part of colour disappear. Nevertheless, I like the outcome quite well.

On the other hand, overdyeing of printed fabrics brought great results. I went through my fabric stash choosing prints (mostly black and white pictures or patterns), that I never used because they were somehow not inspiring to me. Maybe, I need colour in my life, because I´m really excited about the same pictures and prints, which got a new colour.

I mixed water with urea first, then dye powder was added. I had some rests of dye powders from last year and I bought some new ones, all in all I got 11 colour concentrates (black, medium blue, navy, aquamarine, turquoise, golden yellow,   antique gold, cobalt blue, carmine red, magenta, deep purple). My favourite became cobalt blue, definitely.

Everything prepared on the table in the garden.

Wet pieces of fabrics waiting for dye.

Dyed fabrics and threads need some time before they can be washed. 

The landscape after the battle...

After washing:

Results are not bad at all:

 

Let´s colour our lives!

Happy stitching

Michaela

 

 

Slow Stitching on Holiday

  

The second week in June we spent in Germany, on the island Rügen. The weather in the north of Germany is quite unsure, you never know if you would be the whole week on the beach or if you are heading into a rainy and windy week with many hours somewhere inside. We were lucky with the weather, we had beautiful sunny and warm days with only little sprinkles, mostly at the night.

Nevertheless, one should be prepared, therefore I started the preparations for holiday handwork a few weeks earlier and arranged two small collages for slow stitching.

For some unknown reason, I need a small picture for starting a collage. The sparrow was just great.

The second collage was started with some fish.

The days in June are long, especially in the North, which allowed us to sit outside in the sun until nine o´clock or later. The colder evenings we spent inside listening to an audiobook. Do you see a better opportunity to sew?

This piece will become a cover for a small diary.

The second piece would become a kind of purse for sewing supplies.

I used scraps of my own dyed fabrics and some vintage scraps as well. The treads are cotton (hand-dyed)and silk (by Oliver Twists)

Both clothes are full of stitches already, but I didn't declare them finished yet. Some touches here and there, some beads maybe? 

Happy summer stitching!

Michaela  

Needle Cases

  

After weeks and months of working on my exhibition quilts I felt a great need to work on something small and cute. In times like this, needle cases are one of my favourite projects. I like to use wool felt from TrueColours, it is an absolutely luxurious material.  This time I combined machine sewing with hand embroidery and beaded embroidery. Unfortunately I sewed in the evenings and there was little light  for taking pictures, so I cannot show you the „work steps“, only finished pieces.

Happy stitching!

Michaela

PPM Brno Quilt Show 2022 – Many Happy Meetings

 

After two years brake caused by covid, the international exhibition Prague Patchwork Meeting could open its gates again. In a new location - Brno, the biggest city of Moravia. Under a new name: „PPM Quilt Show Brno 2022“.

The quilt collections, which were prepared for PPM 2020, quilts, which were crated during the covid pandemic,  international contests „Water“ and „Kaleidoscope“, this all could be seen in Brno on the 22th – 24th of April 2022.

I was present at the exhibition with my small gallery „Fields, Meadows & Gardens“. 

Late Summer

   

Spring Meadow

Grandmother´s Farm

Washing day

Berries

In the garden

Wood pidgeon

Titmouse

The yellow bird of Bengal

Raven

I fully enjoyed those tree days: meetings and talks with quilting friends and visitors, participation in workshops, and talks with authors of amazing quilts, especially with ladies from the German Group SnipSISsters: Gonhild Murmann (München), Eva Wöhrl und Gabi Fischer (Freising). Their quilts were for me the highlight of the exhibition.

Some impressions:

Obviously, there were also night visitors...He had no ticket and had to leave the exhibition:-)

Those three beautiful days are over. I´m looking foreward to the next 365 days of needle work until PPM 2023 comes.  

Happy stitching!

Michaela