NEW - Confetti Dying!

Last weekend I went to the Connecticut Piecemaker's quilt show in Southbury, CT. There were many, many lovely quilts on display and I ran into some folks I haven't seen in quite some time. My girlfriend and I spent time pouring over the vendor tables talking to the proprietors and learning about the latest trends. We spent a long time chatting with Nancy Begin from Rainbow Dyes. In addition to her beautiful hand dyed fabrics Nancy developed a line of fabric using a "straw dyed" technique. Nancy teaches a workshop on how to straw dye and with her warm and open personality I'm sure her students are very pleased. Nancy was more than willing to explain her process and being ever curious we got into a detailed conversation about her methods. 

I asked Nancy if she would mind if I experimented with the technique. She said she developed her own style only after working through other people's ideas and encouraged me to give it a try. Of course over the next few days I became obsessed with the technique but my results were not the same as Nancy's. I immediately switched out the process of using a drinking straw to scatter the dye particles to using a strainer. I'm very careful to protect my lungs when using powdered dyes and a strainer seemed safer. I played around with the amount of mist used and combinations of dye powder. It's really a fun process but I have a long way to go before I'm super happy with the results.

I'd prefer to call the method "Confetti Dying" because of the way the dye explodes and migrates through the fabric. Here are my first attempts:

The mustard color is the spice Turmeric!

I will be back in the studio playing and creating soon...

I will provide more information as I fine tune the process and results!