Winter Tie Dye Woes

Tie-dyeing at altitude in the winter can be quite a challenge at times. My husband woke the other morning and found his bucket of clips looking a little funny with some snow on top. When he dumped out the contents, this is what it looked like. It was pretty funny so I snapped a photo to share with you all. It is a good thing he found it early enough to thaw outside. During the nice months, he dyes outside. When winter really sets in, he will convert his bathroom into a studio. You see, he has to keep the dyes thawed. He gets great textural effects by putting the dyed products outside to freeze. The dyes run in ice channels and look really cool, kind of like a salt effect. When they come out really good, I call them "freeze-dyed". It is always fun experimenting with dye technique up here. One time, he stood about 7 feet away from the shirt he was dyeing and let the wind carry the dye to the shirt. Well, it was better than having the dye go on the ground 7 feet further than the shirt! These aren't really woes. They are challenges that keep us learning and life interesting. Laughter is always good for the soul and art work. Trust me, we laughed when we saw the frozen bucket of clips. Can you remember your last educational mishap? If not, I highly recommend having some.

The Purple Practice Piece

This weeks quilt was a lesson in re-learning what to quilt on my husband's stars/flowers. I always try to follow the lines. Well, in tie-dye, things flow and the lines are not that clear. I had to remember to do my own thing and just go for it. My quilt lines add too and enhance his designs, creating something more than either of us could do alone. My husband has always said that my quilting turns his 'pop art' into 'fine art'. I love great collaborations!

The wildflowers have begun making their appearances this past week. The long awaited nice season is finally here! I will be sharing photos of my favorites as the bloom.

Now for my preaching of the week: Be so very thankful for your health and your friends. You never know when something could go terribly wrong. I have a dear friend that was hospitalized this week. It just made me realize (once again) how precious life, friendship, and love truly is. No matter how busy we think we are, there is always time for friends. Why not reach out to some of your friends today and tell them how they enrich your life.

Seed of Life Quilts

The Seed of Life is an ancient and universal design. It employs sacred geometry and is said to represent all life here on this beautiful planet of ours. It was introduced to me by my first quilt client as the Flower of Life. For that quilt, I used only the center (The SEED) and did it in Mardi Gras colors. It was applique piecework and surrounded by Celtic knotwork. I have created many versions of this design. Most have the Seed in the center and Celtic knotwork around the borders. This one is the most recent version and up for sale on my Etsy site(hence the digital photo). I will be sharing the other versions also. I just need to scan them and fiddle with the sizes. The quilts are quite different from each other because of the colors and techniques employed during their construction. I learned something new with each version. I also learned how to make my husband tie-dye the design so I wouldn't have to applique it any more. That really speeds up the process.