I’m a self-professed “not a blue person.” But, blue fabrics, prints are the most popular color for quilters. As a shop owner, I’ve noticed this as a clear-cut fact. However, in recent years, true blue fabric has been very lacking in the collections of most of the contemporary designers. More often, they opt for turquoise-y shades. There are a few exceptions, especially if a designer has a blender collection which likely has one light blue or navy. But we generally look high and low for a good blue sometimes.
I’m reconsidering my preference for green after my Indigo day this week. I discovered pre-reduced indigo in the Jacquard catalog and just had to give it a go since my budding plants are struggling to grow a third leaf, it seems. (I haven’t given up! nor do I minimize Jude’s recent success with the real thing!)
With pre-reduced indigo, you simply mix the crystals with water if you want a short term dye bath. The instructions get a bit more intense if you plan to keep the dye more than a day. So I mixed a 1/2 gallon tub which pretty much was gone with the few yards of cotton I colored in it. The results are phenomenal. Well, maybe not so if I had used my grown up leaves, but let me tell you, still pretty amazing.
I used white and pale yellow cotton, overdyed a brownish piece from the dye class, organdy, vintage muslin and other…
I pre-wet, pre-mordanted, dipped and loosely bundled with rubber bands…
I am thrilled with my not-so-scientific results, but have more experiments ahead.
I found Vinyl gloves that actually kept the dye off my hands for a change. No kidding, not all surgical gloves can handle water.
Ideas in Cloth 