Yesterday was so fun! I love the Aldo Leopold Sale. The vendors are really talented, the location is gorgeous, the people are nice and I get to support the nature center. What could be better?
Matt took a quick shot of me with my tunics and other awesome blue things for sale. Now I can relax for a little while, which is awesome.
The tunics will soon be available at Blue Bar Quilts in Middleton so be sure to stop by.
I’ve been dyeing like crazy to get ready for my December 3rd Sale at the Aldo Leopold Center in Madison. To be honest, I fear that I made too much. I’m going to bring a bunch of stuff, display one or two of each type of dyed thing and keep some under the tables. But you’re in the know, so ask me to bring out more patterns when you stop by my table.
I had a lot of fun dyeing at One One Thousand but only shared pictures through Instagram so here are some collaged screen shots
I’ve been lucky enough to dye in all of the publicly available dye studios in town: Blue Bar Quilts, The Electric Needle and – though it not officially a dye studio – One One Thousand. They are all my favorite places to dye. All of them.
So if you are a local dyer, I recommend that you call one up and reserve some time. They are all equally awesome. 
I was treated to a beautiful sunset when leaving One One Thousand so I’m sharing my blurry picture of it with you. I hope I see you tomorrow!!!
I recently acquired a box full of itajime blocks. I plan to have them available at the Deep Into Indigo Retreat. The Retreat is a blast. This year, to ensure our sanity, we have decided to ask for a $150 deposit due by January 30th. If we get 10 people by then, the Retreat will run. If not, we are going to focus on other events. But we reeeeeally want the Retreat to run. So if you plan to wait until the last possible minute to register, that minute is coming up really soon.
You don’t need access to acrylic blocks to make gorgeous work, simple rubber bands will do the job very nicely. Itajime is a very simple, yet beautiful and sophisticated technique. Like all shibori techniques, it has a bajillion possible variations.
First you accordion or fan fold your fabric. Then you do it again. I like to use a triangle fold but you could totally use a square or rectangle. My favorite triangle fold is the equilateral triangle. You make it using a fold and a flip.
As you fold it, you need to go on as you began…finally that advice makes sense to me. Meaning, if your first fold is away from you, after you flip it, all of the folds need to go away from you. Not that “away from you” is the only way, any way is right as long as you are consistent. Now, that’s some good advice.
It’s easier to show than to tell, though, so I made a quick video about it. It’s less than two minutes long.
Once you have made your triangle bundle, you get to pick how to place your resists and which resists to use. This is also half the fun. Every slight variation you make in where you put it, will totally change the look of your pattern. Mighty cool.
Let me know if you have questions about the technique or the Deep Into Indigo Retreat. Happy dyeing!
Thanks to Kathy Hattori from Botanical Colors for sharing the chemicals for three different kinds of organic indigo vats at the Deep Into Indigo Retreat. I attended a workshop day in her studio in the spring and I learned so much. She’s really awesome; generous with her expertise, time and supplies.
For starters, you gotta hydrate that indigo before it goes into the vat. The directions often call for shaking it in a jar with water and marbles but a whisk is just easier and works as well.
We made an iron vat, a henna vat and a fructose vat. Like most things I get into, I made lots of really awesome messes and mistakes.
But that didn’t slow us down at all.
Here’s a dip from the iron vat.
To see if the dye is ready, you check under the flower to see if it’s clear and not at all blue-ish.
We put our fabric in stainless steel baskets to keep it from getting stained by the sludge at the bottom. Also, the liquid was hot and we didn’t want to keep our hands in there.
Oops. Here’s my favorite mistake of the weekend. I made a fructose vat. I tripled the recipe but didn’t triple the container size so it made a pretty awesome mess. Like a kid’s volcano experiment but deeply blue!
I scraped it into the vat and it still worked. Just a little unexpected adventure. And, yes, I did give myself a blue mustache.
There was definitely an “Organic Vat Posse” among the participants. I also had some pre-reduced indigo crystals from Dharma Trading Company for people to dye with but these ladies were super into the organic vats.
The whole process of using organic vats is really enticing. It smells way better too.
You can learn more about it on the Botanical Colors website. Like I said, Kathy is very generous with her knowledge and, along with really high quality dye stuff, her website is chock full of tutorials and advice.
Haley Hundt took all of these gorgeous pictures. She did such a fantastic job!!
Just dyeing my batiks a little. Check out all those colors! They will all be blue by and by. #blog
If you’re waiting till the last minute to sign up for the Deep Into Indigo Retreat, it’s time! It’s one week away!!!!! Yikes! I’m getting ready to dye your goody bags. 💙💙💙❤️❤️❤️ #blog
We have a few and really want to thank them and ask you to check them out. They are all super awesome and have so much to offer!
I met Teresa Kim of Suite 101, a couple of years ago. She’s a calming, authentic and very talented enabler of creativity. Her paintings are beautiful and really thoughtfully made.
She offers classes – I’ve been to some and they are the bomb diggity. She’s super warm and generous and supportive.
Teresa is painting a series of her gorgeous etegami paintings for us and there will be one in every gift bag at The Deep Into Indigo Retreat.
We have a few and really want to thank them and ask for you to check them out. They are all super awesome and have so much to offer!
We are huge fans of Quilt Basket n’ Creations. It’s local to Viroqua and we hope everyone joining is stops by to shop. We just walked in off the street last year and asked Carol, the owner, to sponsor the retreat and she was super open and welcoming.
QBNC has loads of fabric and notions..I’m a sucker for notions and pick something up every time we stop by.
They have sponsored the Deep Into Indigo Retreat with a bolt of sexy linen-cotton blend. It was the belle of the ball at last year’s retreat.
We have a few and really want to thank them and ask for you to check them out. They are all super awesome and have so much to offer!
I was lucky enough to go out to Seattle to learn from Kathy Hattori of Botanical Colors last spring. My luggage never arrived and she was especially nice to me considering I stunk and wore the same clothes for three days straight.
I’ve been aware of her and have shopped from her for years. They carry many different kinds of natural dyes in addition to indigo. Check them out and tell them Jennifer sent you. 🙂
Kathy publishes Feedback Friday on their blog when they answer customer’s questions and also share many tutorials for free on how to use their various dyes.
She’s incredibly generous (both in person and online) with her knowledge and resources. Also with the Deep Into Indigo Retreat, she is sharing chemicals for us to experiment with three different kinds of organic vats! Thank you, Kathy and Botanical Colors. They are awesome!
We have a few and really want to thank them and ask for you to check them out. They are all super awesome and have so much to offer!
The first time I walked in to Lynn’s in Madison WI, I fell in love. It’s like a store made for textile loving, multi media, stitching artists. There’s a fabulous supply of perle cotton, wool, linen and every kind of fancy pants thread you would want, painting supplies, gelli plates, print making stuff, books and many, many things that I’m not thinking of tight now to fuel your creativity. Also, they frame art for you. I just really dig it there.
The people who work there are lovely too. They are sponsoring the Deep Into Indigo Retreat with a tasty bag of threads and beads for us to play with.