Tuesday, May 24, 2011

A lovely Birthday

Thanks to all of you who have been wishing me a Happy Birthday today!
I've had a lovely birthday today. Mostly it was a quiet day. I got up early, spent time reading my Kindle while I had my coffee. Ran errands in the morning while my DH was sleeping (he worked the night shift for the last 5 nights). I dropped off 2 of my Berninas at J&H for some maintenance & minor repairs while I'm out of town. Yesterday I had Wendy & Tracy Trasky over for lessons in binding your quilt. Today Tracy dropped off a gift certificate from the local nursery to help landscape our yard future. Thank you Wendy & Tracy! You are darlings!
The stack of pink boxes were all gifts from my DH. Yes, I know, I am spoiled ROTTEN! The top 3 were Blue Ray DVDs of all of the Star Trek movies, & Back to the Future. Next were 2 books. , & last were a blouse that I fell in love with (from Chico's) when we were in Newport, RI, but I didn't want to spend the money on it, so he went when I wasn't looking & got it anyway. & the big box on the bottom held 2 new jackets, both in spring green (which I love)..

The book below came in the mail, wrapped in pre-mordanted white wool fabric, from my soul sister Kathy Jolman. When I was in Michigan Kathy dyed Easter eggs with onion skins. She had picked small leaves, & laid one on each, then wrapped the egg in a piece of nylon stocking to hold the leaf in place. She tied the stocking on the back side of the egg with a rubber band, then boiled them in the skins from yellow onions (with a little vinegar if I recall correctly), & came out with the must beautiful reddish -rusty-brown eggs with a white leaf image on one side, & a little tie-dye image on the other, where the knot/rubber band had been.
That led to me wondering what if I tried the same thing with fabric. Below is one corner of the quilt that I made (in 1995 or 96) from cotton fabric dyed with onion skins, because of Kathy's egg. It has faded some with time, but I didn't mordant it properly, because I had no clue back then. This led us to many fun dye sessions & experiments first with cotton, then wool. I moved back to Alaska in 1997, & Kathy has continued to dye wool, & now silk with the natural dyes. She has gone to Arizona & study with a Native American dyer/weaver. She has really studied & taken it to another level. This lovely book was written by a gal who was at the same class in Arizona. I think I just may be inspired to spend a few summer days this year simmering a dye pot, & using some of my own native Alaskan plants....
Tomorrow we head to Seattle to see the kids!

9 comments:

Françoise said...

Happy Birthday to you! Enjoy your trip to Seattle.

mindy meyn said...

You deserve to be spoiled.
Sorry I couldn't talk today...didn't even wish you a happy birthday...we were sooo stressed in the long Condor line...the clock ticking towards boarding time. Of course in the end...the Icelandic volcano delayed the flight. I'll try to call you about Brocoli and Kate's pets....I don't even know her address!

Helen said...

belated happy birthday Debs! what a lovely collection of pressies :)
The dyeing looks so interesting. I've been gathering interest in the same thing and recently joined the http://naturaldyeing.ning.com/ which looks full of information.

hope you enjoy your trip

Delighted Hands said...

Have a happy birthday trip to see the kids-will look forward to some nice dyeing results from your new book inspiration!

Kathy -MIQuilter said...

I've always loved the 3D flowers and bugs on that quilt. What great times we've had!

Stephanie said...

Happy belated birthday Deb, have fun in Seattle.

Cate Rose said...

Sorry I missed your birthday -- looks like it was a good one!

Michelle Auer said...

Glad you had a good birthday! Was gonna call after work, but I passed out on the couch. Those docs were beating up my brains yesterday! See you soon! loves to you xoxo

quiltmom anna said...

It sounds like it was a lovely birthday with many special things. I think its terrific that your loved ones spoiled you- we all need spoiling now and again.
I hope that you have a terrific year to match this wonderful day.
Warmest regards,
Anna
Hope you have a fabulous trip to Seattle.