When Life Gives You Snow...

Last year and this year's snow dyes

Snow dye and make a rainbow! Like a lot of Canadians, I'm feeling quite done with winter. There are few signs of Spring around here. It's -10C today and we even got a 10-15 cm dump of snow on Saturday. Sigh!

Trying to make the most of things though, I decided to have another go at snow dyeing over the weekend. I used the same process I used last year. For those who are new to my blog, check out this post and this post for the results of those fun experiments.

Warning: Very photo heavy post!


First up, was Procion MX Sun Yellow 108 and Mixing Red 305 to make Orange:

Snow dye:

 

Melted:

Results:

Top Layer:

Bottom Layer:

Details:

Impressions: Some cool swirls and separation of yellow out in both layers. Interestingly, last year I used Golden Yellow 104 and Strongest Red 312N and the results are very similar.

Next up, Mixing Blue 402C

Snow dye:

Melted:

Results:

Top Layer:

Bottom Layer:

Details:

Impression: Love these ones! The blue is gorgeous.

Then, Golden Yellow 104 and Mixing Blue 402C to make Green

Snow dye:

Melted:

Results:

Top Layer:

Bottom Layer:

Details:

Impressions: Not at all what I was expecting, but I love that the colours separated a bit. I find these two have a bit of a topographical map feel. Hmm...

A Sunset, which was supposed to be Golden Yellow 104, Strongest Red 312N and Purple (Strongest Red 312N and Basic Blue 400), but I think I did two Strongest Reds by mistake. Oops.

Snow dye:

Melted:

Results:

Top Layer:

Bottom Layer:

Details:

Impressions: Cool dot effect -- something in the snow?

I had such good results in making Snow Crab Nebula that I thought I'd try that one again. Golden Yellow 104, Strongest Red 312N and Purple (Strongest Red 312N and Mixing Blue 402C) in a radiating circle.

Snow dye:

Melted:

Results:

Top Layer:

Bottom Layer:

Details:

Impressions: Yay! Another interesting one!

I also wanted to see if I could get a nebula-style piece, but with green at the centre. Green (Sun Yellow 108 and Mixing Blue 402C), Light Purple (3/4 tsp total of Strongest Red 312N and Basic Blue 400) and Purple (Mixing Red 305 and Basic Blue 400)

Snow dye:

Melted:

Results:

Top Layer:

Bottom Layer:

Details:

Impressions: Definitely disappointed with both of these ones. The green is too dark, but there is some beautiful play between the purples and where the blue dye separated.

Snow dyeing is such an interesting process, but you really have to be open to whatever comes out. I was very sceptical of the green snow dye. The colour didn't look great in snow form, but wow, do I ever love the results! Same with the Mixing Blue. Using three cool primary dyes (Sun Yellow 108, Mixing Red 305 and Basic Blue 400) and three warm primary dyes (Golden Yellow 104, Strongest Red 312N and Mixing Blue 402C), I was able to get a pretty rainbow of colours to work with.

Have a great Monday, all!

For Posterity

The Canadian Museum of History here in Ottawa (formerly the Museum of Civilization) has a Snow exhibit on right now until September 2014. Last year, they put out a call for photos by the public on how we Canadians enjoy snow.

Thinking that they might not get too many people who use snow for dyeing, I submitted some photos of Snow Crab Nebula and how I made it. The photos were accepted and are now a part of the photo slideshow montage at the entrance of the exhibit. My work is now immortalized in a national museum. Ha ha. ;)

We took the family and some friends to the Museum on New Years Day as a way to escape the minus Crazy Cold temperature it was that day and got this photo.

Oldest son was pretty proud and kept telling the volunteers that his mom made Snow Crab Nebula. They had no clue what he was talking about, but it was cute! Aw. :)

So if you are in the area and check out the exhibit, be on the lookout for my photos in the montage. Be sure to mention my quilt to the volunteers too so we can keep them bewildered. ;)

And for some more random, we saw this sign on a road trip to Watertown, NY for a hockey tournament. Full disclosure: I took the photo when I was the passenger, not the driver. ;)

I'm hosting TGIFF! this week so be sure to come back and link up any recent finishes!

Even though I'm a bit early to the party, I will finally be linking up with the lovely Cindy @ Live a Colorful Life for Really Random Thursday. Yay!

Snow Crab Nebula - Blogger's Quilt Festival

Happy Saturday, all! For those coming from the Blogger's Quilt Festival with Amy's Creative Side, welcome! In addition to my Seeing The Forest quilt, I decided to share Snow Crab Nebula in the Art Quilt category. Gulp! For those who have seen this before, bear with me -- there are some new photos! :)

This project began with my first snow dyeing experiment earlier this year. Yellow, ringed with red and then purple snow dyes turned this:

Into this:

This looked like one of those NASA images from space to me so I decided to see what I could do to accentuate it with some free motion quilting.

Snow Crab Nebula - Front

Quilting Detail

For the quilting, I did swirls, pebbles, wishbones, loop-d-loops, stars/satellites, and ribbons. I put the information I learned from Angela Walter's Free Motion Quilting Negative Space class on Craftsy to good use in mixing up the swirls and pebbles and moving from one type of motif to another.

I used a variety of Aurifil colours in the yellow, orange, red and purple families (#2277, 5009, 1103, 2581, 1240, 1243, 2140 to be specific) in the front and black thread in the back. I just love the sheen of the Aurifil thread against the colours of the fabric.

Quilting Detail

My husband suggested I call it Snow Crab Nebula since it was created with snow dyeing. Works for me!

Snow Crab Nebula - Quilting Detail

Snow Crab Nebula - Quilting Detail

Snow Crab Nebula - Quilting Detail

To play with the theme, I used some solar system fabric for the back.

Snow Crab Nebula - Back

Final stats:
Quilt name: Snow Crab Nebula
Measurements: 19" by 21"
Special techniques: Snow dyeing, free motion quilting, non-mitred facing
Machine quilted: Free motion quilted by me!
Entering this in the Art Quilt category for the Blogger's Quilt Festival.

Here are my entries into past Blogger's Quilt Festivals:

Fall 2012

Spring 2012

Fall 2011

Thanks for stopping by! For lots more inspiration, check out the other entries in the Blogger's Quilt Festival at Amy's Creative Side -- it's always a fabulous show. Thank you, Amy, for putting all of this together!

TGIFF! - Snow Crab Nebula

Welcome to TGIFF! The wonderful Lynne from Never Too Hot To Stitch is hosting today so if you get a chance, head on over, link up your own recent finish and/or see the other fabulous Friday finishes.

This project began a few weeks ago with my first snow dyeing experiment. Yellow, ringed with red and then purple snow dyes turned this:

Into this:

This looked like one of those NASA images from space to me so I decided to see what I could do to accentuate it with some free motion quilting.

I used June Tailor fusible polyester batting for the first time. As this piece was going to be a wallhanging, I figured that I would be fine with some stiffness from the fusible. At first, my machine occasionally skipped a stitch, which was frustrating. Then I changed my needle and all was fine. I was surprised at how much the batting flattened down though. Despite the poly batting being about a 1/2-3/4" thick, it flattened right down to about what I'd expect from my regular Warm & Natural. It is stiffer though, which it fine by me because I like it to hang straight.

For the quilting, I did swirls, pebbles, wishbones, loop-d-loops, stars/satellites, and ribbons. I put the information I learned from Angela Walter's Free Motion Quilting Negative Space class on Craftsy to good use in mixing up the swirls and pebbles and moving from one type of motif to another. I'm very happy with the quilting, especially after the first sad attempt at the centre nebula - happy dance!

I used a variety of Aurifil colours in the yellow, orange, red and purple families (#2277, 5009, 1103, 2581, 1240, 1243, 2140 to be specific) in the front and black thread in the back. I just love the sheen of the Aurifil thread against the colours of the fabric. It's hard to see the quilting in the photos so feel free to click on them to enlarge.

I faced it using Susan Brubaker Knapp's Non-Mitred Facing, which I've used on a number of pieces.

Snow Crab Nebula - Front

My husband suggested I call it Snow Crab Nebula since it was created with snow dyeing. What a perfect name!

Quiltography: "Snow Crab Nebula," by Michèle-Renée Charbonneau, Ottawa, 19" by 21", 2013.

Snow Crab Nebula - Quilting Detail

Snow Crab Nebula - Quilting Detail

Snow Crab Nebula - Quilting Detail

To keep with the theme, I used some solar system fabric for the back.

Snow Crab Nebula - Back

Linking up to TGIFF!, which is over with Lynne @ Never Too Hot To Stitch.

I'm also linking up with Leah Day's Free Motion Quilting Friday -- fabulous projects too so check it out!
Hope you have a wonderful weekend and Happy Easter to those who celebrate it!