More rust dyeing

Oh dear, haven't blogged for a while. I delivered the baby quilt I showed in my last blog, and have a new one up on my design wall - nearly have it finished - I started ages ago and just needed to make a couple more blocks to have enough, then cut the setting triangles. It is a sort of old fashioned looking basket block pattern that just appealed. I do like setting blocks on point and alternating with a solid block - the diagonal set has more life and movement, and it means you only have to piece half as many blocks! Will try and get this top finished this weekend. Then it can come down and make way for this one which is waiting in the wings. I bought some indigo fabric ages ago, with a view to making a classic blue and white quilt. I cut out all the pieces, but never got very far - and now I can even remember what pattern I was going to do. But I have lots of small squares, so started making half square triangles and putting them together into pinwheel blocks. These are only five inches finished - what was I thinking? Oh well, it will get finished eventually. Maybe I will group four together to create a 10 inch block, and sash with indigo between??

I have been doing some more rusting - the weather is hotting up here, so very suitable. Here is my set up at the end of the garden.

My husband has really got into the spirit of this and has been bringing me home all sorts of bits and pieces that he collects on his walks.

He got creative and cut me some fish shapes out of some flat metal. Here they are sitting on some previously rusted and hand dyed fabric.

And here is what it looks like after sitting for a day or two. My husband thinks the fish looks a little deranged, although quite how one assesses the mental state of a fish I really don't know. Maybe it isn't the fish that's deranged!?

The next piece was covered with steel wool, then wrapped around a piece of PVC pipe and tied with copper wire. You can just see the black at the top that comes from the interaction between the copper and iron. I'd actually like more black and less orange.

This one was also wrapped around some pipe and tied with steel wire - not sure what caused the blobs. I like this one better because it isn't so orange - I might overdye this one, or add some more surface design with paints or inks, or screen printing or something.

this last one was interesting too - wrapped around a star picket - which you can see in the first photo, laying between the pvc pipe and a piece of dowel - and tied with copper wire - I got rows of blobby bits where the fabric touched the picket and it stayed white where it didn't- another good candidate for overdyeing.

Home again

Actually, we have been home for a week now. Had a lovely time down at the coast - saw a lot of migrating humpback whales. Oct/Nov is the prime time to see them as they head down the east coast of Australia from their breeding grounds in Hervey Bay, in Qld, to the cold, and food rich waters of Antarctica to feed over the summer. They come in close during the southern migration, so the mothers can help the calfves learn the route (apparently). Anyway, it makes seeing them up close easy. Some spectacular displays of tail slapping and complete breaching, where they hurl themselves completely out of the water and land with a huge splash - forty tonnes of whale makes a big splash!


Got some handwork done, but not a huge amount. I did, however, get a quilt finished - this has been waiting for its binding since June (this year!), which given my track record for bindings, is pretty damn quick (see previous post). Here it is

This is for a baby boy born to a friend of mine. His big sister has a similarly colourful quilt, so thought I'd better keep up the tradition for number 2. I used the bricks and stepping stones pattern from here. Good reference for scrap quilt patterns (I only make scrap quilts - can't imagine making a whole quilt with only two or three fabrics - I'd die of boredom - quite apart from which I doubt I have enough of any one fabric to use it over and over in the one quilt).

Had lots of lovely rain last night. Very windy today, which is why the photo is a bit wonky - pegged the quilt to the trust Hills hoist, and tried to get snaps in between gusts. Wouldn't do for a quilt show entry, but okay for the blog! Speaking of quilt shows, good to see some Aussies winning in Houston.