Last year I joined a local quilt guild. Music City Modern Quilt Guild. Do you know how nice it is to hang out with a bunch of ladies who also love to quilt?! They are such a fabulous, talented bunch of the sweetest people ever!
During a planning meeting there was interest in doing a hand dyed workshop for the following year. I was asked if that was possible and of course I said yes! Even though it was still new to me! I was counting on and secretly praying that my daughter Britt would be there teaching the class! She was the one who roped me into it! Being a Fiber's Major...who better to head up the class?
Fast forward to August! With the class fast approaching and me getting more nervous by the second, Britt and I conspired, cleaned, mixed and organized to make this class fun and informative.
I had no idea we would have such a huge turnout!! Beyond my expectations in every way!
The day before we mixed up 20+ dye colors. We didn't use them all.....just the basics for the class! Mixing dye is a pretty big deal. You certainly do not want to breathe in the dye powder! Our usual mixing spot is outside. We are not a big operation, but I do have a few fat quarter bundles that I offer in my Etsy shop!
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| Supplies |
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| Bottles & Dye |
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| Orange Crush! |
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| Yummy Deep Purple! |
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| My daughter, Britt! |
Britt had on a beautiful hot pink and yellow face accessory, paired with some delightfully red saltwater sandals...she is stylin'!
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| Class Begins! |
Our garage is the 'workshop studio' for this class! It happens to be huge! It functions as a dye studio, soap making factory, work out room, workshop, storage, ceramics~ oh, and yes we do house our cars in there too!
Britt began with the basics. She showed some swatches of her own hand dyed fabrics so everyone could see the possibilities. Each person brought 4 fat quarters of a pre-washed white cotton. At this time, I will thank Stefanie Greenwood-Williams, owner of Cotton Bliss who so graciously brought fabric for most of the students! The goal was for each person to leave with 4 different colors.
With gloves on (except Jenny and Lindsay, who are the Rebels of the group!), we set about mixing those colors! Everyone had a pretty good idea of what colors they were after. Some light, some dark, some mixed! I was so excited to see what every one came up with! With so many beautiful colors, I am itching to get back into dye my own!
Britt did a fantastic job! She knows what she is talking about, knows what makes an effective teacher/class, I knew I could count on her! Honestly, I never ever in a million years could have done it on my own. Never.
I wish we had been able to get some pictures of every one's end results. I think it was a successful class. As long as everyone had fun, learned a little bit about hand dyeing, left with some usable fabric...what more could you ask for?!
Well maybe a beautiful bouquet of flowers! Thank you Stefanie for bringing the Hydrangea's! Simply gorgeous!
I'm sure a good time was had by all, and I'm so glad Britt was able to help you out. I think you would have handled it just fine, but your nerves would have been shot!
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