Fit to be Tied : Tying the Winter Roses Quilt

Winter Roses Quilt - Finished October 2018

Tied with a wool batt.

At Quilt Camp, back in October, I had the space to work on a project like this.  I can spread out on 2 large banquet tables to work, and don't have to worry about picking everything up for the sake of meals.  And there's no dog hair (an important factor when you live with a big, black Newfie!)

[NO PHOTO -- Sorry, I was so intent on doing the task, that I forgot to take a picture.  This photo is from a quilt I tied a few years ago at a different Quilt Camp.  The process is the same, though it shows a thick poly batt.]

Here I have the Sandwich layered and ready for stitching.

         Top Layer : Quilt Top - Right Side Down
         Middle Layer : Backing - Right Side Up
         Bottom Layer : Puffy Wool Batting (from my friend Karla Seaver).

Pin all the edges, and sew with a 1/2-inch seam.  Leave about 20 inches open for turning.
You may need some safety pins in the middle to keep it all together as you work.
Trim the batting and backing to size BEFORE turning right side out.

Turn.

Top stitch a faux binding at about 1-1/2 to 2 inches from the edge.   It's kind of like a French seam.  This helps to keep the batting out at the edges of the quilt as you use it.

I decided to add a few more stitched border rows, before I start to work on actually tying the quilt.
This step secures the batting at the edges of the quilt, otherwise, it has a tendency to pull in, leaving you with some parts of the quilt with no batting layer, just fabric.

You can also clearly see the faux binding here. 

I use wool yarn in a matching color.  I don't want the ties to be the focus here.

 Tying is done, you can see the puffiness as it is laid out on our bed.  

[Sorry for the bad winter light.]

Here are a few of the blocks close up ...

A quilt is never truly done until I've added the label, the very last step.

Weaving Again ... 2 Blue & Green Scarves

Blue and Green Scarves in Rayon

One weekend to warp the loom, and by the next, I can be weaving again.  I'm so happy with the Tom Kniesley videos that have moved me to independence at the loom--especially at the warping stage!  

This is a kit from The Yarn Barn of Kansas. 2 blue and green scarves each 72 inches long in a rayon slub yarn.  It goes pretty fast, even at 16 picks per inch.  This is a shot of the cloth as it's winding onto the cloth beam in front, under the weaving surface. 

I discovered a simple little hack to manage the measuring tape ribbon that keeps track of how long a cloth I've woven.  A simple safety pin keeps the ribbon contained and tamed, yet easily allows for rolling out the next needed bit.

No Hassle Rayon Slub Scarves 

(Photo from Yarn Barn of Kansas--That's where I bought the kit last year.

Breaking Black : Dyeing Wool Yarn Black in the Crock Pot

I didn't mean to do it.  I was hoping for a nice pure black, but I managed to break it ...

One of the things I've been wanting to try is dying wool yarn with Wilton's cake/icing (food) dye in the crock pot.  I got several cones of taupe / neutral-colored carpet warp a while back, and wanted to dye some of it black--if possible.  [I know my friend Lynda has REAL (light fast and color fast) permanent acid dye meant for this, but still I wanted to give the food coloring method a try.]

There are ways to "break" the dye -- that is, break the dye into it's component colors.  For black, that appears to be green and red and maybe some blue.   I was hoping for a pure black, and I might have gotten it if I'd have kept adding black dye in the proper proportions.

It sort of worked ...  It's an interesting dye job, though not quite what I expected.  The black dye is made up of green and red. 

 Here is the wool yarn BEFORE I dyed it.  You can see the taupe-y / camel color.  I said earlier this was an experiment.  I wanted to see how this wool would take the color.

Here is that skein soaking in a bucket of water with some vinegar in it.  This helps it take in the color more evenly in the dye bath. Here is is weighted down with a rock to keep it submerged.

I have an old crock pot that I keep in the dye kitchen in the basement for non-food purposes like soap-making and dye jobs.  I discovered the skeins I had run were all about 329 grams (or so).  Too big for the old round crock pot.   St Vincent de Paul to the rescue!  They had an old crock pot for $4 -- one of those larger oblong shapes with a simple dial for warm - low - high (not digital).   It was a better fit for my bulky skein.

Proportions :
One website / blog I consulted advised 1/2 teaspoon Wilton's dye to 100 grams of wool yarn.  That seemed about right ...  I kept adding more dye in hopes of getting better coverage / take-up.  I must have added more dye in 1/2-tsp increments 3 times -- and could have kept going until the jar was emptied out. 

It might have worked a little better, too, if I had worked with smaller skeins.  Even the larger crock pot was "tight" for this over-sized skein at 329 grams.

Of course the dye and vinegar solution is dark / saturated when you pour it in.  You know it's complete when the water/solution (it still has some vinegar in it) in the dye bath is completely clear. -- That means the dye bath is exhausted.  That means the yarn has taken up the color.  You can keep adding more dye until it stays in the water.  I let the last batch cool down and soak overnight.  By morning, the water / solution was completely clear,

I do like what I got, and will likely do more experimenting with other colors and "breaking" them.

 

I look forward to "breaking" more of the Wilton food coloring/cake dyes.  I think it might be best to put these in the serendipity dying category.  Be happy with what you get, though it may be tough to predict.

Here are a couple more tutorials on dying yarn in the crock pot : 

Hot Pour Method by Teryn J.

Love Knitting's How to Dye Wool Yarn with Wilton's Food Coloring

The Next Project : Swing Type Wool Picker

I just bought the plans to build this swing-type wool picker from Debbie at Willow Dell Fibers.

I know-- It looks like a medieval torture device, but -- if you do it right, no blood will be shed.  It's used for one of the earlier stages of processing wool for spinning.  This would be the stage BEFORE carding.   After you wash raw wool, the fibers can sort of stick together.   This tool can help OPEN the fibers, dislodge hay and vegetable matter, making it easier to do the carding in the next step.

This is something DH is willing to make for me.  I can do the drilling and work with the nails.    He'll do the rest--safety features included.  These are usually simple projects where he can flex his woodworking and engineering muscles after working his computer programming day job.   It's just so satisfying to be able to make these fiber tools for minimal cost.    And it's something we can do together.  ;-)

The Patrick Green version sells for over $600--and I know it will be good and solid, and last a lifetime.  I also think we can DIY with scrap wood.  I also saw this model which gave me that idea :

There are other models and designs that use a box method with a sliding top, but it seems to me that would be very inefficient.  Too much friction.   I'd much rather have gravity work in my favor -- hence my preference for the swing model above.



Here's how it works (Pat Green example)This one is also useful for some of the extra tools and equipment that would be useful :



Here's another video of how it works:



It's fun to see the open fiber fly off the back end.  Also good to see and hear the safety precautions, too.