Fun with the Yellowknife Dyers and Quilters

We arrived home from Yellowknife in the wee hours of Friday morning. I had to shift gears quickly because I needed to be ready to teach the first part of my Uncommon & Unforgettable Threads class at Dragonfly Fabrics on Saturday. Too bad I didn't take my camera because the students in this class turned out some great work. I will try to get pics at our next class in October.

 

Instead I'll be blogging tonight about the fun I had with the Yellowknife dyers and quilters.  From the photo below, it would appear that some of this fun took place in a bathtub!  

 

I found it rather amusing that the Yellowknife Guild of Arts and Crafts has a bathtub installed in their studio!  I dared Donna to pose for me, and she willingly did, all decked out in her mask and gloves, and showing a plate of fabric.

At Donna's request, I put together a new class called "Dye Another Day", which provided instruction on how I dye many of my multi-colour combinations, as well as how I dye the velvet, organza, dupioni and cheesecloth in my Textile Temptation Packs.  This class will join my roster of available classes for any groups that are interested.  I'm sure there will be one at Dragonfly Fabrics in Ottawa soon.

 

Below you can see Pat (in rear) and Shona (at front) intently pouring a variety of colours of dyes, using a variety of techniques, on their fat quarters.  Shona flew in from Inuvik to take this class.  

 

Later in the week, Donna came to our apartment to show me her fabrics after they had been washed.  In this pile you can see the wonderful multi-colours she dyed.

 

This photo shows five different fabrics in each colour that were dyed using the same dye mix.

 

My other class, "Liberated Strip Piecing", was held at the Quilted Raven Quilt Shop. 

Here Shona contemplates how she will form her units into a design.  Those who know me well know just how much I love this chartreuse and purple combination!  Below is how the piece was looking by the end of the day.

 

Christine also finished her piece (except for quilting of course), and what a luscious colour combination, reminiscent of a summer sunset.



 

Lilian's piece was coming together very quickly with just a few units.  BTW, she made the quilt to her left as well!





 

Donna and Hazel contemplate Donna's design below.

 

Love the addition of just a little bit of orange to the blue and brown combination (from my "Winter on the River" hand-dyed fabric bundle.  

 

My next post will share some of the amazing creatures and natural phenemona I saw in the Northwest Territories.