A Fun, Lovely, Busy, Creative Week

On Thursday evening, I attended a meeting of the Quilters Connection Quilt Guild in Watertown. From the sale table, I purchased two large bags of silk ties. I didn't really have a plan for them, but I do from time to time do some crazy quilting and the price was right at $3.00 per bag! I have an idea for a modern crazy quilt that would incorporate some of these ties. I also did a bit of searching online and found a wonderful Youtube tutorial "Using Silk Ties to Create Beautiful Scarves by Pat Statzer." It seemed like something fun to try, and I had a silk scarf from a Shibori class that I had taken at Cannizzarro Creations in Rockland. For some reason the color didn't really take, and there were just small patches of blue on it so I decided to use that scarf. After picking up a big, old pot at Goodwill, I was all set to give it a try last night. It was easy and quick and so much fun to unwrap the packet.

When I had first opened the bag of ties, I discovered  . . . good news . . . the ties had already been opened and the linings removed.  This was also the bad news as there were no labels to indicate which ties were 100% silk or not. This process only works with 100% silk, and the tutorial indicated that it sometimes doesn't even work then. 

Here is my first scarf.

I did learn a few things from this first attempt. In the tutorial on Youtube, the artist cuts thin strips from the ties; I chose to cut larger pieces for mine and I like that effect better. The artist used ties that still had the lining inside, but my pieces did not. I simple cut bigger pieces and folded them over to create a double thickness. You will see why this was necessary if you watch the tutorial. You lay silk pieces on half the scarf and then the other half of the scarf and muslin is folded back over the piece before the whole thing is rolled up. Don't worry. The process is super easy and well explained in the video.

Next time, I will not use any red pieces as red dye is so strong that it tended to overpower many of the other pieces. That was not entirely bad as it gave the background a nice, pinkish color wash.

One other tip . . . I read somewhere that you should always rinse and dry the white scarf before attempting any kind of dyeing. It is supposed to better prepare the scarf for the dyes in the ties. I'll try that next time.

Here I have placed a few pieces of the ties that I used on the scarf by the effects that they created.

It was a fun, easy, inexpensive process, and I urge you to give it a try. I can not wait to try it again!

I also attended a meeting of the Crosstown Quilters on Tuesday where my friend Edith showed off her latest quilt. She had taken a Big Island Sunset class with Sheri Cifaldi-Morrill at the Herring Run Guild. You may purchase the pattern for the Big Island Sunset quilt at Whole Circle Studio.

Besides two guild meetings, I also met friends for breakfast one day and for lunch on another day. Life is good!

I did do some quilting which I will share in an upcoming post.

Have a fun, creative, lovely week.