At the beginning of July, I started to work on a new project. I was inspired after the SCOTUS ruling on Presidential Immunity. Let me be clear here: No president is above the law and we should EXPECT that the officer sitting in the highest office in the land follow the letter of the law. We DESERVE a President who is a law abiding citizen. Period. End of story.
All that to say, I while I understand the point SCOTUS made with the ruling, I’m concerned that there may be some terrible consequences from that decision. In the wake of the ruling, I was immediately drawn to how I could process how I felt and how I could work through that artistically. Naturally, I gravitated to this American flag quilt I made in 1995.
It’s been sitting in a cabinet for 30 years. I take it out every (other?) July 4th to snap a photo (if I remember) and then it gets folded up for another year (or two). I still love this quilt even though it isn’t my style now. Definitely not colors or a pattern I would gravitate towards these days but it was a great piece to learn about points matching and other beginning quilting hiccups. I think this was the third or fourth quilt I ever made and it definitely has some mistakes! However, current me is grateful to past me for holding onto it all these years.
I’ll share more about the ah-ha moment of WHAT the direction I was taking this quilt in a later post. This is about taking it apart and dyeing it.
Step One – Take the Quilt Apart
The first step for me was to take apart the quilt. I wanted just a few of the center squares. I spent HOURS carefully taking the quilt apart to get the pieces I wanted.
First I removed the binding.
Then I removed the borders.
Step Two – Secure the Quilt
After that, I zig zagged around the edges to secure them.
Because this quilt is old, there were some seams that had come apart. To maintain the essence and feel of how I wanted this quilt to look when finished (again), I zig zagged seams to close them and secure the pieces.
Step Three – Prep for the Dye
After that, I weighed the quilt.
Step Four – Make the Dye
DISCLAIMER: I am not a fabric dyer, though I have experimented with fabric dyeing in the past and I had a semester of textile chemistry in college. That makes me a pro, right? <<wink, wink>> I’ve been around fabric dyeing enough to be dangerous, but like I said, definitely not a professional. If you choose to dye fabric PLEASE follow all safety instructions, including, but not limited to, wearing a mask and/or respirator and gloves, and follow any recommendations made to keep your house, your body and your space safe. Remember that cups, glasses, pots, other materials you use to dye are NOT safe to cook from once they’ve been used to make a dye. Let me reiterate: follow all safety instructions.
I have to back track a smidge here. The first step to making the dye was determining how much dried walnut shell I needed to make the dye. There are formulas online (just search) based on the weight of the materials you are dyeing. I sorta guessed and used a half a pound of DRY walnut shells. What you use may depend on the weight and quantity of material you plan to dye. I know I wanted my quilt substantially darker so more shells was better for me.
To start, I put the walnut shells in an old lingerie bag. I submerged it into water and brought it to a boil. I let the dye boil for about 1 hour. Look at the before and after below!
Then I added my scoured quilt to the dye.
I let the quilt simmer in the pot for 2 hours before cooling it a little and adding some soda ash.
What I learned through my research about dyeing with natural materials before I began was that walnut shells have a high level of tannins and doesn’t need a mordant. To err on the side of caution since I’m a newbie at dyeing with natural dyes (save the one time I did it in college, thank you Dr. Etters), I added a few rusty nails to the dye bath (thank you, Sam Hunter and friend, for guiding me in this process). There’s some sort of reaction between the iron and the walnut, I guess? At any rate, it worked.
Step Five – Wash and Dry
I rinsed the quilt THOROUGHLY before letting it air dry.
The before and after are remarkable!
I needed to calm down the colors and this worked. Fingers crossed the next steps are successful. <<gah….nerves>>>
Check back in a few weeks. I hope to be able to share the next steps soon!