Fun bargains today!

Hello again,





I just received this postcard yesterday from Chris in NJ.  Isn't it beautiful!

     It's a little frightening watching stores go out of business around town.  I feel a little guilty going to their sales knowing when it's all gone the person behind the counter will no longer have a job. How are all of you dealing with this?  I know it isn't just happening here.  

     I bought a new computer chair that I just love.  It was needed as my old one no longer allowed me to adjust the height of the seat and I had replaced the fabric on the arms a couple of times. With my neck problems I have to keep my chair at a certain height or my neck complains, loudly! My son is over six foot and I am only 5' 7" so he changes it when he uses the computer.  He doesn't use it often because thankfully he does have his own computer now. Love my new chair and it is definitely better than I would have purchased if it hadn't been on sale.

     Today I went back to the close-out sale at World Market.  I will miss that store.  It had so many interesting things that I never saw elsewhere.  I spent more than I should have but it was a lot of fun.  I bought some metal canisters, they are supposed to hold tea.  I may use one of them for tea but I plan to use the others for holding sewing or craft items.  They have motifs embossed on them that signify longevity and happiness.  The longevity means a lot to me now as I have recently been diagnosed with a disease that will have me being checked for cancer every three to six months for the rest of my life.  So, longevity is good. 

     I also bought a cute little metal rack for about two dollars.  I think it might work for cones of thread or something along those lines.  I might paint it first. 

     I bought two square wooden wall hangings that were 40% off the lowest price.  The lowest price was $2.50 or something like that.  Any lower and they would have been paying me to take them.  The designs are carved out of the wood.  I plan to use them with fabric and shiva paintsticks for rubbings.  Won't that be fun!

     

Another  thing I bought was chiffon bed scarves.  I had been looking for a bargain on chiffon to use with my embellisher.  I got my bargain and more.  I bought two white scarves, thinking I can dye them.  One that is peach color and I could add other colors to it if I want a change.  I also bought one navy blue cotton very thin curtain.  I think it will work too.  Lot's of things to play with now.

     The first week in April I am joining a group who is having a sale and we need table cloths to cover the tables we put our sale items on.  I bought three table cloths because I only had one before.  What a great deal.

     

Also wanted to show a photo of the steel wool pads I talked about for rust dyeing.  I guess my photo is just the bag.  Hopefully that will help.  If not let me know and I will take a photo of the pad itself too.  I think I bought this at Home Depot which is a lumber supply store.  Have a creative day! Janet

My Rust dyed connections

Well I told you I would post some photos of my rust dyeing experience.  Hasn't turned out quite as well as I would hope.  Still working on it though.  Sometimes I put too much pressure on myself.  I wanted to have something new to send for the exchange but reality set in and I realized I was running out of time.  The exchange was for February and if she would receive it in time I needed to get it in the mail.  I used some I dyed last summer.  I was feeling bad about not having something really exciting and different but that isn't really the point of the exchanges.  I think with these exchanges what we really have is an opportunity to reach out and connect with people all over the world who have similar interests.  We need those connections especially when we are working in our studios alone so much of the time.  A friend of mine just sent me information yesterday about a  UCLA study on women and friendship .  The second photo shows how I used Lois Jarvis' stormy skies technique.  I included a link to Lois' site in a previous post but it wasn't her rust dye site so now I've included the correct link.  The second smaller piece is from a trivet.  It didn't work extremely well, but I think it will get better the more I use it.  It is kind of interesting though, sort or ethereal.

     On to my rust dyeing.  When I dye fabric in the winter.  I put it in my basement and literally forget about about it for about a week.  I found one of my pans was starting to get rusty so I decided to use it for rust dyeing now.  It isn't rusty enough yet but the more I use it the better it will get (I could also let it sit outside in the rain this summer) I scrunched my prepared for dyeing fat quarter into the pan and sprayed it with vinegar and water.  

I keep trying different things I find to see what will happen.  Most of what I do is experimenting.  So far steel wool pads(the ones without any soap) have the best results for me.  You can unroll the pad and lay it on your fabric, you can pull it apart in chunks, or cut little snips of it off and sprinkle on your fabric.  I like the effect of the snips but that is best done in the summer for me so I can rinse it off outside.  I don't want to send the little snips of steel wool into my washing machine or down my pipes.  I like to use nails (that's how I made the little house scene in a previous post)  Make sure you don't use galvanized nails as they won't rust.  I've tried soup cans (I've been told to use the ones that have a seam inside.)  A few things surprised me.  The soup cans left circles of resist on my fabric.  

I think the more I use them the rustier they will get and I will get different results.  The resist thing happened with the cut-out shapes I bought from Beth Wheeler too.  

I didn't expect that but it's very interesting.  She says the more I use them the more they will rust and eventually I will have the opposite effect.  

     So, once I have my fabric in the pan, sprayed with vinegar, and place my different metallic pieces on top or underneath, I slip the pan in a garbage bag.  I then place it in my basement and usually forget it is there until a week later.  Suddenly I will exclaim "Oh, my gosh I forgot my fabric!"  I run down the basement expecting to see my fabric with holes corroded completely through it, only to find something spectacular has happened.  The bag will usually keep it from drying out but if you are better than me you might check during the week to make sure it is still damp.

Obviously for me there is a lot of serendipity involved in this process.  So if you find it interesting,  jump in and try, it's fun to experiment.  Be sure to rinse it after in salt water.  This helps to slow down the rusting process.  I'm told that it will continue to rust over the years so don't use this for something that you want passed down through the generations.  It will still last your lifetime and probably beyond but is not for an heirloom project.

Janet

Rust dyed fabric received!

Hello,

Have to share the beautiful fabric I received in the mail yesterday.  My exchange partner is from New Zealand and I love the fabric she sent.  It is so fun to get gifts in the mail.  She sent a fat quarter since that was what we are exchanging but, didn't feel it was very good so she also sent me a beautiful scarf.  They are both gorgeous as far as I'm concerned. Janet

Rust dyeing

Good morning,

     Today I am planning to start 'rusting' some fabric.  I am in a yahoo group for people who like to rust dye and we are having a fat quarter exchange.  It takes several days for me to get the fabric I want as I live in a cold climate.  Some are fortunate they live in humid warm climates and can rust fabric throughout the day.  Beth Wheeler started this group.  She has a class about rust dyeing on the Quilter's Keep Learning website.  I've learned a lot from the wonderful people in this group.

     I first learned about rust dyeing when I took a journal class taught by Susan Stein at her store Colorful Quilts in St Paul.  Her store closed at the end of January but many of the teachers are now teaching at the Textile Center in St, Paul.  The class taught by Susan was based on her book Fabric Art Workshop.  Here are a couple of the rust dyed fabrics I made from that class.

I also discovered Lois Jarvis' website, I think after she was featured in Quilting Arts magazine.  She has wonderful things to buy on her website to help you with your rust dyeing.  She is also a member of the yahoo group.  Here are some fabrics I made with her techniques, or my adaptations of her techniques.

I have some cut out metal shapes that I ordered from Beth Wheeler that I plan to use today.  I'll try to take some photos as I go so I can show you how I do this.  Should be interesting!  Be sure to check back in a few days to see how they turn out. Janet

Car Wash Rage! Minnesota not so nice!

     If you live in a climate with salty air or a cold climate where they put salt and other chemicals on the road you know how important it is to keep your car clean.  If you don't at least attempt to wash the salt off your car it will rust away before your eyes.  I live in one of those cold climates.  We watch for the days when we can wash our cars without fear of having your doors freeze shut when you are done.  (Ask me how I know about that one!) It was just one of those days Monday night.  My husband went to run an errand and was gone long enough I was starting to worry about him.  I guess I had reason to worry.  He came home with quite a tale.  The car wash he goes to has two lanes leading up to the wash.  That way if someone decides they can't wait in line any longer they can leave.  The lines do get long on the nice evenings!  He had worked his way from number 6 in line to number 2 when from out of the blue a car sped up to the front trying to sneak in ahead of all the other cars.  The person in the car behind my husband got out of his car and came up to my husbands car, rapped on the window and said "Are you going to let her do that?"  Why my husband was appointed spokesperson I'm not sure but he got out of his car went up to the woman, tapped on her car window and politely told her where the line really began.  She got out of her car and started yelling and gesticulating pretty aggressively.

     At this point the people in the cars behind my husband got out of their cars and all came over to add their voices to the general hubbub.  They have cameras inside pointed at the car wash, and now I know why!  The service station attendant came out and told the woman she would have to wait.  My husband went back to his car and let them fight it out,  which apparently they continued to do for some time.  Suddenly there was another knock on his window and the woman was there wanting to talk to my husband again.  He rolled down his window and she proceeded to tell him how she was a much better person than he was because she was going to let him go first.  But, she wanted him to understand that he had no right to come and tell her she was out of line and didn't he understand "That's how road rage starts!"  He said he did understand now because he could see it first hand and asked her to go back to her car.  She became even angrier and made some obscene gesture.  He rolled up his window and eventually she did go back to her car.  I'm not sure I will let him go to the car wash alone any more.  Watch out for Car Wash Rage everyone,  Minnesota nice was not in service Monday night.  Take care out there!  Janet