Back Again

Hello….my name is Frances and I am a quilter!!    I almost feel that this is how I should start my blog since it has been so long since my last post!!!!

It has been a busy three weeks, with spending 10 days in China, spending a week getting over jet lag, and a week getting caught up on business duties!!  But, I am now starting to feel a bit more normal so thought I would catch up with you again.

I posted to a blog while traveling and want to share here a couple of posts from the trip.  The first is a trip to a fabric dyeing “factory” in Xizhou, a village in the southern province of Yunnan. 

They do traditional tie-dying (like we did in the 70’s), but make  ornate designs by taking the fabrics and sewing or wrapping them to make amazing patterns. It seemed like a mixture of Shibori and Tie-dyeing. They showed us the entire process, from soaking the fabrics in a solution that allows the fabric to accept the dye, to the process of tying the fabrics and then the final dipping in dyes. Most of the pieces are dipped several times to increase the intensity of the colors. All of the dyes are organic based with their specialty being in Indigos. Needless to say, I spent a good amount of time in the sales room!!!! When Michael “complained” that our bags were heavier, I pointed out that our wallets were lighter so it all worked out fine!!

Here are some photos of the outing……

Soaking the fabric in uric acid……

One of the Indigo dye baths  (apparently they required a bit of working in between dye baths……

The “dyeing” room….today they were doing traditional tie-dyeing……

The pieces are tied and wrapped and then dipped in dyes.  The piece on the right has been wrapped but not yet dyed…….. This one has been dyed and the threads are now being cut to reveal the design……

After dyeing the pieces are rinsed many times…….

Allowed to dry……    And displayed into a quilter’s paradise!!!……. 

I bought one of the hand-dyes in the middle of this stack………. 

Do I look happy, or what!!!!!………