Enjoying the challenge

After my initial slow start, I have really been enjoying working on my challenge quilt.   The second panel was very simple and went together quickly, however I did decide to paint one of my fabrics to get the exact color that I wanted.

I start by covering a small section of my cutting table with plastic and taping down my fabric..….

….next I started playing with some Set-A-Color and Dyna-flow paints, trying to get the color that I wanted.  Incidentally, I found the most wonderful paint holders….

These came to my home filled with Cottage Cheese and Pineapple but will forever stay as paint pots!!!  

After I painted the fabric, I wasn’t patient enough to wait for it to dry, so instead I pressed it between several layers of paper towels until it was dry.  Doing this caused some of the color to be transferred off of the fabric and onto the towels, but I was very happy with the final color.  

Here is the painted piece and the original…..

Next, I needed to cut out another ladder but this time I knew to use a densely woven hand dye.

I used my “Scisseroo” scissors to do the cutting.  (If you look closely, there is a Kangaroo instead of a stork)   These were given to me several years ago by a friend in Australia and I was going to post a link here to the company that makes them, but I cant find anything on the web about them so I am afraid that they have gone out of business.    They are WONDERFUL scissors with a sharp fine point and are perfect for intricate cutting…..

Here is the finished second panel…..

Now on to the HARD one!!!!