She lives......

No, I didn't fall off the face of the earth.  Just has been a really, really busy couple of months.  Fabric dying, a quilting retreat, a whole kitchen remodel and now possibly rheumatoid arthritis. Boy, since 40 it has seemed to be patch, patch, patch.  Oh well I guess any time you wake up on the top side of the grass is a good one.

Thought I would begin by finishing pictures of the dying session the Variable Star group did this summer.  Previous post shows the colors samples we had to choose from.  I tried a few new colors and this time got smart and marked on the selvage of the fabric the number and color.  Here are the colors I did this time.

My china reds turned out pink but otherwise the colors were ok.  I like the mottled look and am always happy with what ever color comes out because I don't pay as close attention to timing as I should.

This year I decided to try to "tray" dye some fabric.  Problem #1, finding trays without spending money.  Solution: I took a couple of old window screens and wrapped them with saran wrap so they would hold the dye.  This is what it looked like wet.

Two things I wish I had done was but the fabric the exact size of the screen and stretched it out instead of leaving the air folds in it.  Where the fabric and dye were in direct contact it took very good, but of the 2 I did both turned out pretty interesting.  On one I threw some kosher salt on it while it was still wet which gave it an interesting effect.  Here are the pieces when dry.

Detail of salted area.

Melanie, Claudia and Wendy.

Roxie on right and her sister

Carole, Beckie and Pam waiting to get started.

This year we dyed on a Saturday so we had all day to work which was nicer than when we have done it on an evening when we didn't get started until 6 or 6:30 pm.  We always agree it was great fun and we'll do it again as long as our dying guru, Wendy will agree.

Tomorrow, photos of kitchen remodel.  I got rid of my cable tv which has been out of order for 3 weeks, and now I'm amazed how long the evenings are.

Promise not to be AWOBL (absent with out blog leave) again.

Fabric Dying

About 4 Saturdays ago, the Variable Stars had another dying day.  This time we were able to do it on a Saturday instead of a weekday night which meant that we had a lot more time to try different techniques and colors.  We started out with Wendy's samples and decided the colors we wanted.  Then we looked up the recipes for the colors we wanted.

These were Wendy's most current color samples.





Jo and Wendy mixing up the base dye colors.

Well the computer has decided it's not going to cooperate with downloading photos, so I guess I'll try more tomorrow.



Didn't drop off the face of the earth

Hello,  It's been a busy summer.  I did my own mini shop hop at local shops in St. Louis, Carson City and Greenville Michigan, went to a quilt retreat and did some fabric dying and started the process of having my 57 year old kitchen renovated.  I will report on all of these, hopefully, over the next week to get caught up.

But came across this video on another blog and thought it was great.  Enjoy,  we all need a few more laughs...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2a2DQC-ghio&feature=player_embedded

We Can Do It...

And we did.  I participated in the "We Can Do It" 5 K walk/run that benefitted the Michigan Women's Center on Sunday morning.  At the start the weather was already pretty warm and sunny.  But we soldiered on.  This photo is of Judy who I met during the training sessions.  She was faster and kept me on pace.  All in all it was a fun day.  Playmakers did a great job as well as the Women's Center.

Another busy weekend

This is going to be another one of those weekends when at the end of the summer I will say, "where did the summer go."  Saturday I'm working the estate sale in Lake Odessa from 9-4 for Dennis.  This is the 2nd or 3rd at this house since the season started and there will be one a month thru probably September or October.   

Then I bought 6 games tickets for the Lansing Lugnuts so the next game is Saturday night at 7.  They won the first game I went to, so I hope that streak continues.

Then Sunday morning I am going to walk in my first 5K walk/run.  I never thought I would willing to out to just WALK.  I don't mind walking and window shopping, or walking all over London on vacation.  But never did it occur to me to go out and walk for the fun?!! of it.  But I have progressed and found that it is enjoyable, who would have thunk it.  This is the We Can Do It run to benefit the Women's Center of Greater Lansing.

Also had a contractor in this week to work up a bid for redoing my kitchen, the whole shebang, flooring, cabinets, countertops, sink, disposal, dishwasher, new improved lighting, maybe even a new fridge.

What a weekend

Saturday was a whopper of a day.  I started off by having breakfast with a high school friend.  Then on to: an estate sale, a massage, running errands, the East Lansing Arts Festival and lastly the Capitol City Quilt Guild Show.

I enjoyed all if it.  It was extremely hot at the Arts Show.  I knew I only had from noon to 5 to do both the arts festival and the quilt show.  So I opted to only do the craft side of the arts show, which centers around the Union Building.  Lots of interesting items.  I, like Linda K, spent a lot of time looking at the yard art done by a welder who used everything from silverware to tools.  But the booth that got me was the one with concrete yard items.  Here is my beauty...

I'm thinking I need a chennile plant so she looks like she has a hat on.  But we'll see.

Then on to the quilt show.  I got there about 2:30.  We, CCQG, always to a nice show.  Here are a few of my favorites from the show.



This bug greeted attendees as they arrived at the quilt show.



Sunday was spent helping my brother prepare a house for an estate sale.  Although in rough shape, can you imagine waking up each morning with this cheery wallpaper?

A little more of Chicago

Since Anna is from Chicago that seemed the appropriate destination for the wedding.  Here are a few more pictures from the reception.

Fearless Miss Molly

Jason, Denise & Dennis





Managed to find one patchwork inspiration.





We noticed the interesting effect of the new Trump Tower in Chicago where the top part of the building and the horizon give it a ghost tower appearance.