Wave Goodbye

I was SO in love with my hollyhock-dyed jelly roll strips. I loved them so much, I couldn't decide if I should make a dress or a quilt. So I bribed myself. I promised myself I could make something of the jelly roll after I finished a few other quilts in progress.

That was five finished quilts ago!

In the meantime, my luscious lavenders turned to boring beige. The color faded, even though the strips were not stored in direct sunlight.


This batch of hollyhock had been mordanted with soy. It was an experiment. The experiment failed. Now I know better.


I began snow-dyeing again after a 16-inch dump, and that was followed up by another eight inches the following weekend. Plenty of snow for dyeing! Perhaps I could refresh the hollyhock strips by snow-dyeing them!

This would mean re-mordanting them, this time with salt and soda ash. The soda ash changes the pH of the water, which in turn changes the color of many natural-dyed fibers.

My 50 shades of beige (and a couple of still gorgeous lavender strips) turned green when I first stuck them in the mordant pot. A very nice green, but I knew it would not last. Heat turns natural dyes to yellow or brown. Or a combination of the two.




Within about 20 degrees, the attractive green went eggshell.


I actually liked these colors, but I didn't know how long the color would hold up with regular washing. So I moved forward with the snow-dyeing plan.

I'd hoped for lavender and dusty rose once again, to replace what I lost. But I feared what the ecru fabric might do to gorgeous pastel shades of purple. I opted for burgundy and mink professional dyes instead.




Once again, the powder dye color broke, which means, separated into the different hue components of which the initial color was made. Because I didn't have a particular color goal this time, I didn't mind. I wanted to see what I could get.


The colors after all the snow melted looked pretty darned good. The dye then cured for more than 24 hours before heading into boiling water to be permanently set. I didn't forget the heat stage of professional dyeing this time.


After boiling the strips, the color looked good. I hoped it would fade just a bit in the wash, but not to completely pastel.


After washing came the tedious three-hour process of detangling, chopping off unraveled threads and then pressing with a hot iron. Which allowed me to study each strip in detail.

Oh, my heavens! I've created The Wave on fabric!!!!!!!!!!

I now am the proud owner of the most beautiful jelly roll I've ever seen!










Linking up with Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

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