I'm Dyeing Here...Wool That Is

Yesterday was dyeing day.

I have all this wool and most of it is grey or some shade close to grey.

I normally use rit dye to color my wool.  I have used koolaid or food coloring when I was in a pinch.

I do my dyeing in the kitchen so I have to cover everything up.

I started with buckets...no, you don't have to use ice cream buckets like I did but it sure is fun to have ice cream parties just to get the empty buckets.

I had 6 different colors...yellow, lime green, red, orange, hunter green and blue.

I did have 2 extra containers to mix colors.

Mix the colors with hot water and let sit.

 Yellow, plum, lime green and red.

I mixed red and blue for plum.

I put the box in front of the bucket so I don't forget what color is in the bucket.

Hunter green, orange and blue.

I did make a yellow green mixing the lime green and yellow.

The hunter green looked purple so I wasn't sure what I was going to get.

Gather your wool.

I put the wool in hot water and soaked it while I was getting the dye ready...about half an hour.

I let the wool sit in their color bath for about an hour to an hour and a half.

At this point I'm going to tell you to use gloves not the kind of gloves I used that had holes in them.

I finally took off the gloves and just used my hands.

I washed my hands often and used purel so they didn't get to colored. 

I rinsed the fabric and then to the wash machine for a quick wash.

I don't want my colors to run on my finished pieces.

Into the dryer and this is what you get....

 Blues and greens.

 More greens and yellows.

Oranges and plums.

Some wools take the dye better then others but you won't know how your wool will take the dye until you try it...I think that's what makes it fun.

The colors are a little darker then what is showing up.

 This is the same grey herringbone.

 I just love how you can get a rainbow of colors in just one afternoon.

I couldn't wait to use my new colors.

I hope this inspires you to start dyeing...
you will love it!
Don't forget to become one of my followers.

Enjoy your day,

Leanne

Sunflower and Bittersweet Table Cloth

I'm making progress on my Sunflower and Bittersweet table cloth.

I used some of the overdyed wools I made.

It's been fun and I couldn't wait to get this far.

I start stitching and I don't want to put it down.

Yesterday I was pressing it and do you see what happened?

Look closely...

There on the side....

No, I didn't get it dirty.

Worse than that.

I burnt the edge of the piece with the iron...I can't believe I did that!

I've been so careful while making this piece!

When you burn it...that's it.

Live and Learn I'll never do that again.

So my table cloth will be a little smaller then I wanted it to be.

Thank goodness I made the base a little larger than the pattern called for.

I'm hoping to overdye more wool this week.

I need some yellow tones and reds and maybe more greens and oranges.

I feel if I'm dyeing wool I should do a bunch because it takes a long time

 to wait for the wool to soak up the dye. If I'm waiting on one color why not wait on several colors.

I'm so impatient I can't wait to see the new colors.

Enjoy your day,

Leanne

C&PLG Giveaway!!!

The Country and Primitive Ladies Group...C&PLG is having a giveaway!

This Cute Little Raggedy Doll can be yours just click on the picture and she will take you to the C&PLG Blog site for the easy directions on how to win her.

Hurry because the drawing is April 1st!

This Cute Raggedy Doll was made by Pat of Yellow Sweet Potato.

I think she makes the cutest dolls!  Her faces are always full of expression! 

You can find Pat's creations on the C&PLG Blog just click on the yellow sweet potato page.

She has a REALLY cute Ice Cream Doll for sale...you have to take a look!

Shhhh, don't tell Pat this but the drawing for this Cute Little Raggedy Doll is on April 1st... Pat's Birthday!
So please leave a Birthday Wish to Pat under the comments of this giveaway post on the C&PLG Blog.

I hope you win, well you all can't win but I hope someone from my blog wins,

Leanne

Chocolate Chip Cookies

So I did an experiment.

Saturday, I put out a plate of fresh baked chocolate chip cookies on the island.

How long will it take my family to eat a plate of chocolate chip cookies?

I usually don't make cookies outside of Christmas but I just felt like making cookies.

Kids were coming from everywhere.

Jack had 2 friends over and they told me they could smell the cookies baking.

Brett came home and asked what was wrong and why was I baking cookies.

Brian ran came downstairs because he smelt something good.

So how long did it take my family to eat this plate of cookies?

1 minute 23 seconds and not a crumb left!

Enjoy your day,

Leanne

OverDyeing Wool and A New Project

I've read that overdyeing wool can be addictive but how could that be?

Well I just tried it for the first time and I get it!

Mixing colors and mixing wools...each wool takes the dye differently.

You don't know what you piece will look like until it's all dry.

How fun is that!

A surprise when you open the dryer!

A good surprise...not one of those bad surprises when you didn't check the pockets and a red pen ends up in the dryer with red spots on your clothes and dryer...not fun.

Oranges

Plums

Greens

Using the newly dyed wool in a project.

I bought this pattern while on girls weekend.

I can't wait to fininsh it. I usually don't use patterns for my penny rugs.

I'll show it off when it's finished.

Enjoy your day,

Leanne

Girls Weekend, quilt shops, wine....

Girls Weekend with the Bunco Girls!

We've been doing this for years...about 12.

We usually stay within 2 hours away from home.

This years destination....Madison, Wisconsin.

Madison is the capital of Wisconsin. I have never been to the capital at least not this close.

So I had to have proof that I was there. 

Saturday we went to a quilt shop,  yarn shop, gift stores, for a wine tour and tasting. We had planed to do a brewery tour but ran out of time...spent too much time wine tasting. :)

My purchases were mostly at JJ Stitches a quilt shop.

I bought some patterns, wool and fabric...I can't go into a quilt store without buying fabric...it just wouldn't be right. :)

More purchases were at a gift shop A Day in the Country where they had punch needle with wool yarn.

You can make rugs this way. It looks a lot like rug hooking.

I just couldn't stop looking at the stuff. The yarns. The patterns. The finished samples.  They have such a warm feeling, kind of old with a sense of history to the pieces.

I've read about punching with wool yarn on some of the blogs I follow and wanted to try it.

So I bought a oxford punch, a sunflower patter and the yarn to finish the project.

I started this sunflower mat and didn't put it down until I was finished.

I love punching with wool yarn! I will definitely be doing more projects!

I also did something different yesterday...I'll share that with you in another post.

Enjoy your day,

Leanne



Still Celebrating St. Patty's Day

Saturday night we were still celebrating St. Patrick's Day...

You see this party is the party we wait for every year!

Our hosts are such gracious people they open their home to their family and friends.

They make all this wonderful Irish food and it is delicious!

Cold beer on tap.

They even have live music!

 This years music was a little bluegrass and what ever the band wanted to play.

I tell you those kids were entertaining!

Young or old a good time was had by all!

Next celebration...Spring!

Leanne

Happy St. Patty's Day

Happy St. Patty's Day!!!

Enjoy Your Day,

Leanne

Primitive Stitched Pillows...Welcome Friends....

I just finished up a few more pillows.I really enjoy stitching .

The words are a little tricky but after doing a few curves I figured it out.

They are the perfect little size.

These will be perfect for my craft fairs this fall.
Right now I have these on ebay along with some penny rugs and raggedy dolls
Click here to see all my
Harvest Moon by the Lake offerings.

Enjoy your day,
Leanne

Still waiting for spring....

This is what it looked like a few weeks ago....So pretty....
So fluffy!

Now the snow is getting a little old....
a little dirty....
just a little blah!

Still waiting for spring...
a little green grass...
a few flowers...
like tulips...
red tulips....
red tulips with long green stems.
Now I have a smile on my face...
have a great weekend!
Leanne