Why Time Begins on Opening Day

People ask me what I do in the winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring. -- ­Rogers Hornsby

Opening Day - the two most beautiful words in the English language. -- Tim Kirkjian

I've re-read Thomas Boswell's collection of baseball essays and I'm ready to watch the Reds first game of the season on ESPN. Spring has officially arrived.

Play ball!

One reason NOT to celebrate today: The introduction of the Designated Hitter (DH) on this day in 1973. I'm Old School - pitchers should go to the plate!

Think Green!

I saw Fabri-Quilts "Save Our Planet" fabric and fell in love with it! My reuseable shopping bags are more than 15 years old (do Fry's grocery stores exist anymore?), so I designed a shopping tote which is quick (1 hour!) and easy. Made from sturdy canvas fabric, it will hold LOTS & LOTS of groceries!

Kits for my 1-Hour Shopping Tote are available on my website, DellaJane Hand Dyes.

I Have A Handi Quilter!

On Tuesday morning, it was an empty (relatively speaking!) room:

Getting it to this point involved hours of sorting through piles of mostly quilting stuff, going through boxes of mostly quilting stuff and making decisions about what stays and what goes. I sold one sewing machine and a table, but what you don't see in this empty room picture is the full shelf in the next room of Stuff-That-Stays.

Leslie & Kevin showed up at 10:30 am with a truckload of boxes and several hours later, I had my new baby - a Handi Quilter 16! I love it! If you want me, I'll be quilting!

Prom Dresses - Color and Bling!

Prom dress shopping - not the most anticipated event on my calendar! Find something DD likes (minimal pouf), in a Mom-approved style (not too revealing) and an acceptable price range before my shopping clock strikes midnight and I run screaming from the store. We went to Black Tie, White Satin in Fremont, Nebraska. The Prom Loft (400 dresses!) was full of color! A rack of 7 orange dresses, each a different shade caught my eye & had me returning over and over. None of them fit our criteria, but the colors were beautiful! Another collection with colors ranging from pink to magenta to almost purple were wonderful as well. Animal prints were big, but tiger stripes in any color combination say the opposite of "Prom Dress" to me! The acid green dresses were beautiful, but not right for DD's skin tones.

The black dresses are always my favorites. Start simply and jazz it up! I love the way the designers use bling to create their designs of repetitive straight lines, wavy lines and organic waves. Without my camera, I could only sketch. Wanting more color, I picked up several booklets of photos, which resulted in this collage:



P.S. We were the only one of the 3 mother-daughter pairs to decide on a dress. It is ordered - now to find gold shoes.....

Gradations Workshop A Success!

Yesterday, I taught a workshop for the Omaha Quilters Guild . The best classroom space (for dyeing) I have EVERY been in is the art room at St. Mary's College! I'm always a little surprised that I enjoy the experience of teaching. There is a HUGE difference between quilting workshops and middle-school classrooms!



My students dyed three 6-shade gradations, one yellow, one blue, one red. Each gradation was dyed using a different method, giving them both some beautiful fabric and several dyeing options for later use.


My wonderful, enthusiastic students:

See more pictures on Flickr.


Next Saturday, I'm teaching another workshop - Direct Dye Application. I'm looking forward to a day of PLAYTIME! I've dyed some samples, but still have to put fabric packs together, review my supply list, and prepare handouts.

Overdyed Skirt

While I was in Houston for Festival last year, Christine T. stopped by and asked if I could overdye a summer skirt. It was light blue, with a light stain which made it unwearable. She wanted it gray with hints of purple, then picked a piece of fabric from a scrap bag that was more purple than gray. This is the result - I like it!

Elf Toes!

I LOVE the shape of elf toes!


The problems I encountered when making these stockings included getting a shape which looked right and would hold its' shape, turning the toe, and creating funky pieced look with NO piecing. The black stocking fabric was created with woven strips, the blue stocking fabric was created with fused diamonds. Weaving strips is easier, but I prefer the harlequin look.

Now I can do it all over and write the instructions, take some pictures and finish the pattern I envisioned a year ago!