Rust Dyeing…..

I am currently working on a series of Barn Lot Quilts.

My supply of rust dyed fabric is getting low…

Time to make more Rust Dyed Fabric:

100% White Cotton Fabric

Kosher Salt

White Vinegar

2 Yards of Fabric

1/4 cup of salt

Enough vinegar to saturate the fabric well

Scrunch up the fabric to mix in the salt and vinegar.

The fabric is wet, but not sitting in a puddle of liquid.

Most any rusty object works well for rust dyeing:

I am rusting yardage, 

so I am using a very large culvert screen.

40 inches wide x 6 feet long

The rustier the object the faster your fabric will rust.

The culvert screen is on a big piece of plastic.

The wet fabric is ready…

The wet fabric is placed on top of the rusty screen…

It gets wrapped up in plastic 

to keep the fabric wet during the rusting process…

It also helps to have HOT weather.

The hotter it is, the faster the fabric will rust.

I placed a 4 wheeler ramp on top 

to keep the plastic from blowing off

and to keep some pressure on the fabric 

so it will stay in contact with the rust.

Now we wait…..for 3 days.

I will not peek at it or disturb it in any way.

3 days later...

This is waiting for me when I unwrap the plastic…

Gorgeous Rusted Fabric…

2 Yards of Rust Dyed Fabric.

This will get soaked in a bucket of water 

with 1 cup of Baking Soda.

This will neutralize and stop the rusting process.

Then I will throw it in the washer and dryer.

Then it is ready to put into a quilt.

I was up before sunrise this morning 

to check on the rusty fabric bundle…

I watched the sun burn away the morning fog.

Thread Shed…

This is where I am working on the series of Barn Lot Quilts…

Water drops on an iris leaf

Lily Bud…

The soaker hose was watering the flower bed 

and the sun caught the water drops just right

and turned them shades of red and blue…..FUN!

Gunnr is having a wonderful summer!

He is 8 years old this year.

So gentle, sweet and loving…..such a joy!

CLICK HERE to view more Rust Dyeing

CLICK HERE to view the Thread Shed

CLICK HERE:  to see My Quilts

May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn Kessi

Barn Lot Quilt Series...

After spending so much time in our barn lot during hay season this year, 

and making so many images with my camera,

I decided to print out my favorite photos and begin a new quilt series:

The images printed beautifully on 8.5 x 11 inch fabric.

I use an Epson printer with Durabrite Inks

and Jacquard® Inkjet Fabric Sheets 8.5"x 11"

100 images…..probably a series of 5 or 6 quilts.

These images are mostly TRUCK related:

The overlapping of the images appeals to me…

I pulled out a few yards of rust dyed fabrics as a possible background for the quilt…

The rust fabric on the left is the back of the fabric…..lighter, more texture.

The rust fabric on the right is the front of the fabric…..smoother appearance.

You can see the left side of the rusted fabric really jumps out at you with texture.

I decided to use the back side of the rusted fabric for texture

 I put 2 yards of rusted fabric up on the design wall:

and arranged the barn lot images on top of it…

The rusted fabric works well with the dusty, rusty, time-worn appearance of these images.

You can see the paint peeling on the truck in this image.

This is a possible lay out for this quilt…

I decided to remove the rusted fabric from the wall, 

put the fabric photos on the wall

then fill in around them with the rusted fabric:

I am not grooving on this setting at all.  It appears too structured.

I am taking this down and going back to the overlapping images in photo 2 above.

In the mean time…..enjoy my flower images:

Okay…..I am back

Back to square one with the images...

I prefer this lay out…more square in size, 

not as long as it was earlier.

I inserted a different piece of rust dyed fabric in the middle

to make the background large enough for all of these images:

Ahhh….this feel good.

CLICK HERE to watch me rust the fabric

CLICK HERE:  to see My Quilts

May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn Kessi

On the Road…

We are on the road again…..

traveling from Oregon to Wyoming

These are my personal images.

If you are inspired by them, you are welcome to 

use them in your personal art work

Be sure to double click to enlarge images:

I always travel with my Paul Harvey Quilt….

and my favorite guy and…...Gunnr

We are looking for Grizzly Bears this trip…

in the Tetons….

Yes, we found the grizzlies!

We traveled through Jackson Hole, Wyoming

The Tetons

We saw Moose in Moose, Wyoming

Moose Calf

We took our traveling house everywhere we went

Gunnr spent his time hanging out the window looking for buffalo

Yellowstone Elk

Deer

We chased the moon too!

Breakfast in the Tetons

Mormon barns in the Tetons

5:30 am……waiting for the sunrise to hit the barn

Morning Glory Pool

Here we are waving from the pool

I am so inspired by our trip…

I am ready to create some photo quilts!

CLICK HERE:  to see My Quilts

May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn Kessi