I love the smell of cotten in the morning!

For those of you who need pictures in a post, this one isn't going to have any. I won't feel the least offended if you stop reading now. Really I won't...not in the *sniff* least. ;)

Part two of the disclaimer is this is likely to be long and rambling. Jason isn't home and I feel like chatting.

Now that all of that is out of the way! As you can probably tell if you read more than a couple of my posts I really like dyeing. Well, I could skip the mess and the hassle, but since I need it to get to the fabric I will deal with it. It's really the fabric that has me hooked.

When I first started quilting I bought the fabric I needed for the project I was working on. I couldn't understand why these women would walk around the quilt store holding bolts of fabric they were petting with this odd sort of look on their face. You know the one, someplace between the look of having sex and taking a Valium?

Well, something, somewhere happened to me and suddenly it was as if I'd been struck by a bolt of lightening and all was clear. Fabric was good. Not just good but wonderful! I am sure at that point my face too reflected the wierd combination of peace and excitement I get from possessing fabric.

That's when I knew I was well and truly lost.

But we all know that all fabric is not created equal. There is a certain texture when you run your hand across the 'good stuff'. There's a snap to when you give it a sharp tug and an evenness in the way it takes the print. I'm finding that the fabric available for dyeing varies just like that available at the quilt store. Some of it's okay, but some of it is great.

I order this wide muslin, that is really nice. It will make great backings I think and I love how it feels, but I hate the way it frays when I wash out the dye. I wish I had a serger. If I did, I would run it through that before I dipped it into the dye vats.

Anyway, someone asked me if I would post the patterns I have for what I will make from this fabric. I honestly have no patterns in mind at the moment. I'm just playing. I feel like a kid again.

The only problem with that is everything I've made so far is definately one of a kind. I know that all hand dye is unique but because I've kept no notes on what I did and just went by instinct re-creating some of this will be next to impossible. I've decided that's okay however. I can always say they are original one of a kind pieces. My art, that can't be recreate.. birthed from some viseral place inside me.

That means that once these pieces are cut up, that's it... they are gone forever. Some people might feel that is kind of sad and hesitate to use the pieces. After all, some of them are beautiful just in their own right, in their whole form.

However I think that's just a good excuse to make more, don't you?