Wednesday, December 06, 2017

Catching Up

One of my readers emailed me and said "Get back to blogging, because I miss you."   I actually found that to be a sweet comment because we all hope someone cares enough to miss us.
I have slowed down with making things for a bit after the big show.  I am trying to get into better physical shape.  I have started taking a flexibility class that is offered by a local center.  I have also tried out Zumba - which as you may (or may not) know is a dance exercise program.  So far I have been the only guy in the two classes I have taken. I actually enjoy it quite a bit. 
One thing that I learned in the past few months is that exercise helps your body to use glucose (sugar) properly and thus keeps your blood sugar under control a bit better.   ((Okay so enough for the health lesson!))

One thing that I have done recently that you haven't seen is a little bit of fabric dyeing.    I had some yardage of a white with light blue tiny flowers printed on it.  I have used some of it as linings for various things, but I didn't love this fabric.  One of the things I learned in fabric dyeing class is that you can over-dye fabrics you don't really like.  I pulled the fabric off my "mini-bolt" and dyed it with two different colors of blue.
This is actually the "back side" of the fabric as it is my favorite side at the moment.  I still have the option to over-dye this again.  Using a yellow would make some interesting greens - and so would using green as the dark blues would be really dark greens.  A red dye would give a nice red and purple fabric with possibly some other shades that may appear gray.  The options are many at this point.

While I was dyeing that piece, I had more dye to use up so I grabbed a piece of ready  to dye white fabric.  I didn't think I did anything special in scrunching it up to put in the container. But, when I rinsed it out, I discovered a nice -although subtle - medallion dyed into the center.
This is one of the joys of dyeing without planning out what you are going to do.  Sometimes you get a nice surprise piece.

I will try to blog a bit more frequently for those of you who miss me when I am away.
Until next time sew in peace,


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3 comments:

Jeanna said...

Both pieces came out very nice, Gene.

Glad you are getting some exercise. I've started back to the gym this week. Working into it slowly though. They, whoever 'they' are, say that if you doing anything consistently for two weeks then it becomes a habit. We shall see...

Barbara said...

Hmmmm...you have a ton of followers, so I could be wrong. But that email request to "get back to blogging" sounds a bit like our mutual hot chocolate lover friend. ;) so you are the only guy in the Zumba class, and you are enjoying it quite a bit? What's not to like about that. Women make the very best of friends. Your dyed pieces are stunning, my favorite colors. I think they are probably not vivid enough for your taste, but I totally love them!

Marlene said...

Congrats on making a commitment to being more active -- and it's not even New Years!

Love the fabric. I've only overdyed fabric once but the results were very interesting.