Getting Down and Dirty

Sheila requested that we all wear old clothes to today's meeting, refused any other info, we all thought "ahh rats, that time of year again, time to scrub and clean and dust".............wait a minnie, we have never scrubbed, cleaned or dusted, well not the Cottage we haven't, our bit of the storage space maybe, but that is hardly a call for everyone wearing old clothes. No, something more was afoot.

And this is what it was all about......dyeing.....fabric dyeing, what fun!
Sheila and Sue were our tutors, they took us through the steps of scrunching, wrapping on cylinders, resistance, and discharge dyeing.

Sheila explained that careful measuring was a crucial part of dyeing, particularly her exacting method of a couple of drops of colour into a medicine glass and add enough water for it to look a good colour, pop the dye into a squeeze bottle to drip or into a spray bottle, something left over from household cleansers is a good choice. Recycling is always a good thing.

Sue was carefully measuring out the rock salt to pop onto the sample in the above pic.
Ja` and Christine were some of the first to jump in.
Ailsa was keen to try the scrunch method. Sadie has rinsed her first piece and is laying it out to partly dry. There is a fabric dyeing room at the Cottage, mainly used by the Fabric Artists group but we had fun giving it a run. Very easy to work in, with a great layout.
A pair of socks that Sheila did previously for someone special in her life.
One of the many discharge dyeing pieces.
Leaves and lace were some of the resists used in the discharge process.
We learnt to be a bit critical of our fabrics, the teal just wouldn't discharge, not absorbent at all, while the twill was a success, both twills going through a range of colours.
Some of the sample pieces hung out to dry on the veranda
Some folks were so hard at work they weren't able to afford the time to take part in the workshop.
Birthday Girl Denise and assistant Louise were cataloguing the results of a fabulous spending spree that Sheila and some of the committee members had at the Brisbane Craft show last week.
And did I get a great pic of Denise chomping into her Birthday Cake? a lovely sticky concoction of Chocolate mud cake, you bet I did, its a beauty!, of course you can have a peek, just let me know, we can talk terms......he he he...

A sneak peek at some of the goodies, how wonderful to see some of our hard earned monies being spent on equipment for our library. You did a great job shopping girls!Judy was clowning around, showing off the high quality of her 'daggy olds', some people just clean out their wardrobes a little too often, dontch think?
Judy's flimsy is another of the 'Paper Angels' projects, Judy used the fabrics from a 'brown paper bag' swap that she took part in last year, her fabric choice was what she has used as the border and the other swappers added the fabrics Judy used in her blocks. Does that make it a free quilt?


Wendy has finished her tessellation T quilt, and bought it in to show us, and guess where this lovely is going to live! on Wendy's coffee table!, I wanna go have coffee at Wendy's house, don't you?
Lorraine, who spent last week on another quilting retreat, made this lovely bag. She purchased the fabric and Pattern from the Palmwood Art and Crafts Group when they visited us just 3 weeks ago. Lorraine explains that the bag isn't 100% finished yet, she still has to make something clever to cover the magnetic clip, something in keeping with the gorgeous fabric beads that she has made that decorate the front of the bag. Cute huh?, and how about those feathered leaves. Time consuming said Lorraine but oh so effective.
Remember that delish slice from last week's arvo tea? well Fae gave me the recipe yesterday and I will share it with you.
FAE'S SLICE

Mix together in a bowl
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup Self Raising flour OR 1 cup All Purpose flour with 1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup Coconut
pinch of salt OR if using All Purpose flour use 1/4 teaspoon salt

Melt 125 grams or a quarter pound of butter
Add to dry ingredients in bowl and mix well.
Press into a 22cm x 27cm (10 1/2" x 8 1/2") slice pan.

Cook in Moderate oven for 20 Min's. Do not overcook.

Icing
1 cup icing sugar OR powdered sugar
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
hot water to mix, approx 1 teaspoon, added slowly
Mix to flowing consistency, adding a little extra water if needed.
Pour over cooled slice.

Cut slice into squares when icing has set using a sharp knife.
Enjoy!