Celebrating Springtime in February

What a joy it's been working on our 2008 wall hanging for breast cancer awareness. I love working with the wonderful colors Stephanie suggested and the butterfly theme. With the beading almost complete on my butterfly I decided to make silk roses.

I had to dye ribbon to the color I wanted and thought about some Hanah Shibori silk Rippins in my stash. It should be a crime to over-dye this beautiful silk but I have to confess to doing just that.

Another experiment was to try the Ranger dyes I used in my landscape project. Being a synthetic dye for use with man-made fibers, I wasn't sure how they would work on silk.


I diluted the dye in several strengths and brushed it onto the ribbon. Then I microwaved the ribbon until it was partially dry. I ironed it until the creases were out and then burned the edges to prevent fraying. I am really pleased with the results. Don't you just love it when you experiment with something new and it actually works!

The Hanah silk rippins have a beautiful sheen the picture doesn't convey. Although the shibori silk is very lightweight, it holds it's shape beautifully when the edges are burned.

I used a white silk satin and dyed my leaves seen in the photo to the right. They are cut out, burned and stitched on with a gold metallic feather stitch.

We have a Flickr site where we log the progress made on the twenty blocks which will make up our 2008 project. There are also several blogs where you can see some of the blocks in progress: Stephanie, Julie, Allie, Rengin , Linda & Judith

I will add other blogs as I'm aware of them. Check often and follow our wall hanging as it takes shape. What a rewarding experience to see my small block joined with others to make one beautiful creation. Little is much when we work together.
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