The First Cut is the Deepest

          As most of you know, I spent a Saturday up in the Sierra Nevada foothills about one month ago learning how to hand-dye fabric. I was delighted with the results: Two complete sets of 12 rainbow-hued fat quarters. One was made with PFD (prepared for dyeing) Kona cotton and the other made with Hoffman PFD fabric that is typically used for making batiks.

          Friends have asked what I planned to make with the lovely hand-dyes. One fellow blogger in Australia confessed that she had taken such a class on three occasions and had never had the heart to cut into her very first hand-dyes. She lovingly tied them with a ribbon and has kept them intact for what sounded to be years. I can understand her thinking and feelings. The last thing I wanted to do was cut into mine.

          Then one evening when I was lying in bed, I knew just what I wanted to do with the Kona cotton fat quarters. And of course, it required that I would have to face the painful reality of CUTTING MY FABRIC! I tried not to think too much about it as I made the first cut.

 

          I cut some straight strips and some at gentle angles.

 

 

          Although there was certainly a good amount of color to be seen, I wanted a little more contrast and texture. So, I added a few strips of bright multi-colored commercial batiks.

 

 

          I stitched the strips together in random order, concentrating on the pinks and oranges.

 

          This is the result thus far. I still have the yellows, greens, and purples to stitch up and mix in with these blocks. The colors and textures make me a happy, happy quilter!