Years ago, probably the mid 70s, a friend and I overdyed calicos that we hated; Rit (? not sure that's the correct spelling) dye in a tan/beige; loved the results and used in many quilts and it's held up well.

I have since baked muslin with coffee dye, successfully. Don't ask me for instructions, I can't remember. Have them written somewhere; when found, I'll post.

I think that's Melody Johnson. She and Laura Wasilowski ran fabrikart, til Melody decided she no longer wanted to teach and sell fabric.
Melody and Laura instituted The Chicago School of Fusing (a joke) and awarded patches to folks who took classes. Both of them fuse alot - great quilts

That's exactly who it is, gollytwo :)

In all fairness, I think it was more that her husband retired and she decided she no longer wanted to travel as much as she had been doing so they could spend more time together. I, too, choose to fuse much of the time. Very liberating! :lol:

[quote=raptureready]Has anyone tried dying their own fabric to use in quits?

Our daughter and friend were into tye dying and sun painting a couple years ago and did fat quarters and long strips for me to use in quilts.

Just gorgeous!!

I buy cloth called manta and I dye it all the time for quilt backs. I usually tye die it--twist and secure with small bungy cords and dye in my washing machine. Always turns out different.

My ASG group (12 of us) met on my patio to dye fabric. We worked in 1 yard pieces (easier to handle)of fine muslin. We loved the process and the results tho my patio will forever be a rainbow. We had about 30 different pieces in the full color spectrum.

Many of the gals used their material for quilting. I used mine for stained glass mostly and then some for quilting

[quote=cabinqltr]Those are absolutely gorgeous!!!

I dye wool fabric (and yarn) and the dying process also felts it. Dharma is a great site and they have a printed catalogue too. I started off dying with food coloring, figuring it was the least toxic and I could use my normal cooking pots. I had heard of Kool Aid dying and figured that it didn't really need the artificial flavoring and sugar. For small amounts, it works well and you can blend the colors. It might be a good way for you to start - just a small piece of fabric and a regular kitchen pot, mordant it with a good slug of white vinegar.

I'm planning to dye some silk noil for a quilt back (if I every finish the top) and got the fabric and everything from Dharma, I thought the prices were quite reasonable, considering.

I also dyed some wool yarn (from our own sheep) with indigo. It was really fun but it took days...and had to be done outside because of the smell.