Ice dyeing inspired by another

I saw a piece of ice dyed fabric recently that just made my heart do flips. Well, not really, but I absolutely loved it. After studying it multiple times I decided I’d try to duplicate it.

This whole process reminds me of my mom. She was a great seamstress. We’d go shopping for prom dresses and after deciding on the one we both liked, she’d go to the fabric store and buy similar fabric and sew one up.

So here was my attempt to copy that artist’s technique.

And here is another piece.

They are much prettier in person. And I absolutely love them. Then I thought I’d try the same technique but not use ice – just add the dye directly to the piece.

The last piece is pretty IF you don’t have the other two pieces hanging up next to it! This test made me realize how much I love ice dyeing. The ice dyed pieces have so much more texture and interest than the straight dyed piece.

I create because I have to get my artist expression out. And the reason for this blog, in addition to documenting my progress on this art journey and other stuff, is to encourage you to try some different things. As I’ve said before, if I can do it, you can do it!

I was reading an artist’s blog recently where she wrote about how she didn’t share her techniques for two reasons: She had spent years developing her art and didn’t feel a need to share and if she did she couldn’t guarantee that the results would be the same.

Now, I understand about not sharing. If it’s something that will be published in a magazine/book or the art is to be entered into a quilt show or contest, that’s understandable. But for someone to ask about a technique and the artist not wanting to share sounds like fear. But it is her right to not share.

I’m just not wired like that. I hope that I can inspire you to try some different techniques, maybe get out of your comfort zone.

So if you are wondering how I got those ice dyed pieces – it’s so easy. Here is my fabric before I covered it with ice. It’s fan folded and then clipped with clothes pins. I used Cerulean Blue, Fuchsia, and Golden Yellow. If you aren’t familiar with ice dyeing, check out my tutorials.

So now you know the technique. If you try it, I’d love to see your results. This is not a new technique or one that artist created. It’s a type of shibori.

I dyed this shirt for Dave.  My shirt is waiting to be washed out.

There is another artist who also creates some lovely ice dyeing and I’m studying her designs too. I’ll let you know when and if I can recreate them.

Congratulations to Debbie Markowitz from Israel, the winner of my Mandala coloring contest giveaway. Thank you to everyone who entered and helped to fill my email box with color! I’ll be sending Debbie a piece of my fabric dyed in her favorite colors.