Mamie, Matilda and Dee Have Arrived!

It's been a long six weeks of 

cutting hands and leaves.

I am relieved to know the 

Heart'n Hands is retired

and..

Mamie, Matilda and Dee

have arrived in

My Etsy Shop

Mamie and Dee 

are the exact 

same patterns but the colours

of pennies, the thread,

the base shade and fabric

give a totally different look.

Mamie and Dee are 

set out with a 2 inch penny.

Matilda has the same shades 

as Mamie but using a 

one and one half inch 

penny base.

I won't go into details of the kits as 

they are well described in my Etsy Shop Listings

These rugs were stitched back in 2009

and I thought it would be fun to 

bring a limited number back

as kits along with a few

of this past years

favourites 

shown below as I ramble on

about my 'failures' with the 

dye pots.

I've never offered the bags of pennies

in three sizes...above is just one 

example of the type of rug that 

could be stitched with the 

Winter Blues bag of pennies.

A large rug requires the 2-inch penny

however, 

I will not be offering the aged

dyed string any time soon.

It's been many years of dyeing the string

It came out perfect.. many of you have

used my string in kits .

I just cannot seem to get a good

batch from the dye pot.

My last three times were complete

failures.

The string for the Salmon Kit

The string for a few of the Marriage Rugs

now listed in my shop 

and..

Of course when I brought back a few 

of the 

Christmas Stocking Kits 

I needed to dye string.

I dyed as always.. spotted..

some areas dark, some the dye

completely did not take in the string.

What to do..I could not just 

discard all of those hanks of string.

I could not overdye again

as they would be almost 

dark brown and black.

The dyed needed to be 

removed...

and so..

the sink was filled with

very hot water and ...

Oxyclean crystals

an overnight soak and 

rinse, rinse, rinse, 

rinse, rinse

and back in the dye pot.

Still not a uniform dye job.. so

back in the oxy and the 

bit about the rinse again..

Back in the dye pot and 

yes, this time it worked!!!

I have not a clue what I am 

doing wrong but whatever

is wrong is very time-consuming!

The close up above is of the Dee Rug

Notice the smaller penny

bottom left.. a shade somewhat

as thousand island dressing.

This is the shading the 

oxyclean will give

why I am not sure.. it does not

remove colour to the original shade.

The amount of colour removed 

depends on how long it is

soaked in the water and crystals.

but...

and this is the interesting part..

Oxyclean also works on wool!!!

It does not affect the strength of 

the wool .. we always think

of bleach as a test for wool.

The oxy just slightly removes

and dulls the colours of the wool. 

.

I have soaked ready made rugs in 

the Oxyclean.

Just be sure to rinse well and

 wash with a mild detergent.

When time permits I need to 

investigate (play)

further with the 

wool and oxyclean.

I can see many possibilities!

The photo above shows a few of the vintage cottons

I will use in the Dee Rug Kit

I know I actually 'shout to you' in the listing

but I should say again.

Please do not order this kit if you do not

enjoy working with very worn and thin textiles

and frayed pennies.

If you have a tub of the oxclean

and  scraps of dyed

wool.. give it a try..

watch the soak time by watching

the colour change and rinse

as soon as it looks good.

oh.. those pretty white dye pots..

fill with water 

heat as normal and add 

a bit of oxy..

sparkling whites!

My last kit this fall will probably be the

log cabin quilt kits.

They require a lot of dyed blanket 

wool in many shades..

but thankfully..

no string.

Thank you all for reading my ramblings

As always kits are very limited..

Wishing all a very relaxing and enjoyable fall weekend

and..

Happy Stitching!

cee