What I'm working on now

[tiedyejudy]

It's been far too quiet here!  So I decided to post a pic of what I'm working on right now.  This is a yard of muslin I scrunch dyed with the original intent of batiking, then overdyeing with black, to create an cloth of "Space Junk".  But when I pressed the fabric and hung it on the wall, I started having second thoughts... this looks more like a solar storm, and I'm just not sure I want to blot out all that color with a second dyebath of black... any thoughts?
   

[Releaf]

It's gorgeous just the way it is.  Black might be interesting, but it would be a shame to lose all that beautiful, bright color.  If you do decide to overdye it, please show pictures of the results.
You're right, it's been way too quiet here.

[tiedyejudy]

After a bit of studying the fabric, I turned it 90 degrees and trimmed off the sides:

What I see now is what I'm referring to as a 'Solar Eruption'.  I'm looking at ways to enhance with free-motion stitching, beading and other (as yet to be determined) embellishments, and finishing it as a whole cloth wall hanging.  I don't think I will need to do too much to it... just couldn't bring myself to overdye this one with black.  I'll post a final picture when I have finished it.

[Releaf]

Beautiful.  I look forward to seeing the finished hanging.

[2D4]

Hi Judy,

Love it...can't wait to see it with embellishments.

I do one similar where I've added the black, pictured below
on an apron. I call it my Al's Special pattern after a long
time customer who I originally did it for on a t-shirt.

Jo

[tiedyejudy]

Gorgeous, Jo!  And they do look very similar!  I like the black you added to the apron... not to overwhelming, but adds definition! 
I have begun free-motion stitching on my cloth.  It's going to take some time to highlight all the 'flames', but I think it will be worth it.  I'll post an update when I have more done.
Judy

[dyejoint]

great colors and i love the crystalline effect - when you scrunch dye, are you using a shallow tub/bowl, or on a rack?

[tiedyejudy]

Don't know if you're asking me or Jo... with mine, I pre-soda soaked, scrunched and placed in a plastic bin before I applied the dyes.  I don't use a lot of dyes, just enough to pretty much saturate the fabric, but the container is not full.  And I leave it to batch for about an hour before I rinse/wash.

[dyejoint]

cool - really a nice effect with the rainbow progression, with or without black accents. I'm looking forward to see how things look with the stitching

[pyrochik]

I'd try the black and do a mudmee style design.  Brush or just squirt enough black to cover in a thin layer, so that it doesn't penetrate the folds too far. Nuke it in the microwave for a couple of minutes, let the plastic wrap or bag be open or loose and allow the steam to escape while it cools down.  This will get rid of a lot of excess water in your piece.  sometimes I do this 2 or 3 times over a period of a couple hours.  Then rinse.  Make sure to mix your black extra strong!  The colours on that square of cloth lend themselves to doing this technique.