Summer Indigo Dyeing

In early July I mixed up an indigo dye vat and have been enjoying dipping things here or there over the last few weeks.


This is my fifth year experimenting with indigo dyeing. Now that we're in a house with a backyard, I have plenty of space, access to a hose, and space to store and maintain my dye vat. I've always had to dye a ton at once to get the most out of a dye vat and then dump it. Being able to store it and dye a little at a time has been amazing so far. I've never really been able to do much experimenting, with so much time in between dye sessions. Having access to a vat all summer has already allowed me to work through ideas. I feel like I've made so much progress and learned a lot.


You'd think I'd be tired of dyeing things blue, but I'm not. The entire experience is still so magical to me. The mystery of how a piece will turn out is still so exciting.

I use the Jaquard pre-reduced indigo, which is available on it's own and in a kit. For more on everything I use/do when I indigo dye, see my DIY Indigo Dyeing Tutorial.


If you're interested in trying out indigo dyeing, I highly encourage you to do so! It's really fun, a great group activity, and not hard.

Below I have photos of each piece I dyed this time in it's resisted (pre-dye) state, and then after it was dyed and washed.


Accordion folded and secured with clamps.


Accordion folded into a square and secured with clamps.


Accordion folded and then folded into triangles and secured with a clamp.


Accordion folded into a square and secured with clamps.


Long skinny tucks secured with several rubber bands each.


Accordion folded into a triangle and secured with wooden resist and clamps.


Accordion folded into a triangle and secured with clamp.


Accordion folded into a square and secured with clamps.


Long skinny of different sizes tucks secured with several rubber bands each.


Honeycomb folding using this tutorial.


Honeycomb folding using this tutorial.


Dipped with ribbon still intact holding squares together. (mini charm pack)


Long skinny tucks secured with several rubber bands each.


Long skinny tucks secured with several rubber bands each.


Long skinny tucks secured with several rubber bands each.

Check out my DIY Indigo Dyeing Tutorial for more.


This will not be my last indigo dyeing this summer, but I'm also looking forward to doing some dyeing with Procion MX dyes too!

Happy Dyeing!

Finished: Vintage Sheet Four-Patch Quilt

This quilt finish marks a milestone for me. This is the first quilt I've finished since we uprooted and moved to Connecticut. It's also the first quilt finish I've had since October, which seems crazy. The last quilt I finished was the House Quilt.


It seems fitting that my first quilt finish this year is a vintage sheet quilt! It feels good to get back to my roots and work with sheets again. Selling vintage sheet fabric was my first real business, before writing patterns. I stopped selling, but I never stopped collecting.


I started this quilt on a whim, knowing that I needed a pick-me up project. Patchwork is my comfort sewing of choice, so I kept the design simple. For more details about this quilt, see my other post about it here: Work in Progress: Vintage Sheet Four-Patch Quilt.


There is a huge mix of color and pattern in this quilt. I started off by cutting into my basket of sheet scraps and then pulled from my stash to add more variety and colors.



One of my favorite things about working with vintage sheets is how incredibly soft they are. The quilts I've made with sheets are some of my very favorite. For this quilt, I decided to up the light, airy feeling by using Quilter's Dream Orient batting. It's a really lovely light weight batting that's a blend of bamboo, silk, tencel and cotton. It's the same batting I used on my Nani Iro Dreams Quilt.


The one funny thing about working with sheets is the lack of quilt "crinkle". Most of the sheets I use are 50/50 cotton/polyester blends, so they don't wrinkle. All of these photos were taken after I washed and dried the quilt!

If you'd like to learn more about working with vintage sheets, check out my post: How to Identify, Shop for and Sew with Vintage Sheets


For the back, I used this beautiful pink sheet that I've actually found three of since we got here. It's finished off with a nice green stripey binding!


I'm very happy to add another vintage sheet quilt to my stash, they're so summery and cheerful! I'm already scheming my next one.

Happy Quilting!

Patchwork Essentials: Interlocked Quilt

Time to share another quilt from my book, Patchwork Essentials: The Half-Square Triangle! You can find all the posts about Patchwork Essentials using the MY BOOK link at the top of every page, or here.


I'm slowly going to share each quilt, in order, with the exception of a few that I've already shared. So, first up we'll be looking at the quilts in the color chapter. Last month I shared the first quilt, Opposites Attract. Today I'm sharing Interlocked.

For more on how the book is structured see this post.


Need a copy of the book? Buy a signed one here: Patchwork Essentials: The Half-Square Triangle


I have always loved lime green and turquoise together. I don't know what it is about them, it just looks so fresh to me. My starting point for this quilt was a simple design challenge. I wanted to design a quilt that was made entirely of half-square triangles and only used three colors.

Photo © 2015 Lauren Hunt for Lucky Spool Media. 

In the end, I settled on this interlocking design. To make the design work well, I tried to really limit my fabrics to prints with no other colors in them, beyond these three. I think it helps make it feel more cohesive.


Photo © 2015 Lauren Hunt for Lucky Spool Media. 

This is one of the smaller quilts in the book, a nice little throw. I definitely gravitate towards big quilts, but I threw in a few smaller designs to provide some variety. And let's be honest, make it a little easier to finish all the quilts in six months!


For the quilting, I did my signature doodle loops. It goes nice and quick, especially on a smaller quilt! I find it much more forgiving than a standard stipple.


It's finished off with a colorful binding, and a nice blue-purple print from Luxe in Bloom for the backing. I have a handful of quilts with backings from that collection, and it's still not enough!


Photo © 2015 Lauren Hunt for Lucky Spool Media.

Happy Quilting!

June Monthly Report

Happy July! It's time for June's monthly report. See past reports here.


Early in the month I drove home to Ohio and spent a week with family. We squeezed a lot into this trip, including a trip down to Columbus to visit with my Aunt and Brother. Stopped in at Jeni's ice cream while we were there!


Every month we're here, I've sewn a little bit more. I finished this pillow last month for my friend Amanda's birthday. Now that she's received it, I can share! I made one block from my Webbed pattern using Lizzy House fabrics along with some linen. I'm happy with how it turned out, and she loved it. Mission accomplished!


I can't quite wrap my head around the open empty space that we have here. After being so cramped in our tiny apartment for six years, having enough room to baste a quilt is unbelievable. Since taking this photo I finished my vintage sheet four patch quilt. I'm hoping to get some photos of it this weekend.


We bought some outdoor furniture a few weeks ago and have been wasting no time breaking it in. This past weekend Michael smoked ribs, so I brought my singer featherweight outside and worked on my scrappy pineapple blocks.


To keep myself accountable for my stash goals, I'm tracking my yardage for fabric and yarn each month. Read more about how I track my here. Here is how I did in June:

June Fabric
Used up: 11.75 yards
Brought in: 7.5 yards
Net: -4.25 yards
Year to date: +19 yards

June Yarn
Used up: 0 yards
Brought in: 0 yards
Net: 0 yards
Year to date: +218 yards

The end of the month seems to be when I am most susceptible to buying fabric! I hadn't bought any until the 29th. I checked out a new-to-me shop and picked up some goodies. No yarn activity this month, but I am knitting again! So maybe in July?


I finished my wonderland log cabin blocks, and they're now sewn into a top! Plus, I made a scrappy backing too, so it's ready for basting. Really looking forward to getting this quilt crossed off my list.


Played out a few variation ideas for my lined drawstring bag pattern. I think the result is pretty darn cute! Looking forward to experimenting more.


George bunny says hello. He's at the tail end of his big yearly shed, so he's extra fuzzy right now!

Have a great month!