I updated the shop.

Thought you might like to know.

For those of you who don’t know what you are looking at, let me explain.

I sell plexi shapes through a shop on etsy.

These shapes are intended to be sandwiched around fabric…

And then submerged in dye…

To get blocks…

To make into quilts like this…

Or this…

The shapes come with instructions, though I’ve been slowly making a set of super-complete image-filled tutorials on this blog.  I’ve gotten as far as which dye to use and how to prepare a dye bath.  Instructions on preparing fabric including options for clamping are forthcoming.

Malka Dubrawsky, who introduced me to this technique has a primer on her blog. Just go to her blog and then scroll down the right-hand side looking for the “Clamping and Dyeing Fabric: A Basic Itajime Primer.”

If you want to get fancy while explaining this to people, this process is called itajime shibori.  Itajime is pronounced eeta-gee-me.  I totally thought it was “he” in the middle, not “gee” until I heard Malka say it here:

If you look at the wikipedia entry on shibori you will see that there are many types of dyeing that might use these shapes.  I tend to think exclusively in terms of quilt blocks, but I know that some of my customers use the shapes in other ways (that’s a vague statement because I’m a bit vague on it!)
 
Anyway, all the bundles are back in stock and there are some new offerings, too.

I’m particularly enamored of my new Twinkle Twins bundle…

and I’ve already started to use the rectangles.

As always, if you have any questions or want something that has sold out temporarily, feel free to email me (there’s a link in the upper-right-hand corner of the blog page).