Charity quilt #5 with overdyed fabric - Opposing Triangles

I've written 4 previous posts about the quilts that I made with overdyed fabric.  Bonnie Keller gave me two huge boxes of old fabric that she wasn't going to use, and I overdyed a lot of it.  I saw a picture of this quilt on Pinterest and used it for the inspiration for this quilt.  

It's 65" x 70", which is the size that our charity group likes to work with.  Mostly made with half square triangles, it also includes some longer strips of the background fabric.    Since I wanted to alternate yellow with the gray background, I made 150 half square triangles, pairing the overdyed fabric with the background as follows:

From the yellow:  50 (from 25 @ 6" squares of both colors)

From the light gray:  46 (from 23 @ 6" squares of both colors)

From the medium gray:  28 (from 14 @ 6" squares of both colors)

From the darkest gray: 26 (from 13 @ 6" squares of both colors) and  2 strips at 5-1/2" x 35-1/2"; 2 strips at 5-1/2" x 25-1/2"; 2 strips at 5-1/2" x 15-1/2"; and 2 each 5-1/2 x 5-1/2" squares.

I hope you like it!

Charity quilt #4 using overdyed fabrics - Opposing Squares

I've written 3 previous posts about the quilts that I made with the overdyed fabric.  Thanks to Bonnie Keller for not only giving me the fabric, but also in helping me figure out how to dye the fabric.  This quilt top was made with predominately purple fabrics and some fabric from my stash.  I found a similar quilt on Pinterest.

Here is the finished quilt top, which measures 60" x 70".  Its all made with half square triangles.  I used 84 of the bluish purple, and 84 of the reddish purple.

I hope you like it!

Charity quilt #3 with overdyed fabric

This is the third quilt top that I've made with the overdyed fabric that I made with scraps given to me by a friend.  The other two were in the navy and royal blue tones.   This one was made with the turquoise fabric and some of her black scraps.  I added a bit of gray here and there to lighten it up a bit.  It's 65" x 70" and is intended for a male recipient.  It's been donated to our Clark County Quilters charity group.  

The main thing that I learned from making this quilt is an old lesson - pay attention to the value of the fabrics.  I don't think this quilt is successful for that very reason.  I mixed light turquoise with dark fabrics, and medium and dark turquoise with med and light grays.  Rather than a strong zig zag pattern, I ended up with a mish mash.  Lesson learned (again!).

Here was my inspiration, which has a strong value difference between the red and the gray/black background.  I found this on Pinterest and am assuming it was a quilt designed by Victoria Finley called "Fractured".  I fell in love with the modern graphic nature of this quilt.

And here is the quilt that I made:

Here's how I sewed this quit together:

Unit #1  Start with 46 of each color, stack them right side up, do the slash 2” from the left top to 4” from the left bottom.  Swap the top and bottom layers on one side and sew back together.  Trim to 5-1/2” x -5-1/2”.  You’ll end up with 92 each 5-1/2” squares.

Unit #2  Start with 41 of each color, stack them right side up, do the slash 4” from the left top to 2” from the left bottom.  Swap the top and bottom layers on one side and sew back together.  Trim to 5-1/2” x -5-1/2”.  You’ll end up with 82 each 5-1/2” squares.

Solid squares  Cut 8 each 5-1/2” solid squares

Sewing

Lay out the squares according to the picture below and by this count:

Row 1:  5 each Unit #1; 7 each Unit #2 and 1 solid block

Row 2:  8 each Unit #1; 5 each Unit #2

Row 3:  5 each Unit #1; 7 each of Unit #2 and 1 solid block

Row 4:  5 each Unit #1; 8 each Unit #2

Row 5:  5 each Unit #1; 7 each Unit #2 and 1 solid block

Row 6:  4 each Unit #1; 9 each Unit #2

Row 7:  8 each Unit #1; 4 each Unit #2 and 1 solid block 

Row 8:  6 each Unit #1; 6 each Unit #2 and 1 solid block

Row 9:  8 each Unit #1; 5 each Unit #2

Row 10:  7 each Unit #1; 5 each Unit #2 and 1 solid block

Row 11:  8 each Unit #1; 5 each Unit #2

Row 12:  9 each Unit #1; 3 each Unit #2 and 1 solid block

Row 13:  6 each Unit #1; 7 each Unit #2

Row 14:  8 each Unit #1; 4 each Unit #2 and 1 solid block

Sew the columns together and press alternate rows opposite directions.

Sew the rows together.  Press in one direction.

Stay stitch 1/8” around all the edges.  I started with 6" squares, layered them right sides up, slashed them on the diagonal, then switched the pieces to form two new squares.  Those squares were trimmed to 5-1/2".   

I hope you like the quilt and can use the pattern!

Charity quilt #2 with overdyed fabric

This is the second quilt that I made from the overdyed fabric.  Again, it is intended for a man.  

It is entirely made from 5-1/2" squares of dark fabric, and 112 half square triangles made from light and dark fabrics.  All were scraps given to me by a friend.  It is 60" x 70".

I hope you like it.

Comfort quilt for a man from overdyed fabric

This is a quilt that I made from the over-dyed fabric.  It is intended for a man, which our charity group always needs.  It was made with 5-1/2" squares of fabric set on the diagonal axis, and 5-1/2" half square triangles in the rest of the rows and columns.  To make this 60" x 70" quilt, you'll need 24 solid squares and 144 of the half square triangles (made from 72 dark and light 6" squares).  

I hope you like it.

Overdying old fabric

I got another box of old fabric from a fellow quilter.  Since our quilt guild is always looking for charity quilts that are appropriate for a man, I decided to overdye most of this box with blue dye.  First, it all had to be washed to get rid of any sizing.  Here is the pile:

YouTube is so great!  Whenever I want to try something new, I always look there first.  Somebody has almost always posted a video on how to do something.  So, when I wanted to learn how to overdye fabric, that was where I went.  So many people have posted videos and almost all of them recommended Procion fiber reactive dyes and soda ash.  I've shopped at Dharma Trading and Blick Art Supplies many times before, and decided to order from Blick since they offered starting kits.  My friend also loaned me her dying supplies.  I ended up using navy blue, royal blue, turquoise and black in different mixtures.  The Dollar store was a good place to shop for dye containers cheaply and I purchased 5 dye tubs, measuring cups, rubber gloves, and squirt tubes.  I repurposed a gallon jug and a few quart sizes pop containers.

The process was fairly simple.  Wet your fabric.  Dissolve the dye powder in the plastic cups (and mix with urea if needed).  Dissolve the soda ash with water in the gallon jug.    Scrunch the fabric in the dye tub.  Dilute the dye concentrate with water.  Pour the dye over the fabric and manipulate.  Wait 15 minutes.  Pour the diluted soda ash over the fabric and manipulate again.  Let it sit for one hour.  Rinse the fabric thoroughly to release the excess dye.  Wash the fabric in hot water with Synthropol.  Dry and iron.  

Of course, I failed to take pictures through the entire process!  Ugh.  Well, anyway, here is the finished pile of fabric. 

I found the book "Color by Accident" on low-water immersion dyeing immensely helpful.  The book was written and published by Ann Johnston of Lake Oswego, Oregon.

I like the end results, don't you?