Sew2Speak

About 2 weeks I took delivery of three books by Ann Johnston, two about dyeing and one about quilt design. I have already browsed extensively through the two dyeing books and am sure that I shall have lots of fun trying out the things suggested in them. I like the fact that the books are spirally bound. It will make them very practical to use as a reference when dyeing. Ann’s method for dyeing is slightly different to the one I’ve been using so far, that I learnt at QU from Marjie McWilliams. Having done those courses with someone to hold my hand via the ether I have the confidence now to branch out on my own. Ann Johnston’s books are very easy to follow, well laid out and with a large number of experiments and variations to try out.
The first book is about low immersion dyeing and gives recipes for mixing colours, for dyeing gradations, for dyeing gradations with more than one colour.

The second book covers lots of other techniques for getting dye onto fabric, including painting, stamping, tying and much more. The nice thing is that it is all done with stuff, which it is easy to collect together and isn’t going to put too much of a strain on the budget.

The third book covers general design principles like line, colour, value, texture. All the examples are quilts that Ann has made herself or with some help. The fabrics have all been dyed and printed by Ann. So taken together you can see how the cloth you might make using the techniques in the first two books can be turned into fabulous art quilts – if you are Ann Johnston

The final plus point for me, about this third book, is that the quilts shown are all of the type of design that appeals to me and that I would like to make. So the book is a great source of inspiration too.
Definitely money well spent.