Quilts of Valor Show - Sponsored by Vicki Welsh Hand Dyed Fabrics

This weeks Quilt of Valor show is brought to you by Vicki Welsh Hand Dyes.

I have known Vicki for years, and have watched her beautiful fabrics come into being. I am telling you - this is one talented, creative entrepreneur !!

I am just so amazed at the amount of wonderful blocks coming in - it took me almost all day saturday to get these recorded ( time I am gladly willing to take...seriously.... its fabric!!! )

This list.... it's long - maybe get a pumpkin spice latte ( or if your me peppermint hot chocolate)

L Newman in AL (50)
Carolyn F in CA (5)
Jeanine in NC (20)
Martha S in OK (60)
Debbie G in OH (10)
Dianne K in CO (15)  ( Howdy neighbor!!)
Susan M in MA (10)
Judy R in WA (43)   ...she is on a roll - there were some from her last week too!
Sally S in VA (27)
Alice F in NC ( 15)
Jan P in WI (10)
Christy M in KS (10)
Gina S in CO (5) - Hey Gina!! Hope you all dried out now!!!
Sandra G in CO (10)
T Craven in OH (82)
Kay J in CA (40)
Bonnie S in VA (11)
Barbara W in MN (45)

You all - I had a total - I wrote it down, and then I wrote over it.. and the my son asked me am algebra question and I wrote a quadratic equation over it - and now I can't find the number!!! I'll re- add for next week - but its a lot - i mean A LOT!!! We will be able to cover our CO veterans and get some down range.... Happy Dancing here!!


And now a word from our sponsor:

Hi everyone, I’m very happy to be visiting with you and Alycia here today. I have been a big fan of Quilts of Valor since I first found them and then one day I happened upon Alycia’s blog and since then I send all of my QOV quilts directly to her. I try to make at least 3 QOV quilts each year but I’d like to do more. When Alycia started doing these block drives I knew that I had found another opportunity to help by providing prizes. Here’s the QOV that I finished recently.

This quilt is made with all hand dyed fabrics which is a good way to introduce what I do.

I make and sell hand dyed fabric and providing these prize packs to Alycia helps me with my other goal: to introduce (or reintroduce) quilters and fiber artists to the world of hand dyed fabrics. People avoid hand dyed fabrics for a lot of reasons but the two primary reasons are cost and reputation. Hand dyed fabrics are more expensive because of that key phrase “hand dyed”. A lot of labor goes into every yard of hand dyed fabric so the cost is greater. But what you get are the most unique colors and textures that really make your quilts special.

 Here’s a Judy Neimeyer pattern that I’ve made in hand dyed fabric using one of my gradients called Warkton Lane.

Hand dyed fabrics also have a bad reputation for not being colorfast and, therefore, many quilters avoid them. I’m trying to fix that reputation and make people more comfortable using them.

My fabrics are processed to remove all of the excess dye and you can use them in your quilts as confidently as you do commercially printed fabrics. You can read about my process for removing excess dye here and the process is also effective with commercial prints that bleed. One recent quilter used this process on a finished quilt that bled and it got out all of the excess dye that had bled onto her white fabrics. The quilt was saved and won several awards in quilt shows! 

Turquoise dyes seem to be the most stubborn and they sometimes require multiple treatments. I apply this process to any commercial fabrics I buy. I put them through the soak before they are ever placed in my stash. Try it the next time that you have fabrics with unstable color.

For up to date information on my new palettes, new products and special sales, sign up for my monthly newsletter here. A great way to get started using hand dyed fabrics is to try a Stash Pack.

Stash Packs are sets of 10 fat eighths. You get a good variety of fabrics in the theme of the pack. Blend them in with your commercial fabrics in your next scrappy quilt. You can see some of the projects that others have made using hand dyed fabrics in my Customer Gallery.

If you think you might like to try hand dyed fabrics here’s some additional incentive. You can get free shipping on all US orders over $40 now through October 11. Just enter the coupon code ALYCIASHIP at checkout.

You can find me in all these places on the web:
Blog: http://vickiwelsh.typepad.com/field_trips_in_fiber/ (with lots of tutorials)

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1773771307

Pinterest:  http://pinterest.com/vickiwelsh/


Please head on over an check out Vicki's great fabrics - and be sure to say thank you for all her support!

And thank you to all these great sponsors:

Vicki Welsh Hand Dyes:     http://www.etsy.com/shop/vickiwelsh?ref=si_shop

Clothworks  :    http://clothworks.com/

Superior Threads:   http://www.superiorthreads.com/

Craftsy:  http://www.craftsy.com/

KimmyQuilt – Kim Brunner: http://www.kimmyquilt.com/

Waterpik :   http://www.waterpik.com/

Quilters Dream Batting : http://quiltersdreambatting.com/

Quiltygirl.com : http://www.quiltygirl.com

Patchwork Times: http://www.patchworktimes.com