Labor Day Weekend
Work
Here in the US it is labor day weekend, a 3 day weekend that essentially marks the end of summer basically because all the outdoor public pools close. We’ll have plenty more warm, just no more water parks, at least here in Denver.
I spent the last couple days doing the labor portion of the weekend. I didn’t plant a garden this year because I moved mid planting season so I’ve been visiting farmer’s markets to get my fresh garden veggie fix. Armed with a 25 box of tomatoes and 1 1/2 bushels of freshly roasted green chiles from Hatch, New Mexico, I made a large batch of salsa yesterday and canned it. (I also made chile rellenos – yum – these are probably my most favorite food.)
I’ll usually can 2 batches salsa but this year, because I have to pay for the tomatoes and they aren’t coming from my garden, I’m likely to do just this one batch. Some how I’m going to have to make these 10 jars last through the winter.
More Fabric Dyeing
The other major chore for the weekend was to dye fabric. I was thinking I’d do about 50 or 60 yards but on saturday it somehow grew to 102 yards. I’ve never dyed that much in a single day at it was a lot of work. About 8 hours of set up (I miss my dedicated dye studio), mixing and mushing fabric in the dyes.
I then spent much of sunday (in between canning salsa) washing the fabric and ironing it. Around 9pm last night I pressed and folded the last piece.
Fabric dyeing is a summertime activity as the chemical reaction requires heat to work properly. I keep my house pretty cool in the winter so it’s difficult to reach the requisite 70 degrees and I always think the fabric turns out better if it reaches closer to 90 or hotter.
As you can see in the photo (click on it for a larger image), I got some very deep saturated colors. Really great stuff. This color palette is brighter and with more clearer colors than I might normally dye. It’s what I felt like doing, so we’ll se how this translates into my artwork through the winter as I use this fabric in my art.
I’ve struggled over the years to get good lighter purples with the method of dyeing I use – low water immersion with layering for gradation. The red dye gets used up in the first layer and the lighter pieces all end up blue, not purple. So this time around I’ve decided to overdye many of the light blues to get a nice range of light purples. So later this week I’ll take about half of the light blues and dye them a second time with some read. I’ll post my results when done.
Play Time
After putting in 2 very long hard work days it’s now time for the relaxing portion of the long weekend. I’m taking the kids up to the mountains for a hike. Then a bbq with good friends. I’m bringing the salsa (3 different kinds).
I hope those of you in the gulf coast are all safe and that this hurricane continues to weaken as it moves closer.
And – I’ll start back on my scrum posts next week.
Posted by Lisa in: Being an Artist
Tagged: dyeing fabric, salsa
This is the first year I’ve grown veggies in a long long time – probably 10 years at least. I made a batch of fresh salsa last night and my hubby asked why it was so red! I told him that it’s probably what tomatoes are supposed to look like because these are truly vine ripened organic tomatoes picked at their prime, and not store bought ones, picked too early, spending too much time on the shelves..
I don’t think I can ever go back to store bought and would visit the farmer’s market to get the next best thing if I never plant another veggie patch again.
I’m going to try my hand at canning when my next batch ripens…
You’ve been busy this weekend, enjoy your hike!
Awesome on the salsa. I’m about to make some plum and peach jelly this week. Did you find a good deal on the tomatoes anywhere? I’ve been wanting to can some for winter since my few plants didn’t do too well.
Hi Lisa,
I am a faithful reader of your very interesting and substantial blog whatever thema you choose.
Always something there to reflect on and learn from.
Long ago you once wrote that you were buying large quantities of white fabric for dyeing directly from Kaufmann, I think?? Would you mind giving me a hint of the adress? Living in Sweden I anyway pay a lot of shipping and costume and taxes for every shipping, so it might be cheaper buying larger quantities
Cynthia – nothing beats a tomato pulled from the garden and eaten while still warm. Yum.
Tara – I got a 25 pound box of tomatoes for $35 at farmers market. I’m not sure if they were local or not but they were were pretty tasty. Not as good as homegrown but good enough for the salsa.
Gunilla – It was from Robert Kaufman – they’ve changed rules for direct ordering from them. I’ll be writing about that some more soon as I need to buy more than I can use and will be selling some to other people to keep my account at Kaufman open.