I started fabric dyeing in 2001 because of a challenge from my best friend. I wasn't interested in dyeing at all. I thought it was just a messy waste of time. She challenged me to spent a week with her trying out some dyeing. I reluctantly agreed, and after 1 day, I was absolutely hooked.

It's over 20 years later and I'm grateful to Anne for getting me into this and many other adventures.
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In 2008, I started getting serious about dyeing. I didn't want to have to buy a ton of different colors so I bought the pure (unblended colors) and started mixing every one of them in 5 steps just to see what I'd get. Once that was done, I knew that I had something. I had a recipe book and I could recreate any color I wanted at anytime!

By early 2009 I knew I was retiring from the business world in 2010 so I decided to start an online Etsy shop to have something to do after retirement.

I opened that Etsy shop 15 year ago this month selling some fat quarter packs. I eventually came up with the idea of the Gradients and the added Shades Packs and the Stash Packs. Reflections and Shibori came later. It has been a lot of fun and very rewarding. Every time I look through the Gallery I am shocked at the amazing things you have made with my fabric.
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​I’ve been thinking about retiring for several years but I do enjoy this little business a lot and I kept going. Several things have conspired to make the decision for me right now.

First, I’ve needed to raise my prices for a few years. They have been the same since I opened in 2009. I’ve been able to manage the materials increases by changing some of my processes to be more efficient and eliminating some of the more expensive products. But I can’t avoid it any longer and, frankly, I wouldn’t pay $22 a yard for fabric unless I really, really needed it. I don't expect many of you will want to pay $22 a yard for it either. There are fewer people who can afford that luxury. My sales already feel the effects of the economy over the past few years because sales are down 25% since 2020. That part doesn’t really bother me either. I never paid bills with this money. But raising the price does bother me. I expect it would cut business in half from the peak.

The second thing that happened is that one of the critical ingredients that I use in my black dye, vinyl sulfone dye, is no longer available. That means no more really dark black and no more nice gray shades. Black and grays are really key components of my product offering and I haven't found a good substitute that I can tolerate.

The third thing that happened is that my web host is raising prices over 200%. I need to actually move the shop off Weebly and on to a more modern platform but, honestly, I just don’t have the interest or energy in doing that. It took me almost 6 weeks of working full time to move from Etsy to Weebly and the business was much smaller back then.
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I have worked hard the past several months to restock many items but what's in the shop is all that there is. Here are some specific things to note:
- I will not be dyeing any more stock for the shop.
- There will not be any sales right away and there will be no more submissions to the Customer Gallery. - - If you have a current coupon, it's active.
- I'm sorry to international customers but I will not be able to process international orders.
​- All sales are final

Any further sales will start in July.

I'm grateful to all of you for your support, inspiration and encouragement these past 15 years! I will still be dyeing (for myself) and I will still be blogging. That part isn't going to change at all! I am not sick or anything. It's just time for new adventures.

This week I have a new Stash Pack for you! Spring Greens has 10 fat eighths of fabrics in bring green  tones ranging from bright limey green to the dark green of holly leaves. Stash Packs were originally designed for art quilters and applique artists but I love them for my traditional quilts, especially scrappy quilts. 

This week's shop new is all about Gradients. There's one new one, three back in stock and one that's returned from the archives.
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The new Gradient is Dusk. You may recognize it as being almost the same as Midnight. That's because it is! I've thought that Midnight might be a little too dark so I decided to remake it one shade lighter and I'm really happy with the result.
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I have always loved the Campfire Gradient but I gave it a little break from the shop. It was time to bring this one back again.
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Last week I had time to dye some new Reflection fabrics. I originally designed these as water and sky fabrics for landscape quilters but I like them for borders on traditional quilts. I'm sure your imagination is better than mine for uses for these streaky fabrics.

​I have 5 new ones this week and a big selection in the shop if these don't meet your needs.

It's been a few weeks since I had new fabric. We've had friends visiting and we've been taking full advantage of their time here. But last week I got back in the dye studio to work on some gradients.

​First  I have this new gradient, Joyful. It's a lot like Bliss, but brighter. I've got to make a quilt plan for this one. It's one of my favorites.
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I've got 3 other gradients back in stock this week.
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Also this week Black fabric is back! This mottled dark black fabric is sold by the yard. Black is a difficult and expensive color to dye and that's why I developed my own recipe several years ago.  The commercially available black dyes just don't give a truly rich dark black. 
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I've been having fun doing some updates to old Gradients and making new ones. Today I have one new one, one upgraded one and one restock. This one, First Blush, is a new one. This one was inspired by the colors of the sunrise.
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This next Gradient, Estuary, is an upgrade to the Jenny Lake gradient. It's a subtle difference but, by using a different blue, I like the end result better.

I also have Sugar Maple back in stock. Sugar Maple is one of my favorite Gradients and may be the foundation for my next big quilt.
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The fabric of the week this week is the Autumn Harvest Gradient. It's 20% off through Sunday.

I love it when I get a request to dye something. Marrakesh is a gradient that I retired a couple of years ago but I was happy to bring it back by request. If there's a Gradient that you would like to see again just contact me and I'll try to do it for you.
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This week I also have a new gradient in Denim blue. Most of my blue gradients are in brighter blues and I wanted to have one in a darker, grayer blue. 
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I liked the Gradient so much that I decided to create a new Denim Shades Pack in the same color! Shades Packs have 5 fat quarters in 5 shades of the same color.

The fabric of the week this week is the Binda Reflections. Reflections are sold by the yard and this one is on sale through Sunday.

After a couple of weeks off I have new fabric for you! This week it's all about the Stars. Stars are one yard cuts that are dyed in single colors but the method of dyeing gives them a lot of visual texture. I'm showing nine here but there are 14 new ones all together. These are great for large elements in art quilts, borders and bindings. They are one of a kind and I can't dye more of any of them but if you need a larger cut of any color (say one of the colors in a gradient or from a Shades Pack) I can always custom dye any amount over a half yard for you and there's no extra charge for it.

You can see all of the new Stars in the shop.
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The fabric of the week this week is the Watershed Gradient.  Gradients are sold by the half yard and the pattern runs selvage to selvage. This image approximates a half yard cut. Multiple quantities come as one piece. Purchase 3 and you receive 1.5 yards.
Watershed is on sale through Sunday.
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This week I have some new Reflections fabrics for you. These fabrics are so much fun to make. I'm never quite sure how they will turn out and I'm always surprised.

But first! I'll be away January 28 - February 3. Orders placed after January 28 will be shipped February 4.
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Reflections are streaky fabrics originally designed for landscape elements. They are great for water and sky elements and there are other colors that are great for trees and foliage. They are sold by the yard.
I have 5 new ones for you this week. Azura is in streaky light blues.
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Cascata is in black with dark and medium blue. It's perfect for a night time lake.
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Roland has dark and medium green with bright green highlights. 

Solari is in shades of butter and golden brown. This one would make a beautiful golden sunset.
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Tiree is in shades of brown and would be great for tree trunks, and wood plank elements.

There are lots of other Reflections designs that you can check out in the shop.
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The fabric of the week this week is the Purple Passion Stash Pack. It contains 10 fat eighths of fabric in a variety of purple colors and textures. This Pack is 20% off through Sunday.

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