Reluctant snow dyeing

     Apologies to Vicki Welsh, dyer extraordinary. I have a friend, Susan Marie, who is a dynamite fabric artist hampered by traumatic brain injury (not in her art) who is a most generous woman. She invited me over to her studio apartment for lunch, but was having a snow dyeing party for friends. She doesn't mind slopping up her apartment if her friends are working and having fun. I love hand dyed fabric- to sew- not make. She coerced me into trying- giving me all the supplies. 
     We put racks in plastic storage bins held up by cans or yogurt containers. Then, we added soda ash treated fabric. I just twisted mine all up and into a ring. Then we piled on ice cubes covered by 2" of hard packed snow. A friend brought two coolers of it from the country as Susan lives in the downtown Buffalo area. We sprinkled Procion dye from teaspoons in different areas all over the snow. I did not bring my camera as the section of the city is iffy and I did not want to risk carrying the camera from the trek from my car on Main Street. We put a bag over the whole bin (mine did not fit, just over the top). I sloshed my way back to my trunk and put the bin in the basement for 24 hours. Then, I dumped the dye in the stationary tubs, rinsed till they ran clear, threw it in the washer with Dawn, dried it, ironed it and I had what you see. (Try not to wince, Vicki.)
    The colors in the photos are off a bit. They are not big pieces, so I will cut them up for use in my quilts. One problem with the hand dyes, is that the dyed design is very nice, but once you cut it into pieces, it gets lost. I don't know how people handle that in quilts.

Covered in bin 

First look

In the wash