Rust Dying

My friend Lori (Laughing Girl Quilts) has been doing a little bit of rust dying lately, and she also led a workshop on rust dying for our art quilt group.

I made this piece by spraying an piece of an old linen table cloth with vinegar, added some cuttings of steel wool, wrapped it diagonally around a rusty piece of metal, put it in a ziplock bag and sprayed more vinegar into the bag. When I got home I opened the bag and put it outside in the sun. I checked to make sure it was still moist and 24 hours later took it out, rinsed it many times and then washed it.

If you want to see samples of Lori's rust dyed fabric, what she did with them, or if you want to give it a try, check out Lori's blog.

As for this piece, I'm not sure what I'm going to use it for, but I have some ideas. Whatever it becomes, I'll post it here when it's done.