Dye Candy Velvet

Look what came in the mail yesterday...

Easter candy!! It's hand-dyed velvet from Chris Daly. Her store name is Dye Candy and candy is right!!

I know I've talked about Chris before but I am absolutely in love with the vibrance and joy of her hand-dyed velvet. She carries lots of other fabrics too...but for crazy quilting, I am always on the hunt for a nice quality silk/rayon velvet. It's not easy to find, and when you do, trying to find desirable colors is even harder...

Not only is it hard to find but it can be challenging to sew since it has a tendency to shift around and it's not easily press-able -- embroidering on it can be challenging too since many stitches sink into the nap and are "lost". Having said all that, once you learn the tricks to managing this beautiful fiber, you can't beat it for adding interest, texture and lusciousness to your work.

One of our classes at the Adventure is focusing exclusively on the challenges and beauty of working with velvet. Betty Pillsbury will be teaching Velvet: Taming the Beast and I knew that the class would likely create a renewed love for velvet from those attending.

Enter Chris Daly and her gorgeous work. I used Chris' velvet in the mushrooms for my Alice block and loved it! I even tested swatches of her velvets for bleeding and found none. (Note: I test every hand-dyed fiber before using it just in case.)

I plan to use a bit of Chris' velvet when piecing some blocks for my upcoming classes as soon as I'm finished my flowers...

I'm almost ready for their leaves...I'll try to come up for air again soon...