CQ Journal Quilts May to August : Indigo boro

Indigoboro JQ detail 

 My Journal Quilts  this year   are  based around scraps : January to April involved using the offcuts from my own quilts; for May to August  I've been excavating sections of old tatty quilt  which I've recently overdyed in indigo.  I'd  already started  cutting through layers and stitching some of them  them before  dyeing . It's difficult to know how far to go both in revealing the different fabrics and in stitching  but its a fascinating process. Perhaps I need to do a  video  next time!

MRamsay_May18_Indigoboro1

This one I started stitching at Rydal but put to one side.  This was the most disappointing as it took the indigo very evenly , I preferred the original colours (below)) 

  I did have  fun trying to remember how to buttonhole stitch around the holes. It was also a reminder about how difficult it can be to take decent photos of indigo , getting the colour right.  

Indigoboro1 detail

MRamsay_ June18_ Indigoboro2 

This section had already disintegrated and didn't need much cutting back through the layers. The layers of brown wool did not take  up so much of the indigo as the cotton fabrics.   I discovered some sashiko threads I've had for a while   but I think I rather overdid it....  

Indigoboro2 detail

MRamsay_July18_Indigoboro3

 Section from a different quilt . It was filthy when I bought it and after going through the washing machine, a lot of the fabrics disintegrated ( had to clean out the  filter on the machine!). The red patches in particular had disappeared apart from the seam allowances.  After dipping in indigo , learning from the previous JQ, I added just enough stitch to emphasise the shapes ( it was already heavily quilted)  

Indigoboro3 detail 

MRamsay_Aug18_Indigoboro4 

My favourite. I liked the different stripes in this section of quilt and as it was dyed towards the end  of the session, the indigo wasn't that  strong. I started by stitching  either side of the creases to emphasise them  and tried a range of stitches: couching; buttonhole; chain stitch and in the triangle  experimented with  leaving loops in the thread

Indigoboro 4 detail 

After these  small trials, I've now got more confidence to start working a bit larger ( and probably doing something different for the next  set of JQ's while still using scraps )