June Civil War Quilts

 "The Road was lit with Moon and Star....." -Emily Dickinson

 June.Time to make civil war panels and dye them. 

 I like to do them up as a mass , one after another.

 Then go to town with the machine quilting. I don't do hand quilting any longer. I love hand quilting, but I make so many panels that I just can't keep up with them all. And my fingers would scream if I did.

 Gives me a chance to read my Civil War Diary books. A chance to immerse myself in the poetic language of the letters.

 "The trees were bright and still......" -Emily Dickinson

 Another thing I like to immerse is about a gazillion tea bags in a hot water bath. And let them steep. But not for tea.....

 To the mix I sometimes add a couple of cups of strong, bitter coffee. Just to boost the dye.

 And then I start to push each panel, runner and quilt flat into the tea bath. Holding the finished pieces in the tea . Adding hot water as needed to cover. 

"Descried I by the distant Light a Traveller on a Hill..."
-Emily Dickinson

 The pieces I leave in the tea for quite some time. I don't measure the time. I just haul them out little by little after a while to see how stained they become..... 

 The tea smells quite fragrant while it  stays hot in the sink. 

 "To magic Perpendiculars ascending, though terrene..." -Emily Dickinson

 The fabric should stain , not always evenly, but stain well. Then it's time to take them out.

 This is where I use dish gloves and tongs.  The water is going to be hot....

 "Unknown his shimmering ultimate...." -Emily Dickinson

 Then it's time to wring and wring and wring......Then dry in the drier....not outside on a clothesline. The drier will make the thread shrink up and pull on the fabric, making endless puckers and valleys. It will look quite antique.

"Butr he indorsed the sheen..." -Emily Dickinson

 All quotes from Emily Dickinson's poem 1450 written in the year 1878. From "The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson, edited by Thomas H. Johnson Back Bay Books. ( Simply wonderful collection!)

Photographs 2018