Showing posts with label HEB. Show all posts
Showing posts with label HEB. Show all posts

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Beyond The Borders - Adventures in Dyeing Coffee Filters

Joined a new group yesterday that I have wanted to join for quite some time. I know that there is a lot of creative 'stuff' floating around in my head that I just need to let out. Beyond the Borders (BTB) is a contemporary art quilt group they encourage everyone to "embrace creativity while coloring outside the lines of traditional quilting".

I was especially inspired by the coffee filters that Liz produced and immediatly tried to dye some coffee filters myself! Well, first of all I took the coffee filter out of the coffee pot from this morning, thinking that was a good start. I proceded to dump the grounds out of the filter and rinsed it. Duh, all the dark colors came out. I put the filter in a plastic container, and poured a little bit of the leftover coffee from the pot on the filter. I let that soak over night. Nothing. Same off white color as when I rinsed it.

To make a long story short, after checking the internet, maybe I should be using 'Instant coffee' . The other tip I found was that the dark the roast, the darker the stain. (I'm using HEB San Antonio blend- should that give a red cast?? LOL) .

Today, I went over to Wally world and bought a small jar of instant coffee. Tomorrow, we are going to try the spritzing method. I found this recipe at this Folk Art blog:

mix 5 tablespoons of instant coffee crystals in half a cup of hot water.
Add a few drops of vanilla extract to for a great scent
Using an old sponge, blot the dye on the fabric, adding more until you get the desired look.
She will then put in a 200 degree oven for about 10 minutes to facilitate drying.