Joel McWilliams gets a Presidential Pardon

This is a picture of our son Joel. We are so very proud of him. Here he is with Jimmy Carter at a state dinner when he received his presidential pardon for just being himself. Although he was born in 1983, it is a minor point and not something to make the event any the less important or historic.

THE WORKBOOK- coming August 1st!!

Here it is! The Cotton Dyeing Basics Workbook. This valuable tool will be available for purchase on my web site August 1st. It contains over 50 pages of information on how to hand dye your own cotton fabrics. You can use it with the online course at Quilt University, or by itself. There are places to attach your samples and keep good journal notes as well as plastic covered recipe sheets to keep everything in order and free from dye splots and blops! This will become your trusted friend and dyeing companion for many years to come. The course is 5 lessons long and has some information not included in the QU lessons.

While we are talking about the future, here is a schedule of my online classes for the rest of 2008:

Gutta Resist on Silk- June 14

Quilter's Palette- June 28

Fabric Painting- July 12

Shibori II-July 19 (invitation only. Prerequisite is Shibori I.)

Dyeing Silk- August 2

Cotton Dyeing Basics- August 16

Batik- September 27

Tea Stain Dyeing- October 25

I am still pondering a new hand dyeing class using "different" fabrics. Many students are interested in how to dye soy cotton, certain cotton organics, bamboo, viscous rayon, hemp, and tencel blends. I would like this to be an advanced dyeing course and need a maximum of 20 people to make it possible. It will be offered as a yahoo course so if you are interested, please email me and let me know as soon as possible. You need to have completed all 11 QU courses or a minimum of 4 to qualify for this ambitious undertaking. We are going to learn to dye those fabs and also learn how to use thickeners, make stamps, and then produce some yardage. Good fun!

Happy dyeing!