Freerein Friday - Shibori Ice

Whilst on holiday last month, one of party surprised we English ladies by gifting each of us with a beautifully hand-dyed silk scarf that she'd made back home in the States.  How sweet was that?!
She explained that she'd used a mix of dying techniques called Shibori and ice dying.  Each scarf was a glorious mix of colour and pattern.  As luck would have it, when I got home I discovered that mine went perfectly with the oranges and corals I'd recently bought.  Superbly well, in fact.

See for yourself!

I was so grateful for this unique gift and the thought that went into it.  I wore the scarf for its debut outing to visit TP in hospital the other week, worn with the outfit above - skirt, cami and cardi.  I bought a takeaway coffee on the way to his ward, then wasted no time in pouring the cup of hot coffee down my front!

Yes, I uttered noises that could not have been misinterpreted - that coffee was hot! 

Fortunately the ward was hot and I'd taken the scarf off before annointing myself with caffeine.   Phew!

I quickly retired to the bathroom where I rinsed out the coffee stains from my camisole and skirt.  The cami bore the brunt of the spillage, so it was  thoroughly wet.   I buttoned up my cardi, pulled on the wrung-out skirt and hung the camisole out to dry, draped over a chair.  

I thought I'd handled this disaster with amazing speed, calmness and imagination, working within the constraints of a hospital loo and the clothes I had on my back.

But the skirt had a HUGE damp patch down one side and common decency had forced me to put it back on.  So I tied my shibori ice dyed scarf around the patch like a sarong and got TP to photograph my quick-thinking innovation from his hospital bed - no peace for the infirm, eh?!

Disaster contained, and with panache.

Not only is this scarf a work of art, it hid my embarrassment in a crisis too. How versatile is that?!

So back to our clever lady.   She also quilts, expertly,  and has provided the most amazing quilts when family members this side of the pond have faced extreme illness.

A beautiful Healing Hands quilt

Here's an example of her Healing Hands quilts - all absent family members send her templates of their hands and she creates the most amazingly sensitive and beautiful quilts.  Draping the loved sick one with the quilt thus lays the absent family members' hands over the loved one.  Such a compassionate work of art.

Our creative lady no longer has the time to run her quilting business, so when I told her I'd like to showcase her work she directed me to Jane at this website,

Fiesta Fibers, HERE


See an example of Jane's  Shibori folding and ice dyeing, HERE.
Jane dyes the chosen fabric uniquely, then creates reversible quilting around the resulting pattern, adding any additional applique to enhance her design.
She's clearly a skilled practitioner of her craft, incorporating her expertise in needlework with her vast knowledge of dying techniques.

Here's Jane at work.  I had the pleasure of meeting Jane in Boston nine years ago.  She's a lovely, warm and beautiful lady, who's passion for her art shows through in every piece of her work.

And here are some examples of her work and examples of how these fine unique pieces can be displayed in the home.

This is my favourite piece from Jane's website.  So striking, yet practical.


What a creative lady!
Read about Jane's work, her touring and her exhibitions on the website link provided earlier in this piece.
If you're looking for a special heirloom for your home or for a loved one, make Fiesta Fibers your only port of call.




A la perchoine.