Lately, I’ve been dyeing silk fabrics for my bird series, I’ll Fly Away. The designs are made with free-cut shapes that are fused into place using Misty Fuse and then ironed to wool batting. I love the ease of stitching through silk and the fact that it is tightly woven so the edges don’t fray. But mostly I love the glow of silk fabric. It has a special warmth.

Silk yardage is hard to come so I search out silk scarves and skirts and dresses at resale shops. My favorite finds are large skirt fabrics with few seams and some patterning. Overdyeing the fabrics in a variety of colors gives me more colors from which to choose. These fabrics are my latest find. And I can’t wait to start another I’ll Fly Away quilt with them.