Carpe diem but which diem?

I awoke this morning with amazing opportunities before me. But it was such a long list that I as usual could never start down all those paths so I had to choose. It was similar to a day a little over a week ago when I woke up to this:

We had not had our usual amount of snow so far this season and there was always the possibility we would not have more, but there were many things beckoning to me, urging me to choose them to fill the finite amount of time provided me each day. I did choose other things for most of the day, including the requisite snow shoveling, but by late afternoon I headed downstairs to soak some fabric in soda ash to prepare for snow dyeing. 

The next day I had two interesting pieces of fabric hanging on the line:

In the one snow dyeing I had done last winter I had been frustrated with washed out colors that did not have as much texture as I wanted. But these were quite successful. I had seized a moment and the right snowfall cooperated.

A snow earlier in the month, a very dry snow that I thought would not work, produced fabric almost as successful:

And the middle piece is the product of an experiment.The Feb/Mar Quilting Arts issue ran an article by Susan Purney Mark about a shibori process that used a wine bottle instead of the long tube I was usually used and this process was perfect for seeing what would happen with shibori snow dyeing. 

The result looks very good, but I am not sure how different it looks from the regular shibori process. It is worth another try at some point. Ah, but that will depend on the whims of the weather gods, who seem to have gotten a bit confused about the seasons this year, and whether I seize that opportunity if and when it comes.

And if you have chosen to read this, thanks for the company!

I am linking this post to Off the Wall Friday. Take a look at some interesting in process and finished work there.