Ann Johnston began exploring dyeing fabric from a need for fabric in specific colors. She continues to challenge herself to create new textures and patterns for original fiber art.
How long have you been quilting and designing? How did you get started?
I learned to sew clothes in elementary school from my mother’s mother, who had been a fancy gown seamstress. I made most of my clothes from high school onwards, until the early 70s when I started an appliqué quilt while we lived in Peru in the Peace Corps.
I made it all up, did it all the hard way, and didn’t finish for 5 years. We had a quilt, and I was done—I thought. Then someone taught me how to make a cathedral window quilt; later another friend taught me how to piece fabric. I never made clothes again; I was hooked.
Tell us more about your journey and exploration of dyeing fabric.
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I started dyeing fabric when I got tired of the meager selection of cotton colors available to me in the late 70s. I took a workshop about painting dye on fabric, but the vibrant colors disappeared. So I started trying everything with dyes, reading the conflicting directions and keeping records, for years, meanwhile piecing calicoes and hand quilting.
A few workshops over the years gave me the information that I needed to develop a way to get the colors and keep them. My early books about Dye Painting! (now out of print) and Color by Accident: Low-Water Immersion Dyeing (Link to a FREE download of the book.) are a result of those early explorations.
I always keep on experimenting and learning and have produced more books and videos over the years. Color by Accident: Exploring Low-Water Immersion Dyeing is about 4 ½ hours of video: samples, demonstrations, and suggestions expanding the possibilities of Low-Water Immersion (LWI)I.
Color by Design: Paint and Print with Dye, 2nd Edition, uses the same dyes but teaches how to apply them to the surface of the fabric, rather than in containers. It has been used by many artists over the years.
Most recently, I decided to be brave and teach it in video format. Now you can get about 8 hours of lessons at my online teaching platform. Look for Beyond the Book: Paint and Print with Dye. This year, I have added a bonus lecture about my favorite dyeing tool for all those that purchase the 8-lesson bundle. A Versatile Tool for Dyeing Fabric. It is also available for purchase separately.
Where do you find inspiration for your designs?
I am inspired by everything I see and a lot of things I cannot see. I am also guided to some of my quilt designs by the fabric I have dyed. Ideas are all around us, just waiting.
When it comes to creating, are you more of a planner or an improviser?
I think I do both.
When I dye fabric, I often have a plan to start, but I have learned that my plan starts to evolve with the first brush stroke. I only mix enough colors to begin, knowing what I want will change.
I have a lot of fabric that I made just to see what effects I will get without knowing what I am going to use them for. Other times I dye the fabric specifically for a quilt I have planned.
When I design quilts, I have a lot of different ways to begin. I always decide the quilting designs after the top is finished, sometimes planning where I will stitch with sketches on paper, and other times I start and find out where I have to go next.
Some examples of how my design process varies.
Sometimes I draw a full-size design adapted from one of my photos and dye paint the whole thing, quilting follows the shapes. For this quilt, The Contact: Competent Rock, I distorted the photo on the computer to make it narrower, a mine shaft cut out of solid rock.
2018, 84” x 38”
Sometimes I start with the dyed fabric, use the whole cloth, just as it is and cover it with another layer of design in quilting inspired by the cloth itself. Aquarius is the colors of the 60s all over again.
Sometimes I dye multiple large pieces of fabric with a particular idea in mind and select the one that best fits my idea, leaving it mostly unchanged. Deep Blue Lead is whole cloth.
2012, 84” x 46”
Nevadan Orogeny has two narrow gold slices reverse appliqued. They both refer to the formation of gold deposits in the earth.
2011, 84” x 53”
I may start with small sketches that I generalize from places I have been, then select one and draw it out to full size, planning the colors and textures and sizes. I dye the lengths of fabric specifically for the parts in the design.
Meadows form where high mountain streams Meander through the rocks and grasses, cutting deep banks as they alternate from flooding to drying.
2021,84″ x 29″
Sometimes I start with large pieces of fabric I have already dyed (while practicing) and they become the main body of the design, then I plan where to put them together and look for—or dye—more fabric. Water and tree bark are suggested in the fabrics I used for Water Ways and Grove.
The Contact: Water Ways, ©Ann Johnston
2020, 84” x 24”
2021, 30″ x 60″
Sometimes I cut and assemble a few small pieces of fabric that work with my idea and use them as a guide for the next set of pieces, saving final assembly and decisions for later.
Sometimes, I dye specific fabrics for particular parts of the design. As Balance #32 grew and grew, I needed more of a particular kind of yellow.
010, 49” x 93”
And for Cross Polarized Granite, I needed cloth that resembled the minerals in the microscope.
2015, 85” x 25”
Describe your creative space.
There isn’t a day that goes by that I am not thinking about what I am working on now and what I want to start working on next, even when I am not in my studio.
I have way too many ideas and have to take time to prioritize which ones to spend time on, which ones to allow to develop, and which ones to let go.
How does your studio organization contribute to your work process?
I have had various studios over the years, starting with the kitchen table, a bedroom, a garage, a playroom.
At this time, I have been working in my studio for 23 years, lots of light, lots of walls in 2 large rooms. I have my desk/computer here too, so I am never far away from my most recent ideas which are hanging all over the walls, all the time.
Some have notes pinned to them for later. I have one design wall that is about 12’ x 12’ and six 4’ x 8’ panels that slide like closet doors in front of my shelves of fabric storage on another wall.
I don’t think I am very organized, but I do try to keep things put away so I can think, and so I can find them later, but that only lasts for a while and I have to keep at it.
Almost all the furniture is moveable on wheels or sliders, so I can adjust to the needs of various projects and change my mind about the shape of the spaces I need. The Yankee Pride quilt folded on my longarm is one I made about 50 years ago; it’s waiting for me to repair it.
How do you manage your creative time? Do you schedule start and stop times? Or work only when inspired?
I “work” all the time, even when away from my studio. Sometimes it is easier to plan a project when I am away from the studio because I don’t see all the other pieces I have started.
And “work” means thinking about the work, even while folding laundry. It is “work” when I am looking around with my eyes and heart wide open, anywhere.
When I am dyeing fabric, I usually do it in days or weeks at a time.
When designing, I let almost every piece rest so new thoughts have time to arrive.
When I start quilting I do it all in consecutive days, to keep the same rhythm and follow ideas that have come up as I sew.
Can you tell us about the inspiration and process of one of your works? How does a new work come about?
Oh, but which one??!!
I have made our four grandchildren full sized quilts for their beds for their 6 year birthday, inspired by their ideas.
The most recent (and last) one was the biggest challenge for me because I tried things I hadn’t done on any other quilt at this scale. I documented the whole thing and made a short video of Kai’s Quilt for my web site.
In it, discuss design and color decisions, dye painting large pieces, corn dextrin, construction process, and quilting textures, with the occasional animal from his list inserted.
It does summarize my general approach: decide what I want to do, practice and decide how to dye the fabric, change the plan as needed, then figure out how to assemble it, then later how to quilt it.
Which part of the design process is your favorite? Which part is a challenge for you?
Dreaming up ideas is easy and fun. I jot down notes, take photos, and assemble fabrics.
It’s difficult to decide what exactly I want to do—why I am making this quilt and not that one. It’s a good thing I don’t mind changing my mind.
The hardest is when I finish a quilt and I wonder if it is any good. That’s why it helps to have other work in progress.
How has your work evolved over the years? Is there a common thread (pun intended!) across the years?
In the 70s I was making traditional-style quilts, and started dyeing fabric to get colors I wanted. It took a long time to find the correct dye recipes and develop ways to work that were home friendly.
By the early 80s I was using only my own hand-dyed fabrics, perfecting dye painting with precision for whole cloth silk quilts.
By the late 90s, I had learned many more dyeing, construction, and stitching techniques. You can see some of the changes in my work in greater detail in my book, The Quilter’s Book of Design, Expanded 2nd Edition and my latest book, The Contact: Sierra Nevada, Dyed and Stitched.
I think the connection among them is that my quilts come from me, original designs with my hand guiding the thoughts and threads across all the years.
What advice would you give to someone just starting on their fiber art journey?
Fiber is flexible and forgiving. Have fun, keep an eye out for what you need/want to learn, then practice, practice, practice. Most importantly, follow your own interests and learn when to follow advice and when not to.
Where can people see your work?
My books, all mentioned above, my web site, my online teaching platform, on Instagram @annjohnstonquilts, and in my occasional newsletter–sign up on my website.
Interview posted June, 2025
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