Dyeing for Twelve : Serendipity and the Art of the Quilt

Dyeing for Twelve

August 29, 2009 4:16PM | Filed Under Technique:Dyeing, Twelve by Twelve |

In my recent dyeing session, in addition to my triad dyeing exercise, I took Red MXBG + Golden MX3R + Sky Blue MXR to make a 12 step colour wheel with dark and lights:

I mixed the dyes in the following ratios:

RED	YELLOW	BLUE
100%	100%	100%
R/Y 50:50	Y/B 50:50	B/R 50:50
R/Y 75:25	Y/B 75:25	B/R 75:25
R/Y 25:75	Y/B 25:75	B/R 25:75

The stepping is not as distinct as it could be. Partly because I did not measure very accurately and partly because the red and blue dyes overwhelm the yellow and the ratios need to be tweaked to get some of those in-between colours.

The lighter colours are created by adding fabric that has been pre-soaked in soda ash later in the batching process. You can read more about this in Color by Accident by Ann Johnston.

On the subject of gradations, one of my fellow Twelves Terri Stegmiller has prepared a tutorial for 2-colour gradations (PDF download).

3 Comments

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Brenda,

Another successful dying exercise, you can probably see were you would like to change some colours; to my non dyer’s eye they look great.

Comment by Judy — August 29, 2009 5:41 PM#
You’ve created a gorgeous color range Brenda. I look forward to your next 12×12 quilt.

Comment by Terri — August 30, 2009 12:15 AM#
Beautiful colors. What kind of containers are you using to put the fabrics into?

Comment by Lisa — August 30, 2009 6:48 AM#

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