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As the weather here in Florida turns nice and warm, I finally got the chance to go play in my dye room the other day. I’m currently working on a new quilt and wanted a very specific colored background fabric, so while I had everything set up in the dye room I also took the opportunity to spend a few extra hours “playing”.

Sidenote

As a sidenote, some years ago I actually took the time to make a sample folder of dye recipes. This really is a time consuming process because you have to label everything and be very precise about mixing your dyes. However the samples have proved invaluable to me over the years particularly when I need a very specific color or combination of colors. With the dye recipe and sample right at your fingertips, it is extremely easy to reproduce the exact same color.

If you are interested in producing your own sample folder, I highly recommend the book Dyeing To Quilt : Quick, Direct Dye Methods for Quilt Makers by Joyce Mori and Cynthia Myerberg. While I have read a number of good dyeing books, I found this one particularly easy to read and understand, and very easy to follow. It also includes record sheets that you can copy and use to create your sample color runs.

Back to the story

I dyed it using a variegated range of complementary colors which I don’t work with very often, but gave me the perfect color I needed. After I was done I had lots of leftover dye which I never like to waste, so I decided to use it up.

I am very good at experimenting; in fact I love to do it. However when I know the outcome and the results are not good, I usually don’t want to go there again. And if you know anything of color theory, then you know that mixing complementary colors normally results in a “mud” color, usually (but not always) a good thing to avoid.

So here I had six fat quarters and various mixtures of complementary color dye. Will I or won’t I? Ok, let’s do it.

I pre-soaked the fat quarters in some soda ash. I figured they might have half a chance of turning into something useful if the colors took quickly. Then I squished them into a container one at a time, pouring different colors of leftover dye onto each piece as I squished it on top of the next. I was careful to try and not let the dye colors blend together too much, but a certain overlap was inevitable.

The resulting colors were not at all what I expected; the colors in the dye seemed to separate really quickly except for a few areas that turned a “light mud” and are not at all displeasing. The results in fact were a pleasant surprise so now I can’t wait to use the fabric on a project!

The moral of this story

Don’t ever be afraid to try; even if you think you know the outcome. The results just may surprise you.

Results

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