Dyeing a Colour Wheel

In anticipation of some of the colours I will soon need for later chapters in this module, I decided to dye a 12 step colour wheel, based on the 3 primary colours of magenta, turquoise and lemon yellow.

The actual Procion MX colour numbers were :
Vibrant Magenta MX-8B
Brilliant Turquoise MX-G
Lemon Yellow MX-4G

I purchased them online from Fibrecrafts, from whom I always receive excellent service.

I dyed the cotton poplin fabric, purchased from Whaleys and prepared for dyeing, following the instructions given in the book 'Dyeing to Quilt' by Joyce Mori and Cynthia Myerberg, basing my wheel on set # 2 colour wheel on page 29 of the book. This palette is sometimes called the 'jewel palette' because of the brightness of its colours. Each piece of fabric measures about 11'' x 18'', a decent enough size to be useful in projects! Each piece was presoaked in soda ash, dyed in a plastic cup and then cured overnight in a plastic bag.

The actual amount of dye used to create each colour was as follows:
#1: 60ml Magenta
#2: Red/Orange - 40ml magenta + 20ml yellow
#3: Orange - 10ml magenta +50ml yellow
#4: Yellow/orange - 2.5mlml magenta + 57.5ml yellow
#5: Yellow - 60ml yellow
#6: Yellow/green - 50ml yellow + 10ml turquoise
#7: Green - 20ml yellow + 40ml turquiose
#8: Blue/green - 57.5ml turquoise + 2.5ml yellow
#9: Turquoise - 60ml turquoise
#10: Blue/violet - 10ml red + 50ml turquoise
#11: Violet - 30ml magenta + 30ml turquoise
#12: Red/violet - 50ml magenta + 10ml turquoise

Numbers 4 and 11 are my chosen colour scheme for this section.

The fabrics above are laid out to show the progression of colours. I also set them up side by side, with each colour lying alongside its complementary colour, eg violet and yellow.

You can also see a pile of scrims and muslin dyed in the same colour progression, followed by a few pieces of scrim which were used to wipe up spills. They are almost the most interesting of all, simply because they are so variegated and colourful! Since I love scrim fabric so much, finding it to be infinitely useful, I never have a dyeing session without also including some scrim in the mix! You can never have too much scrim in your fabric collection! Better than crayons!!