One of my favorite things about dyeing fabric is getting a request for something custom. Occasionally I am unable to do do what they want, but when it comes to custom dyed gradients I can usually meet the challenge.
Here's one I just finished last week. Barbara sent me that narrow strip from a commercial print gradient and I created this hand dyed version that closely approximated the colors.
These custom order can take a while though. Sometimes I need to go through a couple of dye cycles to test blends to get the colors just right.
I can also create gradients oriented lengthwise. In January I created a 3 yard version of Blue Sky with the customer specifying exactly where he wanted the darkest color offset from the center gradating to the palest colors at the cut edge. He's using it as a background for a 6' aquarium.
The most interested lengthwise gradient that I've done so far is for this spectacular quilt made by Cheryl and her sister, Joyce. Cheryl is a wonderful longarm quilter and she and Joyce split duties on this one. Cheryl sent me some swatches of the reds and blues and I created the gradient that she used on the border. By dyeing the gradient along the length of the fabric she only had to make 4 cuts for that simple-to-piece border. You can read more about the quilt on Cheryl's blog.
If you have made something with my fabric I'd love to see it. You can send photos to me or upload them to my customer Flickr group. Once a month I draw a name from the entries and that person gets a 3-month 25% shop discount.











Your color matching is fantastic!
Posted by: Jamie Beachhouse | March 27, 2012 at 03:00 PM
Perfect color matching and what a fun and unique request, creating an aquarium backdrop! Thanks for the eye candy, sharing Cheryl's quilt!
Posted by: Gina Skillings | March 27, 2012 at 03:11 PM
I doubt there is ANYTHING you can't do!
Fantastic 'work' as always.
Posted by: Becky in VA | March 27, 2012 at 03:24 PM
You matched that gradient perfectly! Lovely quilt in the bottom photo!
Posted by: Terri | March 27, 2012 at 03:24 PM