Carol Soderlund Teaches Color Mixing for Dyers
Award Winning Quilt Maker Leading Authority on Fabric Dyeing
Oct 12, 2009
October, to a quilter, means Houston. That’s the Houston International Quilt Show. Master Quilter Carol Soderlund has fond memories of Houston. It was in 1989 that her 75-inch square geometric quilt, Covenant, won Best of Show.
Best of Show Quilt Remade Traditional into a New World
Covenant is an illusion. Color choices and careful crafting give the illusion of an orb suspended and curving off into dark space. A shadowy pedestal glimmers below and a muted light source seems to fill the upper left corner. The artist fools the eye into seeing dimension where only a flat surface exists. Rainbow colors streak across the face of the gray fabric planet like some ancient god’s arrows.
“Illusions are fun to play around with,” Carol said. “I especially enjoy creating illusions of depth with color. Understanding value is key; using darker values to shade and depth.”
Another look at Covenant reveals the traditional roots of this art quilt. The nine patch anchors the piece. Upon further inspection, familiar patterns and basic building blocks appear—triangles, strips, squares. Shadows of traditional patterns like Kings Crosses and Attic windows step forward.
When You Can't Find the Fabric – Make It
Covenant was groundbreaking in several ways. Not only a break from her traditional designs, but it required subtle shades of color to pull off its amazing dimensionality. Carol needed shades and more shades of color. “I shopped, I shopped, and I shopped for like four months. At the end of the time I still didn’t have the fabric to make that quilt.”
Carol considered dyeing the fabric. “I had never dyed fabric before,” she said. But with the help of an article written by Jan Myers Newbury, Carol gave it a try. “I just followed that little article, and eight hours later I had all the fabric I needed.”
Today, Carol admits, “My favorite fabrics are those I have hand-dyed. I love having all the color I want, anytime I want.”
This skill, developed out of necessity, has morphed into a popular workshop: Color Mixing for Dyers. Carol teaches it at Nancy Crow’s quilting retreat in Ohio and at various venues across the United States. Carol also has graduated from student to teacher at Quilting by the Lake.
“I teach dyers how to create the color they choose, rather than the color that chooses them. The tyranny of fuchsia is no more!”
Carol Soderlund's Color Mixing for Dyers
Working in teams, her students dye more than 1,000 swatches of color to build a reference book of color – a recipe book for dyers. “Since we use only pure reds, yellows, and blues to create these colors, along the way we learn a lot about the properties of colors and color theory.”
Carol adds, “Every time I teach this class, I get so stimulated that I have to come home and try out more new ideas in dyeing; it never stops.”
Sometimes the cloth that comes from the dye pot is inspiration for a quilt. For example Carol experimented with a new technique – “inventing new techniques is one of my favorite things to do in the dye studio.” The resulting fabric told her to focus on a quilt about bamboo.
Her Queen Anne’s Lace quilt came about in a similar way when the inner fabric, the fabric in the background of the center portion, spoke to her. She painted it and used a wax resist. “As soon as I saw those white splotches on that fabric they just reminded me of Queen Anne’s Lace…. It became my job to bring it to life for others to see as well.”
For Carol, as with most quilters, ideas are never in short supply. “I find inspiration in so many places, from nature and architecture, primarily, as well as photographs I have taken.”
Carol shares her inspirations through lectures, machine stitching, design, and of course her popular dye classes. For more information about Carol and her classes, visit her website. AIC101
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