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Fabric Color – Color Theory and Choosing Fabrics

The last few weeks, we talked about one block quilts and two (or more) block quilts and how the design of those blocks effects the look of the quilt. Now it’s time to talk about color. Choosing fabrics and color is often something that gives quilters nightmares when they are beginning a project. I’m here to help you get rid of those fears with some color theory and fabric choosing tips. Let’s go!

Color Theory  – Just a Bit!

Color: Before you shop for fabric, dig out this little contraption and let’s have a lesson:

You probably recognize the color wheel from grade school art class. We learned about the primary colors of red, yellow and blue. From those colors, all the other colors are created. That’s why they’re called “primary” colors.  

The first group of colors created by combining primary colors are called secondary colors. These are orange (from red and yellow), green (from blue and yellow) and violet (from blue and red).

The color wheel can help you with getting the right contrast in your quilt in addition to picking out fabric colors. Notice the closer that colors to each other are on the wheel, the less contrast between them. The most contrast is achieved with colors that are farther away from each other. This is where complimentary colors come in. A color that is opposite of another on the wheel provides the most contrast and is called complimentary. For example: red and green are across from each other so they are considered complimentary and there is high contrast between them.

Shade, Tone & Tint: Knowing the difference between shade, tone and tint and how that effects the contrast between your fabrics can go a long way in helping you choose fabrics.

  • Shade is taking the pure color, for instance blue, and adding black to it to make it darker, for a dark blue.
  • Tint is taking the pure blue and adding white to make it lighter, making a light blue.
  • Tone is adding grey to a pure color to make it less intense. Most colors around us in the world are tones of pure color.

Another way contrast can be achieved is by combining “warm” and “cool” colors or have blocks that alternate between warm and cool colors throughout a quilt.

Summing it up… if you want a quiet, muted quilt, choose colors close to each other on the wheel, with the same shades, tints or tones. If you want a high contrast quilt, choose colors far away from each other on the wheel, with different shades, tints or tones. Of course there are a lot of complete books on color theory and this is just a tiny snippet of information. If you are interested in a more in depth explanation, you can surely find some of these books at the library or online.

Using Color Theory in Choosing Fabrics

So here’s a real world example of some of what I talked about above.

One way contrast is achieved is by considering the shades and tints of the each color you choose. Tint is when white is added to a color to make it lighter and shade is when black is added to a color to make it darker. For example,

pink is a tint of red where maroon is a shade of red.

See the difference in these fabrics? They’re all the same base color, red, but when used in a quilt, they will each make it look a bit different.

Here’s another example. Pick out fabrics you would like to use in your quilt and stack them up like these fat quarters I used below:

There is not much contrast between these fabric because they are all close to the same shade within their color family. But now, in the photo below, I have switched out two of the fabrics for fabrics tinted lighter than the originals.

The above are all cool colors as well and close to each other on the color wheel. Look what happens when I add in some complimentary colors from the warm side:

Removing the brown and purple fabrics and adding the gold and red fabrics makes the stack of fabrics more vibrant.

Building a Colorful Quilt

So here’s a fun little experiment. Here’s how to build a colorful scrap quilt starting with the primary colors. Let’s say the quilt pattern you have takes a yard of each color fabric (not including the background) and has 12 blocks from each color. 

The quilt made from these 3 colors would be pretty enough. But what would it look like if you added more colors based on some of the lessons I gave you earlier. Instead of, for example, getting a yard of each fabric above and making 12 blocks from each, you can turn this into a scrappier quilt by taking each of the yards of fabric and splitting them into three 1/3 yard cuts in each color family. For instance, instead of 1 yard of red, I substitute 1/3 yard each of red, pink and a brown fabric that has a red/pink print (middle stack in the photo).

I did the same for the blue and the yellow fabrics as well. Now I can make 12 blocks from each stack, but instead of them all being one color there will be 4 of each color. See the side by side comparison of the 3 color quilt and the 9 color quilt below:

Or you can even mix the colors within each of the blocks to make it even scrappier like I did in this block below:

So here ends the color theory lesson. Hopefully this gives you more confidence when you look at a quilt pattern and wonder what colors you want to use to make it. Step out of the box and have some fun!

Happy Quilting!
Deanne

2022 Block of the Week – Block 6

Hi! Welcome back to my block of the week sew-along! We are now on to block 6 in the series. You can still join in on the fun. Here are the links to the previous weeks: Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4 and Week 5. The patterns are all free and you can download them all from those previous blog posts. As I did in the other week’s posts, I will share some tips. This week, color choice and color contrast. Now on to block 6!

2022 BOW Block 6 – Robbing Peter to Pay Paul

The instructions to make this block can be found here: 2022 BOW Block 6.

Most versions of Robbing Peter to Pay Paul are those that have curved seams like this one:

I was only able to find this one version that is pieced from the 1897 LAC (Ladies’ Art Company). This pieced version also has the name “Arizona” given by Nancy Page in 1936. It is thought the name for this block came from a phrase credited to King Edward VI. In his 16th century reign, he actually ordered St. Peter’s church in London to sell land it owned to pay for repairs to St. Paul’s church.

Interesting trivia, King Edward VI was a boy king and mostly a figurehead while those behind the scenes battled to rule. He was 9 years old when he became king and his reign ended at age 15 upon his death. It is thought he died of progressive tuberculosis, although it’s not clear because he also had the measles before that. 

Color Choice and Contrast

Well, enough of the history lesson on the renaissance years! Let’s talk color choice. Choosing colors for a block or an entire quilt should not be scary. In fact, if you understand how colors play off of each other based on their shade, tint and how they contrast, choosing color is fairly easy. One of the best tools to use is that simple color wheel we learned about in grade school!

Bring this tool with you to the quilt shop. You can choose general color families you want for before going and then use this tool to hold up to fabric bolts to pick the correct shade. Look at the photo above. On the left, you can tell the colors are “warm” and on the right they are “cool”. You can choose all your fabrics from the left side for a warmer look or from the right side for a calm, cooler look. The closer together colors are on the wheel, the less they will contrast for a calm, quiet look. The opposite is true of the colors are further away from or opposite each other. The contrast will be high and designs will pop more.

Here is a brief description of shade, tint and tone that will also help you in choosing fabrics:

  • Shade is taking the pure color, for instance blue, and adding black to it to make it darker, for a dark blue.
  • Tint is taking the pure blue and adding white to make it lighter, making a light blue.
  • Tone is adding grey to a pure color to make it less intense. Most colors around us in the world are tones of pure color.

Here is a real world example of color choice and contrast. This first stack has fabric very close in shade, so there is little contrast:

When I replace two of the fabrics with the same color, but lighter (tint), look what happens. More contrast!

The two above examples feature cool colors. Now, watch what happens when I take out two of the fabrics and replace those with warm colors:

Look at the contrast now!

Another tip on picking fabric: pick out a bolt that you want for the quilt and then look at the selvage. Yes, I said that!

On most fabrics, you will find a series of “dots” or other marks with the colors that were used in printing the fabric. Use these colors to find bolts of fabric that will coordinate nicely with your already chosen piece. And you don’t even need to stay in the same fabric line.

Once you have fabrics at home in your stash, here’s a simple way to choose what you want for your latest project. Pick out fabrics and lay them out on a table. You can either stand back and look at them all together or take a photo on your phone and look at that. A fabric that doesn’t quite fit in will probably “jump out” at you as you look at the stack. Take that fabric out and replace it with another. Repeat until you get the look you want. I call this “auditioning” the fabric.

Well, that’s it for this week. Come back next week for block 7 and some more tips and techniques.

Remember, comment or ask questions throughout this series. At the end, I will have a grand prize giveaway. This will include my book, two of my newer patterns, some fat quarters and sewing scissors!

Happy Quilting!
Deanne

Fabrics and Color Contrast in Quilting

In earlier posts, I’ve talked about picking fabrics at the quilt shop using a color wheel or laying the fabrics on the counter together to see how they play together, but I haven’t talked about how you want your quilt to look. Color contrast among your fabrics plays a large roll in this. Whether it’s the colors in the blocks themselves, the background fabric or even the different size prints for each fabric you have chosen. That’s what I will talk about this week and hopefully this will add even more to the fabric choosing knowledge you take with you shopping. So let’s get started.

Color Theory & Contrast

Before you can learn about contrast, here’s a little color theory that will help. Contrast is achieved by considering the value (tint or shade) of the each color you choose. Tint is when white is added to a color to make it lighter and shade is when black is added to a color to make it darker. For example,

pink is a tint of red where maroon is a shade of red. This photo below shows that:

Knowing the difference between shade, tone and tint and how that effects the contrast between your fabrics can go a long way in helping you choose fabrics.

  • Shade is taking the pure color, for instance blue, and adding black to it to make it darker, for a dark blue.
  • Tint is taking the pure blue and adding white to make it lighter, making a light blue.
  • Tone is adding grey to a pure color to make it less intense. Most colors around us in the world are tones of pure color.

Another way to achieve good contrast is by combining “warm” and “cool” colors or have blocks that alternate between warm and cool colors throughout a quilt. Like I talked about in a previous post, the color wheel can help with that.

The 20″ line on the cutting mat in the photo shows you the dividing line between warm and cool colors. Notice how the colors next to each other on the wheel have less contrast between them than colors further away. For the highest contrast, choose colors that are opposite on the wheel.

Here’s an example of auditioning fabrics for contrast. This first stack of fabrics has pieces very close in shade so there is very little contrast:

Now look what happens when I replace two of the fabrics with colors that are a lighter (tinted) version of the same color it replaced:

Now, I will remove two of the cool colors and replace them with warm colors and you can see how much contrast will be in the blocks I make from this combination!

Interesting!

Background Fabric and Fabric Prints

Another way to minimize or create contrast is in the size of prints you use and also the background fabric color. Below are two quilts I made using the same pattern but with different fabrics. Contrast plays a role in how the design appears, but so does the choice of background fabric. For the quilt on the left, the person receiving it wanted the design to be very subtle and the colors very subdued. The quilt on the right shows how the same pattern looks with high contrast between fabrics, including a very light background (I did change the piece border a little bit for that version).

Here is an example of how fabric color, a design or an appliqué pattern is intensified by simply changing the background fabric from light tan to black.

I also chose colors for the quilt with the black background that had more of a lighter tint to them.

Prints in fabric can be tricky for blocks and backgrounds, although not so much for a truly scrappy quilt. I refer to scrap quilts as “colorful chaos” so when I am making one, I’m not too concerned with print size. But, that if you are making a one block quilt? Let’s take some of the blocks from my Scrappy North Stars quilt and see how fabrics play. Here’s the quilt:

Now here are two blocks from the quilt:

For the block on the left, I used fabrics with prints about the same size in the block pieces, including the background. For the block on the right, not only did I use a lighter background fabric, I also alternated in print size depending on where the pieces fell in the block. 

Next up is my quilt, Sister’s Reunion:

Here’s some blocks from this quilt:

The fabrics in the block on the left both have a larger, busy print than the fabrics in the block on the right. See what a difference prints in fabrics can make?

So, I hope this explanation of fabric color contrast, background fabric color and fabric print and how they effect your design makes sense! Hopefully, this will help when you pick out fabrics for your next project.

Leave me any comments or questions on this topic below. I will answer what I can. It will also enter you into a drawing for the two patterns of mine I used as examples! If you are outside of the US, you will receive the patterns as PDF downloads if you are chosen. The drawing will be on Monday, September 13th. Good Luck! **We have a winner! Congrats, Kay McCaffery!**

Happy Quilting!
Deanne

2021 Block of the Week – Block 7

Three more blocks to go before I share the cute wall hanging, and instructions to make it, for these blocks! I hope you are enjoying making the blocks and also learning something along the way. If you are just joining us, you can still get all the block of the week blocks by clicking on the following links for each week: Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5 and Week 6. This week, the quilting tips I share focus on choosing color fabrics for your blocks and quilts and how you can build a scrap quilt using these tips. Comment on the post and you will be entered into a drawing for this week’s pattern and also be in the drawing for the grand prize at the end! Let’s get started.

Block 7 – Starburst

This block is a great one use to play with color choice. That’s why I decided to talk about choosing color this week.

To get the instructions for this block, click here: 2021 BOW Block 7.

As you can see, color choice plays an important role in this block. The placement of the gold fabric makes it look like a “burst” of gold in the front of this Starburst block.

Here’s a few examples of how color changes this block:

In the example on the left, I switched out the blue and gold so now it looks like the the starburst is coming from behind. In the example on the right, I switched to two colors with a black background instead of tan. It completely changes the look!

Choosing Color & A Little Color Theory

Moving on to this week’s topic. For many quilters, choosing the right colors for a project can stop them in their tracks. I am here to tell you there is no need to find this task difficult! Also, some colors you don’t think would look good together actually do end up looking good. Especially in scrap quilting. So, here are some handy tips for choosing fabrics.

Tip#1: Decide in advance how many different colors you want to use in your quilt. This will save you time in the quilt shop. The time to decide is before you get there. When you are in the store, pull out the chosen bolts and stack them on a counter or table, view how they look together.

By doing this you can see how the fabrics work together before you buy them. You can pull out the ones that “stick out like a sore thumb” in your opinion and search out another bolt to audition. I do this too when I a pulling fabrics from my stash to audition for a project.

 

Tip#2: Have you ever chosen a focus fabric but were stumped on what fabrics you wanted to pair it with? Simply check the selvedge! You will find a series of “dots” with the colors that were used in printing the fabric.

This is something I don’t think a lot of quilters know. Now, not all fabrics will have this in the selvedge but a good majority do. If there are no dots to use, look at the colors in the print and pull some fabrics that match with that.

Tip #3: Learn the difference between shade, tone and tint and how that effects the contrast between your fabrics.

  • Shade is taking the pure color, for instance blue, and adding black to it to make it darker, for a dark blue.
  • Tint is taking the pure blue and adding white to make it lighter, making a light blue.
  • Tone is adding grey to a pure color to make it less intense. Most colors around us in the world are tones of pure color.

This comes in handy when planning contrast of your fabrics you choose for a quilt or block. If you choose colors all very close in shade or tint, there will not be much contrast (left photo). Chooses colors of different tints or shades and you get more contrast (right photo):

All I did was switch out the darker blue and green with a lighter versions. Instant contrast!

Tip #4: Don’t be afraid to use a color wheel when choosing colors. The wheel helps you determine which are cool colors and which are warm colors. It also helps you to see how colors you choose will contrast with each other.

For example, if you want high contrast, choose colors on opposite sides of the wheel. If you want less contrast, choose colors close to each other on the wheel.  Red, yellow and orange are examples of “warm” colors and blue, green and violet are examples of “cool” colors. 

How to Build a Scrap Quilt

You can actually turn any quilt pattern into a scrap quilt with a little thought. I’ll use a simple 3 color quilt as an example. To make it easy, let’s say this quilt takes a yard of each color fabric (not including the background) and has 12 blocks from each color. Here’s the 3 colors:

These fabrics would certainly make a pretty quilt:

You can turn this into a scrappy quilt by taking those yards of fabric and splitting each yard into three 1/3 yard cuts in each color family. For instance, instead of 1 yard of red, I substitute 1/3 yard each of red, pink and a brown fabric that has a red/pink print (middle stack in the photo).

Now you have 9 different fabrics instead of only 3 and this is how your quilt can look:

You can even mix the colors within the blocks to make it even scrappier like I did in this block below:

So, that’s it for this week. I hope you enjoy making the block and that you learn something new about color. Now you can go to the quilt shop and not be afraid to play! 

Leave a comment and be entered into the drawing for my pattern, Marbles & Jacks. You can use the colors I have chosen for the pattern or you can go wild and make every block a different color combination!

The drawing will be on Monday, May 31st. Good luck and see you next week! **We have a winner… Congrats, Catherine!**

Happy Quilting,
Deanne

Choosing Colors – Some Theory and Some Tips

I choose colors based on the design of the blocks I’m making and also the quilt’s secondary design. If I choose a color in a quilt block that does not mesh well, the block or secondary design can be lost. You need the right contrast between colors to enhance a design. When I talk with quilters in class, picking out fabric tends to strike fear into some of them when starting a project. So, I am here to take away some of that fear with a few tips. First, let’s cover some basic color theory.

Color Theory – Shade, Tint and Tone

This is by no means a comprehensive lesson on color theory, just some basics. If you are interested in delving deeper into this topic, there are quite a few web sites and books that go into more detail. 

Contrast is achieved by considering the value (tint or shade) of the each color you choose. Tint is when white is added to a color to make it lighter and shade is when black is added to a color to make it darker. For example,

pink is a tint of red where maroon is a shade of red.

Knowing the difference between shade, tone and tint and how that effects the contrast between your fabrics can go a long way in helping you choose fabrics.

  • Shade is taking the pure color, for instance blue, and adding black to it to make it darker, for a dark blue.
  • Tint is taking the pure blue and adding white to make it lighter, making a light blue.
  • Tone is adding grey to a pure color to make it less intense. Most colors around us in the world are tones of pure color.

Another way contrast can be achieved is by combining “warm” and “cool” colors or have blocks that alternate between warm and cool colors throughout a quilt.

Where the 20″ line on my cutting board dissects the color wheel, is considered the dividing line between warm colors on the left and cool colors on the right. Colors close to the dividing line can be used as either.

The color wheel can also help with contrast. Notice the closer that colors are together, the less contrast. The most contrast is achieve with colors that are farther away from each other. So don’t be afraid to use a color wheel when choosing fabrics!

Choosing Fabric Color Tips

Tip#1: Decide in advance how many different colors you want to use in your quilt. This will save you time in the quilt shop. The time to decide is before you get there. When you are in the store, pull out the chosen bolts and stack them on a counter or table, view how they look together.

If you are “auditioning” already cut fabrics at home, you can do the same thing. This is how I do it:

I fan out the fabrics I plan to use together in the quilt and stand back. If a fabric jumps out at me by not coordinating… basically standing out “like a sore thumb”, I’ll remove it from the stack and place another fabric there to see if it works better. I repeat this as much as I need to until I like the combination.

Tip #2: If you are in a fabric store and have picked out one fabric you really like, here’s another way to find coordinating fabrics. Check the selvedge on the fabric!

On most fabrics, you will find a series of “dots” or other marks with the colors that were used in printing the fabric. Use these colors to find bolts of fabric that will coordinate nicely with your already chosen piece.

Tip #3: Use the “stacking up fabric” method from above to determine how your fabrics contrast. Let’s look at some examples.

If you choose colors all very close in shade or tint, there will not be much contrast:

A block made from this stack of fabric will be really pretty, but the design will be subtle because they are so close in shade. But, look what happens when I replace a few fabrics:

I replaced the dark green with a lighter green (a tint) and I replaced the dark blue with a lighter blue (also a tint). Now, the design of the block will be more noticeable. 

Finally, look what happens when I substitute a few warm colors for the cool ones:

So that’s my little tutorial on color theory with some tips thrown in for good measure. Hopefully this will help you on your next fabric buying trip. 

Leave me a comment below on this topic or ask any questions you may have. I will choose a person in the comments to receive a copy of the current Quiltmaker issue with my quilt on the cover! This scrap quilt is a great pattern for you to practice your color choosing skills.

The winner will be drawn on Monday, December 14th.  **We have a winner! Congrats, Donna Hanneman!**

Happy Quilting!
Deanne

Block of the Week – Block 3

Hi everyone! Welcome back to my Block of the Week. We’re already at block 3! I hope you are finding time to make these blocks. If not, be sure to print out the patterns for later. Here are the blog posts for the previous blocks of the week: Block 1 and Block 2. I’m also going to review some color theory tips in this post that should help you pick colors for these blocks while you are pawing through your scraps. So on to the fun!

Block #3 – Flying Dutchman

This block uses one of my favorite units to make: the flying geese.

You will definitely be an expert at making flying geese by the time you are done with this block! Find the pattern for this block here: Block of the Week – Block 3. For this block, I wanted to use some warm colors and kind of create a “warm to hot” look by going from gold to red. So this is where my information on choosing color will come in handy!

A Little Color Theory

It’s really not too complicated. Especially if you have access to a color wheel. You can find color wheels at craft stores or online. Mine is a little cardboard wheel that actually came with a booklet explaining the difference between primary, secondary, and tertiary colors along with how to mix and match them. Here’s my wheel:

Notice how if you were to use the colors from the same square, they blend together but there’s not much contrast. Add in lighter versions of the same color and you can achieve more contrast. Here’s a demonstration with some stacks of fabrics:

In the photo on the left, there is not much contrast because all the fabrics are darker shades. Now on the right, I pulled out the dark blue and dark green and replaced them with lighter versions. Makes a big difference!

Besides considering the lightness and darkness of a fabric to create contrast, you can also create contrast and interest in a quilt block by using colors on different parts of the color wheel. For example, I chose a purple fabric and paired it with a green one. These colors are close to opposite each other on the wheel:

Notice how there is more contrast between purple and green than there was between purple and dark blue. Now look what happens when we move to a lighter green:

Even more contrast! Purple and green are both considered cool colors. So now, let’s switch out that green with a warm color like red and then go lighter with pink.

This next photo shows stacks of fabric going from cool to warm in each stack and then, from left to right, light to dark.

You could make a pretty interesting block if, for example, you pulled the green from stack 1, the orange from stack 2 and the blue from stack 3. Here you go:

So are you ready to make this week’s block?  Leave a comment below and be entered into the drawing for my pattern, Scrappy North Stars.

This pattern will give you a lot of practice with flying geese and playing with color. The drawing will be on Monday, May 11th so you have plenty of time to enter!

Happy Quilting!
Deanne

Tips for Choosing Fabric: Color

It’s never a bad time to talk about color. Choosing the fabric for a quilt project is often a sticking point for many quilters, beginners and experienced. I hope some of these tips and information can help ease a bit of that stress!

Tip#1

Decide in advance how many different colors you want to use in your quilt. This will save you time in the quilt shop. The time to decide is before you get there. When you are in the store, pull out the chosen bolts and stack them on a counter or table, view how they look together.

If you’re considering pre-cut fabrics at the store or at home, this is what it looks like:

By doing this you can see how the fabrics work together and pull out the ones that “stick out like a sore thumb”.

Tip#2

Have you ever chosen a focus fabric but were stumped on what fabrics you wanted to pair it with? Simply check the selvedge! You will find a series of “dots” with the colors that were used in printing the fabric.

Use these as suggestions on fabric colors that will match!

Tip #3

Learn the difference between shade, tone and tint and how that effects the contrast between your fabrics.

  • Shade is taking the pure color, for instance blue, and adding black to it to make it darker, for a dark blue.
  • Tint is taking the pure blue and adding white to make it lighter, making a light blue.
  • Tone is adding grey to a pure color to make it less intense. Most colors around us in the world are tones of pure color.

This comes in handy when planning contrast of your fabrics you choose for a quilt or block. If you choose colors all very close in shade or tint, there will not be much contrast:

The block made from this stack of fabric will be really pretty, but the design will be subtle because they are so close in shade. But, look what happens when I replace a few fabrics:

I replaced the dark green with a lighter green (a tint) and I replaced the dark blue with a lighter blue (also a tint). Now, the design of the block will be more noticeable.

Tip #4

Don’t be afraid to use a color wheel when choosing colors! The wheel helps you determine which are cool colors and which are warm colors. It also helps you to see how colors you choose will contrast with each other.

If you want high contrast, choose colors on opposite sides of the wheel. If you want less contrast, choose colors close to each other on the wheel.  Red, yellow and orange are the “warm” colors and blue, green and violet are the “cool” colors. 

Here are two blocks I have in the same quilt, one is cool and one is warm:

You can make a quilt all cool colors or all warm. Or you can alternate between cool blocks and warm blocks for high contrast!

Mix warm and cool colors in a block for some real fun!

In the above block, I’ve mixed a warm color, red, with two cool colors, purple and green.

So, are you ready to tackle picking out the fabric for your next quilt? I hope my blog post has helped to make you more confident in the quilt shop!

Leave a comment below about your color fears or triumphs and you will be entered into a drawing for the issue of American Patchwork and Quilting with my latest design, A Common Thread. This project could give you some practice in picking fabrics and colors!

Also included in the give-away is my pattern, Scrappy North Stars!

Now that one will really give you the opportunity for choosing colors! Drawing will be held on Tuesday, November 12th. **We have a winner! Congrats, Ellen!**

Happy Fabric Shopping!
Deanne

Scrap Quilting – Be Bold with Color!

Last week I promised to talk about color in my next post. So, here we are! Picking out fabric tends to strike fear into some quilters when they are starting a project. I’m here to say: no fear!

Take a look at the following photos. Some of these colors you would probably not think to put together in a quilt, but look at the result!

I like to make sure there is a good contrast between the fabrics I decide to put together into a block and, ultimately, the whole quilt. Having a contrast emphasizes the design of a block.

Contrast is achieved by considering the value (tint or shade) of the each color you choose. Tint is when white is added to a color to make it lighter and shade is when black is added to a color to make it darker. For example,

pink is a tint of red where maroon is a shade of red.

Another way contrast can be achieved is by combining “warm” and “cool” colors or have blocks that alternate between warm and cool colors throughout a quilt.

Where the 20″ line on my cutting board dissects the color wheel, is considered the dividing line between warm colors on the left and cool colors on the right. Colors close to the dividing line can be used as either.

Here’s a quilt I made that shows you an example of alternating between warm and cool blocks:

Here’s a closer look of a row of the quilt. While I didn’t strictly stick to the cool/warm separation, I did try for the most part.

Planning like this is what I call “planned scrappy” because you are choosing and matching up colors for blocks ahead of time.  True scrappy is when you just sit by a bin of strips and scraps and work with whatever color you pull out. Here’s one of my true scrappy quilts. Aside from planning the black folded corner pieces through out, each block was made by just pulling scraps and adding them to the block.

Here’s a close up of a  few rows:

Here’s a quick experiment you can do with your fabrics to determine how well one contrasts with another. Stack up fabric on your cutting table to do a “mix and match” to get your preferred look.

The above stack does not have a lot of contrast as they are all shaded colors. Now look what happens when you switch out two of the fabrics for two are somewhat lighter:

I switched out the dark green for a truer green and the dark blue for a truer blue. Look how the contrast changes but you’re still using the same colors!

Next here’s some stacks where I have alternated between light and darker within the fabric stacks and then I laid out 3 stacks in warm/cool/warm sequence.

Imagine alternating blocks in those color combinations above! Well, you don’t have to because here is a quilt design using those:

You can even add in a fourth combination of another set of cool colors to get more of those in the quilt. But you get the idea.

So this brings to a close the mini color tutorial. There’s still time to enter the drawing to win my pattern: Follow the Stars!

Leave a comment on this blog with your thoughts on color and you will be entered into the drawing on July 8th! ****We have a winner! Congrats, Debra Miller!****

Happy Quilting!
Deanne