The Quilter's Bible. Linda
is so much to choose from – a collection of fabric seen together can yield interesting combinations that you might not have thought of otherwise. When choosing fabrics it might help to take the following points into consideration – colour, value, contrast and variety.
Colour, Value, Contrast and Variety
Colour – This is a driving force for quilters. Many people select fabrics after a colour scheme and quilt design have been decided but not always; falling in love with a particular fabric can be the starting point for a whole design and its colour scheme. Think about what works for you colourwise. What colours are you drawn to or repelled by? Do you like bold or subtle prints, bright or muted colours? If you are a beginner, it is usually best to work with colours you like and feel comfortable with.
Value – This is the lightness or darkness of a colour and many quilters find that a mixture of light, medium and dark colours produces the most visually satisfying result. A quilt that has fabrics all with the same colour value can look dull and boring. Fabric viewed through coloured lenses can reveal differences in value. Use a red lens for warm colours and a green lens for cool colours (see colour wheel diagram below and Design Tools: 3&4).
Contrast – This is often what gives a quilt additional interest, and contrast can be the juxtaposition of many things, warm against cool, light against dark, print against plain, large motif against small. Once you have chosen a preliminary collection of fabrics, look at them again to see if there is sufficient contrast.
Variety – This refers to the mix of fabrics used, as these can make a quilt more visually stimulating. Consider the style and scale of fabrics, mixing small prints with larger ones, and combining styles, such as florals with stripes, or geometrics with curves. Plain (solid) colours can work with busy prints to tie a design together.
Bright Idea
To get ideas about colours and fabric variety, look at fabric collections by fabric manufacturers. A collection will be the result of much hard work by a designer blending colours, value, contrast and variety.
Using Colour
A successful quilt design depends on many elements and colour choice is near the top of the list of things to get right. Probably the best advice is to choose the colours you like, especially if the project is to be used in your own home. It also helps to observe colour combinations you see around you and make a note of those that appeal to you. Taking a closer look at a colour wheel can also help you make colour decisions.
The colour wheel is a tool used to help make colour choices, showing the relationships between colours.
Common Colour Terms
It is helpful to learn some basic terms describing colour.
Hue – another name for colour.
Primary colours – blue, red and yellow.
Secondary colours – violet, green and orange.
Tertiary colours – yellow-orange, red-orange, red-violet, blue-violet, blue-green and yellow-green.
Analogous colours – colours next to each other in the colour wheel.
Complementary colours – colours opposite each other in the wheel.
Value – a colour’s lightness or darkness.
Tint – a colour with white added.
Tone – a colour with grey added.
Shade – a colour with black added.
The Colour Wheel
This is a tool that artists have used for centuries and is useful for quilters too. A colour wheel is a way of arranging colours so their relationships can be seen. At its simplest the colour wheel is based on twelve colours. Three of these – blue, red and yellow – are described as primary colours. These are pure colours seen when light is split and they cannot be created from other colours.
When primary colours are combined in equal amounts they create three secondary colours of violet, green and orange (blue + red = violet; blue + yellow = green; red + yellow = orange).
When primary colours are combined with secondary colours in equal amounts they create six tertiary or intermediate colours of yellow-orange, red-orange, red-violet, blue-violet, blue-green and yellow-green.
These twelve colours are the ones seen in the colour wheel diagram. Colours are also described as ‘warm’ or ‘cool’ and having a ‘value’, that is, a lightness or darkness. Colour becomes even more interesting once you start creating tints, tones and shades. A tint is a colour with white added. Tints are often called pastels and are normally soft, light and airy. A tone is a colour with grey added. Tones have a similar muted quality and can be a bit dull but act as a foil to brighter colours. A shade is a colour with black added. Shades can be rich, dark and imposing. The intensity of a colour also plays a part and highly saturated colours, such as a really brilliant red or yellow, can be too forceful and overwhelming and are best used in moderation.
Colours can be further described by their position on the colour wheel. Colours next to each other are the most similar and are described as analogous. Those colours that are opposite each other are the most different and are called complementary. Sometimes a finished quilt can seem flat and dull and this may be because it has been made with fabrics all having the same value or with too many colours with the same tone. A mixture of light, medium and dark will create more visual interest, as will a splash of a complementary colour. A value finder is a useful tool for judging the value and tone of a fabric’s colour (see Design Tools: Value finder).
Colour Combinations
There are many colour combinations that work, and many books devoted to the subject. Try the following suggestions for choosing a scheme.
One colour – Choose just one colour and find fabrics in that colour in darks, mediums and lights, some with small prints, some with large. For a different look this single colour could have a white or black added to it for a fresh feel.
Side by side colours – Look at the colour wheel and choose three colours that are next to each other in the colour wheel. These colours will harmonize well together. You could widen the range to five colours side by side or even seven.