Color

For all of you want to be quilters out there (I know the world is overflowing with you), I want to share something I think is invaluable to making a great quilt.  COLOR.  You can have a beautiful pattern, a great concept, but if you don't understand color....your quilt will be less than it could be.

So, what do you need to know to understand color better?   There are many different aspects to color choices.  So, today I'll focus on something small.  The color wheel.  Colors have an opposite, and opposites attract.   Or I should say, opposites are attractive.  When you are planning a quilt, or a scrapbook page, or decorating a room, think about color.    You can do various things with the color wheel.  Pick a color, and go straight straight across the color wheel, and that is the color that will make the original color POP! This is called the complementary color. 

Red and Green are complements, and nature has tons of great examples.

Now, there are various shades within these colors, so you don't have to be bright...you can go dark and light.  

You can also do analogous colors.  This is any three colors next to each other on the color wheel.  You'll find this often in nature.  Look at greenery for a great example.

Yellow, Orange, and Red are all next to each other on the color wheel.  And, as you can see, when they are used together, it is very striking.

Now there are many different color harmonies to choose from.  In addition to complementary, and analogous, there are the following: triadic, split complementary, rectangular,  and square.  To read more about these go to the following website....www.tigercolor.com/color-lab/color-theory/color-harmonies.htm

Now, comes your assignment, (I know, who knew bloggers started giving people assignments)...look at the world around you.  But, this time really look.  Look at the colors God has put together.  Nature is amazing, and once you pay attention, your understanding of color will deepen.  Also, pay attention to magazine adds, cereal boxes, fabric, designer paper, everything around you.  Note the colors used!    See if you can identify what the color scheme is.

Alright, enough of color for today.  If you want me to explain about value, fabric selection, etc.... let me know with a little comment.   Happy Weekend.