Colour Process - Amy Badskirt

This week as part of the Colour Theory for Quilters series, I'm really excited to welcome a group of very talented quilters to talk about colour on my blog - how they approach it, and where they find inspiration for choosing palettes. Today's post is by Amy who blogs at Badskirt. 

When Jess invited me to share my color process with you, I was quite excited. Choosing fabric and pairing colors is my favorite part of sewing. I like to think of it as creating my visual voice. With color, you can set the mood. Warmth (as above), chaos (just below), lightness, conflict, coolness and unease - just a handful of feelings that you can create with color.

My color process begins with the combination of good fabrics and understanding of my personal tastes.   We are fortunate to craft in a time where there are a variety of fabrics available at reasonable costs to suit everyone's personal style.  

But just what is your color style? And how can you find it?  I'm going to tell you a bit about my color style in the hopes that it helps you understand your own. I think this understanding is the foundation of working with color and is the most important step in the craft color process.

When I start a new project, I often start in my meager fabric stash.  I once had an overwhelming collection, but have since narrowed it down to fabrics I truly love. 

What makes a good stash in terms of color? For me, it is having a range of tones that inspire me without being burdened by fabrics and colors that I'm unlikely to use.  My creative voice is loud, but not brash. I choose rich tones and avoid anything wishy-washy. In that sense, my color style is a reflection of me.My close friends would agree that I'm decisive, opinionated, bold and often beating my own drum.  

For the most part, my stash is riddled colors like dark teal, salmon, drab olive, citron and mustard. I buck the primary color trend and aim for the offbeat.  Were I gentle and soft-spoken, you might expect to see a cupboard full of pastels. Instead my stash boils with intensity.

A large part of my process is making lots and lots of fabric stacks before I cut anything out. I audition fabrics from my stash. I want to make sure that the fabrics look good together and they fit my current mood. I don't know about you; but I can't make a light, airy quilt when I'm wearing a sourpuss grimace.

I check how pairings look with just a sliver showing, then I look at larger section.  I shuffle things to make sure they look good in both random placement and well-organized stacks. I take favorites with me into shops to look for complimentary fabrics to get me started. One thing I like to do is to take photos of my combinations, then I step away and come back later to see if I still like it. 

 Like all skills, pairing fabrics takes practice. Give yourself that time.

When I find a combination that works for me, then I like to stay with it for a bit and let it evolve.  The teal, coral and grey square quilt above trickled into a palette for this envelope quilt made with the help of The Beehive quilt bee.  This envelope quilt was inspired by and evolved from Ayumi's envelope project; yet, the color palette and feel are quite different. Ayumi has a distinct, cheerful style which I couldn't emulate. If I had tried, I would have undoubtedly failed.  

In my experience, finding your voice takes time. It takes a willingness to get it wrong and the strength to continually evolve. Whether you are quilting, doing graphic design or painting furniture - give yourself the space to experiment. For many of us, the hardest lesson in shops is that a dress that looks good on someone else may not look good on us. Similarly, it can be difficult to squeeze yourself into someone else's crafting style. Don't be afraid to try on new color combinations, but don't be upset if they don't work out.  

I don't have a favorite color. I don't like purple, and I certainly don't like primary rainbows. Knowing what you don't like is as important and knowing what you enjoy.

Each of the projects shown in this post has a color palette accompanying it. In the coral Schoenrock Cross block above, I've added a sour green to the palette.  I feel this addition would give a nod to spectrum without having to fall back into the limited 8-pack Crayola color box of our childhood. It's a more mature rainbow of sorts.

Of course, the addition of green to this project isn't necessary. This block became a potholder. If it had become a quilt, I might have intentionally left the green out.  When making a color palette, omission can be as important as inclusion.

Revision is very much a part of my color process. When I'm working on a project like this hourglass pillow, I often edit and revise the palette as I go. While this cushion only needed 16 blocks, I made about 20 of them. I then decided what worked best and left out those that didn't suit. In this case, I omitted a royal blue block and a few true reds. 

Another part of my creative color process is delay. The sharded triangle quilt above sat for months while I waited for the perfect colored fabrics to finish off the top row.  I am fortunate to travel a fair bit and keep a mental list of fabric colors that I need for projects. I'd rather wait to finish them, than finish them with something not quite right in terms of color and shape.

I'm lucky that I have a good color memory and can normally "pair" fabrics without having things on hand. I can see a fabric in a shop and know if it will work with others that I have at home. If you don't have that skill (and most people don't), then you might find it handy to make yourself a little swatch book of fabrics and fabric colors to carry with you. It will help you make more informed choices for your stash and may help with your color process.

Speaking of matching fabrics, I'd like to briefly mention my approach to monochromatic combinations. In the earlier examples, I used a fair number of colors in my work. I've included this blue trivet as a means of 

talking about one of my pet peeves - flat, liveless projects. After working in a quilt store, I must admit that I find many monochromatic projects a bit lackluster. When things match too well, they can be stale. 

Using contrasting values, as in little blue trivet, can add punch to a project. Value makes things interesting. Value makes your eye dart across a project.

To better understand value you can visit  

- Rebecca's Color Theory 101 post which is part of this series

- The Value Added Quilt Along posts which I contributed to along with Rachel, Jolene and Leila

- Jess' Value Tutorial

I'll leave you with one final note about my own color process. I've got a bit of a mantra: When things look flat, add some black.  Some times I get to the end of project and find things aren't jumping off page like they should. At other times,  I may want to add a little more oomph early on in a project. When this happens, I incorporate warm charcoal or black. It's nuanced, of course. I choose prints with a balance of tone at pigment. Some projects call for a warm black and cream. Others call for a stark black and white. As Jennifer explained,  colors have context.  In my own loud way, I've embraced the darkness for the brightness it brings.

Understanding your color style can be a challenge, but don't be scared by the idea. You are the best expert on the subject.  Embrace your style whatever it is; let yourself fail; and, most importantly, enjoy the process!

happy crafting from Amy Badskirt

Colour Theory 101: Value and Low Volume

Welcome to the final theory post in the Colour Theory for Quilters series. Today's guest post is by Rebecca of Making Rebecca Lynne - she has done an amazing job explaining Value and Low Volume.

Let us see shall we?  So far we have learned about The Color Wheel and Color Terminology which included all that good stuff having to do with primary, secondary, and tertiary color (<-- tertiary, my personal fav color family).  Then we became experts in combining color in Color Harmony and, not sure about you, but I certainly became a huge fan of this online color tool.  Last week we learned about Color Context and I love how Jennifer described context as "knowing what colors do, when they are all cozying up to each other" as I think that is the perfect segway into talking about low volume which we will get to a little further down in this post.

But, before we jump to Low Volume, we need to chat about Value.  Ready?  Let’s do it…

VALUE

In artsy terms, value is what we are talking about when we describe a color as "light" or "dark".  When we classify color as light versus dark we are describing its "brightness".  To be geeky uber-technical about it...warning: feel free to gloss over this if you are anti-geeky uber-technical by nature...value (or brightness) is based on the amount of light eminating from the color.  The more white the HIGHER the value, the less white the LOWER the value.  The easiest way to think of this is using a grayscale.  And of course this gives me an opportunity to use some fabric examples!

Of course the same value scale applies when we talk about any color...  Such as yellow for example.

Value Challenges for Quilters

To apply this information to what We Do as Quilters we need to recognize the challenges that we face in our medium...in other words fabric.  Painters, illustrators, graphic designers...pssht they've got it easy!  Quilters often use patterned fabrics that combine multiple colors and sometimes multiple values all in one swatch.  Depending on the scale of the fabric pattern if that swatch is cut in half the new swatch creates a change in value range.  For anyone who has ever tried organizing their stash in color order you know you've faced the question of "hunh, well where does this one fit in?"  The pile of fabrics I've depicted below demonstrates my "hunh" or "multicolored" fabric pile in my own stash. 

To get past this challenge, my advice is to use the monochromatic feature on your camera or computer to judge the value of a particularly challenging fabric.  I've done that here with the yellow example from above.  You can see through grayscale how the patterns still have an important role in value.

Creating Contrast using Value.

Right.  Okay, you get it, light versus dark, but why does this matter anyway?  Value is important because it allows us to create contrast.  If colors are close in value they will flatten, if they are varied in value then they will contrast and thereby create depth.  Too close in value = flat.  Far in value = depth.  Take the yellows up above, looking at them in grayscale you can see that the fabrics closer together in color blend together and fall flat.  But, I've taken the darkest yellow (low value) and the lightest yellow (high value) and paired them together below and now you can see the pop - value creating contrast.

        

This is example is also good because the darker yellow fabric has a lighter value pattern which, as you can see, also creates value contrast within the same piece of fabric!  Quilters, we have so many options!

However, if you've diligently read through these Colour Theory Posts then you don't need me to tell you Value is merely one way to create contrast.  Contrast can also be created with color through context as we learned in the last post.  In fact, to push this even further, as fabric enthusiasts we all know contrast can also be achieved by contrasting different textures or fabrics with different scaled patterns.  Oh fabric...how I love thee!  Quick Example?  Sure...

Value Contrast: As we've already seen above in the yellow, value contrast is an important consideration when pairing fabric.  See how it works with these blue solids I paired.  The depth is created by the range in the value.  The value pairing creates an impressive contrast in the grayscale.   This is why monochromatic pairings can often be so compelling.

Color Contrast : But as you already know complementary colors create a wonderful contrast as well and do not require a difference in value.  Complementary colors = Blue and Orange.  I kept the same blue from above but chose an orange with a similar value.  While things look rather flat in the grayscale in color the fabrics vibrate against each other.  And it follows that using complementary colors with different values results in a greater contrast.

LOW VOLUME

So why did I march you through the preamble about value and contrast above?  Well...low volume of course!  The trick to low volume is to consider value and how contrast is created in the ways I mentioned above such as color, pattern, scale, and value.  If I were to tell you that all the fabrics above are considered low volume you may scratch your head and say what?  If you have done any research into the recent low volume craze then you know that what is considered to be low volume covers a vast range. 

 

What is Low Volume?

To put it simply...low volume fabrics live in the high value range of the value scale.  Nevertheless, one visit to the low volume swap flickr page demonstrates that there is a broad scope of what different quilters think of as low volume!

First and foremost, there is no "wrong way" to do low volume.  Please, how ridiculous!  However, after hosting two Low Volume swaps and fielding a multitude of questions on what qualifies as low volume I have found that low volume can be divided into two larger categories.  Pop Low Volume and Muted Low Volume.

Pop Low Volume.  Best described as graphic prints amidst a neutral background, usually white.  This is the low volume style of Malka Dubrowsky who is credited with starting the concept of modern low volume in 2009 with an article she wrote for Quilting Arts magazine.  This style is still very popular four years after that article was written.  It is probably most commonly known in its implementation by Rita of Red Pepper Quilts.  I describe it as "pop" because the design style utilizes the high value background of the fabric as a foundation to allow the graphic print to pop out.  Place a number of these fabrics together in a quilt and voila you have a very cheerful, largely neutral quilt, with fun popping graphics playing against each other.  TIP:  If you gravitate towards this style of low volume look for fabrics with a large ratio of white, a single colored print or at the maximum a print composed of no more than two colors, and the simpler the pattern - the more graphic - the better.

Muted Low Volume.  "If quiet had a color this would be it." - Sarah from Issabella the Cat's daughter when describing Sarah's low volume quilt.   {Go check it out, Sarah's quilt features fabrics from the first Low Volume Fabric Swap hosted on my blog.}  Muted low volume really is, well, muted!  This style utilizes fabrics in soft colors found in the high value range such as light yellows, light purples, soft grays, tans.  This style is not new to quilting as using muted low volume fabrics can be found in every period of American quilting.  Today one source of its popularity amongst modern quilters can be attributed to the beautiful Sunday Morning Quilt featured in the pages of the book Sunday Morning Quilts.  TIP: Thinking of putting together a muted low volume quilt?  In addition to gathering fabrics in soft colors and muted tones also consider choosing fabrics with "soft patterns" such as florals, small dots, scripted text.  Notice the bold chevron print above, in addition to the soft colors the pattern has a sketchy quality to it which softens the normally striking angles of the chevron.  Smaller scale prints will work well in this low volume style but what works best is a combination of different prints paired together to add some interest to this type of low volume quilt.  

No matter which style of Low Volume you prefer here is are some things to consider when picking your fabrics for your next low volume project...

Low Volume Fabric Considerations

• fabric with a large ratio of white or neutral   

• consider the complexity of pattern

• minimal color contrast, a pattern with too many colors will distract from the neutral background

• color element, brighter/saturated color for pop low volume, soft colors for muted low volume

Well, the time has come for me to say goodbye.  I hope some of this information was helpful!  Clearly, I could go on and on about this forever but I am pretty sure Jess wants her blog back.  I'd love to hear your thoughts on value, low volume, design and pretty much anything quilt or art related!  Do stop by my blog and have a chat if you have the chance...

- rebecca lynne

Thanks so much Rebecca! Next week will be a series of guest posts from various quilters all about how they use colour and what inspires their colour choices.