The hardest decision for beginning quilters (and for that matter, more experienced quilters) is the color of the fabrics to be used.
"Color is the dimension of fabric that strikes us first, grabs our attention, and beckons us to take a closer look. Perhaps more than any other single element, color influences how we react to a particular fabric or quilt." (Fons and Porter, "Quilters Complete Guide", 1995)
Color has always been one of my hang-ups. I once took a class on color and followed all directions faithfully. I made the charts with fabric scraps, used the color wheel, and wrote the terms besides the groups. I was sure I had internalized all of it. The next time I entered the 100% cotton aisle, I went back into the same old frenzy, which green, which complimentary, which accent. I then fell back on what I call, "Follow the experts" color scheme. I find a certain print I love and pull the colors from it. Can't fail - or can it? Maybe you and I together can look at what some nationally known quilters have to say, and learn something about color.
The book "Quilts, Quilts, Quilts" by Diana McClun and Laura Nownes, (The Quilt Digest Press,1988) has a chapter that deals with different color "schemes." It suggests:
- Monochromatic schemes - shades, tints and tones of one color
Analogous schemes - Adjacent colors on the color wheel--(now, you'll need to find a color wheel!)
Complimentary - Opposite colors on the color wheel
Primary color scheme - red, yellow, blue
Rainbow - all 12 colors on the color wheel
Warm and cool - red,yellow,oranges with green,blue,violet
Light and dark - black and white
Neutral - Enhances other colors, makes good backgrounds
Scrap bag - all colors in your scrap bag
Traditional - a dominant color, a subdominant, and an accent color
Which color scheme was used here? The pineapple is white on white, the background is blue, the print fabric white with green and blue, the borders navy.
The size of the fabric design, called "scale," is also to be considered. A quilt made up of several small scale prints can be pretty blah. A combination of small, medium, large scale prints and solids carry the eye across the quilt. Stripes are difficult to cut and break the flow of the quilt design when pieced unless they are used for a purpose as for borders. I find that tiny geometric patterns are hard to fit into a scheme, also.
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