The Color Connection

Christine's Color Connection

A newsletter for quilters in love with color

January 2012

You can now read back issues of my newsletter. Just click on Archived Issues

In This Issue

This month features a look at the color concept of value, my "Workshop Schedule," and brief info on my Tahoe Retreat in June.

The Quilter's Color Club has much more on value. You can find my book on my website, at C&T, and in quilt shops and bookstores.

Value: A Key Aspect of Color

Here it is, 2012 and I hope all of you have grand plans for your quilting life in the coming year. I do! Just think of all the color out there . . . .

About the image above: you saw three transparent-circle blocks at the top of my September newsletter. Those blocks evolved into a combination of circles, squares, and rectangles in shot cottons and Marcia Derse prints. You can see the finished quilt after this article.

So, on to value, the lightness or darkness of color. As I mentioned last time, there's a great saying: "Value does all of the work, and color gets all or the credit." From experience as a teacher, I can tell you that when a design isn't working, it's usually because the values are too similar, blending the pieces. (Of course, if that's your goal, a narrower range of values is appropriate.)

To apply the concept of value, consider what it does in a design: value creates a sense of depth (light values recede, dark values come forward) and establishes the design (think of a Log Cabin block that's half light, half dark). There are exceptions, of course, but in general, these are consistent concepts.

Below is a fragment my "Black Opals & Ribbon Candy" quilt, which appeared in the January issue of American Quilter. (You can see the entire quilt and my new pattern on my website.)The squares made up of triangles read as foreground because the dark-value outer triangles establish the design and advance visually. The fabrics that make up the background are not only lighter in value, but are uniformly lighter, making them seem to blend into one plane that's underneath the triangle squares. (The Kaffe Fassett stripe accentuates that sense of layering.)

original colorway

Below are three alternate colorways I created to show the possibilities. You've seen fragments of two of these as the "banners" in earlier issues, but here, in their entirety, you can see what a difference value makes.

In the first colorway, "spring," the triangle squares advance, but the lighter triangles within the darker triangles give the units an airier look. Against the darker values, the three lighter background fabrics play a quiet, supporting role.

colorway 1

In the "neutral" version below, there isn't as strong a sense of layering because the outer triangles in each triangle square are lighter in value than the inner triangles and the "loopy" rectangles. I still see a foreground and background, but the effect is subtler.

colorrway 2

And finally, in this example, which I refer to as the "aboriginal" colorway, I set out to create a design that appears to be on one plane. The values are quite similar, and there isn't a strong sense of depth. In fact, the patterned fabrics advance against the cotton lamé solids and almost read as vertical and horizontal bands.

colorway 3

The take-away lesson here? Though you may have color in mind when you plan a quilt, also consider the values of your chosen fabrics. And make mock-blocks (or, as shown here, a grouping of units) to see what works. There is no substitute for auditioning your fabrics!

You can read (and see) much more about value in an article I'm working on for a future issue of McCall's Quilting.

New Work

Here's the full image of "Transparent Circles." I love modular designs, as you've noticed if you've heard me speak or taken a workshop. And I love basic frameworks within which you can work with color. I started with the circle/square blocks, then "liberated" them with print squares and larger plain squares and rectangles. The most important piece in the quilt? The raspberry rectangle at the lower right, because it grounds the design. I'm teaching this quilt at Sugar Pine Quilt shop February 26.

This is soon be a pattern. The shot cottons are from Kaffe Fassett, the prints from Marcia Derse. They are available in quilt shops and www.gloriouscolor.com. (Not all of the prints seen here on on the site now.)

Scraps

You can read more about my Black Opals quilt in the January issue of American Quilter.

Details and signups for my "Magic Fabrics, Special Effects" retreat at South Lake Tahoe, June 17-20, will be on my website by February 10. I already have a list of interested people, so e-mail me if you'd like to be added. The workshop will explore four special effects:

* Transparency

* Luminosity

* Luster

* Opalescence

We'll be staying at the Big Pines Mountain House, which has a recently remodeled classroom,

bathrooms, and kitchen. The price for the workshop, double occupancy, and all meals is $575; a single room is available for an additional $90.

Class size will be limited to 16. So check out my website anytime after February 10. I'd love to have you join us as we learn to create these amazing effects with fabric.

Lecture and Workshop Schedule

Note: You can often attend guild meetings and take their workshops if you aren't a member. If you're interested in any of these lectures or classes, let me know, and I'll put you in touch with the guild.

February 14 & 15, Folsom, CA, "Magic Fabrics, Special Effects" lecture, "Black Opals and Ribbon Candy" workshop, Folsom Quilt and Fiber Guild

February 18, Lafayette, CA, "Transparency" workshop, The Cotton Patch

February 26, Grass Valley, CA, "Transparent Circles" workshop (new!), Sugar Pine Quilt Shop, (530) 272-5308

March 4, Concord, CA, "Color Camp" workshop, Thimble Creek

March 9 & 10, San Luis Obispo, CA, "Color!" lecture, "Color Camp" workshop, San Luis Obispo Quilters Guild

March 16 &17, Henderson, NV, "Color Camp" and "Luminosity" workshops, Quiltique quilt shop, (702) 997-1695

March 31, Folsom, CA, "Color Camp" workshop, Meissner Sewing Center

April 18, Fairfield, CA, "NCQC Meet the Teachers," www.ncqc.net

April 22 & 24, Arroyo Grande, CA, "Magic Fabrics, Special Effects" lecture, "Luminosity" workshop, Central Coast Quilters

April 26, Nipomo, CA, "Color!" lecture, Olde Towne Quilters of Nipomo

May 14 & 15, Auburn, CA, "Magic Fabrics, Special Effects" lecture, "Black Opals & Ribbon Candy" workshop, Foothill Quilters Guild

May 21 & 22, Merced, CA, "Color!" lecture, "Color Camp" workshop

June 17-20, "Magic Fabrics, Special Effects Retreat." Learn to create the special effects of transparency, opalescence, luminosity, luster, and depth in your quilts using fabrics that have light and life, all in a gorgeous Lake Tahoe, CA, setting.

June 23, Oakland, Ca, "Magic Fabrics, Special Effects" lecture, African American Quilt Guild of Oakland

July 9-13, Sisters, OR, "A Quilter's Affair." I'll be teaching "Lotus Leaves Squared" (July 9), "Color Camp" (July 10 & 11), "In & Out" (July 12), and "Collage Vest" (July 13).

July 19 & 20, Santa Rosa, CA, lecture and workshop TBD, Santa Rosa Quilt Guild

July 21, San Rafael, CA, "Color Camp" workshop, Mt. Tam Quilt Guild

July 26, Groveland, CA, "Color Camp" workshop, Pine Needlers Quilt Guild

August 27 & 28, Santa Clara, CA, "Magic Fabrics, Special Effects" lecture, "Luminosity" workshop

September 9 & 10, Aptos, CA, "Magic Fabrics, Special Effects" lecture, "Luminosity" workshop, Pajaro Valley Quilt Association

September 20 & 21, Benicia, CA, "Magic Fabrics, Special Effects" lecture, "Lumiosity" workshop, Carquinez Straits Stitchers

October 6 & 7, Weaverville, CA, reception (Oct. 6) and "Color Camp" workshop (Oct. 7), Main Street Gallery

Coming in the Next Issue

I plan to write about intensity, the third of the "big three" color concepts, and perhaps the most challenging for quilters. But the careful application of this concept can turn a so-so quilt into something spectacular. You'll see. . . .

If you've received this newsletter, you may have attended one of my workshops or bought one of my books, patterns, or color wheels. It's easy to opt out, below, but I hope you'll stick around to see what's in store. It's all about color, using it, enjoying it, and sharing it with other quilters.

Thank-you!

Contact Info

Christine Barnes

cebarnes@sbcglobal.net
www.christinebarnes.com