Christine's Color Connection

A newsletter for quilters in love with color

May 2013

You can read articles on different aspects of color in my Archived Issues.

The Quilter's Color Club has lots of info on every aspect of color. You can find my book on my website .

Check out my lecture and workshop schedule at the end of this newsletter. I'm always adding new dates.

2013 Retreats

May greetings! I invite you to check out the Retreat page of my website for details on my "Conquer Color: You can Do It!" Retreat at Sugar Pine Quilt Shop in July, and "Transparency" retreat (also at Sugar Pine) in early November. (The mock-block below is an example of layered transparency.) The Sugar Pine classroom has lovely natural light, and room for eight students, each with her own long table. You'll get lots of individual attention and a fabulous quilt shop next door!

I Love Stripes!

If you've heard me talk about stripes in a lecture or class, you know that I am hopelessly addicted to this category of fabrics. Take a look at what stripes can do for a block or quilt design:

* They provide crisp geometric contrast in a quilt that contains florals or other curvilinear designs.
* Stripes help establish the design of a block or quilt, clearly defining the boundaries of different pieces.
* Multicolor stripes automatically add accent colors to a quilt plan. If you think your block or quilt looks too safe, try adding a striped fabric that contains several colors.

See how I used different stripes in the following King's Crown blocks:

In the block above, a wavy stripe in the background helps to organize the block design and puts the emphasis on the center elements. (Notice the wide striped fabric with dots in the corners of the block.)

Stripes can be very organic, like the batik in the center of this block. The corner-square fabric has both lines and dots, making a casual check pattern. All but the center fabric are by Marcia Derse, one of my favorite fabric designers.

This block illustrates the potential for striped fabrics to make secondary patterns in a repeat-block quilt. If you put four of these blocks together, you'd see a four-patch unit where they meet, with the stripes going in opposite directions.

See "Puss in the Corner on the Courthouse Steps" on page 29 of my book The Quilter's Color Club for an example of stripes used in the background and the borders. As I said, I'm an addict!

New in the Store. . .

I've added two neutral Gelato fabrics, one gray (714) and one beige (101), plus four yummy Gradations: 25, 29, 47, 76. You'll find them at the end of each grouping on the Store page of my site.

Here's a 12-inch block that uses Gradations fabrics (and a black-and-white stripe from my stash) for the center unit, with a strip of gray Gelato fabric surrounding. Can you see why I have "ombré fever"???

Next time. . .

Some wonderful work by students, my newest quilt, "Urban Ombrés," and a look at modern color combinations.

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 events, let me know, and I'll put you in touch with the guild.

2013

Featured Workshop:

May 25, Concord, CA, "Elegant Circles," Thimble Creek Quilt Shop, (925) 676-5522

Elegant CC, final

May 18, Vallejo, CA, "Color Camp" workshop, Vallejo Piecemakers quilt guild

May 19, Fair Oaks, CA, "Collage Vest" workshop (day 1), Thistle Dew Quilt Shop

May 25, Concord, CA, "Elegant Circles" workshop, Thimble Creek Quilt Shop

June 2, Fair Oaks, CA, "Collage Vest" workshop (day 2), Thistle Dew Quilt Shop

June 8, Grass Valley, "Urban Ombrés" quilt workshop, Sugar Pine Quilt Shop, email me for details (this is a new quilt not yet on my website)

July 17, Fairfield, CA, "Meet the Teachers," Northern California Quilt Council

July 26-28, Grass Valley, CA, "Conquer Color-You Can Do It" retreat, Sugar Pine Quilt Shop

August, 22 & 23, Citrus Heights, CA, lecture and workshop TBD, Golden Valley Quilt Guild

August 26 & 27, Red Bluff, CA, "Magic Fabrics" lecture, "Lustrous Squares" workshop, Sun Country Quilters

October 10 & 11, Oceanside, CA, "Magic Fabrics, Special Effects" lecture, "Luminosity" workshop, El Camino Quilt Guild

November 1-4, Grass Valley, CA, "Transparency: Parent/Child and Layered Strategies" retreat, Sugar Pine Quilt Shop

2014

February 7 & 8, Burlingame, CA, "Transparency" workshop and "Black Opals & Ribbon Candy" workshop, San Francisco Quilters Quiltaway retreat

February 15 & 16, Fresno, CA, "Magic Fabrics" lecture, "Collage" workshop, Fresno Fiberarts Guild

March 21 & 22, Pasco, WA, "Featured Artist," Tri-Cities Quilters' Guild of Kennewick, Pasco, and Richland

April 11 & 12, Templeton, CA, "Color!" lecture, "Black Opals & Ribbon Candy" workshop, Almond County Quilt Guild

May 17-19, Long Island, NY, lecture and workshop TBD, Long Island Quilters' Society

October 9-11, Indianapolis, IN, lecture and workshop TBD, Quilters' Guild of Indianapolis

About This Newsletter

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