I love playing with colour. Always have and I guess I always will. And when I started quilting, it was the colourful fabrics which grabbed me first.
I quickly realized that I looked at colour differently than my fellow quilters. I had an analytical approach which often solved the colour dilemmas of my quilting friends.
So when I started my Youtube channel, the knowledge that I wanted to share the most was my approach to colouring your quilt.
I soon discovered that just because I loved the subject, making a video about it wasn't any easier than any other video. Condensing a workshop into four 10 minute videos means that I am only covering the highlights. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it's enough information to help you make your colour selection more intuitive to your personal taste.
You can find the handouts for Part 2, 3, & 4 by clicking here. Click on each of the photos below to watch the video:
Part #1 - What is Colour
Part #2 - Colour Harmony
Part #3 - Finding your Colour Zone
Part #4 - Choosing Colours for you Quilt
So when you start a new quilt pattern and you are choosing fabrics, these are the key steps.
Step 1 - Identify the Special Elements that you like about the pattern
Step 2- Identify the colour hues, type of colour, colour harmony and value range
Step 3 -Take your colour zone and see where the overlap is.
Do you have the same type of colour?
Do you have the same colours?
Do you have the same harmony?
Do you have the same value range?
And where the answer is NO, using the five techniques in my last video, how can you shift the pattern's colours to accommodate yours?
Most times we end up doing several shifts. Again, no wrong answers.
Step 4 - Where can you possibly push your colour zone for more interesting results? This is not a requirement. This is just an exercise to see you can move a bit out of your comfort zone and get a different kind of result.
I hope you have enjoyed this series. I do have a lecture and a workshop for guilds on Quilt Colour Theory. If you are interested, please email me at info@justgetitdonequilts.com
Happy sewing.
Hi Karen,
ou mentioned the difficulty of condensing a 2-hour workshop into 4 10-min videos. My question is, do you offer this 2-hour workshop? Is it online or do you schedule them? I've watched and rewatched your color videos and would love to learn even more about color.
Thanks,
Abigail
Karen would love to view the 4 videos on color but cannot gain access. Please advise how to gain access. By the way love your Blog, great stuff.
Hi Karen. Love your videos. I am having trouble getting your first video on color theory to play for me. No trouble watching 2-4, it's just the first video. Am I doing something wrong or has it been taken down?
Having just recently found your youtube videos I have now watched them all. Your clear and concise way of explaining things really works for me. For the first time in over 60 years of playing with fabric I think I now "get it" about hue, tint, shade and tone. Now I see where I've gone off-track in the past with my colors and how I can achieve the results I really want. Thank you a million times! I'm so excited to move on to the next project using your handouts on color - knowing I can shop my stash with confidence!
As an episodic quilter, I don't keep up, but when the 'bug' strikes me, I want to be able to reconnect with your terrific site! Inspirational videos!
COLOR: THREAD
I have just begun to use neutral thread instead of white for piecing and quilting: gray, taupe, and beige. But there are many shades of those colors. How to do you find truly neutral NEUTRALS? I ordered some gray, but the taupes I see online are more varied, including yellowy taupe, which I would not want for a predominately blue quilt. Beige seems to be more variable yet.
Please help me find NEUTRAL!