Looking at her tips, which are hugely helpful, Charlotte has a Mary Ellen Hopkins approach to quilting, they’re meant to be used & loved. I’m sure if you sat on a quilt at Charlotte’s house she wouldn’t mind!
Charlotte’s color tip:
“1. All greens go together just as all reds and all blues go together and so on. After all, they have the same name. Hence the reason for them to be in the same family. We all have relatives that don’t match. They still belong to the family. They give it spark and make us smile.“
I’m going to add don’t make yourself crazy trying to find “just the right” color when something close will work very well. It’s hard to let go of our own perceptions of what the quilt show look like rather than letting the quilt talk to us.
Take a look at the shading in the picture to the right (it should link over to e-Quilter) Here is a warm color family in pinks & reds. Charlotte’s right. These will all work together, some will be louder and more boisterous than others, however they’re interesting characters. Some will be really subdued and are great supporting characters. Spending some time with solid colors is a good way to begin to understand shading and how essential this can be in a quilt. Several reds will look good in a quilt, maybe even better than using one red. Some colors are so close in shading that most people will not notice a difference if you’re using two different but similar reds in a quilt.
Vicki Welsh has great color pallets on her blog. She spends time looking at the photo then finding colors from the picture that will work together. She also does a darned fine job dyeing fabric.
Inspiration can come from anywhere and not have to match exactly. Joen Wolfrom was a guest on the old Simply Quilts show explaining how she uses photography to inspire quilts. The quilt does not have to look like the photo, just use colors from the photo – shades of colors from the photo that will make a beautiful quilt.
Choosing fabric and thread should be exciting and fun. If it’s becoming stressful take a break and walk away for a little bit. Rely on the help of the shop staff. If it’s busy understand that they’ll be back as soon as they can to help you.
Trust your own judgement. Choosing color is kinda like wine tasting….the more you taste the better you understand wine and flavor profiles…the more time you spend choosing fabric for quilts the better understanding you’ll have of what will work well together.
Happy quilting!
Teri
I love these tips from Charlotte you gave, they are so true. I remember Mary Ellen Hopkins about putting red in every quilt and that all reds go together. It’s all in the blending. Love your blog.
Jayne