Color Theory: Value

I'm joining the BoulderMQG in a year long color theory study. It will be similar to normal block of the month programs but rather than a different quilt block each month we will be given a color theory challenge to apply to our chosen block.

I decided to go literal with my fabric choices by going with all solids that match as closely as I can to the color wheel. It's a departure from my usual prints but I want to explore the color in as pure a form as possible.

My chosen colors are Kona Cotton Solids. Starting with yellow going clockwise the colors are; Citrus, Lime, Clover, Ultra Marine, Pacific, Deep Blue, Tulip, Cerise, Poppy, Tangerine, Orange, and Papaya. It was hard to capture the color differences in the red/orange range but it's there.

As far as blocks go, I've always wanted to do one of those circle-a-day quilts so decided I will use divided circles for my color study quilt blocks. I'm excited about the concept and may even try to work in some quilt-as-you-go techniques from my QAYG presentation last year. You see more about that here.

The challenge for January is value. This can be explored in a number of ways. Value within a single color, referred to as a monochromatic color scheme. Value as it pertains to the entire color wheel. Or value in a gray scale form. I think I will be doing the gray scale as the rest of the quilt will be loaded with color.

The photo below shows my fabrics arranged in color wheel order and how they appear when stripped of color so only the value is evident. As you can see, value order does not coincide with color order.

The order is more apparent in the photo below.

The next photo shows the reordered fabrics based on value. I found the orange and yellow/green were hard to sequence. It appears as though the orange is darker in value than the yellow/green but when I switched them it looked the same. Notice that most of the colors fall in the mid value range.

When I choose fabrics for my quilts, I am often guilty of relying more on color than value. Most of the fabrics in my stash are mid value, pure hue colors. I have built up a fair collection of lighter values in the form of low volume prints but am lacking when it comes to darker values. Darker colors have just never appealed to me as much as the pure hues do. Even the idea for this quilt will be strongly based on pure hue as I want to really see the various color combinations that are possible. Maybe another time I will explore the color/value side of things in more depth.

This isn't the first time I've explored color but it is the first time I've focused specifically on color and fabric together. See my Color Inspiration series for the previous color explorations. I'm thinking about adding new colors to the series this year.

If you'd like to learn more about the BoulderMQG Color Theory Quilt go here. You're welcome to join us even if you aren't a member. Stay up to date by following BoulderMQG on Instagram. If you play along be sure to use #bouldermqgcolorstudy19 so we can see your work.

I'll post each month about the color challenge and my progress on my Instagram as well as progress posts here from time to time.

Hope your 2019 is off to a good start.

Aqua

Welcome back to my Color Inspiration series. This month I'm looking at aqua.

It's hot, hot, hot, and dry, dry, dry here in Colorado.  The weather has me dreaming of the beautiful, clear, aqua waters of a beach like Trunk Bay in the Virgin Islands. I had the best time of my life snorkeling around the little islands shown below.

Have you packed your bags yet?  Pleeeeease take me with you.  : )

Aqua is the quintessential color of sandy beaches and inviting swimming pools. After all, the word aqua is Latin for water. It's a very serene, calm, and refreshing color. 

If you think turquoise instead of aqua though, you might envision the southwest United States.  Places like New Mexico and Arizona. Things like turquoise gates, fences and window trim . . . 

Thinking of the southwest also calls to mind turquoise jewelry. This beautiful piece by my daughter mixes a touch of southwest turquoise with an ocean theme. You can see more jewelry on her website, Emily Claire Studio.

Aqua, turquoise, robin's egg blue, verdigris, spruce, teal, mint, azure . . . these are just some of the words that describe variations of this lovely color. Aqua is a mix of blue and green with a touch of white. Take it to the darker side and you have teal. In terms of web colors, aqua is considered the same as cyan. 

When I looked around my home environment, I realized aqua doesn't play much of a part. Years ago, we had a little southwest flavor in our home decor with a dusty teal accent wall and hints of aqua here and there. At the time we were influenced by visiting Taos NM on a regular basis. Times have changed, as has our home, and there's not much aqua or turquoise to be found . . . except when it comes to quilting.

Looking through my quilts, I've made quite a few using a cool color range. While they don't all use strictly aqua fabrics, many use fairly equal amounts of green fabrics and blue fabrics, with the end result being an overall aqua feeling. This quilt was made for a dear friend and her island home in the Pacific Northwest and is probably the most aqua of all. 

One of my all time favorite quilts is this one made from the Cascade pattern. It is mostly aquas and greens accented with purple. I think aqua and purple can be a stunning color combination. 

Another new quilt features a similar aqua and purple combination, but with the emphasis leaning more strongly toward the blues. Watch for this one to be a new pattern soon.

In addition to these quilts, I've had a few fabric combos pulled for a long time that feature aqua. The first combines lovely variations of aqua with touches of chartreuse and gray. The chartreuse brings a real zing to the calmness of the aqua and gray. Love it! I have another fabric grouping featuring mostly aquas with an accent of citrine. Love that group too. 

Then there's my cool colored stripe collection which reminds me of the beach. Hmmm . . . must get busy and start making quilts with these lovely fabric combos.

Probably a good thing I'm not a knitter or I'd be rather distracted from my fabrics by this beautiful variegated blue-green yarn. Gorgeous.

Wrapping up this post with some aqua vegetation. In Colorado we have a lot of blue spruce trees. Now I usually think of trees as green, but I never think of a blue spruce as being either blue or green. It's kind of a dusty aqua. Spruce. We planted this one when it was a single, little, tiny sprout only about 4 inches tall. Now it's well over 30 feet and way way too close to our front porch. What were we thinking? 

In keeping with the challenge my daughter gave me at the beginning of my color series, I'm including more true aqua leaves to finish up. You know I love leaves.  : )  Once you start looking it's really not hard to find leaves in every color of the rainbow. Seriously. Try it. 

When I started this color series, my intention was to really look for the color in my own personal world. To see the color around me in my house, my environment and my experiences. For that reason I've chosen to use my own photos rather than rely on the abundance of beautiful photos and color schemes available through sites like Pinterest and Design Seeds. These sites are wonderful places for inspiration on color but I want my series to be personal . . . representative of the color I see around me.

You can see all my other color stories under the Color Inspiration tab at the top of my blog. If you'd like to see additional beautiful color images, you can follow my Pinterest color boards here. Just look for the specific color boards or my Color Scheme board. There are some beautiful color images.

I challenge you to look around your home, your neighborhood, your work and really see the colors in your world. Go look for some Aqua in your life. Thanks for reading.

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Corals

I'm getting back to my Color Inspiration series with a new post on one of my favorite colors . . . Coral.

The color Coral can lean toward the orange side with names like Salmon, Tangerine, Bittersweet, Peach. Other times it leans toward the pink side with names like Watermelon, Flamingo or Blush. Coral can be hard to define. What seems coral in one instance might seem pink in another. It can be soft almost peach like or it can be vibrant and intense with a lot of red undertones. One of my favorite color combinations is a true coral paired with tangerine and fuchsia. I really love these colors used together.

For years, my favorite sweatshirt was a lovely coral color. I wore it until the cuffs were in complete tatters. I also have a fair share of other corals in my wardrobe. Lots of coral t-shirts, a couple of sweaters, and these accessories that cover the whole tangerine to fuchsia range. Love love them. They make me happy.

It's flower planting time here in Colorado and I'm a sucker for all the beautiful coral, soft orange, pink and fuchsia flowers. You don't want to go to the garden center with me. Trust me. It takes forever for me to settle on what to buy. I want everything. They're all just so pretty and colorful.

I have a decent collection of coral in my fabric stash. Recently, I pulled these lovely hues with thoughts of a summer version of my drunkard's path quilt from my quilt along.

I've also made a few bee blocks over the years that have touches of coral.

Coral mixed with aqua and a touch of chartreuse in these Amy Butler fabrics makes a lively color scheme. I'm working on new versions of this design which will soon be a pattern so stay tuned.

Coral is also a popular color for jewelry. My daughter has made several lovely pieces showcasing coral colors.

I'll sum up this coral post with a few more images showing the range of corals I've photographed lately.

When I started this color series, my intention was to really look for the color in my own personal world. To see the color around me in my house, my environment and my experiences. For that reason I've chosen to use my own photos rather than rely on the abundance of beautiful photos and color schemes available through sites like Pinterest and Design Seeds. These sites are wonderful places for inspiration on color but I want my series to be personal . . . representative of the color I see around me.

You can see all my other color stories under the Color Inspiration tab at the top of my blog. If you'd like to see additional beautiful color images, you can follow my Pinterest color boards here. Just look for the specific color boards or my Color Scheme board. There are some beautiful color images.

I challenge you to look around your home, your neighborhood, your work and really see the colors in your world. Go look for some Coral in your life. Thanks for reading.

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Sharing My Greens

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  

It seems like a great day to share my greens. Green has been my favorite color for quite awhile. In my house. In my clothes. In my quilting.

I've been thinking about pulling my greens and making a really saturated all green quilt. Maybe using little bits of just about everything I have. Super scrappy and improv.

I've also been toying with a green Kaffe quilt. Who knows where or when these ideas might take shape but it's fun playing around with them.

It might also be time to finally get this green beauty quilted. It's been hanging with the other finished tops for way too long. Hate to admit that far too many of my quilts end up hanging in my cabinet awaiting completion.

Lastly my green checkerboard went off to be quilted this week. I don't have a photo of the finished top but you can get the idea here. It will soon be finished and on my bed. WaHoo!  I'll share finished photos once it's all done.

While you're in a green state of mind jump over to my green color post for even more green inspiration. And while you're at it visit all the other color inspiration posts here.

Hope you enjoyed a little green in your world today. I'll be enjoying a green beer or two tonight. Cheers!    : )

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White: A Good Place to Begin

White brings to mind gentleness, softness, purity, cleanliness, innocence, perfection. White feels fresh. White is considered the opposite of black or darkness. It represents light and all that is good and pure in the world. We can always use more good in the world.

White also marks new beginnings and it's where I'm beginning 2016.

I like to think of white as a clean blank canvas . . . a perfect place to start the new year. Here's my design wall, all cleared and ready for new quilty goodness to develop . . .

I especially identify with white in winter, but not for the obvious reasons of it being the color of snow. Although living in Colorado we do get our fair share of white stuff in the winter. Thankfully our house doesn't look like this very often . . .

During the Christmas season, my home is decked out in holiday decorations. It's colorful and full. Very full. But with the start of the new year I enjoy putting all those decorations away and being left with a simplified space. A clean slate.

White frees my mind from the clutter and distraction of all the color I usually surround myself with. White calms, refreshes, and renews my soul.

For years I have replaced all the colorful holiday decor with simple white dishes. They have a calm, quietness about them.

I also have other white-scapes throughout my home, like this collection of white pitchers . . .

And these vintage collections . . .

The glass vases below are filled with mementos of my Mom. Her white lacy blouses. Her white gloves. Strands of her pearls.

My husband used white for his sculptures titled "Together Again" that pays homage to his parents.

This a Chihuly glass piece from the Denver Botanical Gardens show.

White is readily found in nature too. Besides snow, there are fluffy white clouds . . . next time you look at the sky take notice of all the colors in the 'white' clouds. Grays, blues, yellows . . .

White sandy beaches . . . and some pale white skin to match.

We may not have white capped waves here in Colorado but we do have plenty of white water in our rushing mountain streams . . .

There are beautiful white blooming trees and flowers in spring . . .

Spring also brings plenty of fluffy white dandelion seed pods . . .

I realized I have always had gray and white kitties. Both Opal and Leo have white paws, chins and bellies. I almost tripped over this one as I headed down the stairs. It's not his usual spot and he had no intention of moving . . .

White comes in many colors. If you've ever tried to choose white paint you know what I mean. Warm whites. Cool whites. Bright white. Antique white. Whites with a touch of blue, pink, yellow, green.

Whether you think of white as a color or not, no one would deny it certainly is associated with many positive qualities. If you care to learn more about whether white is even considered a color or not this article looks at both sides of the argument and is worth a read.

Here's to my clean slate. It's time to begin . . .

When I started this color series, my intention was to really look for the color in my own personal world. To see the color around me in my house, my environment and my experiences. For that reason I've chosen to use my own photos rather than rely on the abundance of beautiful photos and color schemes available through sites like Pinterest and Design Seeds. These sites are wonderful places for inspiration on color but I want my series to be personal . . . representative of the color I see around me. You can see all my other color stories under the Color Inspiration tab at the top of my blog. If you'd like to see additional beautiful color images, you can follow my Pinterest color boards here. Just look for the specific color boards or my Color Scheme board.

I challenge you to look around your home, your neighborhood, your work and really see the colors in your world. Go look for some White in your life. Thanks for reading.

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