The Quilter's Practical Guide to Color Includes 10 Skill-Building Projects

by Goldsmith, Becky

• ISBN13: 9781607058649
• ISBN10: 1607058642
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2015-04-01
• Publisher: C&T Publishing

Summary

Did you know that the biggest struggle for quilters of all types is color selection? Unlock the secrets to winning color combinations from best-selling author Becky Goldsmith of Piece O' Cake Designs. Learn how every quilt has a foreground and a background, how to use clear versus gray colors—plus other essentials that will shake up your design process. Quilters of all skill levels will appreciate Becky's practical, easy-to-understand advice. Put your newfound knowledge to the test with 10 pieced and appliquéd projects designed to focus on specific aspects of color. Includes visual examples to explain all color topics.

Author Biography

Becky Goldsmith has spent many years thinking, learning, and teaching color and quilt design. She and Linda Jenkins started the quilt pattern company Piece O' Cake Designs in 1994. She lives in Sherman, Texas, with her husband. pieceocake.com.

Table of Contents

Introduction

The Color Wheel
How the Color Wheel Works
The True Colors • Primary Colors • Secondary Colors • Tertiary Colors
Neutrals
About Black and White Prints
Color Temperature

Color Schemes
Color Relativity
Monochromatic Color Schemes
Complementary Color Schemes
Split Complementary Color Schemes
Triadic Color Schemes
Quadratic Color Schemes
Analogous Color Schemes
Rainbow Color Schemes

Value and Contrast
Value
Color and Contrast
What Do You See?

The Nature of Fabric
Predictable Fabrics
Solids • Textured Solids • Prints: Dots, Circular Designs, Flowers and Zigzags and Penguins—Oh My • Conversation Prints • Directional Fabric: Stripes and Plaids
Unpredictable Fabrics
Big Prints • Easier-To-Use Big Prints • Big Print Quilt Backs • Unpredictable Hand Dyes

Clarity
Distance and Color
Combining Clear and Gray Colors
Color Clarity and Fabric

Texture and Scale
Actual Texture
Visual Texture
Scale
Combining Different Scales • Scale in Composition

The Structure of a Quilt
Identify the Background And Foreground
Backgrounds
Foregrounds

You Are the Boss of Color
Help—I've fallen in Love With a Photo
Using Colors You Do Not Like
Building Stacks
Focus Fabrics
Finding Inspiration

Design and Audition
The Changeable Nature of Color
Auditioning Pieced Quilts
Auditioning Appliqué Quilts

Subtle Considerations
Reading A Quilt
Following Lines
Giving the Impression of Light

Fabric Basics
Buying Fabric
Organizing Your Stash
Fabric Preparation
Fabric Requirements
Borders
Projects

The Ugly Quilt Challenge (using a random assortment of ugly fabric)

Ode to Fred and Put A Bird On It (using a big print as the background)

Square Play (using a triadic color scheme)

Opposites Attract (using complementary colors)

Tile Tango (using one differently colored block, color scheme)

Say Something (using black & white prints)

Pixie Sticks

Box of Rain (interplay of clear colors and gray colors)

Tick Tock (foreground in bright clear colors / background in grayed colors)

Stairway to Heaven (emphasizing background, shadow, and foreground)

Appendix

Half-Square Triangles

About the Author

Online Color Resources