No 51 – Learn the basic principles of colour

“There are three primary colours: red, blue and yellow. They are the building blocks of all other colours. The secondary colours are violet (blue and red), green (yellow and blue), and orange (red and yellow). They are composed by the equal mixture of two primaries. All other colours are referred to as tertiary, because they are mixtures of a primary and a secondary colour.”

Colour is one of the most important tools of quilting to understand and by using the right colours and values together you can create a stunning quilt. So when do we first start looking at the colour of a quilt?

Often we see a quilt made up that we are attracted to and it is the colours that draw us to it initially. We then look for the pattern and the exact fabrics we have seen in the quilt so we can make our own copy. By doing this we are enhancing our pattern understanding and sewing skills but not really learning about colour.

So why not take the next step and start learning to choose your own colours. There are some good books on colour and also colour wheels that you can buy to assist you in choosing your fabrics. Try choosing a pattern you want to make then picking a favourite piece of patterned fabric as the basis for your colour scheme.

Years ago, NZ Quilter Ronnie Rutter, from Wellington, said to choose a base colour /fabric and then choose all other colours to go with it and expand them out likes segments of an orange. When you look at them like this you can instantly see if some thing doesn’t quite look right. You may have a green in there that is too yellow or too blue compared with the other colours. By understanding colours you learn to realise what works and what doesn’t, what colours go together or compliment each other.

I worked with Ronnie’s technique and had a gorgeous patterned rose fabric for a nine patch quilt. I chose all the other colours to go with this and ended up with a lovely coloured quilt that was my own and yet did not end up using the original fabric that I based my colour palette on!

Over the years I have found that the more you choose your own fabrics and play with colour the easier it gets. You seem to intuitively know the reasons why colours work together and why they don’t.

Gets some books out of the library on colour or better still take the opportunity in a class to learn about colour, make up your own colour wheel from your stash of fabrics, buy a colour wheel and have fun!

It would be good to hear how you approach colour, what scares you, what works. Why not add a comment and let us know.

Catherine