What is Color Warmth?
Look at a standard color wheel and imagine a line running vertically down its center. The colors to the left, blues and greens, are cool colors. Reds and yellows, to the right, are warm colors. Cool colors tend to recede in a design and warm colors move forward.You can see an example of that characteristic in the block drawings above:
- Top L: two cool colors, darker color comes forward.
- Top R: two medium-light colors, warm orange-yellow comes forward
- Bottom L: two cool darks blend.
- Bottom R: two darks, warm red comes forward.
Color Value of Prints
As you work with quilting fabrics it won't take you long to discover that it's sometimes hard to judge the color value of florals and large prints, because values change throughout the surface of the fabric. Cut in one spot and you have a very light color value -- cut in another and you get a dark. Keep that characteristic in mind as you choose fabrics for your quilts.
