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Color Value - How to Work with Color Value in Your Quilts

By Janet Wickell, About.com

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More Ways to Preview Color Value

A portion of the 150+ blocks from a Dear Jane swap, quickly arranged from the center in light-dark-medium rounds.

© Janet Wickell

More Ways to Preview Color Value

There are some easy techniques that help us preview color value.

  • Use a computer drawing program to create a mock-up outline of the quilt. Save the "blank" document. Fill-in areas with light to dark shades of grey, using the "save as" command to keep your blank document intact. Reopen the blank document and create another variation.

  • View fabrics through a value filter such as Martingale & Company's Ruby Beholder. Filters are helpful, but they are not a sure-technique, because different filter colors display warm and cool fabrics in varying ways.

  • Use a scanner or copier to make black and white photocopies of fabrics, then sort them for color value. It's easier to judge value when you remove the influence of color.

  • View fabrics from a distance. Buy a peephole at the hardware store--the little magnifying glass you look through to see who's knocking at your door. Turn it around and look through it backwards to get a "far away" view of your fabrics or blocks.

  • Find a book that focuses on color tips for quilters.

  • Pay attention to quilts at shows and online. What value arrangements do you like or dislike?

Practice is the key to color value success--keep working on it and you'll feel confident about your fabric selections in no time.

Index: Color Value - How to Work with Color Value in Your Quilts

  1. Introduction to Color Value
  2. Color Warmth Affects Color Value
  3. Alter Color Value to Change the Quilt Design
  4. More Ways to Preview Color Value

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  1. Home
  2. Home & Garden
  3. Quilting
  4. Quiltmaking Techniques
  5. 1 - Choosing Colors
  6. Color Value for Quilters - Choosing Colors and Fabrics for Quilts - Color Value

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