Monday, March 25, 2013

Class Recap: Color Theory for the Modern Quilter

Our president, Jessica, led about half of our guild in a Color Theory class on Saturday, March 23 at Pennington Quilt Works! Some of it was technical, but she did a great job of combining the jargon with hard examples via slideshow.  Jess also had us working in groups, and individually, to practice our color skills. We even had our very own Vanna:

Color Theory for the Modern Quilter
Thanks, Robin!

First, Jess explained the differences between the two color wheels (the traditional one you probably used in elementary school, and the one most people use with computers). We had a handy cheat sheet to help us figure out which colors were analogous, complimentary, etc.

Color Theory for the Modern Quilter 

Working with paint chips and fabric stacks. I already feel myself looking at color differently... more below.

Color Theory for the Modern Quilter Color Theory for the Modern Quilter 

Here we all are staring at our cameras and phones - did you know that if you take a picture of a stack of fabrics in black and white, you can see their values perfectly, and thus order them easily from lightest to darkest?

Color Theory for the Modern Quilter
(This was the correct order for these paint chips!)

Color Theory for the Modern Quilter Color Theory for the Modern Quilter 

Jess shows some of her amazing quilts and explains how she would describe them based on color theory. Modern quilts are so much about color - it's a lot to keep in the back in your head, but knowing the theory behind it can be very useful!

We also got to play with fabric. Thank goodness Jess has plenty. I have seen her stash - I can verify this is just part of it!

Color Theory for the Modern Quilter 
 FABRIC

Color Theory for the Modern Quilter 
 Here I am, diving for fabric.. big surprise. Thanks to Kristina, our treasurer, for capturing this moment, as well as several others on this page.

Color Theory for the Modern Quilter 

We made a bunch of bundles based on mini challenges. For example, Jess gave each of us one fabric we had to use in a bundle. At once point we had to include one fabric that was the only color of its kind in the bundle. One of Kristina's bundles is above.

Color Theory for the Modern Quilter Color Theory for the Modern Quilter Color Theory for the Modern Quilter 

Many of us found ourselves picking fabrics we usually wouldn't pick, or enjoying color schemes we usually shy away from or never would consider. The top picture is one of my favorite combos (orange, yellow, and purple - a split compliment on the color wheel) even though I learned purple and yellow have the largest contrast. The middle palette was just me playing around, and I found myself liking pink a lot more than usual. The bottom was pretty much an accident - at the end we were just throwing fabric together! I love it though!

 Color Theory for the Modern Quilter 

This was one of my favorites - something of an analogous compliment (blue, blue violet, and violet, which are next to each other on the color wheel, and across from orange). Now I REALLY want to make a quilt from these fabrics and colors.

I should have taken more pictures of other people's bundles but I was so busy! I made at least 7, haha. If you have pictures from the workshop, feel free to upload them to our Flickr group!

Thanks again for a great day, Jess!

P.S. Here are the links referred to in the class - I will also add them to our "Links" page at the top.

-Jess S.