The Quilter's Practical Guide to Color

The opening sentence in this book sums it up: “We all love colour”. Some of us may struggle with the idea of colour theory but there are ways of easing yourself into the subject. 'The Colour Mixing Guide' by Julie Collins (also reviewed in this issue) is a good starting point but this book shifts the focus to using colour in quilting. Starting with a look at how to create good colour schemes using the colour wheel, the first part of the book is devoted to planning a quilt. Value and contrast, texture and scale, using different types of fabric (Predictable and Unpredictable) and how to distinguish your background and foreground fabrics are all explained. These sections are very useful containing practical advice without getting too technical. There are also many ‘Practical Advice’ sections which troubleshoot problems that you may encounter. This is a project book and there are ten quilts to make. What is interesting is that they are all referred to in the descriptive text at the beginning of the book, so you are given an insight into the process of putting these quilts together. You can see how some of the quilts have had their colour schemes changed, how fabrics were auditioned or how the design was used with colour to keep the eyes moving to focal points. Having the finished quilts and understanding how the author changed things around to get there makes this an excellent hands-on teaching tool. The quilts vary in colour and style so you have a good cross section of approaches to choose from, including the ‘Ugly Fabric Challenge’, started with a call for ugly fabrics through Becky Goldsmith’s blog and which lead to a colourful and unoffensive quilt. This book is a very practical approach to colour but what makes it worth having is that it is used according to its combination with all the other considerations of quilt making, so that you are looking at the process as a combination of parts.

Becky get right to the heart of the matter in this release: picking colors for a project is scary! It's also a joy for our quilter's senses, so let's find out why color scares us with Becky's help. Guidelines on seven colors schemes are followed by lessons in value and contrast, the natures of fabric, clear colors, textures and scale and more. And in each section we're given practical advice. The 10 projects challenge us to put our newfound skills to use, such as working with colors we don't like and pairing clear colors with gray colors. This is a juicy skill builder we'll be turning to often.

This book is exactly what the title claims! Becky takes you step-by-step through color theory. The Quilter’s Practical Guide to Color covers the color wheel, color schemes, value, contrast, clarity, texture, scale, designing, auditioning and so much more! In addition to all the invaluable knowledge, there are 10 unique and fun projects! Becky takes the fear out of fabric selection with tip and tricks specifically geared towards quilters.

Stuck in a color rut and afraid to try something new? Becky from Piece O'Cake Designs helps you truly make it 'a piece of cake' to bring new life - and color - into your quilts. With Becky's practical advice on color concepts, you'll be making colorific quilts in no time!

Color is the crossroads of science and art, so one of Goldsmith’s first lessons is to explain how the color wheel works. With that wheel in hand (or mind), Goldsmith explains monochromatic and complementary color schemes, as well as triadic, quadratic, analogous, and rainbow ones. She includes information about color value and contrast, and considerations about color on fabric, the texture and scale of which can affect how color is perceived. In these lessons, Goldsmith offers blocks of practical advice: for example, organized fabric stashes do matter for making quilts. Although the guide is less about quilt-making and more about designing with color, she offers 10 projects dedicated to building skills, including an ugly-fabric challenge, which teaches the process of “auditioning” colors. The author’s motto: “You are the boss of color.