Hello Friends. It seems like everyone is in full swing this month finishing up projects from the winter season. I had a lovely email from one of the Timmins quilters who shared with me a photo of her finished Hunter’s Star quilt. Margaret took part in the weekend workshop back in the fall of 2015. It is so nice to see the work everyone has put into their creations. I love her barn raising layout.
There have been some new quilts started and finished as well. After seeing the “Starlight” quilt I made for one of the girls in hubby’s office last Christmas, Garlene fell in love with the pattern and has made her quilt in mauves and purples and added the pieced border which I opted not to do on mine. Take a look at how different the two quilts look side by side. What a difference fabric selection makes.
I have been thinking a lot lately about colour. On any given day here in the studio students ask,
“What colour goes with this fabric?” “How do I pick colours for my quilt?”
So I thought I would see if I could shed some light on the subject of colour and through the next few posts demystify the colour dilemma.
Let me first introduce you to my favourite tool. I do not like or know how to use a colour wheel. However, I love my 3-in-1 Colour Tool, by Joen Wolfrom. This tool looks like an array of paint chips that include the colours of the colour wheel: blue, red, yellow, green, orange and violet or purple.
Locate your fabric colour on one of the card chips.
The back of the colour cards provides you with a selection of colour schemes to choose from. There are some really big words in this section so I will go through them one by one.
The first is “monochromatic”. A monochromatic colour scheme means using fabric which are all the same colour.
For example, a quilt made from all red fabrics (not counting the background as a colour). You could use all the same red fabric or a variety of reds, but all fabrics are red none the less.
We also call these quilts that use one colour and a background “two colour” quilts. Colour wise, monochromatic quilts are the easiest to pull together.
Now go look in your stash and make a monochromatic block. Hmmmm! We will leave it at that for now. I will cover more next time as we continue to demystify colour and terminology.
With the days rapidly flying by I wanted to remind you that the Rayside Balfour Quilt show is on April 22nd and 23rd. I plan to pop by for a visit and see all the lovely quilts on display. Also, the Northern Neighbours Workshop in Trout Creek is fast approaching. A big shout out to all the quilters attending and I'll see you soon. A big event at the end of the month for our northern communities, with the Quilt Day 9 event in Englehart. I’m coming and with bells on, I know that we will have a hoot of a good time. Just a reminder, Registration for the Northern Ontario Quilting Symposium with Kathy Wylie closes on the 19th of April. The Sunday Apliquick class is full but there are still spaces left in the Saturday Hexie class. Tickets will be available at the door for the Trunk Show if you find yourself free Friday evening. We would love to see you there. So, a busy couple of weeks here in the north, as our weather starts to warm driving becomes bearable once again!
Thanks for dropping by. Until next time, stay safe, happy spring and watch out for deer.