Choosing fabrics and colors for a quilt is often an exciting and challenging job for quilters.  Fabric and color are the first things you notice in a quilt.  How wonderful when your fabrics work well together and how disappointing with they don't.  Colors and fabrics are very personal decisions; what may appeal to you may not appeal to your best friend.  And, her choices may seem bizarre to you.  While I don't pretend to have all the answers, here are a few ideas about fabric and color that you may find useful.  
Combining Fabrics in Quilts
Two main factors determine which fabrics to combine: the characteristic of the print and the color of the fabric.  I like to combine small, medium, and large design prints.  This variety in scale adds to the visual texture of a quilt.  I include light, medium, and dark value fabrics so the quilt has contrast and the designs are clear.

A simple way to combine fabric is to choose one fabric that contains several colors.  Then select other coordinating fabrics.

Another idea is to use formal color relationships from a color wheel and work within a specific color scheme.  The quilt shown at the right is an example of using colors (blues and greens) that are beside each other on the color wheel.  This is called an analogous color scheme.  Other options are discussed below.

Because it's often difficult to visualize a quilt when it's in the planning stages, many quilters will sketch their proposed quilt on graph paper and use colored pencils to preview their ideas before buying fabric.  Electric Quilt computer design software is an excellent resource for previewing colors and fabrics.
NOTE:  When making scrap quilts, value, not color, is most important.  You will want to separate your scraps, not by colors, but,  into three categories: lights, mediums, and darks.  Determining values can sometimes (depending on the fabric) be a little tricky.  A tip I learned in a Karen Combs workshop, Combing Through Your Scraps, is to use the wrong side of any questionable fabric―it immediately becomes either a light or medium.  Once sorted, all fabrics within a category can be interchanged with others in the same group.   

Of all the possible fabric combinations in quiltmaking, scrap quilts can be a challenge at first.  When I first started making scrap quilts I had to preview each fabric as I sewed it into the blocks.  Now I just combine like values and stitch at random (well, usually).  It's really kind of fun and hasn't taken long to turn me into a scrap-aholic!

Color Wheel

Color is simply a matter of personal taste.  If you like a particular color combination, then it's okay to use it.  If you had the opportunity to study color, you would learn that all colors go together.  A color wheel shows the relationship of colors.  To understand the color wheel there are a few terms to know:

Hue:      Another name for color
Tint:      Color + White
Tone:    Color + Gray
Shade:  Color + Black
Value:   The lightness or darkness of a color

Colors can affect what we think and feel (our moods).  The reactions we have to a design―anger, warmth, power, purity―can all be brought into an image through the use of color.

Black:  the color of authority and power.

White:  innocence and purity.

Red:  the most stimulating color on the color wheel.  It can stimulate faster heart rate, influence rage and/or anger and can also stimulate appetite.

Blue:  invokes peace, tranquility and loyalty, but can also be cold and depressing.

Green:  a difficult color to master, yet it is one of the most relaxing.  Dark green is masculine and conservative and implies wealth.

Purple:  color of royalty and gives the impression of luxury, wealth and sophistication.

The color wheel at the right shows the difference in value from a very light color in the center, traveling through each color's tint, hue, and shade, to a much darker value of that same color on the outside of the wheel.

Click here or on the color wheel to find an interactive Color Blender where you can play with various colors to see the range of colors and values between any two colors. 

A color scheme is a combination of colors that harmonize with each other.  There are five basic color schemes:

Achromatic:  without color.  An achromatic color scheme consists of the interplay of black, white, and shades of gray.


Monochromatic:  a combination of various values, shades, tints, or tones of a color.  Sometimes the color is also combined with white or black.


Complimentary:  a combination of two colors that are opposite each other on the color wheel.  The colors can be combined as pure hues or as tints, tones, and shades.  Yellow and purple are one such example.


Analogous:  a combination of two or more colors located next to each other on the color wheel,  Blue, blue-violet, and violet are analogous colors.  The combined colors can all be pure and intense, dulled and of low intensity or any combination of shade, tone or tint that is visually pleasing.  Most people find that they can easily create a successful combination of analogous colors.


Polychromatic:  containing several colors.  Please note, however, that although many colors are used in this log cabin quilt, the colors on the "light" side of each block are all of a lighter value than the colors used on the "dark" side.  You can easily see the pattern of the quilt.

 

It's All About Value and Contrast

The light or dark quality of a color is called value and it's just as important to the appearance of a quilt as the colors you choose.  The design of a block is established by the placement of contrasting fabrics and colors.  It's useful to design your quilt working only in gray scale, using a pencil and graph paper or your computer drawing program.

When you're unsure of the value of your fabrics, there are a couple of things you can do.  Make a black and white photocopy of your fabrics―this alone may help you determine which fabrics are light, medium and dark.  Another tip is to  lay them side by side, from light to dark, step back and squint your eyes; then with a little rearranging you can achieve the right gradation of values. 

It's important to have adequate contrast between fabrics to define pattern lines.  In many quilts it's not necessarily the colors, but the value or contrast of fabrics that make it a winner.  Below are examples of the Variable Star block.  Look how the placement of values dramatically alters the blocks.  It's important to know the look you want to achieve in your quilt when planning fabric and color placement.

Resources

Color Play, by Joen Wolfrom, published by C & T Publishing, $27.95.  Broaden your color experience and stretch your imagination with creative color play.  Learn how variations of pure color; tints, shades, and tones affect the mood of a quilt through sample fabric arrangements.  Lots of colorful photos of quilts.

Electric Quilt complete quilt design software, made by The Electric Quilt Company, EQ6 (the newest version) is about $150.  A user-friendly design and drawing program for quiltmakers, includes lots of color and fabric swatches for design purposes.   For more information visit www.electricquilt.com. 

Fabric Shopping with Alex Anderson, by Alex Anderson, published by C & T Publishing, $14.95.  Whether you a beginning quilter or a seasoned expert, selecting the perfect fabrics for a quilting project can be overwhelming.  Learn Alex's easy method for choosing fabrics and have the time of your life on your next trip to the fabric store.

Quilter's Complete Guide by Marianne Fons & Liz Porter, published by Oxmoor House, $22.95.  A book that will give you valuable instruction in the art of quiltmaking including a nice section on colors for quilts.