A newsletter for quilters and modern sewists who love color

January 2024

Greetings color enthusiasts! A fresh year seems like the perfect time to review the basic color concepts—value, visual temperature, and intensity—using one of my favorite traditional blocks, Sawtooth Star. At left is an image of four Sawtooth Stars, cropped to make the secondary pattern (where the four semi-solid squares meet) the primary pattern. If you've followed me for very long, you know I LOVE shifting the design elements in a traditional block to see the potential in the secondary pattern. Read on to see how I've developed a series of these blocks, with a focus on value, visual temperature, and intensity. Once you understand these concepts, yep, "You can do color!"

Mock-Blocks—an Invaluable Tool for Quilters

I've been making cut-and-paste blocks to audition fabric ideas for many years. I have an 11" x 17" printer, perfect to printing 10-inch blocks that I've drawn in Illustrator. (There are numerous apps for doing illustrations—I just don't know enough to recommend others.)

Here's the outline of a 10" Sawtooth Star. I cut finished-size pieces and glue them to the paper with an Avery glue stick. I freely "spend" some of my fabric on mock-blocks because they show me exactly how the patterns and colors will "behave" in the sewn block.

The large center square is wonderful for showcasing Kaffe Fassett Collective prints. In the block below, you also see Kaffe "spots" for the star points. Dots as star points? Why not!? Tiddly Winks in the center seemed a logical choice and suggested the teal Grunge for the corners. The colors are mostly cool, with warm reds and yellow-greens in the center. Because the dots are darker in value, and the Grunge slightly lighter in value, you clearly see the star design.

Color Cue: In quilts, dark values generally advance visually; light values generally recede and often read as background.

Below is another version, with a slightly different teal in the corners. Because the dots are lighter in value, the star points recede. These impressions are stronger that farther you are from the block.

In the example below, an interesting illusion occurs: the blue in the center fabric seems to blend into the blue of the star points. Because the red Grunge is a warm color, the corner squares advance.

Color Cue: Warm colors (red, orange, yellow) advance, and cool colors (green, blue, violet) recede. Intermediate colors, such as blue-violet, are generally seen as the temperature of the larger primary-color component; that is, blue-violet is seen as cool because it is three-fourths blue and one-fourth red (which comes from the violet).

In the block below, the intense, warm magenta almost takes over. The dark-value center square is cool, balancing the corner squares.

Let's look at some options, remembering that they are highly subjective. (The differences are less obvious in the photos than in real life.) The Sawtooth Star below has warm, medium-value yellow-green squares in the corners. It's OK, but I wanted to audition other possibilities.

A more intense yellow-green, below, matches the intense colors in the center square. I like the energy, but let's keep looking . . .

I like the block below best. A darker-value yellow-green (darker than the previous two colors) anchors the block and adds a richness. I realize the photo is slightly darker overall; you'll need to trust me that this yellow-green is a winner!

In the example below, the intense orange aboriginal print seems a bit too bright for the softness of the center and star-point colors. The orange corners are the first thing I see.

I find this less-intense "creamsicle orange" more in harmony with the center and star points. The difference is slight, but pleasing. However, once again, your preferences may be different from mine. Color is truly in the eye of the beholder!

So . . . what might these blocks look like when arranged bock-to-block?

Yikes! I love the secondary pattern, where four semi-solid squares meet, but otherwise, it's a bit chaotic, especially with this wonderful B&W background fabric—some of the stripes are "chopped" where the first row of blocks meets the second.

How might they look separated? I don't have a sashing fabric in mind, but I like airing out the blocks, below. However, the secondary pattern has been lost. If the sashing is very low-volume, I can visualize semi-solid squares as setting stones, creating a nine-patch pattern that links the blocks by their corners. That sounds like fun!

A less energetic background fabric might be in order, like the one below. It certainly has a calming effect and puts the emphasis on the colorful fabrics. Because the violet squares are darker in value, they advance, creating the illusion of a vortex.

I hope to finish this project (or at least the quilt top) so I can develop a pattern. The colors and fabric designs make me happy, a real plus in this season of gray days and, thankfully, frequent precipitation. Thanks for reading and looking this far. I welcome your questions and ideas!

From My Followers . . .

This new section features quilts made from my patterns by you, my followers. I look forward to showcasing your work here and on my Facebook and Instagram pages, so email your pics, and see them on social media!

First up is "Jigsaw" by Judy Kelling. These blocks interlock and "click" visually for a strong, graphic effect—well done! Great choice of prints and solid colors. I love the B&W stripe in the sashing; it ties together and sets off the blocks beautifully. The B&W "ditzy daisy" print is perfect alternating with the low-volume, gray-and-white background in the other blocks.

My pattern, below, is available in my website Store as a hard copy and in my Etsy Shop (button is at the end) as a PDF download.

Ralph Hornung gets extra credit for using three different dots in his "Best Friends" quilt. The gray-and-black dot is ideal for the skinny triangles (they separate nicely from the colorful half-square triangles) and the pieced borders. Narrow sashing with widely spaced dots airs out the blocks and is a pleasing contrast to the smaller-scale background triangles. Charming!

This pattern is also available as a hard copy in my website Store and as a PDF download in my Etsy Shop (button is at the end).

Thank you, thank you, Judy and Ralph, for sharing your quilts. Seeing what others do with my designs makes me happy and keeps me working on new projects—always a good thing!

This 'n That

Visit the Tutorials page of my website and scroll down to "Newsletters" for "back issues." Some are more like show-and-tell; others have solid how-to info. You can join the list for "Christine's Color Connection" on my Home page or below.

To see my latest work, follow me on Instagram and Facebook and visit my Etsy Shop (buttons at lower right).

p.s.

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