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Understanding Quilt Block Patterns
Selecting Fabric for Your Blocks
Here is a real live example to include in our quest to better understand the value of color and how it affects the look of a quilt block.
As I chose the colors for The Dragonfly Quilt Block, I was looking for a bright green and a light blue. I thought that would be a fun combination, capturing the essence of a dragonfly buzzing around a pool of water.
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As I was looking at the fabric, I was only looking at the bright vs. the light blue.
Once the block was finished and hanging up on the wall (against a white flannel background), it became obvious that I had chosen only light (or maybe medium) fabrics. In either case, the fabrics were so close together in value that you couldn't really see the individual patches in pattern of the block.
To test my theory, I sewed the same block together, using a darker green with the same blue:
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The same DragonFly quilt block but with a dark green fabric and the same blue. Notice how you can see the pattern of the quilt block better. |
It is very tempting to think that the color of the fabric accounts for the differences in the look of the blocks. Once again, through the magic of Photoshop, these blocks easily become grayscale. And prove my theory that in the first block I put together, the colors were too close in value.
In the greyscale pictures of the blocks below, the top block looks like mud in the greyscale picture on the right. And although dragonflies may love mud, that isn't really the look I was aiming to get.
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DragonFly Block with bright green and light blue fabric |
Greyscale of the Dragonfly Quilt Block using bright green and light blue fabric. |
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DragonFly Block with dark green and light blue fabric |
Greyscale of the Dragonfly Quilt Block using dark green and light blue fabric. |
By looking at the blocks with the fabric in greyscale, you can see more easily that the design is affected by the value more than the actual color.
The QuiltBlockLibrary.com offers a variety of Four Patch, Five Patch, Seven Patch, and Nine Patch Patterns, with suggested color variations. While it is not necessary to stick with the suggested colors, maintaining the placement of dark, light and medium fabrics will allow you to retain the traditional design of the quilt block. Each week, a new video is posted at QuiltBlockLibrary.com. These videos demonstrate how to sew an individual block. The blocks are chosen for a variety of reasons - because of a fun day or holiday that occurs during that week or month; because the block demonstrates a particular skill that is useful for quilters to see and learn; or just because someone has asked! This video demonstrates how to sew the DragonFly Quilt Block. The special occasion is Appreciate a Dragon Day, January 16!
Peaceful Piecing!
www.QuiltBlockLibrary.com
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