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The Art of Choosing: Light vs. Dark

Hi, I'm Jeni Baker!
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T u e s d a y, M a r c h 1 5 , 2 0 1 1 Here I share my
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The Art of Choosing is a series discussing fabric, color, and the fabric selection process! Here's what's been
posted so far:

1. Recognizing a Fabric's Overall Color

2. Folding
3. Stash Storage
4. Organizing Your Stash by Color
5. Building a Well Rounded Stash
6. Supplementing a Fabric Line
7. Reader Stashes
8. Building a Scheme Around a Single Fabric
9. Building a Scheme Around a Photograph
This Week: Light vs. Dark SEARCH

Today we're going to talk about putting together a Light vs. Dark color palette! Quilts made using this type of Search
color palette are generally called Value Quits. I browsed around flickr for some examples:
NEW IN MY SHOP

Bear Paw Pillow Pattern

The Art of Choosing: Light vs. Dark, originally uploaded by jenib320.

1. Values Quilt , 2. log cabin batik top, 3. Value quilt top in Seaside, 4. Value quilt in progress, 5. I Think I Love You,
6. Values quilt all pieced, 7. Cushion, 8. fassett value - example, 9. Purple & Blue Values Quilt

For my examples today, I did three different color palettes. The first is a traditional light and dark rainbow of
colors. The second is light and dark fabrics in a single color (in my case purple!). The third is a 2 color palette
using light pinks and dark yellows. There are so many different patterns you can achieve with this technique!

1. Light vs. Dark Rainbow

Lights
 Round Wooden Beads

The Art of Choosing: Light vs. Dark, originally uploaded by jenib320.

When pulling my lights I tried to focus on pastel colored fabrics. Think easter egg and baby colors. This could
also include fabrics with light or white backgrounds as long as the accent colors aren't too dark.

Darks

Cotton Twill Tape

The Art of Choosing: Light vs. Dark, originally uploaded by jenib320.

I had a little trouble with the darks, since I don't have a lot in my stash. Instead it became about finding more
saturated colors, which when used with the lights will give the same effect. I avoided all fabrics with light
colored backgrounds and tried to stay away from fabrics with large white accents.

Finished Stack

Cotton Webbing

INSTAGRAM @JENIB320

The Art of Choosing: Light vs. Dark, originally uploaded by jenib320.

Here is my finished palette!

These are a few fabrics I choose not to use when pulling my stacks.

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The Art of Choosing: Light vs. Dark, originally uploaded by jenib320. Jeni Baker

1. Weekends by Erin McMorris - While this is a pastel like color, it is a tad too dark for the lights.
2. Bijoux by Heather Bailey - This is too dark for the lights and too light for the darks!
3. Modern Meadow by Joel Dewberry - This was another in the middle print, not light or dark enough for either
pile.
4. Hope Valley by Denyse Schmidt - This has a light background but dark accents, doesn't fit well in either pile.
5. Sugar Snap by Melissa Averinos - Too much balance of light and dark colors.
6. Neo Geo - Light background but the accents are too dark!

2. Light vs. Dark Single Color

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I WROTE A BOOK!

The Art of Choosing: Light vs. Dark, originally uploaded by jenib320.

For this palette I pulled lots of purple fabrics, separating them into light and dark. I tried to stick to one general
shade of purple, in this case red-toned purples. This would be a fun stack for a monochromatic quilt!

3. Light vs. Dark Two Color $$ SAVING PATTERN BUNDLES

The Art of Choosing: Light vs. Dark, originally uploaded by jenib320.
Here I decided to choose two different colors, pulling light pinks and dark yellows. It gives the color palette a
nice contrast and really makes the yellow pop.

We're getting close to wrapping up this series! Next week's post will be on Warm vs. Cool. What other types of
color palettes would you like to see built here? :)

Posted by Jeni Baker

Labels: Fabric , The Art of Choosing

16 comments :
Tennjenny March 15, 2011 at 2:44 PM

this is great -- thanks!

Reply

Eva March 15, 2011 at 2:53 PM

I really love this series! Thank you for all the tips and the peek behind the scenes! It's so cool to see how other
people arrive at the fabric choices they make!

Reply

Jolene March 15, 2011 at 3:14 PM

I've fallen in love with that last stack. It would make a completely yummy quilt!

Reply

Angela {fussycut} March 15, 2011 at 3:27 PM

Talk about eye candy!! and I love those value quilts!

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qltmom9 March 15, 2011 at 4:11 PM

OOooo...that is SOOO pretty! I think 90% of my fabrics are mediums, or like the ones you chose not to
use...frustrating OFTEN!

I bought a pyrex dish (white with shiny gold paint) today and thought of you. I'm going to put jewelry in it in the
bathroom.

Lucy~

Reply

Nicole Follow the White Bunny March 15, 2011 at 4:11 PM

You must have a considerable stash to be pulling all these lovely combo's from. Good point about the saturated
colours counting as 'darks'.

Reply

Anonymous March 15, 2011 at 4:19 PM

Perfectly explained!! You have the yummiest fabric selection....swoon!!!

Reply

Rachel at Stitched in Color March 15, 2011 at 9:06 PM

For some reason I don't think about fabrics in terms of lights vs. darks. Good food for thought here. I like your palate
piles at the end!

Reply

Naturally Carol March 15, 2011 at 11:23 PM

That bit about the pale pink making the yellow pop was very interesting..I shall bear that in mind choosing colours.

Reply

Anna March 15, 2011 at 11:39 PM

love these jeni, great examples of value. :)

Reply

ColleenaMareena March 16, 2011 at 1:06 AM

That cushion from Flickr made me think of this awesome post by Tula Pink:

http://tulapink.com/2010/05/11/experimenting-part-ii/

One day when Heather Ross makes an awesome boy-themed collection, I will get a special credit card, and make my
three boys three matching quilts, with 1 being regular fabric, one bleached, and one with color remover. It's going to
be epic, I can tell. :)

Thanks for another great post! Maybe someday you could do a "Photographing Fabric" series or post!? That would
be very fun, and super helpful (for me, at least!).

Reply

Anonymous March 16, 2011 at 1:57 PM

Jeni, you gotta write this as an ebook!!! Seriously! It's so so so good!

Reply

Debbie March 17, 2011 at 9:21 PM

excellent series!

Reply

Elena March 18, 2011 at 10:35 AM

Excellent excellent post!!! This really helps guide me in the right direction when pulling fabrics! I always tend to
stick with one collection, so this is a huge eye opener.

I'd love to see how to make different color combinations and how to make different shades work. Like, I love pink
and green, but certain shades of each don't work that well together. Like the Gucci red and green is wayyyyy
different than Christmas red and green. Make sense?

Reply

Michelle D. April 6, 2011 at 11:15 PM

I love the pink and yellow together! Dark vs. Light = beautiful! I would totally make a quilt out of those fabrics!
They're just so yummy! =)

Reply

Carol A. August 15, 2012 at 6:12 AM

 This series is so interesting and helpful-thanks for all the info put together in a way that is so easy to follow.

Reply

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