daisydebby

PatDesign is so right about lighting....that's why BearIsGrey is absolutely right: look to nature. Be aware of colors and their settings, time, etc. in nature. That website design-seeds.com is great for a starting out point. Great thread

MargeD

I have a pretty good sense of color, however, when choosing fabrics for quilts, I go with a focus fabric -a floral, geometric, large scale print, then work off that. Using the dots on the selvedge of the focus fabric helps, using a color wheel, picking colors that are opposite, adjacent, etc. on the color wheel. Don't get stuck with just one line of fabric, although they were designed to go together, take your focus fabric and hold it up against colors that you like to see if they work and always pick a light, medium and dark of any of those colors. Too many times, and I'm certainly guilty of this, we pick fabrics in the medium range, then forget to pick up lighter and darker colors. Fortunately fabric companies are making more dark fabrics in the fabric lines that they produce. Don't get discouraged, them more quilts you make the better you will get in choosing the "right" colors for your quilts.

Maggiem

I agree about the importance of light and lighting too, including geographical considerations. Sunlight is very different and colours seem very different depending on where we live in the world - garish here and just nicely saturated somewhere else.

I find that a set of sample squares of a same colour can really help - you see when a blue has been greyed, or left pure and saturated, for example, and this will have an enormous effect on how the colour plays with its neighbours. It's fun to watch how colours interact!

Maggiem

sorry, double posting!

Seaside gal

Two things I notice are - 1. check the lighting in the quilt shop. I try to take the fabric to a window if possible to check the color. And 2. Step away from the fabric and see if the color is really what you want. Sometimes colors look different at a distance.

Retiredandquilting

I think it is a "born with it" issue. I have a great eye for color, I have been told by many people. I find it a natural kind of thing. I go to a fabric store and easily pick fabrics that go together, often, colors that others would not think to put together. It seems to be a natural kind of thing. I am so grateful that I have this ability; I see others who struggle so with deciding on colors. I also think that there are people who have the knack, but lack the confidence to trust their judgment about what colors go with what.

cricket_iscute

Like anything else, color is something that can be learned. I love color and receive many compliments on my color sense. I have taken at least 15 formal in-person classes in color theory and probably have 20 or more books on the subject. The best places to get these classes are at big quilt shows and at university art classes. There are also books out there. Jinny Beyer and Joen Wolfram have been two of my teachers, in person and through their books. If you can locate their books, that would help you. They may be out of print. You can also learn a lot by mixing paints.

I know a lot of quilters don't like the color wheel, and that is probably because they don't understand it. The color wheel is my friend (and yours) ; in fact, one of my favorite things is color. I carry a color wheel in my purse. I'm not going to confuse you by discussing all the color systems there are; we'll just assume you are using the "normal" one for the Western world. I might be able to help you. Please get yourself a color wheel, the stiff paper kind that has a movable dial. Be sure it has lines to indicate complements, triads, split complement, and tetards.

I'll be back later to explain more. I put my back out and I'm in pain.

Dedemac

Color is a hard thing, I have not learned the technical stuff of how to match. But I find I can put together stuff that I like, but I use a program to play with color to see where it fits best in the squares. What I have a problem with is looking at what I want to make and have a particular print or style in my head of what it (the fabric) should look like and can't find it. I don't know if it doesn't exist or just haven't found the right store yet. Just pick what you like, then stack it in the cart or table the walk away for a few minutes, then come back and look at it again after looking at other fabric. This usually tells me if I really like the combination or not.

richardswife

When it comes to painting with oils,, I have no problem (probably because I know if I don't like it I can paint over it) but with fabric things take a different turn, so I just try to make sure I have dark, medium and light fabric for contrast and that seems to work. I also like to choose several fabrics and lay them out together and look from a distance to see if I like the effect. I like what lillybeck said: use what you like and forget about what others think. Actually, we are our own worst critics.

solstice3

I do. It is my quilting buddy, Julie!