I like Alex Anderson's scrappy methods. She uses lights and darks AND mediums. I think by using 3 values it gives just the right amount of definition to the colors in the quilts. In other words, scrappy or not, it makes the quilt's colors pop rather than looking flat, or muddied. Just my .02 cents worth.
I like what Alex says in the following paragraphs:
"... Color selection remains a mystery for many quilters of all levels. Sometimes the most meticulous stitcher just does not have the eye for color. Alex explains that she spent the first 15 years of her quilting career – despite her college degree in art – feeling uncertain about colors and fabric choices in her quilts. One day she realized she was sorting her quilt fabrics by colors, not values.
“Value is simply a matter of light, medium or dark,” she explained. To make a successful quilt, Alex says the quilter must use all three fabric values – a light, a medium, and a dark. An exception might be made for baby quilts, she added, since soft colors generally tend to be light in the choices we make for babies.
“In the olden days when I taught, I would tell people to put it in three piles,” Alex said. She has since changed her teaching method. “Now when I teach, I’ll say, ‘Put it in the light pile. Put it in the dark pile,” The third pile is the medium pile. All colors that cannot be identified as either light or dark are put in it.
Just when you think your trip to the fabric store will be easier, Alex notes that light and dark fabrics are not easy to find. This is because manufacturers create the fabrics that will sell more easily, most of which fall into the medium category.
Many of the light and dark fabrics are boring, she explained. Companies concentrate on producing a bulk of fabrics with medium color values, then add in only a couple of lights and darks that might coordinate.
But, if you don’t have lights and darks in your quilts, they will look flat. To step around this obstacle, Alex advises quilters to always have an eye open for fabrics with light and dark values. When you run across these fabrics, buy a little for your stash. ... "
Please, see this site where she explains more:
http://how-to-quilt.com/articles/151...rson-color.php