I agree that high contrast is needed for that quilt (Outside The Box). I've taken many classes by renowned color experts, Katie Pasquini-Masopust and others. And I've learned to 'see' color better. Katie teaches overlays which is useful to learn tints and shades of colors. I learned a lot from Sandy Bonsib who took me into a quilt shop and showed me primary, secondary and tertiary colors side by side. How lucky am I!? But, my concern is that you say you don't see the orange or blue in a certain red unless they are side by side. I'm not sure if this is a visual problem or you just need lessons and practice. I guess if I were you I would cut some swatches and make my own little color wheel. There are great tools and instructions online on how to do this. Try thecolourguru.wordpress.com,
http://www.colorspire.com/overview/, or google 'color wheel projects' on Pinterest. Those will get you started. I hope this all has been helpful, keep us posted please.