Like many of you here I used to watch Alex Anderson on TV.. I was smart and recorded as many of her shows that I could.... Thankfully..

The best tip I ever got in my life came from her..It was a show on color coordination. She showed how much more vibriant quilts could be by using the light, med, and dark color theme.. Now I use it when I do any quilt top..

Do any others here use that color rule? Or do you do it differently?

It's all about contrast! Value (light to dark) is one kind of contrast.

I also like to have scale contrast - small scale prints, some medium, and some larger (and maybe a more neutral background). A quilt made with all small scale prints looks prim and dull. A quilt with all large scale is "mushy" - they all blend together. But if you have a good combination of different sized prints, the quilt tends to be more interesting and it "keeps the eye moving".

Thanks Cathe...That is the kind of answer I am looking for..I am self taught..Until recently I never bought a book.. I just watched Alex A. on TV is all.. I never even knew quilting forums existed until I joined here..

I know I need to broaden my horizon.. I need to look at quilting as an expanding art form and right now I am very limited in my knowledge..

I also have found if you "audition" your fabrics that can help. For instance I recently bought a red hat fabric that had a cream back ground with red and purple gloves toss but when I layed it next to a few of the intended blocks. I said whoa that will NOT work. :oops: So it is back to the design board, I had earlier discovered the original purple water drops fabric wasn't going to work either. So I still haven't solved this deliemma and I was so hopeing to finish this before sis's birthday in Nov. :?

Another trick to check values is to take a digital photo of your fabrics, download them into the computer and then change the photo to black and white. It's amazing what you discover.

I'll think I have darks, mediums and lights but will discover several lights or darks will read medium. What an eye opener!

Another concern in art quilts is that some colors "receed" and some "jump into the forground". In general lighter colors jump while darker colors receed. But Intensity can change that.