Fabric color "value" question for scrappy quilting
 

I'm just starting to get into scrappy quilt designs and trying to use my accumulated scraps up. One thing I realize is that you have got to separate your lights and darks to make the most impact in the design. I have a fairly good eye, plus one of those red celophane "viewers" to help you see color value (darks and lights), but even with the viewer I'm finding that most of my scraps fall into a mid range, neither light OR dark.... What do you do with those? Colors like pinks and reds and medium blues and greens... not dark, nor light? How do you use them???

I'm hoping some of you more experienced quilters will see my post!
Thanks in advance...

I find my scraps seem to fall into the same category, so I add a white or cream http://www.quiltingboard.com/picture...s-t221286.html

I have the same issue. Taking photos of different layouts helps me see the values better.

many of us find that our 'stash' is full of medium values...just remember- value is 'relative' any medium can be 'dark' when placed by a lighter fabric- or 'light' when placed next to a darker one...it takes some work to sort them but start with finding your 'lightest medium' and your darkest mediums...and of course just adding white or black/dark blue will give you good separation. values change according to what is next to them- when in doubt take a picture of a line of fabrics together and look at it in 'gray scale' then the color is 'out of the picture' and only the value is showing- this sometimes helps figure out which could be your light or which your dark. :)

Can you also play with warm/cool contrast? A medium orange and a medium green have good contrast between them even if the values are fairly close. I've seen some lovely quilts where the contrast is warm/cool rather than dark/light.

I also like using white at my light which makes everything else a dark, or black/navy which makes almost everything else a light.

Maybe someone needs to go shopping for lights and darks!

In order to see light ... there must be dark.

In otherwords, value is relative to what it is adjacent to.

I'm also in the middle of a scrappy quilt and yes, most of my stash is "medium" - and there are also fabrics that can be both depending on how/where you cut it.

I keep three piles ... light, dark and medium.

Sometimes I will use the medium as a light, and sometimes as a dark - depending on what I put next to it. If my fingers next touch a black square - I'm grabing a medium color to use as a light. And visa versa.

Bright mediums can be the trickiest so I use them sparingly in an "anything goes" quilt and try to save them for a "bright scrappy" quilt pairing them with either white or black.

Thank you so much for the helpful advice. I'm sure this gets easier with time, right? I definitely need to go shopping for some lights and darks... as well as smaller scale prints. I tend to buy medium to large scale prints, which doesn't help when quilting 'scrappy'.

I've taken pictures of my fabrics with the camera on black and white setting. That helped me.

Remember that a medium value can be light or dark depending on what you put next to it. If you put a medium value next to a dark color it will look light and if you put it next to a light color it can look dark. They are so versatile.

Have fun and don't worry to much about it. The best scrappy quilts I have ever seen have a wide range fabric. The more different fabrics, the merrier.

EDIT: Don't be shy with the large print either. When you cut them you get a wide variety of color and pattern in each piece but when brought back into a quilt they blend in just like any other fabric.

Have you looked at the scrappy archive here on QB? Do it several times and you will start to see what you like and don't like.

EDIT AGAIN: Lots of talk about having lights and darks in scrappies but they don't have to be. Most of my scrappy quilts are, I don't know what they are but I never plan L&D, I just cut and place and move aruond untill an overall balance is achieved. I never use lights and darks to make a quilt, it just happens as it comes together.
peace