Monochromatic Quilts
 

I recently came across a quilt that was made up of all shades of aqua. It was pieced using all 2x2" squares. It was light in color at one end of the quilt, fading to dark at the other end, giving it a modern look. I have to say that it was stunning. I'm wondering if there are any rules, tips, or tricks working with just one color.

~ C

Huh! I guess you'd have to take a lot of the same things into consideration as you do when figuring out a gradient of fabrics for a bargello. It sounds like a neat quilt.

I wonder if anybody's done a single-color bargello before? Probably...?

I always wonder at gradient quilts. I don't seem to have the patience to plan it out that well. I love the effect, but don't take the time to do it.

I have done two. Let me find pictures. I was very pleased with the results.

Dina

I love monochromatic. Never done one however as my biggest obstacle is fabric selection. You would have to be real picky to get all the right shades of the selected color. I would have to see the fabrics in person as the online colors on different websites have huge variances! And I don’t have a fabric store close that carries near that much inventory to pick from.

Those are beautiful, Dina! I'm thinking that you would have to buy all of the fabric from the same company, or even the same collection, so that all of the colors coordinated. Then again, it might look cool to bring in some off, or muted tones and go for an overall mosaic affect.

~ C

I would choose the color, then as many shades lighter and darker as you could get. Throw in a few that are a little different so it doesn't get boring. Also, mix scale of prints as well. For the lightest you could use your color print on a light background, dark ones could be your color on black/dark background. Be sure and post pics when you are done!

Some ombre fabric would probably work pretty well, for a monochromatic bargello or a modern quilt like tropit described.

My friends and I once saw a monochromatic purple rail fence quilt at a quilt show and we all thought it was the most beautiful quilt there! I stood in front of it for a long time, trying to figure out what made it so gorgeous. I finally realized what it was: she used every shade of purple she could get her hands on, not just lighter and darker shades of the same purple color. There were purples so light, if they were any lighter they'd have been white, and purples so dark they were almost black. There were reddish purples, bluish purples, pinkish purples, every kind of purple. So when my purple-crazy niece got a quilt from me, I made it just like that one!