Originally Posted by
gmac01
I am new to the BH mystery quilt, but am excited to start this one. Can someone give me a brief overview and explain how to use the paint chips when selecting my fabric?
The chips represent the value relationships of the quilt colors. In this case, the brown (or whatever you use in place of brown) has to be darker than the aqua and coral (or whatever you use in place of them), and the aqua and coral have to be darker than the neutrals. Changing the photos of the chips, and of fabrics, to black and white makes it easy to see this.
The second thing the chips represent is hue, if you're going with Bonnie's colors. They show the color family; for example, the orange has a lot of red in it. Having the chip with you when selecting fabric will help you stay away from oranges that have too much yellow in them.
Within the color family, there can be a lot of variation of value and intensity, as long as you maintain the value relationships between the different colors in the quilt. I can go darker with my orange, as long as I stay lighter than my browns. This is where I think Bonnie's photos in the mystery intro, of her own fabrics, really help; you can see the range of intensity and value she uses within each color group. This brings interest to the quilt if you're going scrappy.
The other option is to choose yardage of a single fabric for each color in the quilt, which lots of people do with great results.