| Last week we learned how to make your own color wheel. This week we're going to focus on the importance of value in quiltmaking. Value  | Click here for a larger view.
| Value is very important in quiltmaking. In fact, it can be the single most important factor in the success of a design. Value refers to the lightness or darkness of a color. Many quilt designs are so totally dependent on the correct use of value that the design is lost if errors in placement are made. Think of a Log Cabin quilt -- without the contrast of light and dark values within each block, the distinction of the design disappears and the pattern blends together. Triangle Log Cabin, Pepper Quilt and Zigzag Log Cabin are excellent antique  | | Click here for a larger view.
| examples of correct value placement in three Log Cabin variations: Barn Raising, Fields and Furrows, and Sunshine and Shadows with a Barn Raising variation. The first two use a variety of light fabrics and a variety of dark fabrics with very distinctive differences in values to form the designs. The third quilt uses a mixture of dark and medium values with white solid as the light value. This illustrates that white is certainly the ultimate light-value fabric.  | | Click here for a larger view.
| Scrap designs are also very dependent on value. Because so many different colors and fabrics are used in these quilts, it is often only value placement that determines the design. Darker values are more dominant than lighter values. Exploding Star and Stars & Stripes are two good examples of scrap quilts that use dominance and contrast in value to form a design. Exploding Star uses only light and dark value fabrics with a great deal of contrast to make the star designs seem to stand out on the quilt.  | | Click here for a larger view.
| Stars & Stripes plays the light, medium and dark values against each other to make the small dark-value center stars seem to float against their light-value backgrounds. Because the light fabrics separate the medium and dark fabrics in this quilt, the design doesn't run together, creating a very distinctive contrast. Value can also be used to create depth or a three-dimensional appearance. The Attic Window and Tumbling Block patterns are two value-dependent traditional designs. This antique Razz-Ma-Tazz quilt also uses value to create depth. It is actually made of eight-pointed star blocks but the placement of dark, medium and light fabrics in the block gives it the effect of a three-dimensional X. The block drawing makes this effect even more obvious.  |  | | Value is essential to create depth in Attic Window and Tumbling Block designs. | Dark, medium and light values give Razz-Ma-Tazz its 3-D effect. | | Click here for a larger view. |  | | Click here for a larger view.
| It is usually easy to determine differences in value within a single color. Light blue is easily distinguished from medium blue and medium blue from dark blue. And, it is easy to see that a light color such as yellow is lighter than a dark color such as violet unless you are using a very dark shade of yellow and a very light tint of violet. But, how do we determine value when using colors such as red and green or blue and orange or even a print with another print or solid?  | | Click here for a larger view.
| Quilters have devised many ways to distinguish value in fabrics. Try the different methods to find the one that works best for you. Practice with solids and prints from your own collection or play with bolts of fabric at your local quilt shop. Ask the shop owner for her opinion of value to compare with yours. Soon assigning a value to each fabric will be a simple task. Now you have learned about light versus medium versus dark values. However, don't immediately begin to sort your fabrics into values. You may have noticed that value changes as fabrics are combined. Value is relative. The three blue fabrics shown here include a dark, medium and light value. 
  However, when separated into two pairs, the medium-value blue is no longer medium -- it becomes either dark-value or light-value depending on the value of the fabric with which it is placed. As shown in the drawing below, this change in value can have a dramatic effect on the overall appearance of a design.
 | | Medium value changes depending on the value of the other color. Click here for Tips to Determine Value. | Intensity Intensity is the characteristic of color that determines the style. It refers to the purity or the saturation of the color. The pure colors on our color wheel are high intensity -- the loudest, most vibrant and exciting colors. The tone colors on the wheel are low intensity -- the quietest, most subdued and calming colors. Intensity is easily confused with value; just remember that intensity is pure versus dull, not light versus dark as with value. Pink, a tint of pure red, is more intense than a same-value mauve, a grayed tone of red. When placed side-by-side, the pink seems to stand out -- it is more vibrant than the mauve. It is easier to think of intensity and value as two separate steps in color evaluation ... first, is it light or dark and second, is it pure or dull? 
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| Intense colors are more dominant than low-intensity ones. As with darker values, high-intensity colors advance toward the viewer and can be used to accent or bring attention to a portion of the design. Most quilt designs use both high- and low-intensity colors. A mixture brings excitement to the design. The Law of Areas suggests using intense colors in the small areas of a design; reserve the larger areas for the more subdued, low-intensity colors. A little vivid color goes a long way.  | | Click here for a larger view.
| Of course, consistent intensity throughout a whole design may be necessary for a specific theme or style. For instance, we expect country or folk-art-style quilts to be made of subdued, dull colors like the tan, blue and burgundy combination used in Homespun Table Runner. Bright, vivid colors would be completely out of place in this homey-looking addition to a country kitchen.  | | Click here for a larger view.
| At the same time, many contemporary themes use only high-intensity colors. Lollapalooza Log Cabin illustrates the use of these bright colors to create excitement and movement in a design. The blue-greens, oranges and yellows seem to spring off this quilt. Children's quilts are also commonly made with high-intensity colors like those in the child's crayon box. Bright orange, blue and yellow in Farmyard Animals are sure to catch the attention of any child. This quilt is also an excellent example of the relativity of intensity.  | | Click here for a larger view.
| Like value, the intensity of a color changes depending on the other colors in the design. Note how the yellow fabric in Farmyard Animals overrides the bright blue fabric. Now imagine how bright this same blue fabric would be if used in place of the dark blue fabric in Homespun Table Runner.  | | Click here for a larger view.
| Choice of background will also affect intensity. Colors placed on black seem more intense than the same colors placed on white as seen in the Nouveau Nine-Patch and Buckeye Beauty quilts. The white background has a cooling or calming affect while the black makes the colors more stimulating and vibrant. Symbolism and Temperature While value determines the design and intensity, the style, symbolism and temperature set the mood. Does the quilt make you feel happy, excited, peaceful or refreshed? Is it delicate, earthy, bold or sophisticated? All these sensations are created by the symbolism and temperature of the colors in the quilt. Color symbolism refers to the emotional response that we have to a color. This response is based on the ways that the color appears in the world around us. Think of the images that each color elicits: Yellow -- sunshine, daffodils, corn on the cob, sunflowers -- lively and happy images Orange -- oranges, peaches, carrots, autumn leaves, wildflowers -- stimulating and earthy images Red -- fire, roses, apples, traffic signals -- exciting, passionate and dangerous images Violet -- irises, mountains, wine, velvet -- regal and grand images Blue -- sky, sea, blueberries, forget-me-nots -- soothing and airy images Green -- trees, grass, spring leaves, nature -- tranquil and hopeful images Knowing the affect a color has on the observer can help you select a palette for a quilt. To cheer a sick friend, use a little yellow to accent your color scheme. A quilt meant for a baby's crib should be soothing -- stay away from bright stimulating orange. Try a blue and green combination for a cool summer coverlet. In addition to the mental images that each color evokes, each is also said to have visual temperature -- either warm or cool. This characteristic is again based on the ways that colors appear in the natural world and on the response that we have to them. Beginning with yellow-green on the color wheel and moving left to red are the warm colors; green through red-violet are considered cool colors.  | | Click here for a larger view.
| Warm colors are powerful and stimulating. They dominate cool colors and seem to advance toward the observer. Crazy About Yellow is certainly a quilt with a "hot" and active mood. Note how the border fabric, though containing yellow and other warm colors, seems to pull back from the blocks. Just the small amount of gray and white in the fabric is enough to "cool" it when compared with the other colors in this exciting, happy quilt.  | | Click here for a larger view.
| Cool colors are tranquil and soothing. Compare Seashore Stars to Crazy About Yellow. Do you get a soothing feeling of peace and quiet from this all "cool" quilt? Nothing in this quilt jumps out at the viewer -- the blues seem to just lightly float on their white backdrop.  | | Click here for a larger view.
| Quilts with sparkle and motion always combine warm and cool colors. Unlike the all-warm and all-cool quilts already seen, Scrappy Triangles combines both warm and cool colors. The red pieces move your eyes around the quilt in their path while the blue, green and black pieces recede into the background. Though this quilt uses red in every other block, the cool white background equalizes the warm/cool effect and provides a much-needed resting place for the eye.  | | Click here for a larger view.
| As with value and intensity, the temperature of a color changes based on other colors in the design. In the Rolling Four-Patch block, red-violet is warmer and seems to advance against the blue-green, a much cooler color. However, when you look at the same red-violet placed next to yellow-orange, a very warm color, the red-violet becomes cool and seems to recede.  | | Click here for a larger view.
| Even warm colors become cooler when placed with a more dominant warm color. What do you see first when you look at the Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt? The yellow flowers and centers seem to jump off this quilt. Even against red, another warm color, the yellow is stronger. Because of the strong image that warm colors create over cool colors, the Law of Areas described above in Intensity is also applicable to temperature. When used in combination, save your warmest colors for those small pieces in a design and fill the larger areas with your cooler colors. Next week I'll tell you the role of neutral colors in your quilts and how to apply the color basics you have learned. Until next time, Sue Harvey PS -- Tell your friends to visit us to sign up for educational newsletters like this. | 
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