Color Wheel
This week I’m discussing color. Check out part one of the series here.
Today we're going to explore complementary color schemes. In our discussion we'll talk about the color wheel. Most quilters have used a color wheel at one time. The one pictured here is one that is commonly for sale in quilt shops. It shows the primary, secondary, and tertiary colors and also shows you what would happen if you add different colors to them.
The examples below were created using Electric Quilt 5.
A complementary quilt using the Lady of the Lake block
Complementary color schemes use colors that are opposite each other on the color wheel, such as yellow/violet, red/green, or orange/blue. At first glance these might seem to be extreme and gaudy combinations. And in some cases, that’s true.
Using primary red and bright green will give you a traditional Christmassy effect that would look out of place in most non-Christmas quilts. But if you want to take advantage of the natural complementary nature of red and green, try different shades and tones of these colors (maybe pale pink with deep green for example). This can lead to all sorts of beautiful designs.
Shades and tones of orange and blue appear in many Southwestern motifs. (Think dusty orange and turquoise.) Sunsets often contain various degrees of orange and blue, as do ponds full of bright golden-orange koi fish. This orange and blue quilt shows that combination.
A complementary quilt using the Checkerboard Basket block
One of my favorite complementary combinations is purple and yellow, particularly a soft pale yellow with a deep eggplant color. Or a light lavender purple with a soft yellow - a combination that reminds me of flowers. This quilt, using the Checkerboard Basket block, shows this complementary combination using multiple shades of purple and yellow.
As you can see, you can make a fine quilt using only two colors - when you remember that every color has an almost infinite number of shades and tones that can be combined in endless ways.
A complementary quilt using the Ohio Star block
You can also make a lovely quilt by adding plain white, ivory, or black to a pair of complementary colors. I personally love to use black with bright colors, white with pastels and ivory with muted colors. This was often done by the Amish whose plain, spare-looking quilts used many vivid colors in combination with black.
Look how nice these various shades of blue look when paired with simple black. (This is not actually a complementary quilt, but I liked how it looked so I included it.)
Next time, we’ll talk about analogous and monochromatic color schemes.
Keep warm!
Kelly
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