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Christine's Color Connection

A newsletter for quilters in love with color

June 2018      


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The Quilter's Color Club has lots of info on every aspect of color. You can find used copies on Amazon, or buy it as a print-on-demand book from C&T Publishing.
    
It's Good to Be Home!     
Greetings! I just returned from a whirlwind eleven days teaching in the Northwest, and what a "grand tour" it was. My pal Kari and I headed first to Bainbridge Island, WA, where I taught my "Urban Sunsets" quilt for the Bainbridge Island Modern Quilt Guild. They're a great group, with their modern fabrics and cheerful sense of adventure, and you'll see a sampling of their blocks later in this post. As often happens, I came home wanting to create a new version of the quilt I had just taught, this time using three colorways of Anna Maria Horner's "Raindrops Poppies." Yum!
 

    
Urban Poppies
In preparation for the workshop I made step-by-step samples of my basic block with swizzle sticks. I love the vibrant complementary color in this colorway, and I adore the background dots and black accents.
I added a Kaffe Fassett stripe and a Marcia Derse print, always a winning combination in my book. The gray ombré is Gelato 714, available in my online Store.  
A quick note: This new quilt will soon be a downloadable pattern, available on Craftsy. Now that I'm semi-retired from traveling to teach (after 20 years) I'm focusing on my patterns and my first online class. The pattern will include step-by-step photos, illustrations for adding the partial-seam gray strips, and tips for quilting closely spaced parallel lines.    
 
My first block, below, made my heart sing, the colors were so rich. Neutral gray makes colors look even more intense; that's a basic color-theory concept.  
 
These fabrics are also an example of my "color connection" approach: Nothing matches, but the stripe has a connection to the colors in the poppies print, and the darker blue-green in the Marcia Derse print relates to the lighter blue-green in the poppies fabric.    
 
The colors are a bit more subdued in my second block. I cut the stripe to include a bit of the peach, to echo the pinky-peach dots in the poppies. This block design is a challenge in that the left fabric in the center must contrast with the darker gray strip on the left. The same is true for the right fabric; it must contrast with the light gray strip on the right.

I had fewer options for the third block because this poppies colorway is lighter in value, and my Kaffe stripes were all on the darker side. But I like the "bonus colors" in the stripe, and the red-violet Marcia Derse print relates to the bit of red-violet in the center. While the first two blocks have a minimalist vibe, this one is more festive, and I like that variation. 
   
Back to our Bainbridge visit, Kari and I stayed in a guest house on the water, with a stunning view of Mt. Rainier. Many thanks to our lodging hostess Kathy for putting us up in her charming cottage, and for the peonies that welcomed us.   
The class met at the BARN (Bainbridge Arts Resources Network), an amazing facility with dedicated spaces for artists to work in. It's sleek and open, and I decided I could happily live there.     
It was a full class, with everyone concentrating on the audition-and-edit process. The white "window" is for previewing and trimming the center unit. 
 
 
I like the simplicity of this single block on a design board. Note the subtle blue-green ombré on the right
 
The following week, many of the students got together to keep sewing. That's the spirit, ladies!  
 
Here are a few quilts in progress, starting with Lisa and her center units. Love the rich colors and patterns.  
More blocks, these by Deb. I like the fabric she's pointing to in the lower block.
 
Linda and her top. The lighter-value fabrics in her blocks give the quilt an airy look.  
Dianna's top. Nice variety of patterns and a mix of warm and cool colors.
 
Look how the light dances across these vibrant blocks by Kim. The floor makes a great "design wall."

The day after the class, Kari and I played tourist, along with guild hostesses Kathy Ockuly and Kerry Smith. Kathy was wonderful in the planning of my trip and class, and it was a real treat to reconnect with Kerry from my days of editing for Martingale.
 
The Bainbridge Art Museum is lovely, so light and modern. I forgot to take a pic, but here's a view of the garden. When you're in Washington, green becomes your favorite color.
 
Esther's quilt shop is a must-visit on Bainbridge if you love modern quilting fabrics. They also carry silks, knits, even alpaca knit by the yard. Pricey but SO soft.
 
Kathy (left), me, and Kerry outside a fabulous yarn shop.  
The inside is just as charming, and oh, the delicious yarn!
   
There will be more next time, when I write about my workshops ("Color Camp" and "Transparency") for Block Party Quilters in Bellevue. Plus, my visit to Marcia Derse's studio on Whidbey Island. Yes, I got to visit Marcia's studio and store! You know how much I love her fabrics, and she is just as wonderful. Stay tuned, and watch for my completed "Urban Poppies" quilt!  

About This Newsletter   

If you've received this newsletter, you may have attended one of my workshops or bought one of my books, patterns, or color wheels. It's easy to opt out, below, but I hope you'll stick around to see what's in store. It's all about color, using it, enjoying it, and sharing it with other quilters.

   

Thank you! 

Contact Info

Christine Barnes

cebarnes@sbcglobal.net
www.christinebarnes.com