A Color Book Review

I am always on the lookout for great quilt books, and I've found one in The Quilter's Practical Guide to Color (affiliate link).

This book selection was not about making a project from the book. Instead, this choice was for learning more about color theory,  and to pick up tidbits of information from a quilter's perspective. And that's important, because Becky talks about not just color but fabric.

After reading the first 20 pages, I knew this book was different. Of course, it wouldn't be fair of me to tell all, otherwise you wouldn't look at the book yourself. And there's a lot in this book that I think is really useful information for quilters, because it's fabric related.

So, here are three more tidbits that really struck a cord with me:

1) Characteristics of and uses for various print fabrics. 

We all have those 'love this print, but where and how do I use it?' fabrics. You know the ones - maybe really large prints, or several colors in an unpredictable pattern, etc, etc. Becky does a fantastic job discussing how best to use these, along with other prints, such as stripes, dots, plaids, and all sorts of prints in between. This is the first 'color' book that I've read to really talk about the print on the fabric, which is an extension of color. We quilters have to take everything into account when making a quilt!

2) Using clear vs grayed fabrics. 

This nugget of information was well worth the price of the book! You see, my stash is full of grayed fabrics, mostly from the 90's and early 2000's: trendy I am not. I moved some of it along a couple months ago, because I felt the fabrics were just too dull. And then I read this book.

Becky talks about using those grayed fabrics, along with  clearer ones, to give a sense of depth to a quilt. Wait, what?? Does that mean I should have held onto those fabrics?

Well, no, I'm still glad I moved them along, but just reading this bit of information was a hallelujah moment to give me confidence in using the remaining grayed fabrics that I have. And I can let go of the angst that group causes, now knowing a better purpose for them. Thank you Becky!

3) Building fabric choices for a quilt.

This takes all the information discussed earlier in the book - color relationships, fabric prints, scale, texture, etc, etc - and puts them all together in choosing fabrics for a quilt. 

And she doesn't make it a hard process. She actually says, "Don't over-think it," which is probably the best advice there is.

So, in a nutshell, The Quilter's Practical Guide to Color (affiliate link) is probably the best 'color' book out there for quilters. For us, there's more to a quilt than just color relationships - it's all the other elements associated with fabric prints that are rarely discussed. And this book, which is now one of my go-to books, tells it all!

Happy Quilting in Color!