7 quilting habits that will strengthen your eye for colour
The other day, I started thinking about the thing people call “an eye for colour”. Some people get compliments on their eye for colour, but I’ve also heard people claim that they don’t have one at all. Perhaps it’s more to do about recognising one’s preferences – or not knowing what one likes?
If you aren’t certain about your eye for colour and would like develop it, you may find it difficult to know how to start. Here’s a solution for you: seven quilting habits that you can adopt – and develop your colour sense at the same time.
At a glance, the 7 quilting habits are:
1. Know your own ways
2. Think about what you really like
3. Forget about pleasing someone else
4. Stop comparing your work to others
5. Face your fears
6. Give yourself encouragement
7. Return to your successes
This way was challenging. Firstly, picking the right fabrics was difficult: I was so worried that my blocks would not look nice. No wonder I felt like that after my first quilt did not turn out as lovely as I had hoped.
Here’s another, rather more successful quilted item built of essentially identical blocks - also one of my earlier works:
The second challenge was more practical. I wasn’t sure that I would be able to buy the right amount of yardage. Because it was an investment, I had to optimise, but what if I bought too little? I run out of fabric after a couple of failed blocks.
Gradually, I learned that I’m more comfortable creating a quilt in a different way. I usually pick a block design and figure out how many blocks to make for a certain size, then I sew enough blocks and arrange them into a pleasing (enough) design. (I’ve described my quilting process in more detail in the post “How I plan my quilts”.)
This means that my quilt design stems from the available blocks. I don’t plan colours for one block and repeat that.
The All the Balls in the Air / Kaikki pallot ilmassa quilt from 2017 is one result from such process:
I sewed a number of bow tie blocks and organised them into a design. The quilt features many colours. Even though the blocks are all of the same pattern, the surface looks completely different from how it would look if the blocks were identical.
There are people who go even further than I do: they do not sew blocks but instead, improvise their surfaces. Other people want to use applique. And there’s a special type of quilter: the kind that thinks making a quilt is the necessary step required to get something to quilt.
What is your favourite way of creating a quilt surface? Recognise it and favour it!
Could you apply the colours in those special favourites in your next quilt project, perhaps? Or, is there something in the design or layout that you could explore?
Back to the All the Balls in the Air quilt: it was inspired by two people I followed in Instagram. One was the quilt artist Timna Tarr, the other was Maryse, and they both had sewn a modern version of a bow tie block quilt.
What you like is important. If you prefer squares and traditional blocks, you don’t have to start making hexagons and other shapes and built your quilt surfaces with EPP method. Even if everyone else was doing so.
You also have the permission to sew your quilts from your favourite-coloured fabrics. It is ok if all your quilts are of the same colour if you want them to be!
I don’t think Picasso ever thought “Oh boy, I must widen my palette to reds now that I’ve had a blue phase and created so many paintings in blue lately”. You don’t have to do so either.
Perhaps yellow is your favourite colour and you’d like to use it in your works, but hesitate because someone has mentioned yellow being a difficult colour. But hey, you may be the one, rare yellow-quilting-guru who CAN make the colour work so cleverly.
The only way comparison can be helpful is if it can generate a positive change. All other comparisons are harmful to you.
So, if you find yourself starting to have a thought “is my quilt as pretty/neat/admired as that other person’s,” you should immediately pause and remind yourself that YOU are your target audience.
Quilting is the greatest hobby there is, isn't it?! Surely you would prefer it to be a popular hobby? So, if someone has created a beautiful quilt, it is a good thing and worth supporting. The fact that they made something pretty does not diminish your creations.
You may accidentally sew through your finger, or the rotary cutter may cause an injury by accident. But for your project? Is there anything that could be classified as dangerous?
Are you afraid that you’ll waste a piece of fabric on a less-than-successful quilt? Are you afraid that your skills aren’t up to the task?
No fear! Almost everything can be undone or repurposed. It is not likely to ever fail so fantastically that a quilt project could not be salvaged.
Are you afraid that your colours or fabrics won’t go together? Are you afraid to make new combinations?
Angela Walters, the quilting master has said that the best way to match two fabrics is to sew them together. This wisdom is worth testing: you can always unpick the seam or leave the sewn-together pieces out of your project if the combination does not please your eye at all.
The Spectrolite quilt is an example from my past:
The quilt almost did not get made because during the process, I started making completely awful blocks that clashed with the rest.
I sewed my blocks into a top, but, disgusted by the look of it, I folded it into as small a bundle as I could and shoved it to the back of a closet. It stayed there for 3,5 years, waiting for me to calm down.
At the end, I took it up, removed the worst blocks, sewed a few more to replace them and re-finished the top. It was not great, but it no longer looked depressing. They can’t all be winners, I thought, took it to be prettily quilted and bound it. It’s lived on our living room sofa for years, serving a quilt’s basic purpose.
The process of learning a new thing – a new technique or something new about one’s preferences and aspirations – always feels vaguely uncomfortable. When you notice that feeling, embrace it!
The goal of your quilt or quilted item is to please your eye, and whenever you like the results, encourage and compliment yourself. Study the colour combinations carefully. Admire them! Even better, write down your positive feedback. (You don’t have to show those words to anyone if that makes you uncomfortable. They are for you.)
And even if your project only limped to the finishing line, make sure that you notice every part of it that you do like. Remember them and take advantage of the knowledge in your future projects.
This reminds me of another wisdom by Angela Walters: Do not point out your mistakes.
It may be easy to think that the result is “only” something or “just” something else, but such thoughts are not making you happy. And if you are showing a successful work of yours to others, it is ok to admit that you like it! It will be more educational for other people too to hear which parts you like and why. It’s depressing and sad to hear someone belittle their own work (and it may seem like that person is fishing for compliments in an unpleasant way).
An example of one of my successes is the Ace of Diamonds / Ruutuässä quilt.
I used the free Plaid-ish Quilt tutorial by Kitchen Table Quilting and learned how important value contrast is – in fact, it is more important than colour choices.
I’m happy with my colour and fabric choices: purple, turquoise and orange togehter. The orange blocks give this quilt the mysterious “something,” and without them, the colours might look too much like a safe bet.
Just think: you may be the kind of person who can adopt a habit in 18 days. The sooner you start, the sooner you can have adopted a helpful habit. And the habit can eventually strengthen your eye for colour - who knows if it might lead you all the way to the master level!
If you aren’t certain about your eye for colour and would like develop it, you may find it difficult to know how to start. Here’s a solution for you: seven quilting habits that you can adopt – and develop your colour sense at the same time.
1. Know your own ways
2. Think about what you really like
3. Forget about pleasing someone else
4. Stop comparing your work to others
5. Face your fears
6. Give yourself encouragement
7. Return to your successes
1. Know your own ways
For a long time, I thought that there was only one correct way to sew a quilt. I thought one had to pick a block pattern and choose the fabrics, then one would sew as many identical blocks as one needed for the quilt.This way was challenging. Firstly, picking the right fabrics was difficult: I was so worried that my blocks would not look nice. No wonder I felt like that after my first quilt did not turn out as lovely as I had hoped.
Gradually, I learned that I’m more comfortable creating a quilt in a different way. I usually pick a block design and figure out how many blocks to make for a certain size, then I sew enough blocks and arrange them into a pleasing (enough) design. (I’ve described my quilting process in more detail in the post “How I plan my quilts”.)
This means that my quilt design stems from the available blocks. I don’t plan colours for one block and repeat that.
The All the Balls in the Air / Kaikki pallot ilmassa quilt from 2017 is one result from such process:
There are people who go even further than I do: they do not sew blocks but instead, improvise their surfaces. Other people want to use applique. And there’s a special type of quilter: the kind that thinks making a quilt is the necessary step required to get something to quilt.
What is your favourite way of creating a quilt surface? Recognise it and favour it!
2. Think about what you really like
While we are in the topic of favourites, I urge you to explore your preferences! Let yourself browse quilting images in social media. When you see something delightful, save the image. From time to time, browse those favourites and note your special favourites. Then think about why you like them!Could you apply the colours in those special favourites in your next quilt project, perhaps? Or, is there something in the design or layout that you could explore?
Back to the All the Balls in the Air quilt: it was inspired by two people I followed in Instagram. One was the quilt artist Timna Tarr, the other was Maryse, and they both had sewn a modern version of a bow tie block quilt.
You also have the permission to sew your quilts from your favourite-coloured fabrics. It is ok if all your quilts are of the same colour if you want them to be!
I don’t think Picasso ever thought “Oh boy, I must widen my palette to reds now that I’ve had a blue phase and created so many paintings in blue lately”. You don’t have to do so either.
3. Forget about pleasing someone else
The most useless thought to have while quilting is “I wonder what other people think of this”. (Unless you are making a quilt on order.) Quilting is your hobby, and it is supposed to make YOU happy. You are your most important audience!Perhaps yellow is your favourite colour and you’d like to use it in your works, but hesitate because someone has mentioned yellow being a difficult colour. But hey, you may be the one, rare yellow-quilting-guru who CAN make the colour work so cleverly.
4. Stop comparing your work to others
Comparison is the thief of joy. Studies have proven that if you compare your skills or work to others, it will make you feel envious, uncertain and depressed.The only way comparison can be helpful is if it can generate a positive change. All other comparisons are harmful to you.
So, if you find yourself starting to have a thought “is my quilt as pretty/neat/admired as that other person’s,” you should immediately pause and remind yourself that YOU are your target audience.
Quilting is the greatest hobby there is, isn't it?! Surely you would prefer it to be a popular hobby? So, if someone has created a beautiful quilt, it is a good thing and worth supporting. The fact that they made something pretty does not diminish your creations.
5. Face your fears
What is the worst thing that could happen while working on a quilting project?You may accidentally sew through your finger, or the rotary cutter may cause an injury by accident. But for your project? Is there anything that could be classified as dangerous?
Are you afraid that you’ll waste a piece of fabric on a less-than-successful quilt? Are you afraid that your skills aren’t up to the task?
No fear! Almost everything can be undone or repurposed. It is not likely to ever fail so fantastically that a quilt project could not be salvaged.
Are you afraid that your colours or fabrics won’t go together? Are you afraid to make new combinations?
Angela Walters, the quilting master has said that the best way to match two fabrics is to sew them together. This wisdom is worth testing: you can always unpick the seam or leave the sewn-together pieces out of your project if the combination does not please your eye at all.
The Spectrolite quilt is an example from my past:
I sewed my blocks into a top, but, disgusted by the look of it, I folded it into as small a bundle as I could and shoved it to the back of a closet. It stayed there for 3,5 years, waiting for me to calm down.
At the end, I took it up, removed the worst blocks, sewed a few more to replace them and re-finished the top. It was not great, but it no longer looked depressing. They can’t all be winners, I thought, took it to be prettily quilted and bound it. It’s lived on our living room sofa for years, serving a quilt’s basic purpose.
6. Give yourself encouragement
You are your own target audience, and thus, your responsibility is to admire your work. You are NOT supposed to act as a snide critic of yourself!The goal of your quilt or quilted item is to please your eye, and whenever you like the results, encourage and compliment yourself. Study the colour combinations carefully. Admire them! Even better, write down your positive feedback. (You don’t have to show those words to anyone if that makes you uncomfortable. They are for you.)
And even if your project only limped to the finishing line, make sure that you notice every part of it that you do like. Remember them and take advantage of the knowledge in your future projects.
This reminds me of another wisdom by Angela Walters: Do not point out your mistakes.
It may be easy to think that the result is “only” something or “just” something else, but such thoughts are not making you happy. And if you are showing a successful work of yours to others, it is ok to admit that you like it! It will be more educational for other people too to hear which parts you like and why. It’s depressing and sad to hear someone belittle their own work (and it may seem like that person is fishing for compliments in an unpleasant way).
7. Return to your successes
If you have indeed written down the positive feedback you have given for your work, take them out every now and then. Look at your past successes too and examine the parts and colour combinations that you particularly like. Could you apply something in your current or future project? Should you?An example of one of my successes is the Ace of Diamonds / Ruutuässä quilt.
I’m happy with my colour and fabric choices: purple, turquoise and orange togehter. The orange blocks give this quilt the mysterious “something,” and without them, the colours might look too much like a safe bet.
My final thought about habits
Why not start adopting these habits right away? Or one of them anyway? A hallmark study on habit creation found that habits developed in a range of 18 to 254 days or repetition.Just think: you may be the kind of person who can adopt a habit in 18 days. The sooner you start, the sooner you can have adopted a helpful habit. And the habit can eventually strengthen your eye for colour - who knows if it might lead you all the way to the master level!
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