Palm Canyon Colors

This series of blog posts describes the process I used to make the commissioned Palm Canyon art quilt shown below.  Today’s post describes how I decided what colors to use in this piece.  Prior steps are shown in my previous posts.

Color Plan and Palette

Once I have the sketch finished, the next step is to figure out my color plan. I usually take a line diagram of my sketch and make about 5 or 6 black and white copies of it. Then I pull out my watercolor paints and start applying color to the copies, experimenting until I get something I like. I paint directly on the copier paper. This is just a plan to figure out what colors I want to use. It’s not intended to be a watercolor painting.  This plan guides my fabric selections and makes all the next steps go faster. I keep it on hand through-out the top construction process.This is the color plan I came up with for this piece.  

It's interesting to see the finished color versus the plan. Nevertheless, this was my guide for fabric choices throughout the process.

The next step is to start pulling fabrics that correspond with the colors and values shown. Sometimes I will have a color that is close to what I am after but not quite right. I have found that adding a layer of tulle or organza can tone up or down a fabric and get me the value I am after.

This is the palette of fabrics I pulled for this quilt. Fortunately I had most of these in my stash. I did have to buy some new fabrics, but that’s ok. I suffered through the difficulty of fabric shopping.J

Next post is my construction method. Thanks for visiting my blog!