Value
Value can be confusing to the new
quilter, but choosing the right value can actually be more important
than the color you choose in some designs. Value is the lightness
or darkness of color.
Lavender, for instance, would be a
light value of the color purple. The reason value is so important
when selecting fabrics is that it provides the needed contrast when
building quilting blocks. When you add pieces to a block, you want
to see their shape. If there is not enough contrast, the design
will get lost.
Value can be difficult see.
You can move back and squint, or like me, take off your glasses, but even
then you don't always get it right.
There are instruments you can look
through to ascertain value, but I've found the easiest way to see the
true value of colors is to scan them, and then change the picture to
gray scale.
Look at the picture in
color. Now look at it in black and white. It is very easy to
see the value in black and white, and see that the fabrics are out of
order.
Good use of value will add
crispness, contrast, and interest to your quilt.
