Alex Anderson Shares Her Secret
for Really Seeing the Color Value
of Quilting Fabric

Beginning quilters often ask for advice regarding start up supplies. There are some obvious needs like rulers, cutting mat, rotary wheel, fabric and threads. But quilting pro Alex Anderson recently mentioned another tool that certainly makes quilting much easier – a home copier.

Home copiers are great for increasing and decreasing quilt patterns to the exact size you need. You won’t have to redraw your pattern and cut a new template. You can simply put your pattern on the copier, enlarge or decrease it to the size needed, and use it to cut your new template. It’s that easy!

Alex actually thought of another idea in a recent “Eavesdrop on a Telephone Conversation” program. If you are trying to learn the value of color, a copier could be a great tool, too.

Alex was discussing the importance of color value. Color choice is a difficult task for many quilters. Color value can further complicate things until you get a grasp on it. Alex said that as a beginning quilter, she would sort her fabrics by colors, not color values.

Color values mean that you will have lights, darks, and neutrals (medium fabric) in your quilt. So many of us end up with two neutral prints and a neutral solid. It’s not that we’ve done anything wrong – we’re buying what the fabric makers are selling.

Alex says it is actually difficult to find light and dark fabrics because so many manufacturers make neutrals. Her idea of using a copier to help us determine color value is pretty unique.

To use your home copier to help determine the color value of your fabrics is just as easy as using the same copier to enlarge or decrease your patterns. Simply make a black and white copy of your fabric.

When you make a black and white copy of your fabric you are, in effect, taking away the color and leaving only the value. You’ll be able to use your copies in a color value line up. It’s much easier to locate neutrals, lights and darks when you are not distracted by the colors themselves.

Having said that, if you have a printer that also prints in color, think of the experiments you can do with those! Since we almost all are addicted to fabric and have a growing stash, you can use your color print mode to help you mix and match colors from your quilt stash. Make a copy, just like with the color value print, except make these copies in color.

You can cut the pieces of fabric to match your quilt pieces and experiment with fabric placement without ever having to cut your fabric. Use a box or file folder to hold the leftover pieces of your paper “fabric” so you can experiment with the fabrics in the future. Eliminate your paper “fabrics” as you eliminate your stash.

You could make a new copy each time you want to experiment, but as we all try to save and be greener, it would be a waste of paper.

Many of us can remember when home copiers were far out of price range. These days, you can get an all in one printer – one that allows for scanning, copying and printing for as low as $40. Watch holiday sales and you might even find one for a little less. The brand names to watch for are HP, Epson, Lexmark and Canon.

Those names have been around for a long time and generally have good customer service ratings. If you need help picking out your printer, tell a sales person what you plan to use it for and they’ll help you select the right one for your needs.

If you go with the all in one method, you’ll get so much more than just a copier. You will probably find a use for a scanner and if you plan to start a quilt business, the fax can come in handy, too!

To learn more about color value, check out the article on Color Value in Quilts

Happy Quilting!

Penny Halgren

www.How-to-Quilt.com
www.TheQuiltingCoach.com
www.QuiltBlockLibrary.com

©2010, Penny Halgren
Penny is a quilter of more than 28 years who seeks to interest new quilters and provide them with the resources necessary to create beautiful quilts.

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