The secret to combining colours and types of prints is: Work with fabrics that don't match each other! You want the neighbouring fabrics to push your design and quilt forward by showing off their qualities.
Did Purple ask if Yellow looks good on him? In my imagination, Purple grabbed Yellow around the waist and said: "I love you, will you be my Complimentary?" Upon which Yellow answered: "Of course I will be your Complimentary, your dark presence makes me glow like the sun!"
When you choose colours that blend together, the result can be a predictable, safe quilt - which is beautiful. But today I challenge every quilter to make at least one unpredictable quilt. Get yourself a variety of ammunition to make your selected pattern show through value contrast.
Mrs Cynthia Pace, our oldest quilter-client in QUILTSEW has a saying: Look at a garden, look at nature: All colours go together.
Make viewers scan your whole quilt because they don't want to miss a single detail! Contrast creates excitement!
This article was written by: Maria Kotzé
SAQG Accredited Quilt Teacher