Let's blog about color

This month's Block Lotto-Linky title is "Let's Blog About Color" & I thought this revisit of an old Block Lotto block would work nicely.  The block (& maybe you can tell) is the one I have called 8:56 (four to nine) & we lottoed them in March 2011. 

I like this block a lot (obviously) & have started mixing it up with other favorite things.  First, I like to use a single fabric for 1/2 of all the blocks (each block has only two fabrics).  I am crazy for oddball novelties & I think they work well in 8:56.

Another thing I like about this block & the quilt pattern is the balance: there are equal parts of each of the two fabrics in every block, but it doesn't always feel that way.  & most of the reason it doesn't feel that way is the colors.  Some colors recede & some stand up & shout.  For a long time that back & forth was enough (you can see my favorite example here).  I made the block more or less as originally described, all blocks exactly the same except for the 2nd fabric. 

This time I thought I would mix it up.  I made many many many large (12.5") 4-patch blocks using a fuchsia & chartreuse rose fabric.  But when I made the second cut, instead of cutting each block in exactly the same way, I cut different size strips from the center.  Each block has either a 1.5". 2", 2.5" or 3" strip cut & flipped (if you are interested in the directions I started with, they are here) making the 9-patch from a 4-patch.  

Although there are some fabric repeats, I made sure to cut them with different center dimensions.  In other words each & every block in the quilt has exactly the same amount of each fabric, but they are all mixed up.  Then I tried to line them up with no two equal-cut blocks next to each other but I was not quite successful because....

Because I don't use a design wall.  I had a design wall & I found I rarely used it.  I forced myself to use it & was very unhappy with the results (but I am not telling which quilt it was, so there!).  My intention is to make quilts that get used, on beds, couches, under dogs...  & I found with a design wall I spent too much time evening things out while my preference is for patterns that are a bit more irregular.  For me, the choppiness works better especially as it is rare that someone get a good look at an entire quilt top anyhow (yes, quilt photos on this blog are an exception); most of the time, you just see a corner, or a band & I make my quilts to be best seen by the person using them.  Choppy is how I work & choppy is how it will be seen ever after.

But back to color.  Because this is a blog about color. 

I like to work with colors that blend together.  Honest, I do.  Which means when I am working with a high volume color (like fuchsia or chartreuse), I more or less limit myself to high volume colors. & then I like to throw in a good old fashioned neutral to make things pop. 

Notice the brightest thing in that quilt top of saturated yellows & acid greens & every variation on hot pink I could locate.  That's right, it is plain old background white.  Because color is all relative, at least to my eye.