Don't overlook black!

When you're laying out colors for a project it is easy to overlook black as your accent color.  I was reminded of that again today when Sharon Boggon posted her new CQJP project.  Not only is there black in the focus fabric in the center, the black and pink braid is a stunning addition... I can hardly wait to see this stitched.

I post about Sharon often so you've probably already looked at her famous "I dropped the button box" quilt.. I know I urged you recently to check out her colors combinations but now go again and see how often she uses black as an accent color... especially  with gold , beige , and brown.

The crazy quilter who, in my opinion, uses black most effectively and with great drama is Maureen Greeson.
She also does the most elegant ribbon work.. You must browse her blog just to see her ribbon flowers.

Maureen's work
















Maureen's work.  There is great simplicity and elegance in everything Maureen does..

This is lovely block of black and pink is by Pam Kellogg... Pam is starting a new series of online classes where you pay by the class,  She posted her schedule on her blog today. She is a master at intricate and unique seams and has her own method of using waste canvas to do them.

And don't think that it's only with  pink where black is fun.... it can be dramatic with any color... This a RR block done years ago by Jo Newsham and the beautiful seam work was done by Leslie Ehrlich.

Achieving balance

I dropped out of this RR because of overload at home so I am watching closely as it progresses and wishing I was stitching along....  This is Hideko's work on Cathy's block and CQ doesn't get more luscious and elegant than this...  I love the flatwork ribbon technique she used for the frame and the eye movement around the block is easy and direct...The ties on the fans are beautifully used to lead the eye to the image.

And it is the perfect  example of achieving balance.  Balance, unlike other elements of design, is easier to recognize because it can be related to your physical being..  Try standing on one foot very long and you immediately grasp the concept of balance.  Everything you add to a block has "density" or "weight"  Dark colors are denser than light colors, many smaller elements balance out a larger one, etc. If you squint your eyes or stand back from your work, you can learn to see the weightier areas...

In this block Hideko added a very dense (weighty) floral element to the bottom corner of the frame... To balance this she added the the delicate fly stitch spray upper right..  Even though it is more delicate, the color is deeper and stronger.

Look at what happens to this block if the darker floral spray is removed. Even adding something lighter but heavier helps some but not as much as the solution Hideko used..









It is really evident how important that delicate spray is when you see the two examples together.

 Cathy made some superb choices for her images as they are all Victorian women engaged in some meaningful activity...  If you keep a file of extraordinary blocks, you must add this one...