Color wheels are a shorthand guide that use red, blue and yellow in their pure form. The primary colors are mixed with each other to complete the circle. Quilt fabrics are almost never printed with pure or a combination of pure colors. Making your own color block to include the colors of available fabrics, makes it easier to see the relationships and work with what's available to quilters.
Every color has a place in the spectrum. Dig through your stash or shop for fabric to create your own personal color block. Click the photo for a larger view.
Materials Needed
- paper and pencil
- ruler
- scissors
- iron
- fusible interfacing, 10"x12"
- freezer paper
- light, medium and dark fabric in each of 12 colors
- red
- magenta
- red purple
- blue purple
- blue
- blue turquoise
- green turquoise
- green
- yellow green
- yellow
- orange
- red orange (rust)
Draw the Rectangles to Begin
- Fold a piece of paper into quarters to find and mark the center.
- Draw a 1” x 2.5” rectangle on a 2nd piece of paper.
- Cut the rectangle out, find the center, place on the first piece of paper, matching centers and draw the rectangle onto the paper.
- Draw a second rectangle 1” away from all sides of the first.
- Draw a third rectangle 1.5” away from all sides of the second, a fourth rectangle .5” away from all sides of the third. You will have a nested set of 4 rectangles about 7” x 8.5”. These rectangles are for the 3 values of colors, with white in the middle, then light, medium, dark as you move outward.
Divide the Rectangles into 12 Color Wedges
- Draw 4 lines from the outside corners of rectangle 4 to the outside corners of rectangle 1.
- Draw a line from the center of each side of rectangle 4 to the center of each corresponding side of rectangle 1 (a total of 4 lines). The center rectangle is not divided.
- Draw 4 more lines (2 on each side) to divide the wedges on the long sides in half. There will be 12 wedges for light, medium and dark values of 12 colors. The wedges on the short ends are larger than the wedges on the long sides, that’s okay; it doesn’t need to be exact.
- Trace the rectangles and wedges onto the fusible (rough) side of interfacing.
Assemble
- Arrange the 3 values of colors in the order above. Working one wedge at a time, cut the paper pieces out to use as a template to cut the fabric.
- With the fusible side up, tack each fabric, right side up, onto the interfacing with the tip of an iron.
- Once the 3 values of all colors are placed, cut and place a white rectangle for the center.
- Cut 1/2” strips of black fabric and tack around the outside edges.
- Cut away excess interfacing.
- Place a piece of freezer paper, shiny side up on the ironing board, taping down the corners to keep flat.
- Place the interfacing with the tacked fabric on top, making sure all fabric pieces are in place.
- Place a second piece of freezer paper, shiny side down on top of the fabric.
- Iron according to interfacing directions. Peel away the freezer paper.
Using Your New Quilting Tool
Just gathering the fabrics is a good exercise in understanding color. Keep in mind that if the color wheel expanded to show all possible colors, every fabric you have would have a place. Since that's not practical, arrange the fabrics at hand into their own shorthand of the spectrum. Enjoy a new quilting tool. Hang it on a wall and take it shopping for easy reference. You may also want to read Art Quilts or Traditional Quilts.
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