Viewing fabric selection in grayscale

As I was reminded when I was testing my Sparks pattern over a year ago, contrast between colours is not necessarily the same as contrast between values.  I'll show you why it matters, then one method to check value with a phone camera.

Why it Value Matters

Colour versus Value

You can definitely see four distinct colours in the photo on the left.  There is contrast between all the colours.

The picture on the right is the same picture viewed through a grayscale filter to show value instead of colour.  It looks almost like there are only three different fabrics rather than four.  The yellow and tan both appear light in value, while the orange and red are medium dark and dark.  There is much less contrast between the two fabrics on the left.  

Why does this matter?  Despite seeing the colors clearly, when these fabrics are used together there will be much less contrast between the yellow and tan than between the red or orange and the tan.  This is not inherently a problem. If you don't need the same strength of contrast, it's fine.  However if you need the contrast between the yellow and tan to have the same strength as the contrast between the tan and the other fabrics, this will be a disappointing collection.

You can see how the difference in the strength of the contrast affects the design.  While the block design is clear in the orange and red, it fades away in the yellow because there isn't enough contrast between the yellow and the tan background.  

I rearranged the fabrics to balance areas of high contrast and lower contrast to rescue most of the blocks in this quilt.

How to check value using a phone camera

I'll demonstrate using my new fabric selection for the Colour Value Mystery Quilt-Along (QAL).  You can read my previous post about how I had to tweak my original selection because of two fabrics being more similar than I had thought.  

The pictures here are screenshots of the camera app on my Pixel phone.  Your phone may be different, but hopefully you can figure out the equivalent steps for your phone app.  If you're lucky, you might even be able to adjust a setting on your phone to just view everything in grayscale from the start.  My old phone had this feature and I miss it!  If you have Pixel phone and know how to turn that on, please let me know!

Step 1.  Take a photo of the fabric, arranged from lightest to darkest. (Note the black strip at the top of these images is the top of the phone screen, not one of the fabrics!)

Step 2: Click on the thumbnail image of the photo, circled in red above, which will take you to the screen below.

Step 3:  Click on the Edit button, circled in red above.  That will take you to the screen below.  The area circled in red has various tool options to choose from.  Swipe left until you find the Filter option.  When that option is highlighted you'll see smal versions of your photo with various filters, right above the toolbar.  

Step 4: Swipe left through the versions of the photo until you find the Onyx filter.

Step 5:  Click on Onyx.  You'll see the photo with the grayscale filter applied.

Step 6:  You can click on Save a copy if you'd like to save the grayscale version to review the results later.

Here's my fabric selection, from lightest at the top to darkest at the bottom.  

I hope you find this useful!

Happy fabric pulling!

Joanne

PS:  There's  still time to join the free Colour Value Quilt-Along!  Click here to go register.

Revising my Mystery QAL fabric selection

I'm hosting a mystery quilt-along again this year.  Though I'm doubling the number of fabrics to four this time, I still want the colour selection to be fairly easy despite participants not knowing what the quilt will look like in the end.  

I chose a design that hinges on having 4 different colour values:  dark, medium-dark, medium and light.  I chose blues for the three darkest fabrics and a light on white print for the lightest.  These digital swatches of Island Batik foundations looked pretty good together.

From left to right:  Island Batik Foundations Marine, French Blue, Chambray and Glaze

I ordered my fabric, spent some time setting up the technical behind-the-scenes parts of the QAL, then squealed with delight when the fabric arrived and the colours were just as gorgoeus as I had hoped.

If I was so delighted, you ask, why am I revising my fabric selection?   Well, part of the beauty of batiks is that they are handmade and each bolt will have some variations.  Usually I love the interest that colour variations add to the quilt.  This time, there was a problem.

When the fabric arrived, I stacked the pieces togethher and saw the strong contrast between each of the fabric, just as I needed.  Today I unfolded the fabric to take some pictures and found this:

Where did my dark fabric go?????

The fabric has different shades of blue through it. I was expecting more of the dark navy you see in the upper right in the photo above, with just a small amount of the lighter blue for texture.  That's what I saw when I first saw the fabric.  When I unfolded it, there were larger patches of the light blue that blended very, very well with my medium-dark fabric.  That's not going to work.  I need strong contrast for this design.

Folks, this is reminder that nothing beats seeing a fabric in person before you buy if you have the option!  This afternoon I trotted off to my local quilt shop to see if I coud find a substitute dark batik.  Yes, I should have shopped there first and not only seen my fabrics before I bought, but also supported my local shop so they can stay in business so I can run there the next time I have a fabric emergency.

Thankfully, I found a dark that I think works.  It's Indigo Vines by Lunn Studios from Artisan Batiks: Kasuri.  I hadn't planned on using a print, but I think it will be OK.  In fact, I think that little bit of print will add a little extra interest to the quilt. 

I can't wait to get started on these quilts.  Yes. Quilts, plural.  Depending where you use the different colour values in the design, you'll get either a slighly traditional or a slightly modern quilt.  I just couldn't pick so I'm making both :)

The free Colour Value Mystery QAL will launch on March 13th and all clues (instructions) will be sent by email every Thursday for 8 weeks.  Registration will open this Friday, February 28th.  If you're on my mailing list, you'll get an email with the link.  I'll also share on Facebook and Instagram, and add a link to the right sidebar of this blog.  After registering, you'll receive an email with the fabric requirements for either version in a choice of 5 sizes, baby through king.  I hope you'll join me!

Happy quilting,

Joanne

Manor Garden

 Manor Garden is one of my favourite recent designs. It looks more complex to piece than it actually is.

Manor Garden by Canuck Quilter Designs
Made with Whispering Woods from Island Batik

As many of my designs do, it hinges on stitch-and-flip corners to build shapes without having to cut triangles or templates. 

Closeup of  Manor Garden by Canuck Quilter Designs
Made with Whispering Woods from Island Batik

The design reminded me of paths in a formal garden. Formal Gardens was already taken, so I had to stretch just a tiny bit for the pattern name.

Manor Garden by Canuck Quilter Designs
Made with Whispering Woods from Island Batik

The Whispering Woods collection from Island Batik is inspired by woods more than a garden, but the nature theme still worked quite nicely.  Here's my selection of 12 fabrics plus a basic foundation, Sugar, for the accent/sashing.  The Sugar has more golden tones that it seems in this photo.

You could also choose to repeat fabrics.

In this mockup I used only 6 instead of 12 fabrics of the Forest Flora collection, also from Island Batik. I also used the accent fabric for the border to lighten up the designs.  There are so many choices you can make to create a quilt different than the cover quilt!  

(Did you know I offer a whole Zoom presentation all about how to think beyond the pattern cover?  Your guild program chair can find out more about this and other lecture offerings here.)

One more picture, just because...

...I want to acknowledge and thank my husband for being such an accommodating quilt holder.  He deals with the wind yet never drops a quilt, holds on for "just one more" shot, and happily traipses through the park with quilts in tow.  It was particulalrly buggy the day we took these photos last summer, which deserves an extra thank you!

Today is less pleasant outside than last summer, though it is sunny at least and not as cold as earlier this week.  Still, I'm hunkered down in my sewing/design space, mulling over new designs and doing the last little bit of planning for my next mystery quiltalong starting on March 13th.  More info and signups for that coming this week!

Happy quilting,

Joanne

Why I needed skinny little binding

 Here's my new Brochettes sample for an improved pattern cover.

Brochettes placemats and runner by Canuck Quilter Designs

I love my original sample.  I'm very happy with how it looks in person, but some quilt projects just don't work well in a small thumbnail image of a pattern cover.  This was one of those so I needed a new version.

You're probably wondering what this has to do with skinny little binding.  Well, maybe you aren't wondering, but I would be. Here's a hint:

Mini versions of a Brochette placemat and runner

Isn't it fun how the lack of context messes with our perception of the size of something?  With the mug added, you can see that these are not the full size placemats and runner you'd get if you followed the pattern. These mini versions used pieces that finish at half the size the pattern calls for, which resulted in placemats and a runner that are one quarter the size of the original. 

But why?  Why make minis?  When I looked through my stash for a new colour combo for the new sample, these fabrics jumped out.  They are Heavy Metal batiks from Island Batik's Fall/Winter 2023 collections and I only had scraps left.  There wasn't enough for a full size placemat and runner, but once I envisioned them in this colour combo I couldn't unsee them.  The rest of my stash just did not measure up!  I did some math and was thrilled to see I could manage a mini version.  As long as I kept everything to scale and photographed the set without anything else to hint at the actual size nobody would have to know!

Quilting the mini placemat, thinking it was super cute before I realized
a regular binding would be weirdly wide in comparison

That's where the skinny little binding come in.  When I came up with the grand plan to make these mini tricksters, I forgot about the binding.  The usual 1/4 inch binding sewn to these smaller versions would look  very odd.  It would either clue people in that these are actually smaller, or it would look like wierdly wide binding.  To match the scale of the placemat, the binding would have to finich at 1/8" wide.

Ha!  I could make 1/8" binding!  I thought I could just add binding with a 1/4" seam allowance as usual (because that would be easier than sewing with an 1/8" allowance right?) them I could trim off some of the seam allowance to make it skinnier before I folded the binding to the back.  Ooops, I forgot about the pesky corners.  Stitching goes all the way to the edge of the seam allowance at the coner, so trimming away the seam allowance there involved some ripping and...you know what?  You don't need the details.  It was a bad idea.

Anyhow, after much ripping and trimming and finagling, I was able to stitch the binding to the back, stitching in the ditch from the front and catching binding on the back.  

1/8" binding looking so tiny and delicate

It looks pretty good on the straight bits, but I'm not showing you a close-up of the corners.  They're a bit gnarly up close, but you can't see that at pattern cover photo size, so they'll do.

Before binding the runner I Googled a bit to see if I could find tips for making mini binding, but all I could find were tips on adding 1/4" binding to tiny quilts.  I quite definitely wanted 1/8" binding.  The one thing I took away from my search was that single fold binding would be better.  One tutorial I found added the binding fabric as though adding a border.  I thought that seemed like a good idea.  It ceratinly made trimming the seam allowance easier.  The method also didn't give a mitered corner, but I would have been OK with that.  I was looking for tidy, mitered or not.  Well, at the scale I was working with, seams were getting in the way and it didn't work.  I finally figured out a method that controlled the bullk in the corners, but the last corner was a bit of a mess no matter what I did.  So, in short, I can't share a good method with you.  I'm not sure I want to keep experimenting with this, but if I do make a mini again and experiment with super skinny binding again, and come up with some good tips, I'll let you know. 

I'm still really happy with my little minis.  I think they're super cute, and they'll dress up a small table quite nicely.  My coffee addicted hubby wants the placemat mini for a mug rug.

I'm also quite pleased with the new pattern cover.  The original one is on the left.  I think you can see the design so much more clearly on the new cover.  I feel better about submitting this to distributors now, so hopefully you may see this pattern in shops soon.  Until then you can get a PDF download version in my Etsy shop.

Original and revised pattern covers for Brochettes

Next up, I'm going back to normal scale sewing !  Patchwork Wishes now has borders and is waiting for quilting.  I have regular 2 1/4" double fold binding ready and waiting for a an easy 1/4" binding! That said, if you have tips on making mini binding, send them my way in case I lose my mind again and try another mini :)

Happy quilting,

Joanne

Shimmering Tiles

 I love an on-point quilt setting, and I love not having to fuss with long sashing strips.  Shimmering Tiles checks off both!

Shimmering Tiles by Canuck Quilter Designs made with fabrics from
Island Batik's Essence collection

I love a design that looks complex but is in fact simple to construct.  Shimmering Tiles looks like it could have Y-seams, but it doesn't.  It has triangles, but thanks to stitch-and-flip you only cut and sew squares.  Well, only squares with the exception of the setting triangles to set everything on point.  On point settings are not difficult, I promise!

Shimmering Tiles by Canuck Quilter Designs made with fabrics from
Island Batik's Essence collection

This version was made with Island Batik's pretty Essence collection, which is shipping to stores soon. 

Batiks from Island Batik's Essence collection

Though I chose only aquas for this design, the collection also includes some purples and spring greens.  There's alot of potential there!

Essence fabric collection from Island Batik

While Island Batik selected this version for their catalog, I also mocked it up in two other collections from their Fall/Winter 2024 catalog.

Shimmering Tiles by Canuck Quilter Designs mocked up in fabrics from
Island Batik's Autumn Twilight collection 

Shimmering Tiles by Canuck Quilter Designs mocked up in fabrics from
Island Batik's Radiant Burst collection 

I'd love to remake the quilt in each of these collections, but there are only so many hours in a day, so I only get to recolor them in EQ.

What colors would you choose?

Happy quilting,

Joanne

Using a Fabric Key

What's a fabric key?  It's a tool to help you sort out and keep track of which fabric to use where in a quilt design.  It's especially useful when you plan to use different fabrics than the pattern cover quilt.

For the the last several years I have included a fabric key in most of my patterns. Here's what the fabric key from Shiny Blossoms looks like.  It's sharper in the pattern. Saving parts of the pattern as pictures to insert here made them fuzzy, but you get the idea.  

Match up the fill of a component of the design in the diagram with the matching fill in the table to identify how the fabric for that component is named in the pattern. 

You can use the key in two ways.  First, it can help identify how the fabrics in the cover quilt are labelled in the pattern. Comparing the pattern fills in the diagram and the table, I see that Fabric 1 is used in the center star.  Comparing the photo to the diagram, I can figure out that the star is made with Fabric 1.

Knowing that, I can refer to the fabric requirements for the right amount of fabric for the various components of the quilt.

The second, possibly more important use of the fabric key is to keep track of my fabric choices as I work through the pattern making the quilt.

In the example above, I planned to use the floral in the star, and working back through the diagram I knew to use that wherever the pattern references Fabric1, or where the diagrams use the pattern fill for Fabric 1.

I recommend jotting down description of the actual fabric you've chosen for each fabric.  You can use the fabric name, or its color, or describe the print.  You could take it a step further and make things even clearer by snipping a small swatch of the fabric you chose and taping it to the table beside the appropriate label.

Did you notice in the photo above that I used "yellow" twice?  That's because I chose to use that fabric for two different elements instead of using two different fabrics.  It's OK.  It's allowed!

Notice also that the color value of the fabric you choose doesn't always match the value in the cover quilt or in the fabric key.  In the three versions of Shimmering Tiles below, all shown on the pattern cover, the dark, medium and light fabrics are in different places.  

It's just not feasible for the pattern to include assembly diagrams recolored for every possibility.  When you use the fabric key, the value of the pattern fill is irrelevant, as long as you know which actual fabric the fill represents. Just make sure to refer back to your fabric key often to make sure you're using the right fabric in the right place!

Finally, if the pattern doesn't include a key, I encourage you to make your own.  Grab a piece of paper and copy the fabric descriptions from the fabric requirements.  Compare that to the pattern cover quilt to make sure you know what is used where.  Finally, add details about your own fabric choices to replace what's in the cover quilt.

That's it!  I'm off to play with fabric :)

Happy quilting,

Joanne

Longboats

I'm excited to be able to share three of last year's quilt finishes.  I've had to keep them to myself since June and I finally have permission to share.  Happy dance!  I think each quilt deserves its own post, so stay tuned for more!

Today, it's Longboats' turn.

Longboats by Canuck Quilter Designs
Made with fabric from the collection Joyous from Island Batik

When I had the opportunity to design with Island Batiks' Fall/Winter 2024 collections in last winter, I initially passed over this beautiful collection.  I wasn't expecting the mix of purply pinks and aqua.  Frankly, I think I was in a bit of a colour rut, attracted to the blue purples, royal blues and bright greens.  I submitted this design for different collections then was asked to revisit it in these fabrics instead.  I'm so glad I did.  It was a surprising colour combination for me so I had to stretch a little, but it turned into a striking quilt that I absolutely love.

Longboats has big pieces and stitch-and-flip corners to make things easy.  The stars are my favourite floating stars, the kind that can't accidentally have points chopped off in the seams.  At 60" x 79 it's a nice sized throw.  You could easily add a few rows and wider background side borders to make it into a twin quilt, but I have more use for throws on the couch, so that's what I designed.

As a fun aside, a short video of me binding this quilt got a bazillion views on Facebook and Instagram.  Well, not a bazillion, but 45 thousand feels like a bazillion to me.  I don't share video often, and none of my other attempts have reached even 250 views.  It cracks me up that this short clip that doesn't even show the front of the quilt garnered so much attention.  I don't know how to add it here, but here's a link to it on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/reel/C77RtZbKzgQ/) or Facebook.  I asked my husband to test the links to see if he could view the video without an Instagram or Facebook account, and they worked, so hopefully they will for you as well.

The quilt was quilted by Liz Meimann with some random wavy horizontal lines.  You can make them out a bit in the photo below.  Not a great photo of the whole quilt, but certainly a fun one.  There was no wind until my husband got into position for this shot...  The wind just knows when to interfere!

I think this would be a fun design in primary colors for a kid's quilt, or in Christmas colors.  I'm pretty sure it would look very pretty in florals or reproduction fabrics too.  I'm going to have to go play in EQ and see what I can come up with.

What fabrics would you use? I'd also love to know what color combinations you have used that were out of your comfort level but turned out beautifully.  I'm always up for inspiration!

Happy quilting,

Joanne

Patchwork Wishes in progress

In December I spent some time playing with EQ8.  With Christmas on the way, I was feeling traditional vibes and that led me to a scrappy, traditional design style.  I could have dug into my scraps for a true scrappy quilt, but I treated myself to a stack of 10" squares of Island Batik's Shadow Blooms instead.  Insta-scrappy, 20 different prints with no effort at all!  Aren't they pretty?

I'm hesitant to write patterns using precuts because the precut sizes are not always consistent.  They're all pretty close, but I've had some be off by 1/8" in one direction.  That doesn't seem like much, unless you need a full 10" to get four 2.5" cuts, for example.  

I'm not sure about other manufacturers, but Island Batik is very up-front about the possible variation.  It's right there on the package:

Duly noted!  This pattern just uses the precuts for instant variety.  I designed the cutting so I wouldn't need a garanteed 10" to cut all the pieces I need from the squares.   There's also some yardage involved to pull everything together.

I snuck some sewing in between Christmas and New Year's when my daughter, who was home from college, was out catching up with old friends.

You see where this is going.  I do like simple star blocks!  Throw in a little strip piecing with yardage...

...then throw all the parts up on the design wall.

Yes indeed, very traditional, but I love the homey, cozy vibe that's taking shape, even with these less traditional batik prints.

Here's where I left things on New Year's Eve.

Why am I always surprised how much things shrink on the design wall when I start sewing parts together?  I know the math.  A half inch dispppears into the seam allowance at each seam (1/4" from each piece) and those half inches add up!

I haven't had time to sew since then, but I think I can get a bit done today and tomorrow.  We'll see how that goes.  I'm easily distractable these days.  For example, while I was putting the parts for this quilt on the wall, I suddenly had a picture in my mind for a different sashing, and I'm itching to see what that might lead to.  I made a note to go back to it.  For now, I must stay focused on this quilt. 

Next up on my "to do" list is to sort through several months worth of photos.  I know some quilt finishes I haven't shared yet are patiently waiting in my photo roll.  Stay tuned for those!

Then there's short quiltalong to plan.  It will be a runner featuring prairie points and be just a few weeks long.  I don't have a timeline for it yet, but keep an eye out for an announcemeent.

What are you working on this month?

Happy quilting,

Joanne

First Snow!

Happy New Year!  I hope you've enjoyed a lovely, peaceful holiday season.

I woke up to the first snow of 2025 this morning and was thrilled to realize that I had two quilt holders available, as my daughter is home from university for another few days.

The Simply Snow setting is a free pattern. 
Snowflake block patterns are available separately here.

I've been wanting a picture of Simply Snow in the snow since I made it, but this is the first time a snowfall and willing and available quilt holders coincided.  

We were out there while the snow was falling and it was just so quiet and pretty and peaceful!  I tried to add a short video so you could see the snow drift down around the quilt, but it didn't work.  You can watch it on my Instagram if you like.  It's actual snow, not an instagram effect or filter!

Hoarfrost got in on the fun too!

Hoarfrost

To celebrate the first snow of 2025 and finally getting the snowy quilt photos I've been wanting for years, all my patterns featuring snowflakes are 15% off in my shop until January 6th when you use coupon code SNOW2025.

Wishing you joy and peace and the best that the new year has to offer,

Joanne

The view from the footbridge on the way to the park after the quilt photo shoot