Blackwork Roads: Colour Selection Tips

Hello Friends and Welcome Back!

After releasing the first steps in my Blackwork Roads quilt along last week, I wanted to take a little time to explore a few approaches to colour selection for that pattern!

While I love the process of auditioning colours and fabrics for a project, I know there are many folks who prefer to have that work done for them so they can enjoy the process of stitching a quilt into creation!

If you'd like some inspiration for your own version of Blackwork Roads, or just want to look at some pretty colours, I look forward to diving into some colour selection with you!

Colour Requirements

The Blackwork Roads pattern calls for the use of four unique colours, two of which are then broken down into a dark, medium, and light value.

In the original version of the pattern, the colours used are an off-white background, teal accent, light, medium, and dark orange for colour 1, and light, medium, and dark brown for colour 2.

The other option for colour selection mentioned in the pattern is to merge the light, medium, and dark values of colours one and two, therefore removing the variegated effect.

This simplifies the fabric selection process down to four unique prints from the original eight and may be a little easier for those who don't enjoy fabric selection or are not yet confident in their decisions.

Personally, I prefer the variegated version of the pattern, but which you chose to use is totally up to you!

Colour Play

Moving forward, I'll be sharing digital mockups of a variety of different colour schemes, each using a different approach to colour, value, and contrast!

As you review them, keep in mind that the colour key down the right side of the image shows the colours in the following order: background at the top, accent, colour 1 light, colour 1 medium, colour 1 dark, colour 2 light, colour 2 medium, and colour 2 dark at the bottom.

For the colours in the original quilt sample, I did my best to use colours with a fair amount of contrast, but what if you wanted a quilt with less contrast and visual distinction?

In this example, the background is a dark blue, but the accent colour, colour 1, and colour 2 and various shades of minty greens, with very little difference in shade or value from one to the other.

This produces a somewhat lacy effect, with little bits of the background showing through the rest of the design!

This next sample uses an overall level of low contrast:

Most of the quilt uses pale greys, with the accent colour being a light blue. It produces a very hazy, smokey feeling.

Back to some higher contrast examples, I really enjoy bright, colourful quilts, so here's an example that uses some happy, Spring-like colours:

This combination creates a sort of floral wreath feeling for me!

And it's also a little different from previous examples because there are only three unique colours; green, gold, and pink, with the background being a light green and the accent colour being a darker green.

The next example is here for my Mom. I showed her some of the colour combinations I'd been playing around with, and she really liked this one:

Recently, Mom has taken an interest in quilts with darker backgrounds, a very non-traditional choice!

In addition to the unique choice of background, this colour scheme makes a different choice for the accent colour. Rather than a high contrast accent, this variation used a darker shade of colour 1, so the accent shapes don't stand out as much as in other examples!

Another fun twist on the original example would be to invert the placement of the light and dark fabrics!

In this example, colour 1 dark is the palest shade of pink, with colour 1 light being a darker coral. The same is true for colour 2, which uses a darker green as the light fabric and a lighter green as the dark fabric!

These have all been really interesting colour schemes to play with, but they've all used four colours or less, as in the original sample. But you can just as easily add more colours as well!

Even if using many colours, I still believe that maintaining some kind of variegation is important. In this example, you can see that the pale green of colour 2 light transition through a tealy green to blue in colour 2 dark.

Here's an example using the same eight colours, but with them placed somewhat more randomly:

It certainly doesn't look bad, but to me, it feels a little disorganized. As such, I prefer the previous version.

As you've seen, there are so many different ways to approach colour selection! Being intentional about the colours you chose, the way you use contrast, and the placement of colours within the pattern allows you to put your own personal touch on the quilt, truly making it your own!

I've had so much fun looking at some of the different ways the Blackwork Roads pattern could turn out and I hope seeing some of these alternate colour combinations has inspired you!

As you finalize your colour selection, gather your fabric, and start piecing your September chunk, I hope you'll share your progress with me! You can do that in the comments below or by using #blackworkroadsquilt across social media!

If you don't want to share your work publicly, you can email me directly instead!

I'm looking forward to seeing what we create together!

Until Next Time, Happy Quilting!

~VA