Guide to Colour Value
The term 'value' means the amount of white or black that has been added to a colour. The value is the degree of light or
dark a colour has.
In her book Joen Wolfrom, 'Colour Play', she explains that colour 'tints' are created by combining a pure colour with white.
All tints are lighter or paler than their pure colour. The more white that is used in the colour the lighter its colour value.
A colour 'shade' is created by mixing black with a pure colour. The more black that is used the darker the colour. For example
mixing black and blue creates navy blue. If this blue is so dark it appears to be nearly black then it is a shade of blue which
is called ink black.
Colours close to white and which have a lightness are known as colours with a high value or high valued. Colours close to
black are known as low in value or low valued. These low valued colours are rich, dark colours. Colours which are neither close
to black or white are known as mid-value colours.
If you make a quilt of all one value, whether it be high, low or medium value, you will find that the design or pattern of your
patchwork quilt will seem to disappear. By using different values you can highlight the various designs and patterns in your quilt.
The value of one colour will affect the value of another when the two are placed next to each other. So, when placing your
patchwork pieces together you will see that placing a high value colour next to a low value will make the high value or light
colour appear darker and the low value or dark colour appear lighter. Good use can be made of this when you want to tone down
or highlight areas of the quilt.
You may find it useful not only to arrange your fabric collection or stash by colour, but then to arrange the similar colours
by value. This can be a useful way of seeing whether there are any values missing which you will need for that next project.
Once again this part of the process of creating a quilt can be fun and it is a good idea to experiment with how different values
will affect the design of your patchwork block or overall quilt.