Thursday: It's Technical - Copyright for Quilters

It seems strange that in an art with such a storied and sentimental history of collaboration, borrowing and sharing that copyright should even be in the discussion. Twenty years ago, it may not have been as much of an issue, but we hear it cropping up fairly often - in a time where designs are bought and sold at the speed of an internet connection and with quilters designing and sharing ideas faster than ever, copyright has become an important topic in the quilting world. In this sue-happy society we live in In the current intellectual and creative environment, it is important to be knowledgable about what can and can't be done in terms of designing, sharing, selling and buying quilts, quilt patterns, workshop instructions and books.  To my own ear, it seems almost uppity that copyright even enters into the conversation when it comes to quilting, and for that reason it piqued my interest. It made me wonder who copyright laws differ for quilters than with other arts, and in what ways as quilters we should be mindful of copyright law and infringement. So here we have it, my second article, this time on Quilter's Copyright. As with any other article, I'm going to start explaining these guidelines on quilter's copyright from the ground up. As always, I'm not insulting anyone's intelligence, I'm just making sure it's as complete as possible.

DISCLAIMER: This article is in no way written with the intention of being, nor should it be misconstrued as, legal advice and I will not be held liable for or assume any responsibility for any consequences (negative or positive) that result from following the guidelines that follow. I strongly recommend that you supplement your research with your local copyright office and I encourage you to visit a copyright lawyer for your questions or issues with copyright and the associated laws rather than reading this or any other blog discussing copyright. It may not be 100% correct or complete. Do not pursue any percieved copyright infringements or attempt to obtain a copyright without consulting a lawyer who specializes in this area or your copyright office. Please know your rights. This is to serve as a set of guidelines only.

What Copyright is
According to the United States Copyright Office, "Copyright is a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States (title 17, U. S. Code) to the authors of 'original works of authorship,' including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works. This protection is available to both published and unpublished works." Certainly every country has their own copyright laws, but they are different only in very minor and technical ways, and so the general Copyright laws in your home country will more or less apply in any other with little variation.

It is important to note that copyright doesn't protect ideas as they exist in somoene's head or that have been verbally indicated. No one can sue for copyright infringement for simply thinking of something before someone else. Copyright protects "un/published ideas" meaning books, film, songs, poetry, artworks (to include quilts), patterns, magazines, articles, etc - the ideas become protected when they have been put down on paper (or in the case of music, written and then played) and it is through the media that the idea becomes property and protected by law. If something has been in progress and there is evidence to support the work, and it has not yet been formally published, it is still protected and this what is meant by "unpublished" works.


What are the benefits of a Copyright, either formal or implied?
A copyright holder reserves the exclusive right to make and distribute copies of their patterns privately or publicly, to make unlimited number of quilts of their pattern or derived from their pattern, to sell or lend patterns and projects made from their pattern and to publicly display their quilt as an original piece from an original pattern. A formal copyright also enables the holder to more effectively pursue legal course if their pattern is reproduced, stolen or a piece made from their design that isn't attributed to them, should they choose to do so.


Securing a Copyright
Accoring to the United States Copyright Office, once a work has been created, it is protected under copyright law and it is not required to seek a formal registration with the Copyright Office. The date of creation is understood to be the date of the first copy or recording of the work. Also, it is no longer required to put a notice of copyright on the work (you know, ©) as of 3/1/1989 since copyright is to be understood at point of creation. However it, is beneficial to always put the symbol on there because it lets people know that your design is copyrighted as of a certain year. You may find additional information on the ins and outs of US Copyright law and the process of securing a copyright in the United States by clicking on the link above. Go to page 7 for information on securing a copyright here - for your country, check your government's website for more information.


Guidelines for Quilter's Copyright
First off, let's define a couple terms that are more pertinent to the quilting world:
Copyright Infringement is "...when a copyrighted work is reproduced, distributed, performed, publicly displayed, or made into a derivative work without the permission of the copyright owner" (US Copyright Office - click for more copyright definitions).
Open/Public Domain is a work that is no longer protected by copyright. A copyright of an authored, published pattern or book, as of 2005, lasts the lifetime of the author plus 70 years. If the pattern/book is anonymous, then it lasts either 95 years after the first publishing, or 120 years after it's first creation whichever is earlier.  A pattern or book published before 1928, due to changes in the law, is now public domain and may be sold copied or shared freely by anyone. (David Allen Hall, Ph.D., Registered Patent Attorney via Quilter's Copyright FAQ).
Fair Use describes copies or pictures taken that are strictly relegated to class use only, re-sizing of templates, pictures taken for magazine/newspaper/newsletter articles, all of which give credit to the author of the pattern or designer of the quilt as necessary (US Copyright Office on Fair Use)

Making Copies
* If a pattern is out of print, that does not  legally enable you to make a copy. The right to re-publish rests with the author or whoever owns the copyright, be it living relatives of the author (if the author is deceased) or a publishing company.

* If you have a photocopied pattern that says nothing about copyright, it is still protected; you cannot make and distribute copies of the photocopy. It sounds nit-picky, I know. But the original pattern it was copied from was protected, and so too is the copy. It cannot be redistributed.

* If you want copies of a pattern, or a pattern from a book for whatever reason, you can contact the author or publishing company (preferrably in writing to keep a record) to discuss obtaining a copy. Sometimes they will give you verbal or written consent to copy the pattern. If given permission, you must attribute the pattern to the author. However, sometimes they will not give you permission, and if that is the case, your only other legal route to obtain several copies of the pattern is to purchase them.

* Traditional quilting blocks and patterns (such as an Irish Chain, Lone Star or Log Cabin) are not protected under copyright as they predate 1928 in most cases and there is no ownership of the design - they are too old for anyone to know where they came from exactly and who recieves credit for them. However, if a pattern is written with pictures and instructions for a quilt using those blocks, the pattern itself, not the design, is protected. You can still make those blocks to your heart's content, but you cannot copy that pattern to make them without giving due credit.

* You may photocopy portions of a pattern to re-size or to write on to keep the original in good condition. That is completely permissable under Fair Use policies.

* Charities do not have exemptions to copyright law. If you want to copy and distribute a pattern for use in charities quilting, you must contact the designer for permission. They likely will not allow you to make that many copies, but they may give you a discounted rate on the patterns. Be sure to ask.

Taking Pictures
* Taking a picture of a quilt and "figuring it out yourself" rather than buying the pattern is a form of copyright infringement. Because that quilt exists, someone had to create that arrangement of blocks and figure out the process to get it done, making it a piece of creative/intellectual property which becomes even more pronounced if the pattern is published. This is the reason why most quilt shops do not allow pictures of their quilts to be taken unless you have purchased the pattern - they are protecting you, the designer and the store from copyright issues.

* Taking pictures of display quilts without a store's permission is copyright infringement. Even if there is no sign that says "No Pictures," it is understood that taking pictures is on a permission only basis due to copyright laws. Always ask first, and if they say no, do not sneak a picture anyway.

Inspiration
* You can use another quilt for inspiration, but to avoid copyright infringement you must change more than the colors (unless you are using a pattern for which the iniration quilt is a sample). You must change at least 30% to avoid a possible copyright issue. This could be size, block arrangement, block type, border style etc.

* Even if there is no copyright symbol on the pattern, it is still understood to be protected by copyright law.
Even free patterns have a disclaimer that they are for individual use only and not for resale, meaning you cannot credit the pattern as your own.
Miscellaneous
* If you make a pattern and distribute it, it is not necessary to legally register the pattern with the copyright office. Putting "Copyright [your name]" is sufficient enough to let people know that pattern is your creative property. However, registering your pattern with the copyright office makes it easier to take legal action in the circumstance that your pattern is stolen.

* Class instructions and notes are also protected under copyright and should not be reproduced without the consent of the person, be it the teacher or an outside source.


I know this all seems to fly in the face of the long held quilting tradition of sharing, and it's true, it does. We live in a world now where formally transmitted ideas are legally recognized as creative/intellectual property and money can be made from them. These need to be protected so that the person who put the work into creating the quilt is the one who financially benefits from it and that they are the one who recieve the recognition. That being said, if you do make a physical copy here and there, it is very likely indeed that you won't get caught, and in the broad scheme of things is not a tremendous deal.

It is here, on the Internet, that it isvery possible that - along with the myriad other privacy and publishing issues the Internet can bring - that you could get yourself into trouble for copying patterns and posting them for free, for copying a published quilt and acknowledging you didn't purchase the pattern but rather "figured it out yourself" without giving credit or for crediting a quilt made from a pattern as your own. The Internet has made copyrighting and therefore copyright infringement more confusing, faster and easier than ever, especially easier to do so without being aware of it and that's why it is advisable to exercise caution and be knowledgeable about copyright law. People can, and do sue over this kind of thing. I find myself at the core in agreement with Paul Rapp, a lawyer who was faced with a quilting copyright sort of suit -
read his discussion here. Most minor infrigements aren't worth the time and money spent in a lawsuit, and so they slide. It is the frequent, large scale or blatant rip-offs that get pursued.

The idea behind the copyright laws and the copyright infringement suits is the not-unreasonable idea that copyright infringement is damaging to everyone involved. On a lofty moral ground, it is argued that copyright infringement is akin to stealing - you wouldn't walk in to your local quilt store, grab a pattern from the wall and walk out without paying for it. To photocopy, hand-copy or take a photo of an original quilt or design from a pattern without purchasing the pattern or gaining expressed permission from the author/designer is essentially the same thing. As I research it more, it was presented time and time again to put it in perspective this way: think about how you would feel if you put all of the time and money in to making and selling a pattern only to find out that people were making it without paying for the instructions you published, or if they copied the quilt and are taking credit as their own - I don't know about you, but I know I would be both hurt and furious on principle alone. On the practical and financial side of things, the point was repeatedly made that a lot of money and time goes in to publishing a pattern and that avenue of design is someone's livelihood  - usiing it without permission or without purchace is harming their sales and their livelihood. After some consideration, it helped me to think about in this paradigm: If you buy a pattern for $9, and make copies of it to give to your six friends, that is $54 dollars less whatever the publishing comany takes that the designer won't see. Multiply that by an indeterminite number of groups doing the same thing and that patternmaker is losing thousands of dollars. Thaat doesn't sound like a huge deal but when you consider that this is what this person does for a living, and some patterns do well and others don't, plus the publishing charges etc, they're not making much to begin with.

I hope these guidelines have made copyrights in the quilting world a little bit clearer. Again, before securing a copyright or pursuing any percieved copyright infringement with legal action, I strongly encourage you to contact a patent or copyright lawyer to learn what the circumstances really are and what your course of action should be.

Sources and Additional Research
United States Copyright Office
Red Dawn Quilting Copyright
Palm Beach Quilter's Guild Copyright Notice
Quilting Copyright FAQ
Lillian's Cupboard discusses Copyright Law
Fidalgo Island Quilter's Copyright for Quilters
Copyrighting your Quilt
Copyrights, Licenses and Quilting
Quilting Business' Quilting Copyrights and Licenses

Thursday: It's Technical. Color Theory and Color Choice in Quilts

When I was an art student, and somehow the topic of conversation go to that point, I'd say 70% of the time the response was "Oh, I could never do that, I can't draw and I don't know anything about color." Now that I work in a quilt shop, people come in all the time asking for help with color choices, usually followed by "I just can't put colors together." Don't get me wrong, I love helping people with their color choices, I think it's the most fun part of the quilting process! But this post is about empowering people to love and not fear their color choices by showing how easy color can be!

Color Theory is a term we hear pop up a lot in the art world, and now it's found a place as a buzz phrase in the quilting community. It sounds like an unnecessary complication to a pretty straight forward concept - choosing colors you like and that look good together and putting them in a quilt - but knowing how color works and how colors interact in an art piece can prove to be a valuable asset in quilt making, making your already beautiful quilts that much stronger.

Since we're all starting from different experience levels, I'm going to explain Color Theory from the ground up; I'm not insulting anyone's intelligence, I promise, I'm just going to lay it all out so everyone starts on the same page.

Color Basics

 Even if you don't do traditional art or quilt, you still know something about color even if you don't readily recognize it. Think about it for a minute: what's your favorite color? Is there a color pairing you find yourself buying a lot of for your home or wardrobe? If you can dress yourself, then you can pick color. Most of us (People of Walmart not included) have a reasonably good idea of what colors look good on us (for me, jewel tones), what does nothing for us (for me, white and beige) and what looks downright God-awful (I'm looking at you, yellow). Women especially have a good idea of color because most of us at least ever now and then, wear makeup. We have to know if we have a warm or cool toned skin tone, if we're an "ivory, buff, beige, tan, olive, or ebony," which eyeshadow will make our blue/brown/green/hazel/grey eyes look more blue/brown/green/hazel/grey, and whether our lipstick will make our teeth look white or yellow based on whether the lipstick is yellow based or blue based. Guys, you know color too! You carefully select your tie to match your suit to match your hankercheif to match your shoes, your car's exterior to match the interior to match the speakers, your customizable video game and  RPG characters to look the most menacing ro the most sage (you can't have an anti-Paladin in pink...that's not menacing and manly at all).

But just to review the color basics we all ready know...

Warm Colors - Red, orange and yellow are traditionally called the warm colors. Browns, tans, even some purples and blacks can be considered warm colors if they're red or yellow based. But that's overcomplicating it, and we'll get to that later. Warm colors all share their primary base of red. We know the warm colors give a more bright, energetic, alarming, cheerful feel to whatever they are covering.

Cool Colors - Traditionally, these are green, blue and purple. Grey, brown, black and beige can also be cool colors if they are blue or green based. Cool colors all share the primary blue base. These are called cool colors since when they are used, they evoke feelings of calmness, coldness, crispness and freshness that warm colors contrast with.

POP QUIZ! True or False: Black is all colors combined and white is the absence of color, so therefore there is only one black and one white - they're all the same. Read on for the answer...

 

Remember this? I think we all had to make our own version of this in grade school using too much tempera paint and glitter.

Hues

The above Color Wheel is showing the hues only. A hue is the pure color, meaning it is not mixed with gray, black or white to achieve darker, lighter, duller or brighter colors. You've probably also noticed that brown, grey, black and white are NOT shown on the Color Wheel. All of that I will explain later, but first, let's just focus on the hues.

Primary - The primary colors are the three that make up the very center of the Color Wheel; Red, yellow and blue. These three colors are the very base of all other colors, which means they also are the least complex (yes, even white and black are more complex than your primary red, yellow and blue. I'll get to the different types of the primaries later). These 3 colors are not the result of mixing any other colors, meaning you can't mix X and Y and get red for example.

Secondary - The colors are the result of mixing any 2 of the 3 primary colors; red + yellow yields orange, yellow+ blue yields green and blue + red yields violet. Secondary colors are still fairly pure, meaning they are the result of your most basic primaries, not dark red + light blue or anything like that.

Tertiary - These colors are a little more complex. I refer to these as the Crayola colors; these are the Violet-Reds, Red-Violets, Yellow-Greens, Blue-Purples...all of the least creatively named, yet prettiest (in my opinion) crayons of the Crayola 24 pack.  These colors are achieved by mixing one primary color and one secondary color, so they end up being the "in-between" colors, not quite one or the other. This is one way to get your darks and brights of secondary colors.

How does knowing Hues help in quilting?

Knowing the hues helps a great deal. Think of the hue of the color as the foundation of your house. Your house needs a foundation to be built on, just like your quilt needs color to grow from. By knowing how a hue is built and where it sits on the Color Wheel, you can more easily choose the colors to go with it. Each hue has a built in set of colors it naturally looks nice with, both yielding different visual effects: the accompanying colors can either be Analogous or Complementary.

For the sake of example, let's say I am making a quilt and I have chosen a focus fabric that is predominantly violet:

Analogous - Analogous colors are the colors that are immediately next to each other on the Color Wheel, and are made up of one primary, one secondary and one tertiary. Sonce my focus fabric is purple, my analogous color set could either be red, red-violet and violet or blue, purple (aka blue-violet) and violet. Analogous colors in quilts create a softer, calmer more blended appearance (even if your focus is yellow)since they are all in the same color family.  

Complementary - Complementary colors are the colors that are opposite each other on the Color Wheel. Looking at the above Color Wheel, you can see that Violet's complement is yellow. When you're dealing with hues, complementary colors are a pairing of one primary and one secondary, or a pairing of two tertiaries, depending on your color choice. In quilts, it is the Complementary pairings that give your quilt pop! The opposite colors make each other brighter and more intense, which gives your quilt a brighter and more dynamic quilt. Complementary colors can be expanded into analogous complemntary pairings in quilts, meaning you pair your focus analogous set (let's say red, red-violet and violet ) with their complementary analogous set (yellow, yellow-green and green). Using Complementary Analgous pairs gives you a wider range of color, while toning down the intensity of your complements, still gives your quilt what I call "the pop factor." If you mix two complemenatry colors together, however, you will get a muddy shade of grey-brown. This is useful if you need a brown that plays well with your complements.

Now we're going to get a little more complicated, because we'll combine the above principles with some new mixes of color. Expand your idea of the Color Wheel from that of the simple Hue Color Wheel you learned in grade school into what I call "The Paint Chip Color Wheel" that you'd learn in art school. This is where we bring in the lights, darks, brights and neutrals together into one Color Wheel, as illustrated below. Since we just went through Hues, we're going to skip those and dive right in:

 

The Truth About Black and White

True or False: Black is all colors combined and white is the absence of color, so therefore there is only one black and one white - they're all the same.

Answer: FALSE. While it is true that black is all colors combined and white is the absence of color, it is not true that all balcks and all whites are same. Both colors are actually multi-tonal.

Have you ever put on a black shirt and a black pair of pants, walked outside and had someone point out your shirt and pants didn't match? Though tactless, it was probably true. When it comes to fabrics, not every black is the same. Different companies used different types of dye with different base colors to make their black dye.  Go into any quilt store and grab a few different brands of solid black; I guarantee you one will look warmer (red base) and one will look cooler (blue base) and one will look slightly greenish (green base). They're all black, but they have different bases. Dabbing some bleach on a piece of black fabric will show you what it's base color is if you have enough fabric to spare to test. Not only that, but because of their different bases, blacks come in a variety of shades evenwithout the addition of white: blue based blacks tend to be the darkest, and green based blacks tend to be lighter.

White functions a little differently. Think of it in terms of a white paint chip - there's bright white, soft white, eggshell white. They are all white and like black, unless you put 2 different whites together, its hard to tell the difference. In fabric, there is even something called "optic white," which is the white that is the brightest of them all. The softer whites work well in pastel quilts and in lanscape quilts where white is necessary. While still creating high contrast with other colors, it's not as stark as an optic white. Optic whites work nicely in more contemporary quilts and in quilts using brights. It creates the crispest line and the highest contrast. Natural light aids in determining what kind of white you have, since artificial (incandescent, fluorescent, LED etc) light can give fabric a slight cast of color it may or may not have on its own.

Tints

As you can see above, a Tint is the hue mixed with white. This is what we commonly refer to as the Pastel colors. The more white a hue is mixed with, the lighter and brighter the color becomes. This is also how we get our lightest of neutrals - cream, buff, beige - but I'll get to how we achieve our neutrals in a  moment. Tints may also be mixed with other tints to creat new tints. Whew! 

Hue on the left, gradual tinting to the right. Courtesy of Tiger Color.

The same Warm/Cool, Analogous/Complementary (WC/AC Rules henceforth) apply to Tints as to Hues. Used alone, Tints provide quilts with a very soft, light, gentle, feminine look and feel, regardless of texture. These are perfect colors for baby, spring, winter, shabby chic, and girly girl quilts. When accompanying other non-Tint colors, they traditionally are used as backgrounds or to give the impression of light.

Examples of quilts using Tints. Tints don't have to be baby pastel, it just depends on how much white is present in the hue that determines how pastel it reads. Picture courtesy of Lori Smith of From My Heart to Your Hands

Tones

Tones are hues mixed with gray. Gray is not a tone; keep in mind that gray is white + black, which makes it technically a tint, and black is multi-colored. That means that since there are just about endless colors of gray (sounds odd, colors of gray, doesn't it?) because of the different blacks the white could get mixed with, Tones actually have a deceptively broad range of color. Depending on who you talk to, this is where you'll find your Neutrals. I disagree there, since not all (in fact, to my eye, not most) Neutrals are mixes of gray - they are more complex than that.

 

Tones - Hue to the left, tone to the right. Courtesy of Tiger Color

Again, the same Warm/Cool, Analogous/Complementary (WC/AC Rules henceforth) apply to Tones as well. Tones make for great additions to masculine quilts, and are extremely useful in creating shadow and depth for landscape quilts. They also offset bright colors very well, and give those colors a "glowing" effect. Tones are also prevalent in Primitives and reproduction style quilts.

This is an example of a tonal/neutral quilt. The focus is gray, taupe and brown, with taupe being the prime example of a Tonal color (brown + gray). Photo courtesy of Quilts in Montana.

 

Shades

"Shade" is a word we use colloquially to denote the different colors within a color (shades of pink, shades of blue etc) that aren't necessarily dark, light or mid-tone. However, in Color Theory, a shade is a color that is mixed with black, making it the dark version of that color. Just like with Tones, because black is multi-colored, the effect can be whide ranging, from intensifying it to a dark, rich color (for example, mixing red with a red-based black), or to counteract the warmness/coolness of it (for example, mixing a red with a green based black). Shades can range from just slightly darker than mid-tone, to almost black, depending on how much black is mixed with the original color, but generally they are referred to as "dark [color of choice]."

Shades - Hue to the left, shaded to the right. Courtesy of Tiger Color

Shades are great for pairing with brighter colors to make them pop, or pairing with other shades to create a sense of depth and richness. They work very well in masculine quilts and contemporary quilts, and are prevalent in reproductions and Primitives.

This is a good example of shades and tonals. The lighter pieces are a tonal (taupe-gray) and the rest are shades of red, blue, rust and looks like green too. The quilt is beautifully rich. Picture courtesy of Heather Pearson's Blog.

Making Color Work FOR You

Choosing color for your quilt is not a scary as it can be made out to be. Thankfully, unlike paint, if you don't like a color you put in, or if it just doesn't work, you can take the piece out and put a new one in relatively easily. But a good rule of thumb is to start with a focus fabric that will be prevalent in your quilt, from which you can choose accompnying colors. Sometimes it's obvious which colors you want to put with your piece, and it's a snap and you get your colors picked in 5 minutes or less. They work great, and Voila! Successful quilt. This is more for when you have a focus fabric, or a set of colors you think you awant but are stumped as to what to put with it.

First, there are a couple things to consider. What kind of fibers will you be working with - cotton, batiks, flannel, wool, silk, wovens, etc? This is important to consider since some fibers absorb dye differently. Batiks and cottons tend to be more saturated with dye, and so they run the gamut from pastel to bright to dark with ease. Flannels can be bright, but more often than not you'll find darker, more muted colors or very soft pastel colors. Wool comes in all colors, but darker and brighter colors are more prevalent. Wovens tend to be more neutral and tonal.

Another question to ask yourself is, what do you want to achieve with your quilt? That will help determine your color selection. If you are looking to make a comfort quilt, you might shy away from the brighter, more intense colors and opt for something softer and more soothing. If you are looking to do something more contemporary, you might look more into the brights and tonals. If reproduction is your thing, you might seek out deeper and more tonal fabrics. Pastels are more suited for shabby chic, spring and baby quilts, so you might consider pastels for something like that. THERE IS NO HARD AND FAST RULE AS TO WHAT IS THE "RIGHT" COLOR FOR THE JOB. I cannot emphsize that enough! There are no Quilt Police that will haul you away for doing a baby quilt in tonals, a reproduction in pastels or a traditional quilt in brights. Consider who you're making it for, and what they like and what purpose it will serve. Everyone has a different eye and likes different things so COLOR CHOICE IS SUBJECTIVE. It's no fun if theres stress and anxiety over what's the correct color for the jo, it's all about what flows and looks good to your eye and Color Theory helps you get there. I digress :)

Here's a breakdown of colors and the effects they acheive on their own. When you combine them in certain ways, they bounce off each other differently:

Red: An active color, red will pop out from darker, cooler colors. It has warm intensity and brings to mind things like fire, love.

Orange: Also an active color, it pops from darker, cooler colors as well. It is warm and bright and gives quilts a happy, sunny, energetic feel.

Yellow: An active and intense color that will pop against any other, even warm colors. It is warm, crispand vibrant. the eye cannot focus on yellow for very long, so placing pops of yellow in a quilt forces the eye to move around the piece. It also gives quilts a cheerful and sunny feel.

Green: This is generally a more passive color that retreats when placed with warmer colors, but if the hue/tint is bright enough, it can pop depending on what it is placed with. Green helps give quilts a fresh, clean and calm ambiance.

Blue: Unless it is a very bright blue paired with other cool colors, blue is a passive color that retreats in the background. It will give your quilt a tranquil feel no matter the shade, and in the tonals it grounds the piece. Blue can be vibrant and energetic, but overall it is a calming influence.

Purple: As with green, the intensity and brightness of purple can change whether it pops or retreats. Generally though, it retreats and gives the quilt a fresh, feminine, or rich and regal feel. 

Neutrals: I'm going ot go ahead an use this umbrella term for browns, grays, beiges, taupes, tans, creams and everything inbetween. Neutrals tend to recede because they are mostly paired with a more dominant color.  They give quilts a calm, earthy simple beauty.

White: White quickly dominates a quilt, but if used too much it has a tendency to overpower the colors it's paired with. Colors appear less bright with white with them, but also appear fresher and clearer than with black, as seen below:

Black: As seen above, black makes other colors, including white, pop. Because of its darkness, it dominates a quilt. visually while still letting other fabrics be the stars.

Here are some color choice tips to consider...

* Depending on what you choose to use as a background, the color you use on top of it may look different because of how the two colors play together based on where they are located on the color wheel. For example:

The center block in each square is the same red, but look how different it can look based on what you pair with it? Courtesy of Color Matters

Again, the center block is the same purple, buyt even with analogous colors, the focus color can seemingly change based on your background. Courtesy of Color Matters

* Color is important, but value is even moreso. You can have all of the range of color in the world but still have a flat quilt if it's all the same tint/tone/shade. Quilts need light, medium and dark fabrics to create depth. that doesn't mean every quilt needs black and white, but in whatever colors you choose, having both ends of the spectrum as well as the mid tone helps create richness, depth and that "Pop Factor" that quilters love.

* Cooler, darker colors tend to recede when places with brighter, warmer colors. If you want a portion of your block to pop, consider using the brighter complement as the focus of that block.

* Monochromatic (using the hue, tints, tones and shades of one color only) quilts are nothing to sneeze at. While only using one color, the value is what makes the quilt so visually impactful.

* Proportion of color and value is what gives your quilt its life - The dominant color is both the color you use the most of, or what your eye is drawn to quickest. Your sub-dominant colors are the colors that take up less area than the dominant color, but play well with the dominant. The accent is the color that takes up the least space, but contrasts the most with the sub-dominant and dominant color(s). Divinding your color choices into those groups can help organize and guide the direction of your quilt. Without stating it outright, most quilt patterns do this for you on the required yardage page.

* This Palette Picker is a great help to illustrate how your colors will interact if you're having a hard time visualizing. It's come in handy for me more than once!

This article has been supplemented by this Color Theory website. If you want to learn even more, this is the best, most in-depth tutorial I have found yet

Top 5 Techniques that Look like Fun (but I haven't tried yet...)

I've said it before and I'll say it again...I'm hopeless addicted to the wild, weird world of quilting. Heck, if that's not apparent all ready, then perhaps I've been understating things (though, really not something I'll ever be accused of doing...ask my family/friends, I'm a spaz!). So while I've been piecing and appliqueing and quilting to my little heart's content, I've seen some other techniques that I really want to try...but haven't (yet). So, here they are (in no particular order of course):

Top 5 Techniques that Look like Fun (but I haven't tried yet...)

5. English Paper Piecing
I've all ready tried regular paper piecing, but this English Paper Piecing thing keeps rearing its head. Every now and then at the shop, someone will come in looking for english paper piecing supplies, and as a matter of fact, yesterday Loretta Orsborn was in our shop teaching a class, and she showed Mom and I an English Paper Piecing project she was working on and let me tell 'ya....it was cool! It made me want to try it, maybe not on the larger scale she was doing it at, but maybe a wall hanging? For a hand-sewing method, a wall hanging is probably all my attention span can handle. But it looks like a really simple technique and I really love how precise it is without seeming to be overly complicated. It looks like the prep actually takes the longest!



4. Ice Dyeing
I flipped right out when I saw this...you can dye your own fabric, pretty much mess free if you do it correctly, with the ice cubes in your freezer and powder dyes. What the heck?! I love the results! It's similar to tye-dye but without being overly ... tye-dye-ish, if that makes sense. This is a lot less planned. With tie-dye, you can make certain designs based on how to fold or twist the fabric and tie with rubber bands, and you apply the color directly where you want it - with the exception of the twist of the fabric, you pretty much know where the colors will be and how they will interact (since the dye is liquid, you see how it'll blend right away). With Ice Dyeing, the dye is a powder and rests on top of the fabric and dissolves and falls where it will as the ice melts - you can kind of guess where you want a particular color to be but ultimately it just goes where it goes and there is no "planned" pattern to it. It doesn't lend itself to the twisting and tying that tie-die does, because you need the looser folds to allow the powder the seep through.  I couldn't find a video tutorial for this, but if you click on the "Ice Dyeing" link, that is the best tutorial I have seen for it.


3. Hand Embroidery
Okay, so this one isn't ENTIRELY true. I have tried it. All I've done is a back stitch and an absolutely pathetic stem stitch (gotta work on that!). But have a looksie at the above link and check out these video tutes...how flippin' cool?! Embroidery is always a nice touch when embellishing a quilt - it can be whatever you want it to be and while it can look very modern with clean lines, it gives just a hint of the traditional which is really quite nice. I think the coolest part about embroidery is the fact that it has been done for literally thousands of years - we do it now, the Victorians did it, the ancient Chinese and ancient Egyptians did it, the medieval cultures did it and there is even evidence that early man had the ability to do it as well. Plus, there is no denying that hand embroidery can be absolutely elegant or wonderfully simple, so it caters to all skill levels.

4. Set-In Seams
Fine, fine. This one isn't all the way true either. I've tried this and you should have heard the fit I had. This is just the most ridiculous thing, it really is (okay, fine, so I'm still a little bitter). Set-In seams and Y-seams are pretty much the same thing far as I can tell, and using this technique can yield some pretty incredible results.. The thing I want to do with this, actually, is my mother's specialty - the Lone Star Quilt. She can practically do these in her sleep, Set-In Seams and all and have it turn out practically perfect. It comes with experience (and *groan* paaaaatience) I think. I'me working on the experience thing, but I think the patience with myself and with my projects is something that I'll forever lack. Anyway, maybe once my bitterness and rage (Hyperbolic much? Geez.) subside with these stupid seams I'll give it another go and make a sweet Lone Star!

5. Reverse Applique
Oh my goodness, have you ever seen a quilt all done up using this technique? It can range from cutesy to complicated and can be used as the focus technique or as embellishment. No matter which way you cut it, it's neat! I remember in Miss Parker's 7th grade art class, we had to do this technique using paper and an X-Acto knife to emulate (what is probably the most famous example of reverse applique) the Molas made by the Kuna people of Panama and Colombia. Their work is absolutely amazing. It's bright, it's intricate ...often imitated but never equalled. Aside from the Molas, this is just a funt hing to try and I think I (eventually) will!

Filomena!!! Los Liiiiiiinks!

As for that title, I got it from the video above. I don't use Bing but the commercial is funny. Actually in my head I call the Lauren's Links portion of the newsletter "Los Liiiiiinks!!!" in that guy's voice. It's funny, I assure you.

Anyway...on to the link.

This is a really good article (CLICK HERE) If you have ever sat there looking at your finished quilt underwhelmed (I know I have) then this is a really good article to read. Dena Crain is a teacher in Kenya and quilter, and her blog has this article on it about things to consider when you're not thrilled with your quilt. It talks about everything from color choice, to thread tension on your machine. I found it very helpful!

Why yes, I DO know better. But that, my friends, doesn't mean diddly.

So yeah. My machine hates me. Which, by "my machine hates me," I actually mean I totally screwed it up myself. User error.

I know better than to sew over pins, which is why I always take them out before my needle goes over them. who am I kidding? I don't. I leave them there...like most imperfect quilters (is there such a thing as a perfect quilter? Ooh, quilting existentialism). But in the back of my brain I know that there is a risk of breaking a needle or the pin if the the needle actually hitis the pin. apparently it's way back there in the back.

To the untrained eye, it looks like I'm being a diligent machine owner and cleaning my machine after using it. Yeah, that beast gets duuuuusty. I wish I could say that this is why I have got everything dismantled. Alas, I ran over a pin and the unexpected happened....

See that? Yeah, the pin didn't break like one would expect it to, and nor did the needle....The damn thing sucked itself into the feed dogs and got itself crimped and stuck therein. You should have heard the noise. It was ugly. I think my roomate dang near jumped out of her skin, because there she was minding her own business, watching Futurama, and KA-CHING-CRUNCH - pin, meet feed dogs, they want to devour you.

So what is the moral of this story? You probably shouldn't run over your pins. Will I run over my pins again/still? You betcha. But I will change my needle and watch things a little more closely.

Somewhere out in the wild and weird world of the interwebs, there's a Quilt Police Officer taking down my number so they can smack me upside the head with a ruler. 

Hide yo' fabric, hide yo' patterns cuz I'm back bloggin' errything in here!

...Sorry, I relapsed and had an "If Antoine Dodson were a Quilter" moment.

Apologies. So, it's been awhile, I know. Things in my life are FINALLY starting to get back to ops norm. The carpets are torn up and the beautiful wood floor is in. It looks like a completely different house! Also, Lauren is moved in and just about settled.

...which, in related news, I've corrupted her and she's going to start sewing!! I'm starting a quilting apocalypse; it's like the zombie apocalypse we keep hearing about, only instead of turning people into zombies, I'm turning them into quilters! Bahahaahah-oh. Sorry. Got carried away. But yes, she bought her first bit of fabric and I'm going to teach her something super quick and easy to do to get her interested. I don't think quilting will be the thing for her, but I think crafty sewing will...like potholders, makeup bags etc. That kind of stuff. Yay for her!!! :D

Anyway. So since everything has been in a state of flux at home, I haven't been working on anything requiring my machine. This whole month I have sewn once. ONCE! Talk about torture!! I'm happy to have one of my best friends here, but the renovation and moving process had forced me to shove my machine into a lonely and crowded corner in the side room, and not being able to sew has, to be completely honest, sucked voraciously. I'm super behind on projects and they keep piling on...what I need is a retreat! Hm...

-----------------

In the mean time, I've been working on little hand sewing ventures and just cruising the internet longing to be sewing instead. *insert melodramatic sigh here* Okay, maybe I'm speaking a liiiiittle (only a little...) hyperbolically. I've been buried under yo-yos! Mom had a neat idea for the shop to use as a decoration (not as a sample or project) and volunteered me to make the "we'll start with 70 and see how it looks" yo-yos, since among us I'm the one that doesn't mind doing the repetitious handwork.

That being said, I'm turning my focus to yo-yo makers. I have changed my feeling on them. I've decided that I'm taking the Alton Brown approach to this sewing gadget: Brown (from Good Eats on the Food Network) talks about how unitask gadgets in the kitchen are really next to useless unless it's for a food that you make several times a week, and encourages people to seek out multitasking items instead. Yo-yo makers are unitaskers. Realistically,  they ONLY make yo-yos, and only the one size it's designed to make. If you do tons of projects using yo-yos in some form or another, and you make them all the same size and you need to be consistent at that size, then they're great! But how many of us really do that? Let's be honest with ourselves. Aside from the handful of yo-yos we may use to embellish a piece or the extremely rare occasion we think it might be cool to do a quilt made entirely of yo-yos, they just aren't a major player in most people's work. So. That thing just sits there for however many months (or years) until we make something with yo-yos and them remember what a pain in the rear it is and quit.

I admit that if I only have a couple yo-yos to do, then yes, I will use a yo-yo maker because I do have a couple. It goes relatively quickly and it's really really fool-proof. But I have to say, I prefer doing the whole process by hand. I find that I go slower using the yo-yo makers, because of having to move the needle all the way up and down through the holes in the plastic, meaning I can't load my needle with 10-15+ stitches at once. Seriously, the time I take tracing my circle/heart/oval/flower out is more than made up for with the speed I can do that single gathering stitch without using that damned plastic disk. Not to mention, I can do whatever size or shape I want using my own template, which can also be used as an applique temple in other projects, without sacrificing consistency.

That's just my humble opinion. If you're all for yo-yo makers, then all the power to you! They are a neat tool...I just used a popcorn tin lid instead!

I'm just about out of computer time here at the moment,  but I have more to say about things I've learned since I haven't been sewing much...tips and hints and a very begrudging tip of my hat to Fons and Porter.

Quilting Basics 101: So many needles, so many types and sizes...so what?

Anyone who has ever had the joy of sewing away on a their sewing machine knows that when things are good, they're great and when they're not, well, things are downright weird. I have 2 machines with 2 VERY different temperaments, and when they misbehave I always seem to sit there scratching my head (and definitely not swearing at it...nope...not I...) and wondering where it all went wrong.

So this time I want to take a minute to focus on our machines - what they need, what they want, and what to do when they decide to take their ball and go home. There are LOTS of blogs out there with varying opinions and information on what I'm going to talk about, so I recommend doing a search and reading up on their information too. I'll post some links along the way (they'll be the ones in green and underlined), and they are the places where I supplemented my information. I think for the first time, I'll focus on choosing a needle...because even though it sounds like a "so what?" kind of thing, it really is relatively important!


Yes, the Needle You Use Matters!
Up until recently, I thought that a needle was a needle was a needle was a needle. I didn't get why they would need to sell anything but Sharps - I mean, excluding the Twin Needles, they all look dang near the same, so big whoop, right? Wrong! The needle you choose does matter. Using the incorrect needle for the job can mar your fabric, snap your thread, cause tension issues and wreak general havoc. Okay, so that last part is an exaggeration, but it sounds good, doesn't it?

Okay, so first things first. When I started buying needles I had no flippin' clue what the numbers on the front of the needle pack meant. 80? 90? 12? 14? What the heck is that even supposed to mean? Well, like the gauge on wire, that number refers to the size of the needle (thickness). Normally the pack will say something like 90/14 or 80/12 (okay, so I may have those numbers reversed...but for the sake of example...). All that is, is the Metric measurement/the King's System measurement (for my U.S. readers, the King's System is what we use). It doesn't matter which you go by, just so long as you understand what it means. For my overseas readers, the 70/80/90 is for you; for my U.S. readers, the 10/12/14 is for you. It's also worthwhile to know that the smaller your needle size, the smaller the eye of the needle will be. That's something to keep it mind.

So why the different sizes? It all has to do with the task at hand. Are you planning to stitch on something sheer, or something heavy like canvas? The thicker your fabric, the thicker your needle will want to be. Large needles will mar fine fabrics, and small needles may burr or break in thick fabrics. Sew, Mama, Sew laid it out the best...I can't say it better, so I won't!:

• Delicate Fabrics: When sewing with fabrics such as silk, chiffon, voile, fine lace or organza a fine “size 9″ needle would usually be the best choice.
• Lightweight Fabrics: When using lighter weight fabrics such as synthetic sheers, batiste, taffeta or velvet would a “size 11″ needle would be the normal choice.
• Medium Weight Fabrics: When sewing with slightly heavier weight fabrics such as gingham, poplin, linen, muslin, chambray, wool crepe, flannel, knits, jersey, wool, wool suiting, or stretch fabrics a “size 14″ needle is generally best.
• Medium-Heavy Fabrics: Sewing with fabrics such as gabardine, heavy suiting or tweed would require a “size 16″ needle.
• Heavy Fabrics: When using heavy weight fabrics such as denim, ticking, upholstery or canvas a “size 18″ needle is the most suitable.

 So you know the needle size you need, but what kind of needle should you use? There are so many brands and types out there, so how do you know? Well, everyone has the brand they prefer, which they figure out through trial and error. I'm a Schmetz girl, and I absolutely do not like Klasse needles. But that's just me! You either all ready have your brand of choice, or you'll find it so no worries there. As far as type goes...there are several to choose from and each are suited for certain tasks. These are the most common, though there are many more:

• Sharps: These are my default needles. I use them for most things, but really they are intended for tightly woven fabrics (like Batiks) or for fabrics that are finer in texture, like silks. The needle itself is tapered, thinner and very, very sharp so it doesn't disrupt the fabric quite as much.
• Universal: They are what they sound like; they're good for just about everything. While not as sharp as sharps (these have an ever-so-slightly rounded point), they still are very sharp and get the job done on most fabrics. When you buy a machine, this is usually the type of needle it comes with.
• Quilting/Betweens: These are meant for quilting your quilt sandwich. They are designed with the length of the needle being very strong to withstand having to pierce several layers of fabric and batting. Even in the larger thicknesses, the eye of the needle is fairly small.
• Metallic: If you are using metallic or monofilament thread, these needles are Godsends! If you try and use these threads in other needles, they have a tendency to strip and break, which, spekaing for myself, sends me into a tailspin of frustration and...not...swearing at my project. The eye of the needle is a little smoother and has a very thin coating of Teflon (or something very similar to it) to help ease the thread through with minimal damage to it as it pierces the fabric.
• Ballpoint: These needles are meant specially for knits and wovens. They do not work well with quilting cottons, fine fabrics or heavy weight fabrics. These needles have rounded points rather than sharp ones (though I still wouldn't want to step or sit on one...youch!), which means they push between the fibers rather than piercing through. It's a needle you'd use more often in garment sewing and general sewing than in quilting, though you may in quiling on occasion.
• Jeans/Denim: This needle is a real workhorse. It is not suitable for most quilting cottons or finer fabrics; it is definitely meant for denim and canvas weight fabrics. It is very sharp and the eye is slender, to help facilitate its movement through thick fabric. It is also more resistant to breakage than most other needles.
• Embroidery: The eyes of these needle are larger to accomodate heavier weight threads and thicker, more decorative threads. The eye is longer and the groove along the length of the needle is deeper to help protect the thicker threads. If you have an embroidery unit on your machine,or you do art quilting, this is a needle you will use fairly regularly. In general sewing and quilting, you may not use it quite as much.

As far as the life of a needle goes, really (if you're the perfect quilter in an ideal world...or just very attentive to these things) you should changeit every project to be sure that you have a fresh, sharp needle. If your needle is dull or has a burr (which can happen from it nicking the bobbin case...or more likely, from running over that pin you "never ever ever" sew over), it can cause issues ranging from breaking your thread, marring your fabric or throwing off your machine's tension. If you hear clicking or popping while you sew, if your thread keeps breaking, if your machine is skipping stitches or if your fabric is tearing where the needles enters, change your needle - it is either too dull or it has a burr in it.

If you needle is dull, burred, or if you run over a pin (which I know none of us would ever do *cough*) your needle can break. If your needle breaks, usually the thread will keep the 2 broken halves together and it's an easy fix. But sometimes, and this really bites, but the point will fly off and hit you (my insolent broken needle hit me in the forehead once, no joke) which could be bad, or it can get stuck down in the bobbin area of the machine and really screw things up. I haven't had the latter happen to me *knock on wood* but I do know that it can happen.

Anyway, if you've lasted this long, I hope this was helpful and informative!

Sources: Sew, Mama Sew and Quilt Bug