Watercolor Quilts

What are watercolor quilts?

Watercolor quilts evoke the style of Impressionist paintings by their use of many multi-colored fabrics to create designs. While traditional quilts rely on a color scheme to establish pattern and contrast, these contemporary scrap quilts use value and color to suggest the changing quality of light and color in the natural world. The effect is similar to a watercolor painting where the constantly changing values and colors create special effects.

To make a watercolor quilt, small squares or other simple shapes are grouped to form images and moods. The quiltmaker arranges fabrics from light to dark in a gradual transition, similar to a painted watercolor wash. Colors shift smoothly from one to another. Up close, the quilt looks like a hodgepodge of scraps. But from a distance, the individual colors and patterns blend into a whole.

Watercolor quilts look deceptively simple. In fact, they are endlessly challenging. Quiltmakers find them addictive and liken the design process to jigsaw puzzles and the elusive search for the perfect piece.

How We Got Started

We began making simple washes of color using 2" squares in 1987. Using mostly monochromatic prints, or the tone-on-tone prints as they are often called, we created washes of changing colors and values in small wall hangings that featured mostly geometric designs. In 1989 Patricia and Donna saw the work of Deirdre Amsden, a London artist. She was using the small squares that contained multi-color floral motifs along with other fabric designs to create her "colourwash series" of quilts. Deirdre began making this style quilt in 1981 and is the forerunner of the watercolor technique. When we began using the larger florals created by the U.S. fabric companies, our watercolor designs began to take on a different flavor from our original work with the 2" monochromatic squares. Our work now features representation of objects and ideas, incorporating appliquè, and depicts beautiful landscapes. Creating beautiful flowers from the 2" squares has also been our trademark.

We began teaching this technique in 1991. One of our students took her watercolor quilt project to her quilt group for show and tell. Nancy J. Martin, owner of That Patchwork Place, Inc., saw the design and contacted us about writing a book. And the rest is history!


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