xchg Watercolor Values

[Gillian Cannon]

I'm writing this in response to several private e-mails I have received
from exchange participants who are a little concerned about the lack of
value range in their packets. Don't get me wrong, they are delighted
with the quality of the fabric, but they feel that not enough attention
is being paid to VALUE.

I thought I had covered this factor pretty carefully in the RULES for
the exchanges, but here goes with a smaller and more detailed post.

VALUE is the lightness or darkness of a fabric (not, incidentally, the
intensity of the color, that's another subject). In the Watercolor
Quilt book, a lot of ink is spent on the importance of value and the
inclusion of all six values in the quilt, though they do say that one
does not need as many light Lights as other values.

Please make sure that included in your packet of fabrics is *at least*
one fabric of light Light, dark Light, and medium Light value. While
it's true that a fabric's value is relative to the other fabrics
surrounding it, for the purposes of the exchange, one fabric, called
light Light MUST be an almost-white fabric while still embracing the
other requirements--not a solid, not a tone on tone, multi-colored and
large or medium scale, etc.

The purpose of these exchanges is to increase your stash at a minimum
impact on the bank account (of course, while making friends and having a
bunch of fun). If packets are comprised only of dark Medium to dark
Dark values, we will all still have to put significant additional money
out to fill in even more gaps in our stash.

Please remember that a light Light Brown probably is an ecru, a light
Light Orange may be a peach or similar hue, and that we need to be sure
that a whole range of values is included in our exchanges.

Thanks a bunch for listening.

Gillian, in San Juan Capistrano, CA (where it's bikini weather--too bad
I'm 30 years past a bikini! <G>)

* SLMR 2.1a * Wish I were having as much fun as you probably think I am