How to Use a Historical RYB Color Wheel in Quilting

I am over the top excited this morning to announce a new series of posts about the historical color wheel for quilters (and sewists, too) that I've put together for BERNINA's blog, WeAllSew.

Pop over to the first post at WeAllSew, Color Wheel Basics to learn a bit about what the historical color wheel is and where it came from.

As a bonus, BERNINA has put together a set of free printable Color Wheel cards to download, cut out and use for reference! Scroll to the bottom of the post to find the download and instructions for putting the cards together.

The second post, Color Harmony Basics will show you exactly how to use any color wheel to find harmonious color combinations. Using a color wheel to find color harmonies is a GREAT way to look for new color combinations or coordinating colors for quilts and sewing projects. Find free printable cards with this post showing 10 of the most basic ways to combine colors on any color wheel.

You can use these Color Harmony cards to play around with colored fabrics to find combinations you like (and even make note of those that you really don't like) for future reference.

Visit this post about Simultaneous Contrast to learn how colors can play tricks with each other, and play tricks with your color perception. 

I hope you enjoy the series, and even feel confident enough to give color theory a try in your next quilt or colorful sewing project. I'd love to hear from you if you do!

Keep looking at the colors all around you!

-Erika

P.S. to readers:

I wrote this series long before learning more about color wheels, color theory, and what the most popular tools are for quilters to use in making color combinations. If you'd like to learn more, check out some of my current blog posts about color, or visit my EDUCATION page to see my latest color classes and workshops.

A great resource for finding the most current information about color education (in an easy-to-understand format for all levels) is the Colour Literacy project, click here to learn more.

-Erika 6/30/2026