Value Study Cubes

I just finished a little wall hanging based on a color theory exercise working with values. The Value Study Cubes wall hanging finished at 45.5" x 45.5". 

 

Miss Bea agrees that it's good, she could hardly keep her paws off of it while I worked to finish the facing. Thanks Miss Bea, you're the best sewing helper ever! This wall hanging is based on the very same block I used to create the memorial tie mini-quilt a few years ago.

When I made the tie mini-quilt, I paired striped tie silk with shirt weight cotton, and I really like the dimensionality in the final piece.

I used the exact same 6" x 6" paper pieced block pattern, using solids from my scrap bin. For each block I tried to find three different values in a similar hue, which makes the finished block look a bit 3-dimensional.

I worked on making the blocks over the past few months, and let me tell you, it was pretty difficult to pull out scraps and try to match hues across so many different values!

Some of the value study blocks worked better than others, but it was definitely a fun color theory exercise.

I just finished hand stitching the facing this morning, and it's going to live in my sewing space for a bit. I think it has a bit of a retro vibe, although I'm not sure if it's more of an 80's feel or a different era - what does it remind you of?

The quilting is some simple 1/2" straight lines mirroring the middle cube shape and radiating out from there. Straight line quilting is my favorite way to finish a geometric piece, although I'm not an extremely precise quilt-in-a-perfect-line type of stitcher. I'm more of a just-make-it-work for me type of quilter.

Thanks for dropping by and checking out my latest finish! Not sure what I'm moving on to make next, but I'm also in the middle of pulling together some basic Color Theory classes geared towards quilters and makers who haven't had any traditional Color Theory training, and who want to learn what it's all about! I hope to start offering classes in the greater Chicagoland area this summer. I'll be sure to blog about the classes when they get going - for sure!