Focus On Neutrals!

Often times I will refer to “NEUTRALS” as a background, and I know it leaves some confused….especially those who know English as a second language.  Or those who are so used to “Light/Medium/Dark” in their thinking-

When using the term “NEUTRAL” I am referring to the “GROUND COLOR” that my background fabric is printed on.

Neutral backgrounds mean I want the main fabric to read as white, cream, beige or tan. 

But as in this photo, they can have a myriad of prints with other colors on them. 

Doesn’t the scrappy neutral background of these 4 blocks make the quilt look more fun?  There is not a single white-on-white or cream-on-cream in the mix!  Yet, because these prints are scattered on a “NEUTRAL” ground – they still read as very light behind my main block design.

I’ve mentioned this before – but to me the job of background fabrics is to provide interest and visual impact to the quilt, but also to BE background, allowing the foreground – the main block design – to be the main focus.  I want my block design to take center stage, and my neutrals to be my back up singers.

If you watched along on last night’s quilt cam – I talked quite a bit about how I view a neutral background candidate ---be sure to watch at least the first 30 minutes of that session HERE, archived for you!

When going through my 2.5” strip bins to cut my neutral rectangles for my backgrounds,I took photos of things I included.  I hope this opens your eyes a bit more to what you CAN use up from your deep stash – and put it into really fun quilts with lots of background impact!

Shirting style prints are a no-brainer! More cream is showing than print, even if the print is black stars, black and yellow bumblebees ((Love this fabric!)), blue shells on cream, or purple floral vines on cream.  It’s easy to consider these as neutrals.  But did you know you can include THESE:

Stripes and florals and little calicoes!  All with a white to cream to “almost yellow” background.

YES!  These are neutrals in the Bonnie-Sense!

Tan burlap looking fabric!  YES!  It’s no darker than paper bag brown!

Winnie the pooh?! YES!  It’s got a very light background and will be fun in the quilt!

Pink/burgundy flowers on cream?

Yes!  It’s on a cream ground – it’s not a pink fabric – it will read as a light neutral!

Teal viney flowers on a beige background!?

YES!  what is the background color of the fabric? Don’t just look at the flowers…what are they playing on?

The easiest way for me to see if it will play well is to stand 6 feet away – and take my glasses off!  From that distance, the print is obscured and I see how light the fabric really is.

Did you know you could use THESE as neutrals?

Blue gingham on cream with seed packs? YES!

Green foulard print on white? YES!

Tone-on-tone oatmeal (Mostly boring, but use it up!)

The last strip may surprise you…it’s a very pale pale shade of peachy beige with colored flowers.  I would also use this as a “neutral” because the fabric is SO LIGHT it would never play main stage in my quilt.  I will throw in very baby pastels into my neutrals to spice up the mix, but it has to be way lighter than “medium”.  Anything of “medium” value usually has too much color in it to play background and will make it harder to read what my main block design is.  I want a wide difference in value between what is background and what is main block design.

Cut up into 2.5” X 6.5” rectangles and ready to play!

Does that middle green plaid surprise you?  To me that is a NEUTRAL.  What color do you see the most in there? It’s a green print on a cream ground – to me that cream ground means it’s NEUTRAL!

Does THIS surprise you?

Is that top stripe black, or is it white?  To me it reads more white than black – so I’m using it as a neutral.

The tulip print underneath it has quite a bit of color…but there is still more background showing and when I stand 6 feet away – it reads very light compared to what I am putting it next to.  These are the fabrics I find hard to use in main block designs so I am going to use them up as background.  Remember – you can also use the backside of questionable fabrics!  Apple slices? Neutral!  Green/Red/Tan stripe? NEUTRAL!

Here’s some other tough ones --- would you have guessed these are neutral?

Large blue/pink/green floral on white.  There is more white space than there is floral and this will be interesting as a background!

Blue yarn-dyed plaid with carrots ---it’s on a cream ground.  It’s neutral!

1930’s print –pink flowers, green flowers and leaves on a white background.  To me this is NEUTRAL!  It’s too light to play as a main block design against other scrappy neutrals.  It would disappear. I’m using it as background!

Burgundy etched floral -----it’s on cream.  It’s not a burgundy fabric.  It’s a neutral!

((Are you getting it now?!))

These are ALL Neutrals – except maybe the darkest dotted one you see on the left.  It’s a cream ground, but the black picotage is a bit over-powering by the six-feet-away rule.  I decided to put that one in with my brown strips and not use it as a neutral.

Can a Christmas print be a neutral?  Yes – if it is on a white, cream, beige or tan background.

Remember to look at the color of the background of the fabric – not just the print that is on it.  Don’t be print deceived!

Even the fashion industry is wild about neutrals!  I found these shades to fit pretty much what I use as background neutrals ---the ground of the fabric, not the print follows these guide lines pretty much!  That Mica color?  Just a fancy name for Paper Bag Brown!

I hope this helps you know what this American Quilter considers to be neutral – especially to my friends in other countries who find my yardage requirements of “5 yds of assorted neutral scraps” a bit confusing.  As they say, pictures are worth 1,000 words!

Have a terrific International Quilting Day, everyone!