This is the first in a series of five (5) articles by MJ Kinman, maker of her signature gemstone quilts. MJ will take us on an adventure in color, unlike any you may have experienced, to unlock the secret of color interactions. She has taken the words and wisdom of influential artists and theorists such as Josef Albers and M.E. Chevreul and interpreted them in ways that we as quiltmakers can use in our own work.
MJ will explore this topic in more depth during her lecture at QuiltCon 2025 (February 20-23) in Phoenix, AZ. To register for MJ’s “Color Play” lecture, visit https://quiltcon.com/faculty/.
In the coming weeks, you’ll learn how to make your quilts glow and sparkle, create effective transparencies, and “push” colors around simply by introducing a new neighboring color. These ideas are applicable to all quiltmakers, regardless of their inspiration, and are intended to help makers approach color with confidence and joy.
Learn more about manipulating color in the other articles in this series:
Article 2: Make Your Quilts Glow with Saturation Contrast
Article 3: Add Sparkle to Your Quilts with Value Contrast
Article 4: Add Depth to Your Quilt Designs with Effective Transparencies
Article 5: Manipulate Color to Create Optical Illusions
When I ask class participants what they love most about quilting, the response I often receive is, “Color!” Ironically, this sentiment is usually accompanied by a lack of confidence about choosing colors for their own work.
“I’m not good with color.”
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Read more about our affiliate linking policy.
“Color intimidates me.”
“Color and I don’t get along.”
If this sounds familiar, allow me to offer a different perspective that just might change the way you look at your relationship with color.
The great artist and educator of the 20th century, Josef Albers, stated in his ground-breaking book Interaction of Color his observation that “color deceives continually.” (Albers 1963)
Let me ask you this: If you were in a relationship with someone who deceived you continually, would it be your fault that the relationship had problems? No! As I like to tell students, it’s not you – it’s color.
My goal in framing our experience of color this way is to relieve students’ anxiety, allowing them to relax and explore the topic with less fear and more joy. Only later do I reveal that the source of the problem really and truly does lie with us – or more accurately – the problem lies with our brain and the way it perceives color.
As Albers expressed it, “In visual perception a color is almost never seen as it really is – as it physically is. This fact makes color the most relative medium in art.”
We Each Perceive Color Differently
We’re all wired differently.
Not only do humans have an amazing diversity of external features, but researchers are discovering how widely diverse our internal systems are, as well. As a result, I see, hear, smell, taste, and feel things a little – or a lot – differently than you do.
Remember the Internet controversy a few years ago surrounding the color of that infamous dress? Was it white and gold or blue and black?
Researchers discovered that the appearance of the dress depends on how our brains interpret the variables surrounding the image. In other words, it is our perception of the interaction of the dress with its background that impacts how we perceive the color. (Spoiler alert: the actual dress was dark blue and black.)
The Key: Interaction of Color
This brings us to Albers’ point and the focus of this series of articles: our concern is the interaction of color. Our concern is seeing what happens between colors.
Here’s another way to think about it. When we listen to a symphony, we rarely hear individual notes. Instead, we hear chords. When I hear a D major chord, I don’t hear the individual D, F♯, and A notes. Instead, I hear the joyful combination of tones that infuse the triumphant ending of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9.
Another example: when we read a page in a book, we don’t pick out the individual letters; we perceive “word pictures.” (Albers 1963) Letters in combination with one another create the words.
Here’s one last example Albers offers us. Imagine that you have three buckets of water in front of you. The water in each is a different temperature: hot, lukewarm, and cold. When you dip your two hands simultaneously into the hot and cold buckets, you’ll have distinct sensations of hot and cold.
Now immediately remove your hands from the hot and cold buckets and dip them into the single bucket holding the lukewarm water. Again, distinct sensations! Only now the hand that was in the hot water feels cold and the hand previously in cold water feels warm.
Is the water really two different temperatures? Of course not, but our brain perceives it to be so based on our interaction with the hot and cold water in the other buckets.
To summarize his point, Albers says: “We almost never….see a single color unconnected and unrelated to other colors. Colors present themselves in continuous flux, constantly related to changing neighbors and changing conditions.” (Albers 1963)
Let’s Explore!
I invite you to join me on an adventure in color over the next few weeks. I’m excited to introduce you to the ideas of influential artists and color theorists such as artist/educator Josef Albers and the 19th-century color expert Michel Eugene Chevreul whose ideas about color have dramatically impacted my own quilt designs. Their ideas offer tantalizing pathways toward creating dramatic effects in your quilts just by changing the combination of colors and, in doing so, increase your color confidence.
We’ll start our journey by learning how to make quilts glow and sparkle by combining colors that contrast in two very specific ways. I’ll show you how to master effective transparencies. Finally, we’ll explore ways to manipulate color and create optical illusions, such as how to make one color look like two and, conversely, how to make two colors look like one, simply by changing the colors surrounding them.
Throughout our adventure, I’ll offer a series of exercises that you can try on your own. Please keep in mind that our foray into color isn’t about “right” and “wrong” choices. Color is about exploration and experimentation.
Please join me as I explore the amazing, dynamic, and joyful world of color and unlock the secrets of color!
Learn more about manipulating color in the other articles in this series:
Article 2: Make Your Quilts Glow with Saturation Contrast
Article 3: Add Sparkle to Your Quilts with Value Contrast
Article 4: Add Depth to Your Quilt Designs with Effective Transparencies
Article 5: Manipulate Color to Create Optical Illusions
MJ’s newest in-person class titled “Color Play: Beyond Color Theory” explores the concepts she describes in this 5-part series. MJ also offers “Color Play” as a one-hour lecture or full-day in-person class that gives participants a chance to experiment with these concepts in more depth. Guilds can contact MJ at [email protected] for her availability. You can also check MJ’s website at https://www.mjkinman.com for a listing of classes that may be scheduled near you.
While you’re visiting her website, be sure to check out her collection of gorgeous gem patterns in her online shop.
Read our interview with MJ.