One of the things we love about creating transparency quilts is the depth you see in the colors as well as the composition. Hello Sunshine appears to be a relatively straightforward baby quilt but in one place the overlapping colors make sense – a light over a darker fabric yields a shade in between. However, look at the light centers. We’ve played with the visuals to have two medium tones overlap two darker tones and the result is a yellow that is lighter than either of the other colors used.

This example shows how the transparencies don’t always have to be logical in terms of the overlap color being the shade that would result if you really did overlay the colors with, for example, an overhead projector. What matters most is that the gradations between the different overlays aren’t too much of a leap.

I think the most useful section of the book is “What Works, What Doesn’t and Why.” We intentionally put together a series of UNsuccessful transparencies so you could see what went wrong. Let me know if you want to see any more of them and I can add them to future posts.

By the way, we were happy to read that Library Journal has included Transparency Quilts as a “not-to-be missed” title for quilting along with our second book “Modern Quilt Workshop.” Thanks for the shout out Library Journal!