Color Theory Proved Successful

How many of you know what a true color really is? Do you know what constitutes a true blue or a true red for instance? Does it even really matter? Do you know the differences in the way a needlewoman should be looking at color while using her thread and fabric as compared to the person who dyed that fabric or thread? Does a painter/artist look at color differently than a stitcher? Do they handle colors differently? Do they share any common ways of looking at color?What do they share in common when it comes to the use of colors? You can find all of that out in the Stitchmap Color Theory Course.

Some people are lucky and the skill of being able to pick out colors that go together seems to come naturally to them. There are others out there that have no "sense of color". Where can these needle women go to learn about using colors in the way a needle worker needs to use them, not a painter, not a dyer, but a stitcher??? How many of you are even aware that threads and fabrics can work differently together than dyes and paints in some ways?

At MAP we believe that taking a Basic Color Theory Course is the best way for the color challenged to brush up on their skills! And we have one such course written just for MAP! It consists of 6 lessons and several short assignments that will help you unravel the mystery of color as it relates to thread and fabric. Learn how to make your colors choices so that they work for you, not against you. Learn how to choose frames and mats that make your projects more pleasing to the eye.

Recently we started another class of apprentices in the StitchMap Basic Color Theory Course. We have 8 wonderfully talented mentors helping their fellow member apprentices. The comments on our recent course evaluations showed that even those who thought that they knew about colors and how they work together got new insight on how to apply "color sense" to their stitching with information garnered from this course.


Here are some examples of a small exercise completed by members of a MAP Basic Color Theory Course. The exercise was regarding the recognition of and the use of Warm and Cool colors. The top photo is an exercise done by Gayle Morris. The bottom photo was an original stitched exercise done by Thelma Bradshaw, a Stitchmap Color Mentor.

The StitchMap Color Theory class is now one of the pre-requisite courses at MAP. Everyone who wants to take a class in Crazy Quilting, surface embroidery and other needlework courses, where color is very important to the success of the stitchery technique, will have to go through this class first or they must have had an equivalent course at some time in the past.

The ladies who have taken this class really seem to enjoy themselves while learning about color and how it works in the needle world! You can work in thread, paper, paint chips or even crayons, but you cannot use dyes, paints or other similar coloring agents.

How many of you say, "I wish I could do that. I wish I could make my colors 'POP', harmonize, or even, not stick out like a sore thumb"? Well actually you can. You just need to take the right course! We think we have the right course, for free, right here at Stitchmap.

Lyn Gaskill
AKA: Ms. Mischief