“Translating impressionism into a quilt style was a labor of love and not nearly as difficult as one might expect. The Impressionists’ method of color blending, which was to use several colors to interpret each element in a painting, is perfectly suited to tone-on-tone and textured fabrics. When several of these fabrics are cut into small squares and then sewn together, they blend visually, giving a dramatic layering of color. These subtle combinations are perfect for elements like water, trees, hills, and sky. Solid color fabric, although tempting because of their wide range of hues, are inappropriate because they project an image that is too flat and non-reflective.”

Value-graded and color-graded prints are used to transition from one area to another. This method creates the soft, blurry edges that are so typical of Impressionists’ paintings. Many fabrics are used on both the front and the reverse side to help achieve this gradual movement of color and value.