Black

Today I read an article here that basically says Abercrombie & Fitch doesn't sell black clothing because they are a purveyor of casual clothing and black is a formal color. The article made some interesting references to the historical use of black; check it out.

I was a fashion industry professional for 35 years.  To some degree, black is the uniform of the fashion industry, so I based my wardrobe around black. Yes, the color specialist almost always wore black!

Black may not be as popular for decorating as for apparel, and therefore is not always considered when planning a quilt color scheme to coordinate with a room environment.  In quilting, black is a wonderful ground color because it enables all other colors to pop due to the contrast.  Historically, some beautiful Amish quilts featured black.  Now, Modern and contemporary quilts can play off black equally well.

Here's my favorite quote about black, from Leatrice Eiseman, Color Expert at Pantone:
"Adding black to any color renders that color more powerful, creating an illusion of depth, weight, solidity, substance, and most often, more subtlety."

Mega Medallion top (partial view)

Commercial cotton fabrics

 

Loop in Motion, 2006, 60" x 60"

commercial cotton fabrics

hand and machine pieced, machine quilted

 

Note: if you use solid black as the background color as in Loop in Motion, I recommend black batting and a good lint roller!