Using Values in Quilt Design

I've still struggled to be happy with this quilt design.  My goal is to mix music and Christmas prints.  So far, nothing has worked well with the pattern I'm using.

Layout with brown frames

Layout with cream frames

 

 

There was also a disaster with dark green fabrics for a frame, but I missed a photo of that one.
For all of them, the frames contrasted with some fabrics, but blended with the others.

So today, I turned these into black and white images to look at the values. 

Layout with brown frames

It's much easier to see that the frames just don't stand out like they "should."  Also, even though the large snowflakes are on a black background, they still mix well with other darks.  It's an interesting lesson which I thought I'd already learned.

Layout with cream frames ... better, but still doesn't work for me

So since my collection has light/med/darks, maybe I should eliminate the frames for this quilt.

Here's the same layout in black and white.

I think with a little more rearranging, this will work better.  Also, even though I've really tried to make that stripe (left side) work for the outer border, I may end up with the dark pine cones (right side).  I'll make that final decision after the center is sewn.

I know this is Fabric Selection 101, but it was a lesson I needed to revisit today.  Once this quilt is done, I'll select a new set of fabrics to make that framed design.  The frames will either be the light or dark and the rest of the fabrics will show off that contrast in a variety of colors.

Enjoy your day!
- SeeingStars