Prism99

I do think taking out the neons and brights helped. The blue quilt does not have those.

The blue quilt has a lot more patterned fabric in it, and the patterns are small-scale (not batik-like). I counted at least 6 different printed fabrics, all in mid-tones but with most of them light mid-tones. I am seeing only 3 print fabrics in your layout, and 2 of them are batik-like rather than small print. The small prints add a lot of "wonk", in my opinion -- especially the small prints that have a light background.

You might also want to count up the proportions of light to dark to mid-tones in the original quilt. I am seeing a lot more white in it than dark, especially in the large center squares. This lightens up the quilt a lot. Also, I am seeing a lot of the small print fabrics in those light center squares.

As I see it, the center squares are dominant in this pattern. I would count up the number of center squares in the blue quilt, then figure out what proportion of them are prints, light solids and dark solids. Then try to replicate those proportions in your green quilt.

Edit: I'm also seeing a lot more light frames in the blue quilt than in yours. You might want to do the same counting thing with the frames to see what percentage of the frames are light, dark, and mid-tone. I think your frames tend to be more dark and mid-tone, with not as many lights. (It's getting hard for me to scroll back and forth between the blue quilt and your latest green quilt, so I can't do the comparisons as well as you can.)

rryder

I think your whites are too intense. And as someone else mentioned, the original also has more frames that are a light to medium light value.

It looks to me like the original quilt has lots of value contrast, there are frames that are light, medium light, medium dark and dark, but is overall of low intensity--meaning that none of the colors used are pure colors, they have all been grayed out to some extent. Your original lime green was very intense when compared to the other greens in your quilt-- that is, it was composed of a very pure green and yellow blend, with no graying or neutralizing of the colors. The same thing looks to me to be happening with your white. You might try using either a slightly warmer white, or a very light gray instead of the pure/cool white and in addition, try to add in some more light value and medium light value frames.

Rob

cashs_mom

I agree that the blue quilt has some patterned fabrics that with two or more of the other colors/values in it which helped to tie everything together. And I agree with Rob that a not quite white in place of the true white you have might tone down the contrast a bit.

lots2do

I think it's great that you felt comfortable asking for help and I think it's great that so many people gave good, constructive feedback to you. Kudos to all!

carol45

I agree. This board is great!

carol45

What appears white in the photo is actually a light green--very pale, but not as bad as it looks in the photo.

wesing

I definitely see a big improvement from the first pic to the second. I think the wonky you're seeing in the blue quilt is due to contrast. That filigree looking fabric has a white background, and to my eye it "vibrates" within the quilt. Also, in the top row, 3rd square starting from the left, that center fabric is blue with white dots, so it offers some movement. Then there is the use of several white pieces in the other squares, plus some nearly white background in others.

Many of your greens are medium, so you are lacking some of the contrast you see in the blue quilt. Also, you've used some white, but it's solid. If you can find some fabrics with green on a white background I think you would get some of the movement you're looking for.

I think I've just restated what others have said using different words, but something will click when you hear it in your way of thinking.

Here are a couple of fabrics from our stash that have the contrast (but not the color) I'm talking about.

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joe'smom

I think the problem in the original photo was too few shades of green between the blue green and the yellow green. Removing some of those blue greens (which there are quite a few of) and replacing them with shades that create a smooth transition from blue green to yellow green is what I would suggest.

bkay

This inspires me to post my problem child.

bkay

suern3

This is my thought, too, but loisf said it better than I could have!