Make It Modern: A Colorful Experiment with Confetti Cottons -

With so many beautiful fabrics and colors to choose from, narrowing down the possibilities can be a challenge. But what if a little color theory could make those decisions easier without taking away the fun of choosing fabrics?

Hey there, Kelly Renay here! Today, I’m sharing how I used the Riley Blake Designs Quilty Color Wheel and their extensive collection of Confetti Cottons™️ to create a colorful, cohesive palette for my new Quilty Beary Bunch quilt pattern add-on.

After conceptualizing six sewing themed bears, my thoughts immediately turned to color. I imagined rich jewel tones, building from the colorful look of my original Beary Bunch quilt.

I knew I needed 18 fabrics divided into three groups: six Background Fabrics, six Bear Fabrics, and six Bear Highlight Fabrics. I also knew how I wanted those colors to relate. The bears would be the lightest, the highlights would fall in the middle, and the backgrounds would be the darkest.

With those ideas in mind, I pulled out the Quilty™️ Color Wheel. And at first, it was a little overwhelming. So rather than trying to choose all 18 colors at once, I broke the process into smaller pieces.

Starting with the Backgrounds

Because I wanted the backgrounds to be the darkest colors, that’s where I began.

I started by exploring two triads, which also created three complementary pairs across the color wheel. A triad is a group of three colors spaced evenly around the wheel. Together, they form a triangle and create a balanced color relationship.

From there, I worked through three different triad groupings of Confetti Cottons™️, comparing the combinations until I found the rich, jewel-toned palette I had imagined.

My six Background Fabrics became:
Curry • Red Hen • Reign • Gingersnap • Riley Fuchsia • Neptune

Once I had those six colors selected, I had a foundation to build from.

Building the Bears

Next came the Bear Fabrics, which I wanted to be the lightest colors.

But rather than staying within the same color wedges of the selected Background Fabric triads, I looked to the neighboring wedges on either side of each background color on the Quilty™️ Color Wheel.

I began pulling lighter Confetti Cottons™️, comparing combinations with the Background Fabrics and making adjustments until I found the ones I liked best.

That gave me my six Bear Fabrics:
Daffodil • Peony • Riley Aqua • Apricot Blush • Riley Lilac • Froggy

And this is where the color-wheel puzzle really started coming together.

Adding the Highlights

By the time I reached the Bear Highlight Fabrics, I’d already selected colors from 12 of the Quilty™️ Color Wheel’s 18 wedges.

That left six wedges still unused.

So rather than starting another round of endless color possibilities, those remaining six wedges became the starting point for my Bear Highlights:
Cider • Guava • Deep Water • Pumpkin • Violet • Lucky

What could easily have become a chaotic mix of colors had turned into a harmonious palette of 18 Confetti Cottons™️. Together, they represented all 18 wedges of the Quilty™️ Color Wheel, with two triads running through each of the three fabric groups.

From 18 Colors to Six Bears

With all 18 wedges of the Quilty™️ Color Wheel now represented, it was time to bring those colors back together.

While selecting the fabrics, I had intentionally moved around the color wheel, choosing different wedges for each fabric group. But when it came time to build the individual bears, I did the opposite. I brought the colors back together by color family.

Each bear combines one Background Fabric, one Bear Fabric, and one Bear Highlight Fabric:

Beary Snippy, in yellows: Curry + Daffodil + Cider
Beary Slicey, in reds: Red Hen + Peony + Guava
Beary Seamful, in blues: Reign + Riley Aqua + Deep Water
Beary Sandwichie, in oranges: Gingersnap + Apricot Blush + Pumpkin
Beary Stashed, in violets: Riley Fuchsia + Riley Lilac + Violet
Beary Spooled, in greens: Neptune + Froggy + Lucky

And because each bear follows the same progression of light, medium, and dark values, every color family has its own contrast while still working together as a group.

And Then There Were 21…

Of course, 18 colors weren’t quite enough to finish six sewing themed bears!

Those 18 Confetti Cottons™️ created the Background Fabrics, Bear Fabrics, and Bear Highlight Fabrics, but the little sewing notions needed a few colors of their own.

For those details, I added three neutral Confetti Cottons™️: Iron, Cement, and Pitch Black, bringing the finished cover quilt to 21 Confetti Cottons™️ total.

Bringing the Triads Back

But I wasn’t quite finished with those original two triads.

Once the six bears were pieced, I needed to decide where each one would live within the finished quilt. So I returned to those original triads and used their color relationships to arrange the bears in the final layout.

What you might not notice at first glance is that those color relationships are also hiding within the finished quilt. You simply see six bright, colorful bears, but their arrangement follows the same principles that guided my original fabric selections.

A Little Structure Behind All That Color

What started as 18 individual fabric choices became a colorful, cohesive quilt, all with a little help from the Quilty™️ Color Wheel.

And that’s really what this whole color experiment showed me. Color theory isn’t about following a strict formula. It’s about having enough structure to narrow the possibilities while still leaving plenty of room to play, experiment, and choose the colors that feel right to you.

So the next time you’re staring at a stack of fabrics wondering where to begin, why not give the Quilty™️ Color Wheel a spin? You might be surprised by the color combinations you discover!

Want to Explore the Quilty Beary Bunch?

The Quilty Beary Bunch is a six-design, sewing themed add-on to my original Beary Bunch Quilt Pattern. It features traditionally pieced scissors, a thread spool, rotary cutter, fabric stash, seam ripper, and basting pin.