I need your help. When I made my Tic Tac Toe quilt blocks, I had trouble understanding what low volume meant. After reading several blog posts on the topic, I was still unsure at to what type of fabrics low volume was referring to.
And so I played it safe and chose fabrics that were very light coloured and with an extremely subtle print. Problem was, the fabrics were so similar, there was little to no contrast between the low volume fabrics. When I looked at the quilt blocks made by others, I confirmed what I suspected - I did not have a good understanding of low volume fabrics.
Quilting with Low Volume Fabrics: Soft Backgrounds with Style - this post refers to low volume as fabric which shows up as a light solid (or nearly solid) in a black and white photograph. That makes perfect sense to me.
However, when I look at the examples of low volume fabrics in the post, I can't visualise some of them as a solid or near solid.
Shabby Chic Quilting: What Is Low-Volume Fabric? - defines low volume as fabrics that “read” as light fabrics but at the same time have a secondary pattern or design. That sort of makes sense to me - the overall feel is light, but with a small pattern.
Low Volume? - talks about low volume as whites/creams with small prints. Yep, that makes sense - white or cream backgrounds with small prints.
Low Volume Fabrics - A Guide - says your eye sees them as soft colours even though they are not entirely plain. I'm not totally sure as to the exact meaning of the word soft in this context.
Some low volume fun - calls low volume, fabric that reads as light but without worrying too much about scale or style. There's an awesome low volume quilt in this post.
What is Low Volume Quilting? - describes low volume fabrics as low contrast, using a lot of white, light grey and pastels while avoiding bright or saturated colours, but then goes on to say this is not strictly correct. - brighter colours can be thrown in for interest.
A low Volume Scrap Busting Quilt - low volume meaning a quilt with very little contrast.
Colour Theory 101: Value and Low Volume - The trick to low volume is to consider value and how contrast is created in the ways..... such as color, pattern, scale, and value. This post is very detailed, but my knowledge is too limited to understand much of it yet.
There's a wealth of information in the blog posts I've listed. The problem for me, is that I'm still unsure as to what fabrics are classed as low volume.
And here's where I need your help. I've photographed fabrics from my stash that are possibly(?) low volume. Which of these fabric would you classify as low volume?
If you have a simple way of explaining low volume, as regards to quilting, I would so appreciate you taking the time to leave a comment. By all means, leave links to posts that may help with your explanation.
Thanks in advance, for all your help.