General Tutorials

Cutting Color Cards

A few weeks ago, I took the plunge and cut up a Robert Kaufman Kona solids color card and an Aurifil color card! Kitty from Night Quilter joined me on the adventure of cutting up an Aurifil color card, and today you can find our joint tutorial for cutting the Aurifil color card and ideas for how to use it on the Auribuzz blog!

Cutting Color Cards

Cutting Color Cards

You might notice in the picture above that my secret weapon for confidence was to first have two color cards: one to remain whole, and the other to cut apart!

Kona Color Chips

Kona Color Chips

There are a lot of different tutorials available online for ideas for how to cut and store your Kona Color chips. I opted to purchase adhesive magnetic sheets that I cut apart and put on the back of each chip. And as you can see in the photo above, the color chips completely fill the 14 x 30 magnetic board I purchased and hung on the wall behind my sewing machine.

Color Chip Palette

Color Chip Palette

The big question you might be thinking is why would I want to cut my card? It is so much easier to see how the colors interact together by allowing you to group the chips together, like in the color chip palette I created above, which  I challenged myself to make in under 5 minutes using browns.

Tips for Cutting & Using An Aurifil Color Card - On Auribuzz!

Tips for Cutting & Using An Aurifil Color Card – On Auribuzz!

So be sure to hop over to Auribuzz to get all the Tips for Cutting and Using an Aurifil Color Card! I am glad I was brave enough to take the plunge.

15 thoughts on “Cutting Color Cards

  1. Dawn Hendrix says:

    Absolutely LOVE this idea!!! Thanks for sharing!

  2. I need to cut mine up too. It does make creating color palettes so much easier.

  3. Paula S. Pike says:

    I love your kitchen, so very pretty. I’m with the others, this is a fabulous idea.

  4. Brenda Ackerman says:

    Hello Yvonne! I think this is a brilliant idea and would be so easy to play with color combinations this way! Thank you for sharing! Have a great day!

  5. Susan says:

    Great idea to add the magnets on the back – keeps them from getting lost!

  6. Ohh, I’ve always wanted to cut my card but I’ve been afraid to. Which is silly really, because I could always do like you and buy a second to keep intact! I love the look of all the pieces on your fridge – too cute!!!

  7. Elizabeth E. says:

    Interesting idea, but why not just fold the fabric and hold it next to the thread card when you are trying to match it? I love how you used it to bring a pop of color to your fridge. Of course, we all covet that beautiful kitchen of yours!

  8. Tish says:

    Cutting the cards into rows is the best idea. When I saw this on the Aurifil blog this morning, I immediately knew what I have to do when I get home 🙂

  9. This is such a fun post! I cut up my Kona card a couple of years ago, and I couldn’t be happier that I did. It makes it so much more usable. My pieces are all stored in a cute little box, and I dump them all out when I need them. 🙂

  10. I purchased an extra Kona card when Stash Fabrics had a sale and have been wanting to cut it up.

  11. Kaja says:

    I don’t have/use a colour card, but this looks like a fun thing to play with in its own right.

  12. Ruth says:

    well worth doing – I love mine and use it all the time especially when going to the quilt shop to buy fabric – very hand to have the chips with me!

  13. Sarah says:

    I keep saying I need to do this, but have been holding off. I really like your magnetic board.idea; being able to pull the swatches off and group them like you did, makes me want to do this right away. Brilliant!

  14. Cindy says:

    Good idea to cut the thread charts up, now to get the nerve up to do it.

  15. What a great way to try out different color palettes.

I really appreciate the time and thought you take to comment, and I look forward to conversing with you. :)