Color on my mind

Been thinking about color alot lately. Not only are gardens in bloom, which is always inspiring, but as I think about future sewing projects I can't help but think about some of my color mistakes and regrets. So, I'm paying more attention to the neighborhood's hot spandex pink azaleas and irises so deep blue they are nearly purple. I started to take some pictures as I walked around our neighborhood on the days when the baby will only sleep in the bjorn.

And, while I think it's about color, it's also about tone, which is something I've never been as good at identifying. Some colors are so BRIGHT.

And, some are more MUTED.

And, then there are things that seem inbetween.

I don't have an art degree and I'm mostly mentally exploring this as I browse blogs and flickr pictures but I decided to pull together a color wheel of fabric scraps to sit by my crafting space (Anna Maria has a similar one in her book Seams to Me). So, now, when I see something nice I try to think of its various locations on the color wheel. But, that isn't really helping me decide for my own purposes. I'm still going on gut as I pick fabrics for a project. And, I have a big question WHAT ABOUT BROWN? Sometimes brown is such a nice compliment to a good blue or pink or anything really. But, it doesn't really have a place on the color wheel. I get that white and black don't either so is brown like that? It goes with everything? Anyone shed some light on this? And, any ideas on tone would be great, too.