Shades of Gray {the difference between Shadow, Silver, & Ash}

I’m working on a new quilt and ordered two new-to-me shades of Kona—shadow and silver.  When deciding on the colors, I searched around online to see the difference between the shades, but couldn’t find any helpful info.  And anyone who’s ordered fabric online before knows, those little square swatches often don’t look like the color in person.  (Maybe it’s time for me to invest in a color card?)

So here’s a photo to help you distinguish these shades of gray.

This photo was taken in full daylight.  The colors on my screen look just like in real life.  Can you tell the difference between these grays?  I can barely see any difference in the photo or in person in full daylight!

The block on the left is Kona Shadow with a cross in Kona Silver.  The block on the right is Kona Ash with a cross in Kona Silver.

I had a very tough time telling Kona Shadow and Silver apart when I took them out of the package.  At first I thought I had been sent the same color twice.  Thank goodness there was a sticky label on each so I could identify the colors.  Once I realized they weren’t the same fabric, I could tell the Silver is a slight bit lighter than the Shadow, but they are close enough that I have cut the wrong color a few times while making these blocks.

This photo was taken outdoors in the shade.  The difference is slightly more perceptible indoors or in low light.

Kona Shadow and Ash are very similar too, but I can—if I look very closely—tell the Kona Ash is a warmer gray with just a hint of brownness.  Really all three are quite similar, with minute degrees of difference between them.

Kudos to Kona for having so many grays to choose from and continuing to expand their variety.  Hope this is helpful if you like using gray in your quilts like I do!