Rainbow Scraps Inspiration

I had a plan for projects I wanted to work on as part of the Rainbow Scraps Challenge in 2015. (You might have noticed that since the arrival of the new year, I haven't worked on any of them).

I had been thinking that I didn't want to make another "rainbow" quilt, then I saw this, hanging outside the Accuquilt booth at AQS Quiltweek in Albuquerque.

(Photo taken with their permission.)  Most of these shapes are made from smaller units and I already own most of the dies I'd need to do something like this from my scraps.

I am headed back to the show to see the rest of the quilts and ... maybe buy one of the dies I'd need if I decide I DO have another rainbow quilt in me ;-) 

I'm sharing with the Scrap Happy Saturday crowd ... in case anyone is inspired to join me. 

Playing with Color and Stepping Outside Our Color Comfort Zone

I think we all have our go-to colors and color combinations whether it's for quilts, the clothing we wear or the way we paint and decorate our homes.

I was thinking about color and how I choose colors today, as I went on my own little color hunt in search of fabric for a blouse that would work with a chunky cotton cardigan that was an impulse buy a couple years ago.

I love the mint green with gray color combination, but I always end up wearing it over a white shirt or gray knit top because I have nothing else,  Today, on my way home from the farmer's market, I decided to see if I could find any fabric that was a color match for the mint green which could become a blouse.  As I was waiting in line at the cutting table, the ladies in front of me were so excited that it had sailboats–they had apparently just been looking for sailboat fabric for a quilt. I confessed to them that I bought it solely for the color.

For me, sometimes finding the right color is as easy as matching something that I like.

A few years ago, I was thinking that I wanted to try making a quilt from bright colors, so I decided to use brights for a set of Quilt-Along blocks that I would be making. Not knowing where to start, I chose a Laurel Burch print and decided to use it in each of my blocks.

As I blogged my progress with these blocks I received a lot of compliments on the colors/fabrics I used.  I did make a couple rules for my blocks, liking including both warm and cool fabrics and a black and white print in each, but, it was using using the color palette in the Laurel Burch fabric that gave me confidence that it would work.

The idea worked so well for me that when I was choosing colors for the big traditional feathered star blocks I've been making and sharing on the Daily Feather, again, I chose a fabric from my stash on which to base my choices.  Here's the fabric, Provence, from Michael Miller (and oldie that has been waiting in my stash for the right project) and the five blocks I've made so far.

I think the role of the inspiration fabric is less obvious in the feathered star blocks than in my bright QAL blocks, but, I'm confident that the result will still be a good one.

As I look at the blocks on the wall, I've been thinking I need to make more blocks with purple.



Seeing the photos of the fabric and the blocks, side by side, I can see that while I have used the same colors, I need to also consider the overall proportions in order to achieve the feeling of Provence.

We used a similar approach, earlier this year in the Tea Towel challenge, where the colors to be used in the quilt were supposed to be determined by the colors in the tea towel.  My choice was a 1950's reproduction with a limited 4-color palette. It was a great exercise for me to limit myself ... and it was another project that, as I worked/blogged along, received a lot of comments and compliments about my color choices.

I think taking color inspiration from fabric, a photo or other work of art is a great way to climb out of our color comfort zone and try something new.

Speaking of new, yesterday, I was looking through the greeting cards in my desk and found some color palette inspiration for the stenciled feather on silk I made as part of my Daily Feather project.

The image is of a Picasso painting, Two Girls Reading, an oil on canvass that I'd seen at the University of Michigan Museum of Art. I bought the card to remember the painting and what was, to me, an unusual combination of colors.  When I saw it again yesterday, I immediately thought of the gold silk noil fabric on which I'd printed the black feather.  My original plan when I stenciled that feather was to make a pillow cover, but it continues to assert that it wants to become an wall quilt.  I have some ideas for design elements, but I've been stuck on finding the right colors to add ... until now.

Thank you, Pablo Picasso.

How do you step outside your color comfort zone?  This month, I've asked the Block Lotto community to Blog about Color.  I'm adding this post to the linky party happening over there.  Have you blogged about color?  Feel free to join us.

Hmmmm ...

Today I hung Cock-a-Doodle-Tea Towel.  It's the first time I've tried using the 3M Control Strip hooks ... my fingers are crossed.  FYI, the door to the left of the quilt is a short one--to my pantry.

The positive response to this quilt, in comments here and on the 15 Minutes of Play blog post have been so supportive and flattering.   Thank you for taking the time to send me your reaction and for seeing some of the fine points of what I was trying to accomplish.

I loved working in this making-it-up-as-I-go fashion and as I consider my next project, I'm torn between pulling out a finished top and quilting it on the Singer 301 to improve my skills on that machine or finding a project (likely a WIP) that will allow me more playtime like this.

I confess there was one comment that had me scratching my head a bit.

Hmm...the first Quilt Sampler magazine?

I have probably blogged more about this project than any other and I would have thought it was pretty clear to anyone reading my posts that I was making up the design as I went along.  When Laurina pointed out I had done something similar in the round robin quilt I made for her, I laughed, because she was SO RIGHT, I had added a similar sun, some (different words) and a checkerboard border.  I think I liked what I did to her quilt so much that my mind just never let go of those ideas.

But the suggestion that this quilt design already existed was mind boggling.

I had a feeling that since I didn't remember a "first" Quilt Sampler magazine, it probably pre-dated me, as a quilter ... and it turns out that was true.

I looked but wasn't able to find it online, but my friend Wendy found a copy on eBay and sent me the photo and this link to the 1995 issue.  I don't know if this is the "first" issue, but I'm guessing that the cover quilt, with it's checkerboard border, a different kind of sun and some different appliquéd words is the quilt that the anonymous commenter thought of when she left the comment.  I don't see any chickens or flowers on the cover quilt ... and well, I honestly don't see how anyone could think it inspired my quilt.

A couple last links for people who have asked.  I found the tea towel I used on Amazon here:

Ivan Bartlett Reproduction Tea Towel

And for those that liked the hen blocks, I didn't use a pattern, but I recently discovered a nice tutorial by  Vicki on her blog, Sew Inspired, for a very similar block here:

Chicken Quilt Block Tutorial

If you like the appliqué sunflowers and coneflowers, you can find them in the book, The Easy Art of Appliqué by Mimi Dietrich and Roxi Eppler.

I'm going to celebrate this quilt one more time and join the linky parties for Finish It Up Friday,  Can I get a Whoop Whoop, Off the Wall Fridays, Pat Sloan's Show and Tell, and the Weekend Update on the Block Lotto.

I'm a Sucker ...

I am a sucker for good graphic design ... and I love this train.

 

The New Mexico Rail Runner travels between Santa Fe and Albuquerque ... and looks good doing it.

There may be some artifacts from my windshield, but that storm rolling in when I took this photo Monday afternoon was real and much appreciated.  The little adobe casita oven has even cooled down a bit.

It's all Wendy's fault

After I posted the photos of my Praire Gothic chairs and wrote about making some floor cloths with simple stripes . . . my friend Wendy, who is an extraordinary rug hooker with a great sense of color,  noticed a bit of a butterfly wing visible on the arm of the chair.

"You should put some of those butterflies on your rug," she commented ... and with that simple comment,  my immediate reaction that I am not a painter, and the discussion that followed, the door opened to considering a design other than simple thick and thin stripes I had planned.

Despite my inability to wield a paint brush, I am now noticing–and seriously considering–design ideas everywhere. This morning, it was painted on the table of a café where I stopped for coffee and a breakfast taco.

Am I crazy to think that this folk art style painting is in the realm of possibilities for a non-painter like me?

Edited to add ... after I blogged about my chairs, the Etsy vendor that sold me the fabric blogged about my chairs, and Jane Sassaman (who designed the fabric) blogged about my chairs, I emailed the links to John's Upholstery so they could see how much everyone loved my chairs..  He responded by thanking me for appreciating their work.