Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Color Selection

I struggle with color choices. I LOVE so many colors. I have a hard time narrowing down my choices and then feel like I'm getting too rainbowy. So then I swing too far in the opposite direction and end up with very little color variation. Take my house, for example. My family room is all beige and brown and blah. I'm afraid to let myself introduce a little bit of color for fear of going too far and getting mis-matchy.


The last two quilts I've made have been very subdued in color. First of all, my snowflake quilt, which I am happy with, is monotone. And before that, I finished a quilt I bought as a kit called Buttercream Frosting. This quilt, which I'm happy with also, has a very warm and snuggley feel about it. Its wonderful to snuggle under on the couch, but its not really very colorful. Well, I guess it has color but they are subdued colors.

[I hate that I'm introducing this quilt in a little bit of a negative way. I really do like this quilt. It has such a warm and comforting feel to it when I snuggle under it. :) I guess that's one of my deciding factors for a quilt's quality. Does it evoke warm feelings? After all, quilts are supposed to be warm. ]

So now, I'm really in the mood to create something bright and bold. I've pulled most of these fabrics from my stash and added a few others from the quilt store down the road. I'm planning on making a little boy or baby boy quilt (either for a friend's baby or if my 3 year old likes it, for him). Its going to be graphic with modern, chunky log cabin type blocks. So what do you think of these colors? Should I limit my selection to just one of each color or go more scrapy with several of each?

8 comments:

Nanette Merrill said...

I know how you feel about color. Lovely quilt though and fabric for the next one.

Jo-Anne said...

I love lots of color.
I really like what you have picked out for the next quilt. Whatever you choose to do will certainly be wonderful!
:):):)

Purple and Paisley said...

i'm the opposite of you...i think i use too much color and then my quilts don't look "traditional"...sigh...i wonder if there's a happy medium? =) love the quilt and love your new fabric choices...

Julie said...

For log cabins I think the more fabrics, the more interesting the final look. If there are more fabrics, the cabins will not all look the same. When you get going, pause after some cabins are completed and lay them out. Select the next cabins based on what you think the first cabins need - more contrast? more monochrome? I base this advice on a scrappy cat quilt I just finished where a step back helped me see I needed some more/diverse color fabric to increase eye appeal.

Elizabeth said...

I am easy, but boring. I almost stick to a line of fabric. I am making one now out of Katie Jump Rope, just finished one from last year out of American Jane. I'm just not daring, but I always think other people do a great job... I'll let them do the color selecting for me.

Elizabeth said...

P.S. This is what I love about 30's's fabric. Anything goes.

sewtakeahike said...

My vote is lots of colors as well! I'm not a quilter, but I agree that little houses with lots of colors would look great!

Julia said...

I love the quilt in the top picture. It does look like a great quilt to cuddle under. Very interesting block design.
I am glad that you found me so that I could find you! :)