Color. It the bane of our existence when it comes to fabric, design, and quilting. The right colors make a quilt stand out. The wrong ones can make a quilt look like an ordinary, no-sew fleece blanket. Yes, I really did just say that out loud... But really, if we are going to go to all the work of making a quilt, let's use some great colors!
There are the typical color combinations. The obligated ones that we know and mostly love. Red & Green... Pink & Brown... Red & Aqua... Blue & Brown... all color combos that are fairly safe and easily replicated. But what about the others? The less than obvious combinations?
Some of my favorite fabric lines are those that take a risk when it comes to color; and then we quilters cram them back into safe and predictable color combinations inside of quilts. What if we didn't? What would happen if we took a color risk instead of looking for the safe choices?
I hear a lot of quilters say that "such-and-such isn't my color" and I completely get that. If you would have asked me my favorite colors six months ago I can promise you I wouldn't have said "purple, yellow, and gray".
Many times our strongest obligations are the obligations we feel towards ourselves; our own likes and dislikes. Sometimes that is a good thing yet other times, it can stunt our growth.
I'm working on a quilt right now with cross blocks and I decided to go with colors not typical for my taste. I know that purple isn't really my color but why would I limit the color selection in my quilts to colors that only I like? So for this quilt I'm using various shades of purple, yellow, and gray. And guess what? I love it! I am now finding myself drawn to purple fabrics that are just beautiful and had I not stretched myself into a new color range a few months back, I'm afraid that I would be missing out on a whole range of pretty fabrics.
And BTW, I'm sure my hubby feels the same way and is very relieved that now I love purple fabric too... *copious amounts of sarcasm*
Anyways, I would like to challenge you, all my creative friends, to stretch yourselves and find some new colors. They are out there, I promise!
So, what colors have you avoided working with? Or... what colors are you ready to branch out and work with??