I don't know about you, but as soon as the holidays are over I'm ready for spring. Snow is great in December, but not so lovely in January. Since I can't do anything about the weather, I've pulled out an unfinished project that uses pretty spring-like fabrics:
Yeah, the springy colors look a little odd against the snow, but don't they look happy? This is the last block I had to make to finish off the Community Sampler, which was a summer project from Sharon Holland and Maureen Cracknell. I have no real idea why I didn't finish this, except that I hit that wall where you have only a little bit left to do but it just seems impossible. Does that ever happen to anyone else?
So, I've been working on the sampler, which is actually all cut out, so I have high hopes of finishing the top soon, plus I've been adding to these:
Yes, the blocks are in the snow, which is why everything looks a little blue. These are blocks for a quilt like Bonnie Hunter's Tulip Fields quilt. My blocks are much bigger than hers, though, because I made these string blocks as an RSC project a couple of years ago and I wanted to use them up. And yes, I cut mine across the strings instead of down the middle and I'm not sorry at all. My quilt won't be exactly the same, but it will be equally cheerful and spring-like!
That's pretty much all I've been working on since it's been a pretty busy week so far, but I do have a question. I have a bunch of fabrics that I would call corals. You know what I mean by coral-- not red, not orange, not pink:
I have a project in mind to use these fabrics, but I'm not sure what colors to put with them. What colors would you use? I'm thinking green, but maybe yellow as well, like in that small print piece? Or would you stick with the cooler side and add in some blues? I really don't know, but I do want to get started on the project. (Because I have no others to work on, don't you know.)
Thanks for any help you have to offer with those colors. I hope you're all having a good week, and that you're not facing down another snow event. There haven't been many for us this year, but I'm already done with it!
Sharing at Let's Bee Social.
19 comments:
I actually like your strings cut that way. I am making charity blocks using one half strings and the other plain. They are very effective and the colours add depth. As for your corals---- no idea.
Isn't it amazing that we quilters can create/recreate any mood/season with our stash? The corals and pale oranges look very pretty. They are my favorite colors. I'd add red, yellow and orange to make a hot smoking diva of a quilt. It also might help melt the ice and snow outside :-D Any news from MD yet?
LOVE those corals! i'd use some aqua, defintely. also maybe grey? not sure about what other colors, though- haven't had my coffee yet.. but def aqua! can't wait to see what you're making!
I'm with you on the snow in January. We've had so little around here that everything is pretty, well, ugly. We either need snow or some spring green. That springy little block sure is refreshing! For the corals, I have the piece on the top right (about 1 o'clock). I got it from Bernie's shop, and paired it with green and yellow (also from her) to do my Fireburst quilt. If you want to see them together, you can check it out on my blog. Might be fun to add in some blue, but I do like Preeti's idea of reds and oranges for a hot blast! Ha!
I love those corals! I agree that I would add in yellow and green, like the prints on the lower part of the picture have, but I would also consider adding in a pale pink!
Spring colors are really appealing to me right now too!!
:) really is no reason to miss class when they live so close - my sis in law being a college professor would have been really mad about that! love your "tulip blocks"
I'm ready for Spring, but since it's taking it's sweet time getting here...I'll settle for your lovely spring inspired blocks! Perfect! Love the coral fabric. Maybe a pale yellow or off white?!
Corals are tough for me - I love them but they don't always play nicely. Since you have green and yellow in the prints you shared, I would include those and then dabble with others from your stash to see what pops and makes you happy. Preeti's suggestion is a good one - I don't think I'd add gray - not sure about the aqua either. Would have to play around with stacks of fabric in real life. Good luck!!
Hi Mari! Yeah. Snow. We're supposed to get more this weekend. ~sigh~ But like you said, nothing you can do about the weather other than embrace it. Or complain about it ad nauseam. HAHA! You're going to get a ton of suggestions about your corals, and here's one more. Two of them have a pretty olive green with them, and four of them have yellow. I guess I'd look at the color wheel, and see which direction appeals to you. I love the fabric with the ice blue centers, and all feature white. So there you go - way too many suggestions. When we had a framing shop we always said to go with the third color your eye sees. I see the olive green third . . . but can't wait to see the progress on this squirrel project. If you get it done by next Saturday, you can link it up on Sandra's website! ~smile~ Roseanne
Good to see your project getting finished up.
Your tulip quilt will be perfect with your string variation.
As for those corals, it depends what you want to make with it and do.
Any color would be awesome. Greys, blacks, browns, burgandy, blue (aqua - esp!) Red and yellows or greens and creams/white. The skies the limit. Challenge your self to [place the names of colors you think you want towork with and place it in a paper bag and then let fate and chance dictate what it'll be if you want to have some stretching kind of fun. LOL
Try acid green and aqua with your corals and see what you think.
Here in the UK we have had no snow yet at all this year. I saw the snow in Philly last week, and we know it will generally cross the Atlantic to us. Thankfully a lot less than you get. Even so, I am over with the snow once the bulbs start to appear in the garden .
We just got 5" of snow last night, so I totally understand your students' desire to stay inside!! Teal/aqua plays nicely with corals and would add a nice contrast to all your warm colors.
Your community sampler quilt block is really springlike; thanks for showing it to us. For the coral I would stick with the yellow and green colors in your pieces. You have a very nice range from dark to light. What about a white background with tiny flowers in your colors already? This would extend the contrast range a little bit more. The prints that you have are a nice variety also in size and in subject, so a small figure would complete the variety. I can’t wait to see the result.
Try turquoise with the corals . . . looks great!
I like blue-green with coral, maybe set in a navy background? Or perhaps some green and lavender?
I looked through various color schemes at www.canva.com. A soft scheme features coral with a light periwinkle, sage green and honeydew (light yellowish green). A bright scheme (which I know you like) teams coral with bright banana yellow, a bold medium blue and a light canteloupe orange. My favorite is a spring combo that ties coral with bright poppy orange, a medium almost-aqua sage and a bright spring green. Sandy at sewhigh.blogspot.com
I love that block from the community sampler ... it reminds me of the traditional sugar bowl block. Anyway I am glad I came across this as it helped me discover that I can still download the sampler patterns, thank you!
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