Classic Color Combinations

Beauty in the eye of the beholder aside, and classic aside, I've seen some blue and yellow quilts that simply bombed out. There's an Irish Chain in my future but I've been studying what 'I like' and don't with blue/yellow for years. No conclusions. Just looking. Purple and gold should be easy enough but I managed a combination that simply sat and snarled at each other. Polly

"joan8904 in Bellevue Nebraska" The Irish Chain thread reminded me of something I've been thinking

Ha, I'm going to love this thread, as color is what attracted me to quilting in the first place. There's a red/white quilt in my future as well as a blue/yellow one. Everytime I've seen a red/white quilt in an antique mall, it's like there's a magnet pulling me right over to it! Donna

I have to concentrate really hard to avoid going to my favorite color combinations all the time. You're right, Joan, I do tend to wear the colors I quilt with. I think my all-time favorite quilt combo has been blue/yellow, but I'm trying to get away from that so as to have some variety. I love blues, purples, violets into pinks -- greens and browns are difficult for me.

I will very often have a cream among whatever else I am using! It is just so 'restful'. . In message , joan8904 in Bellevue Nebraska writes

If you want to start loving greens, Sandy, try something like the Fusions fabric that Sandy/R. showed us yesterday; or one or two of the Fossil Fern greens - simply lovely, but not too obviously green, as they have a smattering of other colours with them. Introducing a tan with turquoise or peacock blue also can work well. .. In message , Sandy writes

I know it's very traditional, but I like red/green/white for Christmas quilts. I have a bunch of those prints stacked up for a Log Cabin, that could be used all year round, but I intend to make it and use it in the winter around Christmas time.

How about the classic Amish solid colours with black? You know, burgundy, turquoise, dusty pink, that sort of thing.

-- Jo in Scotland

Uh-oh, here we go again... 8^P

Doesn't most quilting fall into that niche? Innovation notwithstanding, musicians use the same notes, scales, and notation; artists use the same palette of colors; writers use the same lexicons; and quilters use libraries of blocks, colors, quilting patterns, layouts...

What's that Vulcan phrase... "Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations" (Ok, I had to look that one up; I'm a trekkie since '66, but I'm not THAT big a trekkie...)

You're not cheating. You're either honoring past traditions or expanding the scope.. (Dang, I had more but lost it whilst typing... ARGHH!)

Apparently. (I've tried to start discussions along these lines before with not much satisfaction. I hope this one does better!) When I use the default palette in EQ, I find I always seem to gravitate to the same bunch of colors and I use black for my outermost borders, especially when I have no idea where I want to go colorwise. I find it very frustrating, and difficult to break out of/away from. And despite having read about using color to achieve certain effects, I find it nearly impossible to apply those techniques. Shopping for fabrics is hell; I'm like a kid in a candy store, and I see so many combinatorial possibilities... I can't make up my mind. Being given a palette (or exact fabrics I'll have to work with) is a relief and a blessing.

Doc

Good idea, Pat -- especially since I do love turquoise and peacock blue. :)

You are right about wearing colors that we tend to put in quilts. I think we all go to our favorite colors as a comfort move. Mine seem to be fall/earth colors. If you look at my stash that is what jumps out at you. I have been trying to get out of that comfort zone but boy it can be tough. Earth tones are in the house and in my closet (quilt fabric and clothes) I think some of the most beautiful quilts are those made from one line of fabrics. They coordinate so well. Kind of like they were made to work together, lol. That seems like cheating to me though. I think it has to be more cost effective than maintaining a stash to work from in the long run though. Taria

Interesting you should say that Taria, as I do almost the opposite. I scarcely ever wear green, yet I hardly have a quilt without it and my largest collection is green. I have just a couple of purple tops and, again, most of my quilts have purple. I do wear and use cream, though; and black. I have two red tops and don't use red in quilts, either. So, I'm a sort of hybrid!! . In message , Taria writes

This is interesting.... I don't know if it applies that I wear what I quilt. But my biggest pile of fabric is black and I wear black almost all the time. I think most of my quilts though tend to be warm and bright colors. I think my favorite color is bright.

Sunny

I had never seen these combinations until I saw pictures of Amish quilts. I find them very powerful and beautiful, have ordered a book of Amish patterns, and am keeping my eyes open for fabrics of these color. Love it, love it, love it.

Edna Pearl

I wear black and gray, mostly. I love black backgrounds with white dots, pink flowers, or just about anything if the pattern is to my taste, and I've been gathering up defunct clothing to accumulate such scraps.

Whenever I decorate a room I gravitate toward combinations of pink, blue, and green, and I find that I'm drawn to fabrics of these colors for the puposes of quilting. It's not as gaudy as it sounds!

Discovering Amish colors and patterns is going to get me out of these two ruts. I never dreamed I'd love these dull, saturated colors but I find them beautiful and powerful when incorporated in a simple pattern like the Pennsylvania Amish use.

Edna Pearl

With my (bleached) blonde hair I wear a lot of black, too. But with The HairyButt Gang keeping my home and clothing liberally decorated with various colors of hair, I think all dark colors should be outlawed for QI owners. I tend to wear bright colors with the dark colors and my quilts tend to be very colorful- and high contrast- too.

Another classic color combo is brown, tan and peach/rust.

Leslie & The Furbabies in MO.

Until our Dexter went to the Bridge last November, I couldn't find a color that didn't show the dog hair! Bisou is mostly white, with a bit of red on her, and Dexter was black. Talk about not planning well. ;)

Still, I'd happily put up with the problem again in order to have Dexter (and Tuppence, another red/white) back again.

I love pink and green together. Seeing pink flowers, either a rosebush or another random pink flower bush, makes me go weak in the knees. The four quilts I have made so far have been for my children and they have selected the fabric. I think my next one will be pink, green, and a touch of yellow, maybe some aqua, maybe some lavender, maybe some...

Julie in SFBA

Oh boy, I echo the QI plea!! With five, pale-coloured long-haired cats, I am a disaster as to neatness. I seem to have fine threads of fur all over everything >g< . In message , Leslie& The Furbabies in MO. writes

re the irish chain, i can see in my minds eye chains in shades of all greens from light thru dark, and the rest done in a rainbow effect across the quilt covering shades of the other colours in the garden. sort of a watercolour effect i think. that is just my initial thots on the colours tho. i just love greens. they are so neutral in nature. uh oh, just had another thot...maybe reverse that and make the chain in shades of all colours except green and shade the greens across the background like it would be in a garden. back to the drawing board. shrug, j.

"Polly Esther" wrote... Beauty in the eye of the beholder aside, and classic aside, I've seen some blue and yellow quilts that simply bombed out. There's an Irish Chain in my future but I've been studying what 'I like' and don't with blue/yellow for years. No conclusions. Just looking. Purple and gold should be easy enough but I managed a combination that simply sat and snarled at each other. Polly

"joan8904 in Bellevue Nebraska" The Irish Chain thread reminded me of something I've been thinking