Amish replica quilt and Karen's painting
When decorating the house for Christmas I took out this festive little Amish replica quilt I made up during the time I owned a small art gallery in Niwot, CO. Last night I noticed this small floral painting in the same room where I put the quilt. Holy smokes! The same color palette is duplicated in two different media, not intentional. If you create paintings and fabric art long enough it seems inevitable that color palettes begin to resurface from a person’s subconscious.
The Amish-inspired palette here shows a harmonious combination of neutrals (black, gray, toned dark colors) with more intense bright hues. Designing quilters would do well to begin with perhaps 5 to 7 harmonious colors. Like a painter mixing colors, the quilter adds and subtracts fabrics in keeping with the whole.
Color design is the same for both painting and quilt making! Start with a simple group of colors and then add nuances as you go. Do you love designing your own quilts?
Karen’s color blog is called Hue Bliss. She elaborates on this subject at karengillistaylor.wordpress.com/
I love the contrast in Amish quilts but I have never designed my own.
I did a Blooming nine patch. When I finished it, after 3 years, I notice I had the colors of the flowers in the spring time beside of our drivedway. March flowers,pink tulips,pansys
and a hydrania bush.
Sounds beautiful, Gennie. The way we keep favorite color schemes in our subconscious is fascinating to me.
I know I have a hard time moving out of my favorite color schemes; I had never thought of it as memories or expressions of memories. Today though, I did notice how the window toppers I have in a bedroom are the negative of the wallpaper I selected several years later! I did not have a clue as to why I selected those other than ‘liking them’. thanks for sharing, all of you, as you brought me to a principle I can work with.
That’s wonderful, Loraine!