Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Color Challenge Blocks: Bright Yellow, Orange & Dusty Blue


I'm still playing along with the Color Challenge over at 15 Minutes Play; I'm just a little behind. With Quilt Market behind me, life has calmed down a bit, and I had the chance to pull out some fabrics and get sewing. I've got three blocks to show today!

Bright Yellow
It turns out yellow is a tropical party girl. I had 3 different yellow scraps in mind, chose this one, and then invited aqua and pink to come play.


My made fabric:
(I got so excited after making this that I cut out 2 squares before remembering to take a photo of the made fabric!)


And my block:


Takeaways:
Yellow is fun!
Adding other bold colors to it brightens everything up. Orange is usually my ''go-to'' zinger color, as I typically use so much blue and green that it creates a nice contrast. However, I really enjoyed finding some friends for yellow.

Orange
I knew exactly which orange fabric I wanted to use—the brown/orange leaf print you see below. That made adding in the brown an easy choice, and then the turquoise kept it feeling modern and bright rather than so autumn-like.


I also found this fabric, which I LOVED and also felt validated my color choices. Ironically, I completely forgot to use it in my made fabric. Oh well. To be honest, I didn't need it. I got the same look from my fabric choices! And now I can use it in another project.


My made fabric:


And my block:


Takeaways:
Orange is so versatile! And I don't have enough in it in my stash. I started a new quilt after finishing these blocks, and I need more oranges! I love how these three colors (orange, teal, brown) look so rich and polished together.
And small disclaimer: these photos turned out very bright. The actual fabric is not quite so fluorescent.

Dusty Blue
This color was a challenge. Maybe it goes back to my mauve-ish and dusty blue bedroom when I was a kid in the 80s…I don't know. I tried pairing it up with several different color schemes and nothing worked. Ultimately I realized that dusty blue is shy. It's going to fade into the background in most situations. So I let it do that.


My made fabric:


And my block:


Takeaways:
As I said above, I had much more luck when I gave up on making dusty blue the star and let it hang in the background. It's a great ''neutral'' but I'm still not sure what to put with it to make it pop—even if you went monochromatic, the other values of blue would likely stand out more. But hey, it has a purpose and I'll keep that in mind on future quilts!


And all seven blocks together so far:


Still having fun making these! And seeing everyone else's blocks!
To see my previous block, peach, click here.
To see my next block, rust, click here.



1 comment:

  1. I love your blocks! and love the method how you make them! very interesting! I think I should try it too!
    hugs from Russia!
    Masha

    ReplyDelete