What you always wanted to know but were afraid to ask!

Hello Friends.   Happy Easter.  It has been a wet day for the bunny.  A real rainy Easter weekend here in my neck of the woods. This week we saw the return of the deer, who like to graze in the front yard and soon will be eating my asparagus. The sand hill cranes are back and I am sure a plethora of other critters that have not yet wandered into the yard.  Despite what the calendar may say, I find Easter always marks the beginning of spring for me.  I put the winter quilts away and pull out the bright ones.  My wardrobe changes as I begin to wear some brighter blues and peach type colours.  Over all, it marks for me a feeling of light and airiness. 

Last week I started you on an exploratory adventure into deciphering colour terminology.  So let continue with a few more definitions

Our journey begins this week with “Analogous” colours.  These are 1, 2 or 3 neighbouring colours from each side of a selected colour. 

Complementary colours are two colours that lie opposite one another on the colour wheel.  This is probably the most common and widely used colour scheme.

Next up, we have “Split-Complementary”.  Here we combine both complementary and analogous colour schemes.  Your selected colour may be the centre colour in the analogous colour plan and accompanied by a complementary colour.  In quilting, I like to refer to this complementary colour as an accent colour. 

Lastly, is the “Triadic” colour scheme.  This colour scheme finds its partners lying equal distance from each other on the colour wheel. 

Oh Goodness!  How is one supposed to know all this?   Well, that is exactly why I like the 3-in-1 colour tool.  As I mentioned in last weeks’ post, this quilter’s colour helper takes that worry away and gives you all you need to know about making those colour choices for your next quilt.  That my friends is just skimming the surface, but hey with a good tool, a few friends and a well informed quilt shop, you will find colour choices easier then you think.

Well now, that was fun!  As you mosey along in your days, make note of some of the bill boards, cloths and just about anything, including all that, that Mother Nature offers.  What colour combinations do you see when you're going along with your day.  Have your camera handy – you never know when a colour scheme tickles your fancy!

I am on the road again, for the next few weeks, as I am teaching out and about in Northern Ontario.  I will post when I get back but please follow me on Facebook and Instagram where I will keep in touch with all the goings on.

Thanks for dropping by.  Until next time, stay safe, watch for deer, and maybe buy some pencil crayons.  

All those flowers - a source of inspiration

Roses in my garden.

Hello Friends.  It's been hot and dry here in our corner of the world and the grass in no longer green.  It is rapidly turning brown.  Living in the country, we do not water our lawns, mainly because we are on well water and we have two acres of grass.  So when its hot and dry and the grass is patchy brown, my hubby does a happy dance because mowing is at a minimum.  The down side is I run every evening with the hose and water the flower gardens.  We are very lucky living beside the river, because we have a pump in the barn that pumps river water to the house to give us unlimited water for flowers, washing cars and general usage. 

While watering the flowers the other evening, I started thinking about my flower colour choices in my pots.  I'm am certainly not a matchy matchy type.  More of a "wow that is so beautiful" and just putting them in pots.  Now that the flowers are bigger, and in full bloom my combinations started me thinking.  If I made a quilt from the same colours from one of my flower pots would I like it as much.  NOT!   

The other thing that I noticed was the "new colours".  Those that you haven't seen before.  This year, a variety of orange was available in all sorts of flowers that I have not seen before.  I have seen orange petunias, orange million bells and so on.  Which got me thinking - Is there a trend to these flower colours?  Much like the "what's in this season" for nail polish, house decor or fashion.  

Orange million bells, my fav!

What ever the answer, I fell for it.  Right now, all I know is I am lapping up colour.  So when your our for a walk or driving around, take note as to the colour combinations in the flower pots and gardens and ask yourself, "Would I, or could I, use these colours in a quilt?"  If the answer is yes then perhaps use that fancy phone and take a picture for when your stuck on colours for your next project.  

This weekend marks the beginning of July and the Canada Day Holiday.  To all of you, I wish you a happy and safe long weekend.  Thanks for dropping by.  Until next time, stay safe, don't play with fire, and take time to smell the roses!