Breaking from your comfort zone!

Somehow I started on a series of block composition and am ending with my usual lecture on color....but since I feel strongly about the subject I will proceed.  The majority of people in the US struggle with color....we are not comfortable with color on our bodies, in our homes and in our surroundings. And I am a prime example.  My comfort zone is neutrals and pastels....in fact EVERY room in my house is a shade of beige.    I   make a conscious effort to break out of this comfort zone and if I didn't everything I stitched would be neutral or pastel.

 

I would love to live in a culture that celebrated color in their clothing...

 
or in their surroundings.

 

But I don't and thank to a challenge years ago by Laurie Bergesser I regularly make a concerted effort to emerge from my comfort zone.....and I am ALWAYS   glad when I do as those works are among my favorite.

 

 

So whether you are a person who likes brights OR a neutral and pastel person... the real trick is to pick the colors  are harmonious.  Here are some of the techniques to  use... First look for inspiration... Find a colorful fabric that sings to you and use it as a guide. 

Also look to the color wheel and pick touching colors. This will ensure you that your piece will be harmonious. 

 

I wrote a whole post on "Color Seeds" which I love, love, love and has taken me on some interesting color journeys.  This post and that site should not be missed.  There are options there for  every taste...

 

I often use a color pile before I make my final choices... Put possible choices in a pile.. toss it about several times accessing what doesn't fit..  It's easier to pick them out of a pile then to deal with them later in a block..  If you look at your fabrics in a pile and like them, toss them around a few times  and still like them, they are going to look good on a block no matter what you do... This is the "pile test",

I do mine on a table but   I just noticed on Facebook that Allie posted her pile of fabrics  on the floor.  I think that is a great idea because you get a better perspective.. 

 

Remember I started this posts for stitchers who were unsure about choosing colors to use together... I said there were two "NO FAIL" approaches...  The first was limit your color choices.  

Well the second  "NO FAIL"  approach is just the opposite.... USE EVERY COLOR!!

This block is an excellent example and was stitched by Cathy LaBath... She adores color but had written me repeatedly that she is horrible at picking out colors that harmonize...

Yet to appease her thirst for bright colors she uses them with abandon  making dozens of these scrappy quilts..  They work because of the multitude of colors at random... You cannot fail making one of these quilts and the same approach is true applied to crazy quilting...

She's not comfortable choosing and controlling color but she doesn't let that stop her.. Cathy has her colorful scrappy quilts on her blog.

 

 

And there are those who are masters of color and I always think of them as the girl in this painting.

 

There are lots of them and do look for their work on line and gather samples for inspiration.

 

This delightful painting is by Maria Pace Wynters and I tried in vain to find a print for sale.

 

 

My personal favorite colorist is Allie Aller who not only thinks, dreams and plans in  color with abandon, she also is a master manipulator of color which is a whole another level of skill. She has written a wonderful crazy quilting book. 

 

But  a last  important point ....do not let fear of color harmony keep you from forging ahead.  It certainly doesn't mean that you can't be among the best by NOT leaving your comfort zone.  As a prime example I give you New Zealand's legendary crazy quilter, Jo Newsham.   I must share that Jo is color blind. To compensate she most often stuck to a very limited color palette or a monochromatic selection of threads and fabrics.  These techniques defined her style and should be a great inspiration to anyone struggling with color theory. . You can see here she chose only lavender and soft green.. This limited palette gave her work a  simplicity that ensured all the parts of the needlework would complement each other.

This next six weeks is crazy busy and I may get personal posts up but not block talks which take a lot of time... this one especially because I lost all the photos I gathered for it when there was a power outage.  I will try to pick up a few block talks from the archives and rerun them.  Thanks for dropping by.

Getting out of my comfort zone.......

One of the things I loved about joining round robins was it forced me to use colors and themes I would have never chosen otherwise.  Since I loved pastels and lace, I seldom did anything else if it were left up to me.  But doing some of the most difficult round robin blocks turned out to be my very favorites just because they were a challenge.






The one I most often think of was a block that was all purple with one bright orange patch and it had two awkward tiny corner patches.  I spent a lot of time trying to decide what to do with it.

I just couldn't imagine what I could do with it... and this is what I ended up with.  It has always been a favorite as well as a huge challenge.  I have used similar techniques for problem corners many times since.

Then  years ago Lauri Burgesser hosted a challenge that was designed to get stitchers to venture out of their comfort zones.  As my challenge block I chose to do things I never did at that time... jewel tones, curves and layered stitching plus  no lace, no trims.
This is the result AND because I did this challenge, ever since I have loved doing fancy seams more than most anything,  I was especially  glad I participated in that challenge.

For a couple years CQI had a little different challenge... It was year long for one large block  and they provided a list of things that had to be included in the block.  This one for 2009 was a long list including butterflies, hankies, lettering, paisleys, pansies, birds, etc. I really enjoyed that challenge also and was sorry it was discontinued. They only did it two years.





So when Kathy Shaw came along with her CQJP challenge I was among the first to eagerly join and I have been so pleased I did.  With it I have to set my own challenges and each year I try to include things that force me out of whatever comfort zone I'm in.  Last year the main thing was learning ribbon folding.  I had tried several times and given up...  It was do or die for 2015.

This year I'm still working on what to include.  So far it will be a lack of color... crème on crème...  It will truly be a challenge not to add color and somehow I want to
 include one goldwork element...  I want to also add as many of Jo Newsham's seams as I can.  I am still trying to work out the details.  Also I just got a set of Sharon Boggon's templates and I want to really explore their possibilities.  So I'm looking forward to getting out of yet another comfort zone.