Monday, August 22, 2011

Dead Simple Quilt Along hosted by Lily's Quilts

Dead Simple Quiltalong

I've recently written about my new infatuation with color.  I've also had this yearning desire to fix the lack of solid fabrics in my stash...I have always quilted with pattern, pattern, and more patterned fabrics and completely neglected the addition of solids to my designs.  But, with all of the modern quilts I have been falling in love with lately I am growing more attracted to the combination of solid fabrics amidst patterned fabrics. (for instance the Spinning Stars Quilt I am working on)

Therefore, isn't it just oh so appropriate that Lily's Quilts has introduced the idea of starting the Dead Simple Quilt Along!  This QAL is going to all about palette.  The focus of the quilt will be the palette and not the piecing.  As I told Lynne of Lily's Quilts - I am All For It!  This QAL is going to be great for a beginner but also fun for an experienced quilter so I encourage you to stop by Lily's Quilts and join the QAL which I believe will be starting some time in September/October.

To choose a palette Lynne mentions the use of Design-Seeds and a few other palette makers in her post.  I had never heard of Design-Seeds and now am obsessed with it.  What a cool palette creator!  For those of you on a computer and not a reader you can look right and see the little Design-Seeds widget I added for inspiration.  Cool right?  Here are some of my favorites from the archives...

Design-Seeds sacre couer

Design-Seeds color {yarn}

Although the QAL is scheduled to start in Sept/Oct I am already obsessing over my color palette.  Do I choose something to match my guest room which is really in need of a quilt for some TLC or do I just enjoy myself and not stress about matching and pick some colors that are really stuck in  my head right now (to name a few, gray, teal, purple...so not my normal picks but for some reason they keep jumping out at me right now!).  I've started messing around at kuler and these are some palettes played with:

source

source

Hmmm...what do you think?  Too too?  Should I go with more monochromatic color scheme...really wanted to use some grays so I tried this...

source

Then I went over and signed up at Colour Lovers to see how that worked... and this is what I created there...




And then for something completely different...




Now I feel that I am at more of a loss than when I began!!!  Have I gone too dark?  Have I gone too deep...as in off the deep end?  Any opinions are greatly appreciated!


- rebecca lynne


EVENING UPDATE:
After walking away...I decided to look at some new inspiration...my stash.  I'm leaning towards Option #3 Flora Inspired.  Any thoughts?  

Option 1 - Old Sturbridge

Option 2 - Poppy Sunrise
Option 3 - Flora Inspired





17 comments:

Lynne (Lily's Quilts) said...

Firstly make what you want and will love making - who cares about the guest room. And I love your penultimate palette the most but then I am a wimp! Tomorrow I'll post a link to you on my blog asking for advice!

Erin @ Once Upon a Donkey said...

Probably not surprisingly, my faves are (1) the 1st from Design Seeds and (2) the 1st from Colour Lovers - purple, purple, purple! But, in the interests of mixing it up and being adventurous I'd probably end up going with Old Sturbridge or Poppy Sunrise. Flora Inspired could be quite striking though (but I find it hard to picture as I'm not the biggest pink fan going around). Jeez... I'm helpful...

Canadian Abroad said...

I like number three in the Colour Lovers palettes.

Unknown said...

I love the tealy Kuler palettes here ... Funny thing is I think ANY palette will work with a simple quilt. So my advice is to pick colours that you want to see ... simple!

Nic said...

Sorry, I'm no help. I fell in love with the first one you showed (sacre coure) and because of that I can't get excited about the others. Sure you don't want to go back to the first one that aught you eye? :)

Jan May said...

I like all of them! They all work, because they're all part of a palette. My favourite is the fourth one down with the brighter teal and purple. I'm such a sucker for teal!

abigail*ryan said...

Of the "colour lovers" palettes, I love the third- the teal and mustard is a gorgeous combo that contrasts nicely with the purple, then adding the two greys as your mid-tones makes the whole thing very chic. I would add a bit of white, though, as always, to freshen and lift it all...unless, of course, you like the subtlety of it without. Sometimes soft and murky (in the nicest possible way- my favourite colours are "sludge" colours!) are exactly what you want! :)

Sara said...

The third one from Colour Lovers is the best to me. Not saying this because it is the exact color palette that I am going to use! We have great taste!

I can never seem to pick out colors that I already have in my stash. Well not completely most of the time;)

I would go for whichever speaks to you the most.

Kritta22 said...

I'm the opposite of Sarah...I don't seem to buy fabrics out of my comfort zone so I'm hoping to open up my eyes to some different colors with this quilt a long.

Like the first picture... I have none of those colors...and that one is my favorite by the way... You should go there!!

Toni said...

Voting for pictures 1, 2 or Poppy Sunrise. I think the Sacre Couer pallete is fabulous! I've got something going lately for plums/greys. However I have almost none in my stash...isn't that the way it works?

Jan said...

I like the 2nd one, Teal Triad Medium. It's hard to choose for someone else, but that's my fave of the ones pictured.

Annaliese said...

Okay I'm relieved that I'm not the only one having trouble picking! I like the idea of checking your stash for alternate inspiration! Of those, I really like the old sturbridge palette - so rich!

From the pallet sites? Tough call. I keep looking at the sacre coure set.. it's so relaxing and fresh!

My great palette debate is here, help!
http://thepewteracorn.blogspot.com/2011/08/playing-with-color-dead-simple-qal.html

Lynne said...

I love those palettes that give you an uneven amount of each colour - so much more exciting than equal amounts!

I like the third palette from Colour Lovers but I'd want to see it in uneven quantities!

Anonymous said...

I like the last choice for several reasons. You can work primarily from you stash, which is always a good thing! It has a good variation of values. The second from the left is your light, and your dark is obvious. Using a color wheel, you basically have a tight analogic scheme, with two shades of coral, an orange (brown) and a gold. The black will give depth. If you're looking for something else to add to it, try aqua, which is a complimentary color to the coral. See the palette here for a general idea:
http://www.colourlovers.com/palette/1011312/Muted_Autumn

Archie The Wonder Dog said...

Found you! Hello! I think you should pick the one that speaks to you the most - if it's a great quilt it'll go in any room (or that's what I keep telling myself!). I like all of the palettes, even the ones with the sludgy colours which aren't usually my cup of tea. If you like the last one (floral) then go with that but I feel it needs a little something to lift it - perhaps an aqua or turquoise but it would have to be something that worked with the brown on the far right. I like the palettes with the uneven quantities the best and feel that approach would create interest and a sense of movement in the quilt. My personal favourite is the first one (with an added touch of teal) but it's not about what I like... ;o) Stop thinking about it for a day or two and let your brain work it out...when you come back and have another look your choice may be obvious!

Laura at Ruby Grey Studio said...

I'm liking the last one . . . but I've always loved pink...still. Laura of Ruby Grey Studio

Unknown said...

Poppy Sunrise is my favourite
OK can you give me a hint on how to get the colour palette table saved for posting into a blog - I can't get the right link so I can take part in this too