Cindy's Color Chat: Wonky Purple Circles

Wonky Purple Circle Pillow  cindygrisdela

Purple is sometimes a great supporting color to help others shine, especially when paired with colors opposite on the color wheel. Known as a "split complementary" color scheme, the idea is to pick two colors opposite each other, like purple and yellow, and then use the two colors on either side of the secondary color.

So I choose purple to be the dominant color in the pillow above and yellow as the secondary complement. Then I used a lime green which is next to yellow on one side and an orange gold which could be next to yellow on the other side. Those are the colors which really catch your eye in the wonky circle pillow. Of course I always throw in a variety of other colors as well, red and green are complements, as are blue and orange.

It sounds more complicated than it actually is--when in doubt, just use colors that balance each other--a mix of strong color and more supportive ones. There's no color police to come and say you did it wrong--if it works for you, it works!

Let's see what other TAFA members on Etsy have done with purple and its complements:

Fairy Masterpiece Nuno Felt Vest ArianeMariane

Tropical Fruit Salad Wrap WrapturebyInese

Woven Boho Chic Bowl kbuchheit

Cindy's Color Chat - Summer Color

"Seashells" quilted wall hanging - Cindy Grisdela

Summer has arrived in the Northern Hemisphere with its longer days, warm sun and time for vacations. What does summer mean to you? To me it's lazy days at the beach, which is how I spent my childhood.

Seashells above is my abstract interpretation of those summer days. I pushed myself to use a variety of neutral tones, since most of my work is about bright, saturated color. But even the seashells have bits of color here and there, maybe pink or coral on the inside of the shell or darker brown spots or stripes. Hints of color crept in--a little pink, a little teal, a little mint green--to add interest and movement to the final composition. The irregular circles also echo the seashell motif of the piece.

Neutral doesn't have to mean boring! Color can be used very effectively to create a mood, to

Let's look at how other TAFA members on Etsy interpret summer:

Ocean blue nuno felted vest -  ArianeMariane

Laguna Table Runner - OmMadeThreads

Fabric Charm Pack - therainbowgirl

Cindy's Color Chat - Bright Modern Dots

"Lots of Dots" quilted wall hanging - Cindy Grisdela

How can we use color choices to make fiber work feel more contemporary? Brights with black and white accents is a good place to start. There's something about the crisp contrast and the pop of color that creates a modern feeling.

"Lots of Dots" takes a traditional quilt pattern often known as Monkey Wrench and makes it more modern by using bright novelty fabrics in yellow, green, blue, orange, purple and pink for the triangles set against dark white on black blocks. The lighter black on white in the background and sashing make the blocks seem to float.

The colors are strong and saturated to hold their own against the black and white, plus there are several different pinks, yellows and greens used, for example, to help move the eye around the work and make it visually more appealing. The lighter background then gives the eye a place to rest.

Let's look at a few images from other TAFA artists on Etsy using this idea:

Art card Zentangle Flower - DEsignedByDianeEvans

Art Quilt Wall Hanging - TerryAskeArtQuilts

Dragonfly Quilted Wall Hanging - castillejacotton 

Coiled Rope Basket Bowl - SallyManke

Cindy's Color Chat: Pastels for Spring

"Signs of Spring" quilted wall hanging Cindy Grisdela

If it's spring, it must be time for pastels! Think the colors of new green shoots, daffodils, cherry blossoms, azaleas, and water waking up from the icy winter--not that we saw much of that where I am this winter. Some artists shy away from pastels because they can be too pale and sweet--like cotton candy. But it's all about the choices you make in value and hue--pale and light or strong and saturated. What are you trying to say with your work?

"Signs of Spring," above, came about almost by accident last winter. As I recall it was a rather dreary, cold day, but no snow. I had been in a creative slump and wanted to work with some cheerful colors. So I pulled these fabrics out of my baskets because they made me think of spring coming and started cutting and sewing. I like to use strong, saturated colors in my work, and while these fabrics qualify as pastel, they are anything but pale. Happy Spring!

Let's take a look at how other TAFA members on Etsy handle pastels:

Handwoven scarf in bamboo and cotton, LoomOnTheLake

Yellow and Pink Yo-Yo Button Flowers, SallyManke

Mod Mondrian Tunic Dress, pastels and stripes, Brendaabdullah

Cindy's Color Chat: Tangerine Color of the Year

Tangerine Dream quilted wall hanging - Cindy Grisdela

According to Panetone LLC, the color company, tangerine is the color of the year for 2012. Tangerine is spirited and energetic, the company says in the press release announcing its choice, and is growing in popularity among designers and buyers. It's definitely not a color for the faint of heart. Use it to create a splash of bold color on the wall or as as accessory--maybe a scarf or a bracelet. Tangerine can be an optimistic, hopeful color that draws attention to itself and its wearer.

In Tangerine Dream above, I used a variety of shades of orange, plus yellow, which of course is next to orange on the color wheel in the "warm" section. To add spice to the composition, I added touches of violet and red violet--opposite yellow and orange on the color wheel in the "cool" section. The combination of complementary colors and the irregularly cut shapes keep the eye moving around the piece. Variety is the key to making color interesting in your compositions--why use one shade of yellow or orange when you could use five or six!

See how other TAFA members use tangerine in their work:

Designer handwoven scarf - LoomOnTheLake

Abstract wall quilt - BarbaraHarmsFiberArt

Needlefelted Gecko Cuff - CloverleafFibreArt

Cindy's Color Chat: Red for Luck

"Red Hot Chili Pepper" quilted wall hanging Cindy Grisdela

In honor of the Chinese New Year, let's look at the color red. Red is considered a strong color and often symbolizes joy, luck, energy or passion. It may be viewed as an auspicious color and is used often in Chinese New Year celebrations. Of course, in the US we associate the color red with love--it's the color of Valentine's Day.

In "Red Hot Chili Pepper" above, I used red as a neutral background to ground the busy improvisational blocks. Notice how the use of red's complement, green, in the blocks creates some open spaces in  the blocks. This is a cheerful, energetic piece that adds a welcome splash of color to a narrow space in my home. It would have had a very different feel if I had used beige or white, which are more commonly accepted as neutral backgrounds, wouldn't it?

Let's see how other TAFA members on Etsy look at the color red:

Hand Embroidered Multicolor Cuff MadrigalEmbroidery

Hand Woven Scarf LoomOnTheLake

Recycled Sweater Pin WickedWaifFiber

Cindy's Color Chat: Bright with Black and White

"Luck of the Draw" quilted wall hanging Cindy Grisdela

Black and White with bright accents is one of my favorite color combinations. The bright accents give a punch to the black and white base and the black and white base gives the brights a chance to shine without overwhelming. Notice that the brights are mostly saturated primary colors--red, yellow and blue--with some secondary green, pink and orange thrown in. I think this scheme is most successful with this combination, pastels or more subdued values don't have the strength to stand up to the graphic black and white.

"Luck of the Draw," above, was designed improvisationally in sections on a design wall. It has a contemporary feel, even though several elements have been borrowed from traditional quiltmaking, including the black and white sawtooth triangles, the bright four patch squares and triangular prairie points that add dimension to the finished piece.

Let's see how other TAFA artists have handled this idea, some with quilts and some with other media:

Needle felted puff bracelet IntimateForest

"Angular Flowers" Quilted Wall Hanging TerryAskeArtQuilts

"Garden Party" Quilted Wall Hanging DEsignedByDianeEvans

Quilted Snap Bag in Rainbow Stripe SallyManke

Crochet Ring Flower Nothingbutstring

Cindy's Color Chat: Rainbow Crayons

Playing with Crayons II Cindy Grisdela

Happy New Year! In winter, I often choose to work on very bright pieces to counter the gray skies outside. "Playing with Crayons II" above is a rainbow of brights, using the ROYGBIV scale. ROYGBIV is an acronym for the colors of the rainbow--red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. These colors are the visible part of the light spectrum in scientific terms. 

My starting point was the strong yellow diagonal in the center, because I wanted this quilt to really catch the eye. The "warm" colors of red and orange move down to the left and the "cool" colors of green and blue move up to the right. The purple in the lower left corner acts as a bridge to the deep blue in the upper right. The trick here, as in most of my work, is to use lots of different fabrics within each color grouping to make the whole more interesting.

Here's a sample of how other TAFA artists on Etsy handle a rainbow color scheme:

Quilted Wall Hanging in Brilliant Colors TerryAskeArtQuilts

Fingerless Glove, Arm Warmers Brendaabdullah

Quilted Table Topper Wall Hanging SallyManke

Cindy's Color Chat - Neutral Stripes

Neutral Stripe Pillow Cindy Grisdela

In all the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, sometimes it's nice to focus on neutral colors for a little tranquility. Remember that neutral doesn't have to be boring. The pillow pictured above uses mostly beige, tan and ecru in the design, plus a hint of taupe. Then I pushed the edge of neutral just a little bit with some pink, lavender and gold, which gives a some punch. The stripes are irregular in width as well. I've wavered about whether the middle stripe with a very light neutral on the top portion works with the peachy tones of the bottom portion, but decided it's more interesting that way because it's unexpected. Sometimes it's good to create just a little tension between what the eye expects to see and what it actually gets!

Check out these other TAFA Member shops on Etsy for neutrals--interesting that a search for neutral, cream or beige turns up a variety of items, but not as many as searches for other colors. Enjoy!

Freeform crochet Bolero Shrug Renate

Nuno Felt Shawl Terri Pike

Car and Carriage Quilt Victoria Gertenbach

Cindy's Color Chat: Purple and Blue Moon Dance

"Moon Dance" quilted wall hanging Cindy Grisdela

Colors that are next to each other on the color wheel are known as "analogous," which simply means that they share characteristics and are similar. Blue-green, blue, blue violet, and violet or purple form an analogous color scheme in my quilt, "Moon Dance" above. These colors are on the "cool" side of the color wheel, compared with red, orange and yellow, which have a "warm" feel.

The "cool" colors tend to be more restful and calming--perhaps you would want to have them in a bedroom or study, rather than an active family room. The trick to making this kind of color scheme interesting is to use lots of different colors from the section you've chosen, in this case blue and purple, and don't try to make the colors match. There are over 20 different fabrics in "Moon Dance." I started with blue and chose fabrics that fell into the blue range from turquoise to deep purple. It's also important to use contrasting values--some light, some medium and some dark--so the eye is encouraged to move around the composition trying to make connections.

This quilt design is an adaptation of a technique made popular by Karla Alexander in her "Stack the Deck" books.

Here's a sample of how other TAFA artists on Etsy handle an analogous blue and purple color scheme:

Art Quilt Notecard Vancouver Cityscape, TerryAskeArtQuilts

Crochet Beanie Hat, rensfibreart

Hand dyed perle cotton skein, therainbowgirl

Cindy's Color Chat - Red and Green Snails

"Snails in the Garden" quilted wall hanging Cindy Grisdela 

Red can be an intense color to use, especially if you pair it with its complement on the color wheel, green. The interplay between the two colors can really make a piece sing! Of course red is one of the three primary colors--the others are blue and yellow. Primary colors are the ones that are used in combination to make many other colors--red and blue make purple, for example.

Often we think of green and red in combination as the colors we most often see during the holiday season. In the quilted wall hanging above, I used a strong combination of greens and reds, but because the greens run to the yellow side and the reds run to the orange side, it doesn't have a holiday feel. This piece instead felt like spring to me--it's called "Snails in the Garden" because the circular blocks in the center are a play on the traditional "Snails's Trail" quilt pattern. 

Here's a look at some red and green offerings from TAFA Etsy Team members, some holiday, some not.

Zipper Flower Brooch, SallyManke

Red/Green quilt, bbusbyarts

Tabasco Scarf Hot Wrap Cowl, WrapturebyInese

 

 

Holiday Elves Wall Hanging, castillejacotton

Cindy's Color Chat: Green Cascades

"Cascades" quilted wall hanging Cindy Grisdela

Green is a color that I tend to use as a supporting player rather than the star of the show--although there are so many "moods" of green that I end up using it a lot--from olive green to forest green to emerald green to lime green to kiwi. Even the names sound like fun!

Above is "Cascades," another contemporary take on a traditional quilting pattern. I started with the multicolor background fabric and pulled the colors for the cascades out of it--gold, green, blue, orange and red-orange. The narrow inner border complements the background in darker tones. Using various shades of red-orange as the complement to the olive green border gives the design more interest.

What's your favorite color green? Check out these TAFA shops on Etsy.

Garden GreenYo-Yo Textile, Rayela

Needlefelt Pocket Purse, CloverleafFibreArt

Hand Embroidered Green Cuff, MadrigalEmbroidery