Do you know what color I rarely use in my quilts? Purple. I do think purple is beautiful, though. There are so many shades, but I have still found it a bit hard to work with. It’s just not one I have been drawn to.
And yet…Last fall I fell in love with the fabric collections “Clover Sunshine” and “Sun Prints” by Alison Glass (Andover Fabrics). They have an abundance of uncommon shades, from lavender to fuchsia.
What do you know? these colors have now found their way into my stash!
It’s a bit surprising that I don’t quilt much with purple, because my garden is full of it! Right now my azaleas and phlox (above) are in full glory and so inspiring.
As you probably know, “radiant orchid” is the Pantone Color of the Year now, too. Either I am especially susceptible to trends, or they were spot on in their prediction of this color’s popularity.
So, now that I have a “radiant orchid” stash, what am I going to put with it?
Green.
I know that probably wasn’t the expected answer. But here are my thoughts:
Pair the light shades, the lavenders, with bluish greens. This is so calm and soft, and yet the pink in the lavender still has some kick. It’s sweet, but not too sweet. Add some dark gray for the neutral and you have some serious drama. With white: fresh and clean.
Pair the dark shades, the fuchsias, with yellowish greens. Wow! I love this combination for the high contrast. You could show off some great piecing with this pair.
Make it hip with a light gray neutral, go with black for drama or linen to bring it down to earth.
isn’t it fun to play with color? I love it. Fabrics make it really fun because there is such a wide range of shades and pattern to work with.
Tell me what you are adding to your stash?
Sharon
ps: thanks for the big love on my last post and published quilt. Chirpy, Lauralei, Diane, April’s Creations: you are all “no reply”. I feel badly when I cannot respond to your comments, but I will say “thank you” right here!
linking up for Sunday Stash
I love the colour combos. I’ve been stashing for a dark purple and lime quilt for almost a year though, so maybe I’m a bit biased.
I have very little purple of any kind in my stash. Its funny, I do have a lot of purple flowers in my gardens, but I am not drawn to it in fabric form. Time to get out of my comfort zone in that area, I think. =)
Purple is rather hard to fine in fabric stores – I’ve tried! I simply love your purples and greens.
All of these photos have me drooling. Those purples are so rich and yum! Lovely additions!
I love purple and I use a lot of it. I’m currently working on a cornflower blue, mint green, and purple (from the Cuzco line) quilt so I’m partial to your first combo! I also mix a lot of dark purple with fuchsia. I think that is a gorgeous combo.
Those Alison Glass lines really are amazing and I’d love to get my hands on ’em.
Those are perfect together. I’m going To do green and purple this year!