It’s Black and White: no-Colour Inspiration Tuesday and Link Party

Have you noticed how an absence of colour can bring out the drama and depth in a picture or design?

And emphasise all the details? I am one of the biggest colour lovers out there, but I also recognise that colour can sometimes be a distraction from the other features of a fantastic design.

Seeing something in black and white really helps to distil the important elements out of a picture, don’t you think? What is it about the subject that makes its form distinctive and recognisable? Where are the contrasts and shadows that give the subject that “wow factor”? How can I use those features in my next quilt design?

The case for black and white

My quilting helper would like to put forward his argument that black and white always trumps colour…..

While I think he exaggerates a little, I do use grey-scale as a design tool on a regular basis. Viewing a design in grey-scale does help high-light problem areas that are not immediately obvious when colour is also in the mix. The easiest way to check a quilt in progress in grey-scale I find is to simply take black and white photos of your work.

Black and White for December

Why are we suddenly talking about black and white today? Well, black and white are the last “colours” of the 2018 Monthly Color Challenge that has been running at Patterns by Jen. And, in just a few days we will meet the last Beary Colourful Bear. Although, of course, he’s not beary colourful at all, because he’s black and white! Still awesome and cheery like all his bright cousins though. And he has sweet blue eyes.

Keep an eye on facebook or instagram to get your sneak peeks over the next few days. And make sure you finish up your blue-green creations before the end of November for your chance to win the organic fabric pack from Monaluna, and to be entered into the draw for longarm quilting from the Dizzy Quilter. Link up your blue-green blocks/sewing projects at Patterns by Jen here.

We hope you have enjoyed this series. I have, and I am so grateful to everyone who has joined me for the ride. It’s been amazing. 

Inspired Anew by Black and White

You know me. Once I get musing on an idea, the dam breaks and the options for new quilts start flooding in. Looking through black and white photos on Unsplash.com was a baaaaaad idea…… there are just sooooo many quilts waiting to happen among that collection of photos! Here is just a small selection of photos I could easily use as starting points for a quilt…….

A clock with a patchwork centre and roman numerals? Yes please!

Peek-a-boo zebras! Or lemurs! Or both! 🙂

An interesting variety of geometric shapes…..

Or silhouettes? Absolutely!

Actually, I’ve got a really simple silhouette quilt coming up for you in January…. not inspired by either of these brilliant photos though. From an idea I’ve had for a wee bit longer than the last three hours or so. 🙂 But both of these also have huge potential……. hmmmmm.

Speaking of old ideas getting their turn…… this is who I have been working on this week……. 

It’s a design that has been waiting in the wings for about 18 months now…. waiting for just the right fabric line to come along.

Sadly, you’ll have to wait a little while longer to see this chap in full, as he is sitting on a background of pre-release fabrics that I can’t show you just yet. But I think you’re going to love him as much as I do!

I can show you some features from last week’s linky party though. 

Denise from For the Love of Geese linked up this amazing medallion centre for her latest quilt design. It is so striking, I love it. Denise has a knack for taking mosaic motifs, often from centuries old designs and making something fresh with them.

Brenda from Songbird Designs whipped up her own take on a block called Christmas Cactus. Isn’t it stunning? Hop on over to her blog post to see how she put it together.

And Jen of de Jong Dream House has thrilled again with her recounting of quilts past. This simple but effective little number made the Chameleon think he should look into college football…… Do you think the helmet suits him? I think he might have misread Ohio State Buckeyes as Ohio State Bug-eyes though…….. 

My sincerest thanks to everyone who linked up last week. If you were featured you can find a badge of honour here.

Link up to the Chameleon’s  Linky Party this week and show us your projects

What are you working on, or have recently finished in your sewing room? Link up a blog post, a Flicker pic, an IG post or simply a photo from your computer.  See if you can get the Chameleon to turn quilted with happiness. We’d love to see your quilting colours….. or your lack of colours too!

Guidelines:

• Link up your latest or recent quilt excitement. All construction stages welcome – even fabric pulls! Or inspiration sources!
• You have 100 characters in the link description…. tell us who you are and what your fantastic project is.
• URLs are not necessary to link up…. non-bloggers 100% welcome! If you don’t have a URL, simply link up with just a photo. 
• Do it now……. before you forget!

[inlinkz_linkup id=807921 mode=1]

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Would you like to keep in touch with Clever Chameleon and the fun quilty ideas I design as well as find all over the internet? You can follow directly for email updates, or through Bloglovin’, Pinterest or FB. All your follow options can be found here. Don’t forget to link up all your current quilting projects on Tuesdays at our Colour Inspiration Linky parties! And if you’d like to road test my newest patterns, I am always on the hunt for keen pattern testers.

The Chameleon turns rainbow with pleasure when he hears from you. I am more reserved, so I will respond in gratitude by email instead. Now that it’s your turn…. Scroll right to the end, leave me a comment and tell me, what do you think? Thanks for connecting!