Tag: Colour Inspiration Tuesday

Posted on

Colour Inspiration Tuesday: Poolside Fun

Poolside Fun color scheme from Clever Chameleon

Colour Inspiration Tuesday: Colour Spring-Boards for your Quilt, Craft and Decor Ideas

Over the closed winter period, our local outdoor public pool has redecorated. Just a paint job mostly, but I like it. The colours chosen are fresh, fun and summery – like an outdoor pool should be. There are also a few extra shade sails and some new furniture. Not extravagant, but useful and happy. 🙂

I like the new colours. Specifically, I like them in this space. They work very well here and add nicely to the atmosphere. I wouldn’t like them in my home, with the possible exception of a child’s bedroom. I probably wouldn’t like them in a work office either. But they are appropriate for a recreational space like the pool.

Colour Inspiration Tuesday: Poolside Fun colour scheme

Wouldn’t these colours make a great picnic quilt? Something that makes you want to take it to the beach or the park or the pool. A quilt that reminds you that outings are fun (once you get there!! 🙂 ) and says “Let’s go!!”.

Here’s my quick diagram of an idea that came to mind:

Poolside Fun Icy-pole quilt idea
Poolside Fun Icy-pole quilt idea

This wouldn’t be difficult to make. Just a bit time consuming on the icy-poles.

Do you have a picnic quilt? Did you make it yourself? Tell me, have you water-proofed it in anyway? I am wondering if there is something better for the underside of picnic quilts than quilting weight cotton? Or an internal layer that will make it more serviceable and less prone to collecting prickles and transferring dampness from the ground? Recycled denim perhaps? Or recycled rubber-backed curtains? If you have relevant experience to share, I’d love to know. 🙂

Pineapple Farm color scheme from Clever Chameleon P.S. Warning: The pineapples are still out there, stalking quilters. They’ve now got into Anita’s blog at Domestic Felicity. She is making a lovely pineapple quilt for her November One Monthly Goal. Go on, go have a look.

P.P.S. Linking up to some fun linky parties: Love Laugh Quilt, Cooking Up Quilts, Fiber Tuesday,  Sew Fresh Quilts, Crazy Mom Quilts., Busy Hands Quilts

Posted on

Colour Inspiration Tuesday: Bougainvillea Surprise

Bougainvillea color scheme from Clever Chameleon

Colour Inspiration Tuesday: weekly colour stories for your quilts and other crafts.

Have you ever taken the time to really look at something you had always assumed you knew well, only to discover something unexpected? We live such fast lives these days that the little details can start to slip by. At least, that is true for my stage of life, with 2 young children and a travelling husband. But today I stopped to “smell the bougainvilleas” and discovered something.

Nope, it wasn’t that bougainvilleas have a fainter scent than many flowers. Or that the bright leaves that surround the tiny flowers are indeed leaves, not petals. I did already know both of those things. 🙂 It was something more subtle.

Purple Bougainvillea color scheme from Clever Chameleon

Colour Inspiration Tuesday: Bougainvillea Surprise

The photo of the hot pink bougainvillea at the top of this post was taken at our accommodation in Vanuatu a few weeks ago. At the time, I made a colour board and noticed the pretty form of the tiny flower in the centre of the showy leaves. “Funny”, I thought. “How come I’ve never noticed how cute the little centres are?” I even toyed a little with a free-motion quilting design to celebrate my discovery, but it never really got very far.

And the bougainvilleas went by the wayside as other inspiration presented itself for my 31 day series.

But now we are home, and I find that the local council has repainted the local outdoor pool surrounds.  In colours not unlike the tones of the Vanuatu bougainvillea, but with a powder blue thrown in for good measure. I would show you but I keep forgetting my camera when we go to the pool. Anyhow, the new pool décor reminded me of my bougainvillea colour board and I thought I would take another look.

The bougainvillea surprise

Bougainvillea detail

Since we have a huge bougainvillea just outside our back door, I also thought I should make a colour board of the that one too. Just for some extra material. Our bougainvillea is in full bloom now. It is the rampant purple variety that grows well in a lot of climates. But when I went to take photos, I noticed something more. The centres of the purple variety actually do not have the charm of the pink one.  Their basic construction is the same but there is very little definition between the petals. “Ahhh ha! The purple and pink bougainvilleas are more different than I realised”.

And all this noticing of something I had long taken for granted finally spawned a bougainvillea FMQ idea that might actually work….. bougainvillea flowers.

Bougainvillea FMQ motif
Stages in quilting the bougainvillea flower

I could immediately launch into the next flower, like pearls on a string. This would work to fill borders and other long thin spaces.  I don’t think it matters how many petals fit around the circle, as long as there are 4-6 sets of one long and one short petal.

I also thought I could return and add leaves to the string to make a wider border in a second quilting run. Something like this:

Bougainvillea quilting idea
String of bougainvillea flowers with leaf triplets to fill a wider border.

purple Clever Chameleon logo

It will take a bit of refining, but I think I could quilt this.

I hope you like the little bougainvillea-inspired FMQ design. Next time I need a warm-up at my Sweet Sixteen I am going to have a go at this one.

Today’s post doubles as my daily Everyday Quilt Inspiration offering. See you for more Everyday Quilt Inspiration fun tomorrow. In the meantime, if you haven’t been following along, you can find the start of this 31 day series here. Only one week left until the daily writing challenge is over! Amazing.

Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts.

Posted on

Colour Inspiration Tuesday Collection 3

Colour Inspiration Tuesday Collection 3Colour Inspiration Tuesday Collection Number 3

Welcome to the third collection of Colour Inspiration Tuesday mood boards. Actually, these are not exclusively Colour Inspiration “Tuesday” boards…. they are mostly Colour Inspiration “Everyday” boards. Because October has been Write 31 Days month and I am exploring the theme finding quilt inspiration in the everyday. So, I have been sharing colour boards whenever inspiration strikes. But it would be silly to discriminate by birthday, so I hereby declare them to all be Colour Inspiration Tuesday colour schemes, and so therefore this is Colour Inspiration Tuesday Collection 3.Colour Inspiration Tuesday Collection 3

A quick summary of the ideas behind Colour Inspiration Tuesday Collection 3…..

Strawberry Vines FMQ designIn amongst the latest colour boards, we have explored 2 quilt designs, a hermit crab appliqué idea and two free-motion quilting designs. I even stitched out the strawberry vines FMQ design for you.  Now that I am home again, I might try to whip up an example of Nervous Plant FMQ as well, but I have more pressing quilting matters at hand first.

Hot Chocolate led to a quilt design concept for a black, white and red quilt that I am going to make for the Splash of Color QAL. I will be sharing the next stage of this process very soon. The other quilt design in this set is from Pandanus Fruit, and was more of a theoretical exercise. I have no immediate plans to make this quilt, as fun as it would be!

Pandanus Fruit abstract quilt design
Pandanus Fruit abstract quilt design

My Hermit Crab appliqué idea looks like this. Wouldn’t he make a fun motif for someone who likes hermit crabs? I have a particular friend in mind for this one, so he stands a chance of actually getting done one day.

Hermit Crab appliqué idea from Clever Chameleon

The Third Colour Inspiration Tuesday Collection

To access the colour palettes and complete posts of Colour Inspiration Tuesday Collection 3, click on the thumbnails below.

Hoppy Tuesday colour scheme from Clever Chameleon Strawberry Vines color scheme from Clever Chameleon Hot Chocolate color scheme from Clever Chameleon Wattle You Make? color scheme from Clever ChameleonRising Sun Flower colour scheme from Clever Chameleon Yellow Tulip color scheme from Clever Chameleon Vanuatu Décor color scheme from Clever Chameleon Nervous Plant color scheme from Clever Chameleon Pandanus Fruit color scheme from Clever Chameleon Hermit Crab color scheme from Clever Chameleon Coconut Lorikeet color scheme by Clever Chameleon Mt Yasur Fireworks color scheme from Clever Chameleon

 

Follow along and be the first with the free inspiration!

Green Clever Chameleon logoI hope you feel inspired by some of the ideas in Colour Inspiration Tuesday Collection 3. If you missed the first 12 Colour Inspiration Tuesday colour schemes, you can find them here. And the second collection of 12 colour schemes is found here. 

At Clever Chameleon we explore at least one potential quilt colour scheme every week. For the rest of October it is likely to continue to be considerably more. But November will see the return of our usual posting schedule of 2-3 posts per week, including one Colour Inspiration Tuesday slot and a tutorial or quilt-process related post nearer the end of the week. Follow Clever Chameleon Quilting on Bloglovin’ to stay abreast of all the fun quilty things I do and find on the internet. Or subscribe in the sidebar to receive regular Clever Chameleon emails that will Colour Your Mood and Brighten Your World.

Colour Inspiration Tuesday is also easily accessible through Pinterest. Follow my Understanding Color for Quilts board for regular quilt colour inspiration. Or my whole Pinterest account for a wider selection of quilt-related boards. 

Linking up with: Let’s Bee Social, Midweek Makers, Can I get a Whoop Whoop? , Busy Hands Quilts, Crazy Mom Quilts

See you tomorrow for more Everyday Quilt Inspiration! Emoji!

Posted on

Colour Inspiration Tuesday: Silhouettes at Sunset

Silhouettes at Sunset color scheme from Clever Chameleon

Colour Inspiration Tuesday: Colour resources for your next eye-catching quilt design

“Halo” and “Welkam” to my second Vanuatu edition of Colour Inspiration Tuesday! Actually it is a combined Colour Inspiration Tuesday and Everyday Quilt Inspiration post. Like last week’s regular slots, this post was largely pre-written in Australia due to uncertainty about how much time and internet I would have for blogging here in Vanuatu. But I have added some extra material to make this post also fit the 31 Days writing challenge I am doing. I hope it gels ok.

“Halo” and “Welkam”  is pretty much the extent of my knowledge of the Bislama language. And “Tangkyu tumas” (Thank you very much). But thankfully English usually suffices here, the Vanuatu scenery is beautiful, and this week, the weather is superb. Just like today’s quilt inspiration colour board, Silhouettes at Sunset.

Silhouettes at Sunset color scheme from Clever Chameleon

Colour Inspiration Tuesday: Silhouettes at Sunset

The “Silhouettes at Sunset” colour scheme is purple, orange, peach, grey, aqua, teal and super dark teal. Isn’t it amazing how the form of a dark silhouette brings out the colours in a sunset? This contrast is something that we should be aiming for in our quilt fabric choices too….. that is if you are after a bold, brilliant effect. (I am fully cognisant that sometimes subtle and low volume is the right choice for a quilt too…. I just personally usually prefer bright.) And isn’t it nice to be reminded that silhouettes don’t have to be black… any high contrast will be effective, in this case a dark shade of teal.

Silhouettes at Sunset evokes thoughts of warm tropical evenings and beach holidays. Perfect to celebrate a trip to Vanuatu, even if it is for work. Would you like to know more about the humanitarian telecommunications side of our family’s pursuits? When things get back to normal I would love to tell you more.

Another World Blue color scheme from Clever Chameleon

Sunset Wall color scheme from Clever Chameleon

Anyway, back to the task at hand…. It strikes me that “Silhouettes at Sunset” is very much like the love child of “Sunset Wall” and “Another World Blue”. Two colour schemes from earlier editions of Colour Inspiration Tuesday.

So for my Colour Inspiration Tuesday quilt imaginings this week I have decided to see what happens when we colour the Cat on a Wall quilt design with the Silhouettes at Sunset colour scheme. Here is the original design in both parent colour ways.

Cat on a Wall Quilt design

And here are my new colourings. I also added in an eighth colour from the sunset photo – a rose pink. I only meant to do one re-colouring of Cat on a Wall, but I had to amuse myself on the plane to Vanuatu somehow! 

Cat on a Wall quilt design, 3 colour schemes

Which do you prefer? One of the new ones or one of the originals? Or would you choose a completely different colour scheme for this quilt? Please tell in the comments below. 🙂

Credit

I really appreciate the talented photographers who generously donate their art to the world without strings attached. Today’s such photos are from Unsplash.com. Unsplash is a collection of free, high resolution, “do what you want with” photos. Credit is not demanded but I give it anyway in thanks. Today’s featured photographer is Aldain Austria. Be sure to check out his collection of photos on Unsplash.

Aldain Austria

blue Clever Chameleon logo

I hope you will tell me which your preferred colours are….

Before I go though, I had better add in some everyday quilt inspiration. This one is easy – there have been many “sunset and silhouettes” moments in my life that I have thought at the time would make great art. We are fortunate in Adelaide to get lots of great sunsets over the gulf. I distinctly remember one such moment when I was heavily pregnant with my second child. I was sitting on the beach, watching my husband and eldest daughter (2 years at the time) jump the wavelets, silhouetted against the setting sun. That is a moment that would definitely be quilt-worthy.

Anyway, here are some more recent silhouettes at sunset. These were taken the second night we arrived here in Port Vila.

Sunset and ships, Port Villa Vanuatu
Ships in harbour at sunset, Port Vila
Sunset and silhouettes. Vanuatu
Enjoying the warm tropical waters.

And to finish off – your everyday colour inspiration board…..

Silhouettes at Sunset, Port Vila color scheme from Clever Chameleon

See you for more Everyday Quilt Inspiration fun tomorrow. In the meantime, if you haven’t been following along, you can find the start of this series here.

P.S. On a completely different topic, I must tell you, the Art with Fabric blog hop is ON! It started yesterday (although that might still be today in your time zone…..) Anyway, my post on the hop is not until Friday 13, but there is a huge lineup ahead of me. Visit Tweety Loves Quilting to see the blog hop from the very beginning.

Here’s a sneak preview of my art piece…. it’s called “Remember to thank the Cleaner (Shrimp)”. It’s art with gratitude. 🙂

Art with Fabric blog hop @ tweloquilting.blogspot.com
Posted on

Colour Inspiration Tuesday: Wattle You Make?

Wattle You Make colour scheme from Clever ChameleonColour Inspiration Tuesday – it’s time for our usual weekly slot of colour and design conversation 🙂

Today we are conjuring up quilt ideas with the assistance of the “Wattle You Make?” colour scheme and a corresponding fabric.

Last minute edit: This post was pre-written long before I knew about the Write 31 Days challenge we have just started. So it uses Unsplash photos, not my own happy snaps. BUT… as you will see, this post is actually about being inspired by a fabulous everyday item – a fresh piece of fabric. So with a little tweaking I am letting it pass as Day 3 of my Finding Quilt Inspiration in the Everyday series. If you have no idea what I am talking about, you may want to read the first post in the new 31 day series.

Colour Inspiration Tuesday: Wattle You Make?

The “Wattle You Make?” colour palette is brilliant yellow, grey and greyed blue-green. The colours of Australian wattle in flower. These are everyday colours in Australia at the moment, as early spring is when the wattles are out in full force.

But the real reason I have chosen these colours today is because I have a piece of this fabric:

hexagon fabric in yellow and greyed-green
A fun, coincidental fact….. the wattle species in the photo of today’s colour board is widely used as food for bees in making honey…. and this fabric definitely reminds me of bee hives!

This fabric is “Bathhouse Tiles Aqua” by Emma & Mila. The hexagons are about 1 1/4″ from corner to opposite corner. 

Like all good quilters, I saw this fabric while I was shopping for something else. At the time I was actually shopping for the fabrics to finish my daughter’s Jewel Tone Diamonds tumbling blocks quilt. I had to have a piece of this to play with because I was instantly inspired. (I was actually very self-controlled and only got  half a metre!)

Sometimes it is fun to choose a fabric as a starting point and wonder what you could make with it. Let your imagination take you places you may have never otherwise thought to go. Especially if the fabric is not your usual style (which definitely applies for me here). What would you make if you suddenly found yourself in possession of this particular fabric? Who would it be for? When I first saw this fabric I was taken with the hexagon lattice print. And I immediately thought it would be fun to accentuate some of the hexagons with trapunto. Shadow trapunto to be precise.

How was I inspired? What did I make?

Do you remember how I said that at our Handi Quilter club we had trapunto homework? And that Heather had upped the ante, adding shadow trapunto to the techniques we should try? Well, I did my trapunto homework – that was the “Dream Big” mini quilt. Now I have also done my shadow trapunto homework. It is a cushion. Always experimenting, I used felt instead of wadding for the trapunto. The trapunto design was directly inspired by the fabric print. I am hoping to have a more detailed discussion/tutorial post written up about it later in the week.

shadow trapunto cushion
Sometimes a fabric just begs to be made into a particular design…

While you wait for my shadow trapunto cushion post, let’s explore more yellow and greyed green combinations…

Once I started thinking about this colour combination, I realised it is not uncommon in nature. In fact, yellow and greyed green combinations are everywhere…..

I could have continued down this path for ages, with daffodils, daisies, a yellow frog and all sorts. But I’ll stop here. I have that tutorial to write for you by the end of the week!  But isn’t the sunflower pretty?! I could very happily do a sunflower quilt in these colours…… 

Today’s Photo Credit

Do you like the photos I used today? Today’s stock photos are from Unsplash.com. Unsplash is a collection of free, high resolution, “do what you want with” photos. No credit is demanded, but I hope you will agree is very deserved. So, I will tell you the stock photos were provided by: Leticia Delboy (wattle), Alisa Anton (tulips) and Asgeir Pall Juliusson (sunflower). Click on the badges below to explore these photographer’s other photos.
Leticia Delboy
Asgeir Pall Juliusson
Alisa Anton

Yellow Clever Chameleon logoYour turn to tell….

Do you let the fabrics sometimes dictate your quilts? Have you ever done a sunflower quilt? Know of a sunflower quilt pattern you’d recommend? Or have you ever done a yellow and green quilt?

I’ll tell you a quick story about a green and yellow quilt…… My first quilt jealousy was over a green and yellow quilt! When I was in year 10 of high school (decades ago) one of my friends did a Home Ec topic that I didn’t sign up for because it was about caring for babies…… eeeeeuuuuuch. But she had the last laugh because she made a quilt as part of her curriculum. It was another 16 years until I actually made my first quilt. After having had 2 babies (who weren’t eeeeeuuuuuch after all). If you are thinking of trying quilting, I suggest you get moving faster than I did!

Come on, tell me what you’d make with the hexagon print fabric. Or just say Hi. I love comments and finding out who’s visiting.

P.S. Don’t forget….. the upcoming Art with Fabric Blog Hop (next week) and also the new Splash of Color quilt along (starts today October 3!)

See you again tomorrow. 🙂

Proudly powered by WordPress