Colour Inspiration Tuesday: Dancing Macaw

Dancing Macaw color scheme from Clever Chameleon

Colour Inspiration Tuesday – explore with me the endless possibilities of colour for our quilts!

Welcome back to Tuesday! We made it! This past weekend we had a family celebration with my father turning 70, so blogging has had a backseat for a few days. But here we are, on the right day, and more or less on time! Yay!

Colour Inspiration Tuesday: Dancing Macaw

About the time I started the Clever Chameleon blog, I also started experimenting with free-motion appliqué. Free-motion appliqué was the homework of my very first Sweet Sixteen monthly meeting. During this time I drew up a number of critters I thought I would like to turn into appliqué designs. One of these fellows was this guy – a cheeky version of a dancing macaw. Macaws are magnificently beautiful, don’t you think?!

Dancing Macaw appliqué design
Dancing Macaw appliqué design in progress.

Needless to say though, learning to blog has been even more intensive than I expected, and I haven’t yet got back to developing many of the designs into patterns. (Some owls are an exception, more on that another day soon! And I did do a pelican quilt – do you remember him?). Anyway, when I found a photo of a blue and gold macaw on Unsplash.com, I knew I had to do a “Dancing Macaw” colour board.

Dancing Macaw color scheme from Clever Chameleon

The “Dancing Macaw” colour scheme is gold and blue. It is a beautiful example of blue and orange-yellow together. You’ll be hard pressed to go wrong with these colours on a quilt because they are complementary and therefore very eye-catching.

The only downside is that the macaw photo doesn’t really capture all the colours that I want to use for my macaw appliqué. So I went back to Unsplash.com and found another photo that makes pulling out the colours I want easier. So, without further ado, here is today’s second colour board: Summer Foliage.

Summer Foliage color scheme from Clever Chameleon

The Summer Foliage colour scheme is blue, gold and green. Between these two new colour boards, I believe I will have no trouble at all putting together a collection of fabrics to appliqué my dancing macaw. What would you use these colours for?! Let us know in the comments below.

Maybe blue and orange is not your favourite complementary colour scheme…. 

Pink Chalice colour scheme from Clever Chameleon

How does pink and green suit you instead? Last week we looked at how to use red and green colours without accidentally evoking Christmas. 

Or you could check out the fun series we had recently – looking at matching colour boards to fabrics to express a variety of summer themes. Start here and follow the links to all five “summer crush” colour boards.

Credit

Today’s photos in Dancing Macaw hues are from Unsplash.com. Unsplash is a collection of free, high resolution, “do what you want with” photos. Credit is not required, but I’m sure you’d love to know who is being so generous with their talent. Accordingly, the macaw photo was provided by Andrew Pons and the foliage photograph was taken by Jakob Owens. Be sure to check out their collections of photos on Unsplash.

Andrew Pons
Jakob Owens

yellow Clever Chameleon logoFor more colour inspiration for your quilts, follow along by subscribing to this blog by email (on the sidebar).

Or follow Clever Chameleon Quilt Colour Inspiration on Pinterest and pin your favourite colour palettes to try later. 

P.S. If you would like to use Andrew’s or Jakob’s photos or another Colour Inspiration Tuesday photo for your own projects, you can easily find all the Unsplash photos from Colour Inspiration Tuesday in one place for free in my Colour Inspiration Collection.

P.P.S. Check out the other hubs of creative activity I am linking up with this week:
The Quilting Room with Mel
Freemotion by the River
Sew Fresh Quilts
Quilt Fabrication

Colour Inspiration Tuesday: Pink Chalice

Pink Chalice color scheme by Clever Chameleon

Colour Inspiration Tuesday: a growing resource of colour combinations to try on your quilts.

Hello! Happy Colour Inspiration Tuesday! Did you enjoy the fabric mosaic ideas last week? I think we should do that more often! But today we return to a more normal Tuesday formula….. and we have a magnificent red and green colour palette up for discussion. Let’s chat about the colours in “Pink Chalice”, a colour palette inspired by beautiful crisp pink Calla Lilies.

Red and blue-green look so vivid together because they are complementary colours. This means that they are opposite each other in position on the colour wheel. The brain likes complementary colours, and most people react favourably to these colour combinations. However, red and green also have a strong cultural significance in communities that celebrate a Western style Christmas. So, it can sometimes be tricky to use these colours without accidentally giving your project a christmasy feel. This problem is likely not consistently an issue across all cultures, but it certainly is in mine.

Pink Chalice color scheme from Clever Chameleon

Colour Inspiration Tuesday: Pink Chalice

More colours for Pink Lily Chalice
More colours for Pink Lily Chalice.

The “Pink Chalice” colour palette is old rose, dusky pink, powder pink, tan, forest green, deep forest green and green to the point of black. Let’s call it midnight green! I really like these colours together with white for a fresh feeling quilt. If I needed more colours other than the standard 7 of Colour Inspiration Tuesday, I would add another green, another red-pink and another neutral. 

I haven’t mocked up my own quilt with these colours because I already know of one that I would make if I was going down this path. I really love this half-square triangles quilt by Teri Townley at the Hummingbird Thread blog.

Half-square triangles quilt by Teri Townley
Half-square triangles quilt by Teri Townley

I have collected a few pictures of red and green quilts that I think could be used anytime, not just Christmas. Not that I have anything against Christmas, I just think red and green should be seen other times too! Visit my Pinterest board Red and Green Quilts for more ideas. Follow me on Pinterest….. I have a Christmas board too.

What would you do with these colours? I’d love to hear your thoughts on your perfect green and red quilt combination. Even if it is Christmasy! Drop us a comment below and share your creativity with everyone.

Don’t need green and red today, Christmas or otherwise?

12 color palettes to try on your quilts and craft projectsHave you been following along with Colour Inspiration Tuesday for all the colour combinations and quilt ideas you’ll only find here?

If not you can get a quick overview of the colour combinations we have been exploring lately in this review post.

Autumn Splendour color palette from Clever ChameleonYou can also get moving on your fall projects with the Autumn Splendour colour palette. Halloween and Thanksgiving are only just around the corner now, at least in regards to crafting something that will be finished in time to use!

Today’s Photo Credit

Today’s stock photo is from Unsplash.com. Unsplash is a collection of free, high resolution, “do what you want with” photos. These photo’s are gifted freely and without demand, but I like to thank people who live so generously. So, if you would like to also use this lovely photo, it was provided by Ethan Robertson via Unsplash. Click on the badge below to explore Ethan’s other photos.
Ethan Robertson

Clever Chameleon logo in light greenDon’t miss a post – follow along by subscribing to this blog. Or follow Clever Chameleon Quilt Colour Inspiration on Pinterest and pin your favourite colour palettes to try later. 

P.S. For your convenience, I have placed all the Unsplash photos from Colour Inspiration Tuesdays in one place. Find them easily for free in my Colour Inspiration Collection.

Colour Inspiration Tuesday: Hazy Days

Hazy Days color scheme from Clever ChameleonColour Inspiration Tuesday(ish): More free colour resources for inspiring your quilts

Welcome to the last post in our Summer Crush Colour Inspiration “Week of Tuesdays”! I hope you have enjoyed exploring how to turn colour mood boards into fabric collections from your favourite fabric store. I certainly have!

Hazy Days colour scheme from Clever Chameleon
Hazy Days colour scheme

Today, as promised, I am exploring not one but two summer photos that I like from Unsplash.com. The first colour board, called “Hazy Days”, captures perfectly the feel of a relentlessly hot day on the beach. What could be more summery than a lifeguard on duty? The second board I am calling “Blood Orange and Mint”. This board comes from a photo of iced water with citrus and mint. It makes me think of refreshing cool drinks and good company, watching a balmy summer evening darken into dusk. 

Blood Orange and Mint color scheme from Clever Chameleon

 

Colour Inspiration Tuesday: Blood Orange and Mint & Hazy Days.

The reason why I have grouped these two photos and their colour palettes into one post is because they are quite related, and have given me very similar end mosaics. Both colour schemes consist of at least one blue, green, turquoise, red-orange and brown colour each. Not the same shades and ratios of each hue, but most definitely representatives from the same set of colour families. Who would have thought? Certainly not I. When I chose these two photos, I was definitely not expecting similar outcomes.

The Blood Orange and Mint Fabric Mosaic

Thanks to Stitched in Color, this week there has been a fun opportunity to use the fabrics available at Quilt Sandwich Fabrics’ Etsy shop to create a collection of nine fabrics that you think capture the theme “Summer Crush”. If you haven’t participated already, there is still time until the 21st August. 

Blood Orange and Mint color scheme from Clever Chameleon
Blood orange and Mint colour scheme

To express the colours that I have pulled out of the beverages photograph, I chose the following fabrics. Most of them I chose predominately on colour, but there are a few that I think match the Summer Crush theme in subject as well. Specifically, along the bottom row we have dandelions; a zigzag print that is reminiscent of ocean waves; and …. cameras. Cameras, holidays and summer really are inseparable thoughts, aren’t they?!

Blood Orange and Mint fabric mosaic
Blood Orange and Mint fabric mosaic

Hazy Days color scheme with fabric

The Hazy Days Fabric Mosaic

To capture the colours and feel of the Hazy Days colour palette, I chose tan stripes to represent the colours of the sand. Turned on its side, this fabric could also represent the ripples that form on the beach.

I chose a fabric of graphic squares with a fanned pattern to reflect the spokes of the shade umbrella in the photo. I also emphasised the life saver’s buoy with two fabrics featuring circles and a third with a vivid orange lattice. 

The red-orange and turquoise small-print fabrics were chosen to complete the colour way and provide contrast in scale and complexity. Of course, the blue and aqua wave fabric had to be included to represent the ocean. I even rejoiced at the grey of the background in the middle fabric, because it captures the toned-down palette of the original photo.  Overall, I think this collection has a good mix of scale and shape contrasts. Love the colours, love the visual texture!

Hazy Days colour scheme by Clever Chameleon
Hazy Days fabric mosaic

This is my second entry to the Summer Crush fabric mosaic contest.

sail boat fabricAnd the fabric I’d love to put on the back? Sailboats, whales, gulls, and waves in cream on a dark teal blue background by Charley Harper for Birch Fabrics. And its even organic cotton! Whoop!

Final thoughts

As you can see, although I started with two entirely different photos and even two quite divergent colour palettes, I have ended up with two mosaics that could be combined without clashing. One fabric even is in both mosaics! If you like either of these fabric combinations, head over to Quilt Sandwich Fabrics and check out the fabrics for yourself. 

Hazy Days colour scheme with fabrics

Summer Crush Mosaic Colour Inspiration Week

If you want to follow my musings around the Summer Crush mosaic contest for the rest of the week, here are the other three days of mosaics: 

On Tuesday we looked at the colours of Ice-cream Tones. Pinks and yellows, with a little brown and blue added for interest.

 

 

On Wednesday we explored the freshness of the colours seen in ripe pineapples and tropical beaches. Find out why I called this palette “Digging for Pineapples“!

 

On Thursday we channeled our inner child and played with this fun flamingo. Hot pinks and blue-greens were the order of the day in the bright and happy colours of Flamingoes in the Pool.

Credit

Today’s photos are from Unsplash.com. Unsplash is a collection of free, high resolution, “do what you want with” photos. Credit is not required to use the photos, but I love to give credit where credit is due, and am always grateful to people who contribute to open source communities. So I would like you to know that the Hazy Days photo was provided by Ludde Lorentz via Unsplash, and the cocktails photos was provided by Monika Grabkowska. Be sure to check out their collections of freely gifted photos on Unsplash.com.
Ludde Lorentz
Monika Grabkowska

For colour inspiration for your quilts in your inbox weekly follow along by subscribing to this blog. Or follow Clever Chameleon Quilt Colour Inspiration on Pinterest and pin your favourite colour palettes to try later. 

P.S. If you would like to use any photo featured in Colour Inspiration Tuesday for your own projects, you can easily find all the Unsplash photos from Colour Inspiration Tuesday in one place for free in my Colour Inspiration Collection.

Colour Inspiration Tuesday: Flamingoes in the Pool

Flamingoes in the Pool color scheme by Clever Chameleon

Colour Inspiration Tuesday – Colour Your Mood, Brighten Your World, Design Your Quilt.

Welcome to the third day of our Summer Crush fabric mosaic journey. This week we are looking at matching fabrics to summer-themed photos. The fabrics in question are the current stock of Quilt Sandwich Fabrics on Etsy. The Summer Crush mosaics are inspired by a contest being run by Rachel of the Stitched in Color blog. Genius and fun, all rolled into one idea!

Ice-cream Tomes color scheme by Clever ChameleonOn Tuesday (the real Tuesday) we looked at a colour scheme I called Ice-cream Tones. I ended up with a mosaic of nine fabrics that I think perfectly capture the colours of summer sunshine and berry-flavoured ice-cream. 

Yesterday (I know, it was a Wednesday, notTuesday), we looked at the colours of pineapples on the beach. I chose beautiful fresh colours from among all the fabrics at Quilt Sandwich, and shared why pictures of pineapples and beaches have a special meaning for me.

Today (I know…… still not a Tuesday) we are going to explore fabric colours inspired by the most fun photo of the summer pictures I collected from Unsplash.com. I am calling today’s quilt colour scheme “Flamingoes in the Pool”.

Colour Inspiration Tuesday: Flamingoes in the Pool

The “Flamingoes in the Pool” colour scheme is hot pink, slightly-less-hot pink, rose, aqua, teal and pale salmon. These are happy, bright colours; begging you not to take them too seriously. A bit like the Digging for Pineapples palette from yesterday, they are fresh and uncomplicated, and will work as a stand alone palette or as bright patches within large neutral or white spaces. 

A detour to “Flamingoes love Ice-cream” colours

To begin with, I struggled to find fabrics in the Quilt Sandwich Fabrics Etsy store to fully express the Flamingoes in the Pool. So, I got distracted with this fabric of bowls of ice-cream sundaes in similar but brighter colours.
Ice-cream sundae bowls fabricThis fabric in from Robert Kaufman.

Anyhow, I decided to use this fabric as my muse and see what happened when I built a mosaic using these colours.

 

Flamingoes love Ice-cream fabric mosaic from Clever Chameleon
I am calling this fun mosaic: Flamingoes love Ice-cream!!

I do love this, but it is not what I set out to do…..

Back to “Flamingoes in the Pool”

With a bit more effort I was back on track. Here is my Quilt Sandwich Fabics version of the Flamingoes in the Pool colour scheme.

Flamingoes in the Pool color scheme from Clever Chameleon

And here is the fabric mosaic I made….

Flamingoes in the Pool fabric mosaic
Flamingoes in the Pool fabric mosaic

Then I decided that while the ice-cream sundae fabric really “isn’t me”….  (I’d totally use them for a child though), I also decided that I really like the lift the yellow fabric gives to the flamingo colour palette. Combining the ideas of Flamingoes like ice-cream and Flamingoes in the Pool, I came up with these two very similar offerings.

These are my new favourites. See how this works? Quilting Your Own Story is a process. Not too many people wake up with a fully formed idea in their head ready to go. Playing with colour and design is a process, an evolution. It happens when you are doing, not when you are waiting for ideas. So you should hop over to Stitched in Color and participate in this contest (or the next contest if you are here reading archived material).

I don’t think I’ll use either of these as my second entry to the Summer Crush mosaic contest though. I have one more idea to pursue tomorrow….

Flamingoes in the Pool colour scheme by Clever Chameleon

Summer Crush Mosaic Colour Inspiration Week

If you want to follow my thoughts around the Summer Crush mosaic contest for the rest of the week, I will be adding the links here. 

On Tuesday we looked at the colours of Ice-cream Tones. Pinks and yellows, with a little brown and blue added for interest.

On Wednesday we looked at the tropical colours of Digging for Pineapples. Orange and yellow and beach colours. Very fresh and refreshing.

Check back tomorrow for my last Summer Crush fabric colour palette ideas. Update:  Friday’s mosaic is called Hazy Days. More beach colours, but more sedate than tropical pineapples and flamingoes.

Credit

Today’s photo of the pineapple on the beach is from Unsplash.com. Unsplash is a collection of free, high resolution, “do what you want with” photos. Credit is not required to use the photos, but I love to give credit where credit is due, and am always grateful to people who contribute to open source communities. So I would like you to know that this lovely photo was provided by Vicko Mozara via Unsplash. Be sure to check out his collection of photos on Unsplash.com.
Vicko Mozara

clever chameleon logo in blueFor colour inspiration for your quilts in your inbox weekly follow along by subscribing to this blog. Or follow Clever Chameleon Quilt Colour Inspiration on Pinterest and pin your favourite colour palettes to try later. 

P.S. If you would like to use Vicko’s photo or another Colour Inspiration Tuesday photo for your own projects, you can easily find all the Unsplash photos from Colour Inspiration Tuesday in one place for free in my Colour Inspiration Collection.

Colour Inspiration Tuesday: Digging for Pineapples

Digging for Pineapples color scheme fabric choices

Colour Inspiration Tuesday(ish): It’s all about colouring our quilts, our way!

Welcome back to Colour Inspiration Tuesday! I know…. it’s Wednesday…. but this week we are having a Colour Inspiration “Tuesday” blitz. Because I have had too much fun designing colour schemes and matching them to fabrics, thanks to Stitched in Color and Quilt Sandwich Fabrics.

And besides, it’s still winter here, so a healthy dose of summer colours all week will not be a bad thing. So buckle up and enjoy the colour ride. Next week we will be back to normal. Maybe.

Digging for Pineapples color scheme by Clever Chameleon

Today I have chosen a picture of a pineapple on the beach from Unsplash.com. Why are there so many pictures of pineapples on beaches? I don’t know. It’s quite incongruous if you stop to think about it, yet we still think summer/tropical holidays when we see them. I have a reason for choosing this photo though. I’ll tell you in a moment.

Today’s colour palette is called “Digging for Pineapples”.

Colour Inspiration Tuesday: Digging for Pineapples

The “Digging for Pineapples” colour scheme is yellow, orange, blue, green, aqua, teal and tan. These are fresh tropical summery colours, with a lighter feel than yesterday’s calorie laden colour palette, Ice-cream Tones. You can use lots of white with these colours to preserve the summer freshness. But they work equally well as a solid block of saturated colour for feasting your eyes on.

For example, here is the back of a quilt I made for my nephew a while back. I made it from a layer cake of 10″ squares of batik fabrics from Timeless Treasures Tonga Treats. The colours are just wonderful.

Quilt back in Digging for Pineapples colors
The back of my nephew’s quilt in “Digging for Pineapples” colours.
Child's quilt backing made from 10" squares
Child’s quilt backing made from 10″ squares
Mew and quilt
Of course. I am never allowed to photograph a quilt without my quilting helper

One of the prints in this series even looks a bit like pieces of pineapple!

But I digress a little. This week we are looking at fabrics that are available now from Quilt Sandwich Fabrics’ Etsy store. 

I made several mosaics from fabrics that I think capture the mood and colours of Digging for Pineapples. I won’t be adding any to the mosaic contest because there are already several mosaics that are similar to these up there and I have more ideas to try out yet…… but these combinations are lovely, and there is nothing stopping you popping over to Quilt Sandwich Fabrics and grabbing yourself pieces from these curated collections.

fabrics for Digging for Pineapples color scheme
Digging for Pineapples mosaic 1
Digging for Pineapples mosaic 2

Why I would love to make a Digging for Pineapples Quilt one day….

I told you there was a reason for choosing the pineapple on the beach photo. So here it is. It is a sentimental story from my family history, and has likely become better over the years with telling. I know it to go something like this.

Many years ago, when my dad was young, his family went to the beach for the day. His mother took with them a tin of pineapple for the family to share for dessert.  Thinking it would be nicer cold, she buried it in the wet sand to cool down. She marked the burial site with a stick and went back to enjoying the outing with her family.

However, when it came time to eat, of course the tide had come in and washed the stick away. Unperturbed, my grandmother thought she knew where the tin was buried , so she grabbed a spade and started enthusiastically digging in the sand. But to no avail. After a while, a gentleman who had been watching her, approached my grandmother and politely inquired why she was digging. She simply replied “I am digging for pineapple”. Apparently the gentlemen just gave her a look that he probably hoped was understanding and politely went on his way. Well, what could he say?!!

Of course, the pineapple was never found, at least not by my family. But the hilarity of the moment has lasted decades, and it was a story my grandmother told me several times. She has since passed away at the ripe old age of 99, and one day I would love to make a memory quilt of “Digging for Pineapples”.

What my Digging for Pineapples Quilt would be like

A Digging for Pineapples quilt would be a precious addition to my quilting story. I am thinking scrappy flying geese on white. The triangles can represent the spikes on pineapples and the act of digging. Of course, there would be 99 triangles. I think my grandmother would have liked the idea.

Digging for Pineapples color scheme by Clever Chameleon

Summer Crush Mosaic Colour Inspiration Week

If you want to follow my thoughts around the Summer Crush mosaic contest for the rest of the week, I will be adding the links here. 

On Tuesday we looked at the colours of Ice-cream Tones. Pinks and yellows, with a little brown and blue added for interest.

Flamingoes in the Pool colour scheme by Clever ChameleonOn Thursday we explored the light happiness of hot pinks and aqua in a colour scheme called Flamingoes in the Pool.

And on Friday, we got more grown up again with two colour boards – Hazy Days and Blood Oranges & Mint.

Hazy Days colour scheme by Clever Chameleon Blood Orange and Mint Colour scheme by Clever Chameleon

Credit

Today’s photo of the pineapple on the beach is from Unsplash.com. Unsplash is a collection of free, high resolution, “do what you want with” photos. Credit is not required to use the photos, but I love to give credit where credit is due, and am always grateful to people who contribute to open source communities. So I would like you to know that this lovely photo was provided by Evi Radauscher via Unsplash. Be sure to check out her collection of photos on Unsplash.com.
Evi Radauscher

clever chameleon logo in blueFor colour inspiration for your quilts in your inbox weekly follow along by subscribing to this blog. Or follow Clever Chameleon Quilt Colour Inspiration on Pinterest and pin your favourite colour palettes to try later. 

P.S. If you would like to use Evi’s photo or another Colour Inspiration Tuesday photo for your own projects, you can easily find all the Unsplash photos from Colour Inspiration Tuesday in one place for free in my Colour Inspiration Collection.