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

TAFA Team Treasuries of the Week, November 11

This week we have three beautiful TAFA member treasuries, created by HEraMade, Marina of Silkmari and Sally Manke:

Posted by Coco, TAFA Team's Treasury Manager. Visit ThreadsOfOld, her Etsy shop with beautiful antique Indian textiles.

Cindy's Color Chat: Yellow and Orange Butterflies

Cindy Grisdela, quilted wall hanging, Butterfly Kisses

Last week I said my favorite color for years was blue. At the same time, my stance was "I don't do yellow." I didn't do orange either, except for Halloween. But gradually my tastes began to change. I had a quilting friend at the time who had a great sense of color. She made wonderful quilts using bright fabrics bursting with energy. She never met a yellow she didn't like! I learned from her example and began to be more adventurous with colors.


Above is Butterfly Kisses, which uses a traditional quilting pattern and reinterprets it in a contemporary way. The key to making it interesting is the use of lots of different yellows and oranges--ranging from lemon yellow to yellow gold to orange to peach to almost pink. The black and white "butterflies" give this piece punch.


You can learn a lot about color from studying other people's work. Etsy does a great job of putting together images when you first visit the site grouped around a color or theme. Try looking at work using colors you don't normally feel comfortable with and find something you can like about that color choice or the way it's incorporated into the work. It can give you a new perspective. Of course you still might not feel comfortable putting yellow in the living room, but you never know!


 Yellow and orange are strong colors that often play a supporting role in a color scheme. Check out these great images from TAFA members on Etsy:

Quilted Art Card, DEsignedByDianeEvans

Autumn Quilted Wall Hanging, sillyboodilly

Wool Bracelet, LenteJulcsi

Fiber Necklace, colettecolor

Cindy's Color Chat: Blue and A Coral Reef

Coral Reef, quilted wall hanging, Cindy Grisdela

What's your favorite color? Has it always been the same color, or have your tastes evolved over time? My favorite color for years was blue and my quilted wall hanging "Coral Reef" above is a good example. It's a contemporary interpretation of a traditional quilt pattern known as "Trip Around the World," using blue as the primary focus, with accents of lime green and red purple. The accents are important to give the piece more life. If I had used just shades of blue, it would have had a completely different feel.

Artists and designers generally think of colors such as purple, blue and green as "cool" colors" and red, orange and yellow as "warm" colors. The colors in "Coral Reef" are all on the "cool" side, so it's a piece that you might be comfortable hanging in a quieter setting, like a bedroom or study, perhaps.

There are hundreds of blue items in the TAFA Team on Etsy--take a look at some lovely pieces below: 

Turtle Quilted Wall Hanging, Castilleja Cotton

Hand coiled rope basket, Sally Manke

Crochet Brooch, Nothingbutstring 

Posted by Cindy
Website: www.cindygrisdela.com
Etsy Shop: cindygrisdela

TAFA Team Treasuries of the Week, October 28

Felted Wrist Cuff by Natalie Magnin of Zamirte Textiles on Etsy. You can visit her shop here.

Here is a beautiful treasury created by Natalie consisting of creations by TAFA members on Etsy.

Coco's Vintage Textiles from India

Posted by Coco, TAFA Team's Treasury Manager.  Visit ThreadsOfOld, her Etsy shop with beautiful Indian textiles.