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