Saturday, October 07, 2006

Color Conundrum - part 2


I got worried that "conundrum" was the wrong word so I looked it up. It's okay - second definition but often used to mean as the King of Siam sang, "it's a puzzlement."
COLORFUL! That's the picture here. Nine of fiteen stars from another Carol Doak foundation pieceing book. I loved seeing the colors come together. I was so I was so delighted I left the all over the living room to admire. Then I began working on something else and put them away before adding the sashing. Eventually I decided to go with the vari-toned turquoise sashing which I now believe to have been the major mistake. If I had looked at just a part of the quilt for a while, I might have taken it apart and used something darker, maybe navy or a really,really dark green. But doing sashing doesn't take long and I did it all one day. Then I wasn't very happy so I put the whole thing away and it sat in the UFO parking lot [out of sight, out of mind] for at least a year.
The middle of the summer I finally added a backing and batting and quilted it all in one rush -- to clear out that parking space for more recent UFOs. I have very, very mixed feelings. Love the individual stars, uncomfortable with the whole. So I put it on the bed. It was hot this summer so I didn't need to sleep under a quilt but I lived with it. It's still there and I'm sleeping under it. This is not -- so far as I can explore my subconscious -- a superstituous act of making it mine [analogous to a dog spraying a hydrant].

I think I have two color problems: I am insecure because I know my innate abilities haven't been professionally trained. I could take art classes, if I felt strongly enough about it. I don't. So I'll accept that insecurity and work within it. I'm just fine, really with color combining if it's a sofa and a rug, or a sweater and pants. It's only making quilts. Problem two is that I don't like to copy. I WILL NOT look at a picture of a quilt and try to reproduce it. I go to my stash and decide what I want to use. In this quilt a couple of the stars are very, very close to Carol's choices and I like them the least. Not because of her tastes [which are far better than mine] but because they aren't mine.
Finally, of cousre, color taste is a part of one's individuality. It changes as we change. I'm collecting orange and purple fabrics now; once I had none of either. I'm also using them!! I'm growing a little less fond of blue than I used to be ... I'm sure this means something. I've reached an age to accept much about myself with a shrug and turn my attention to other things that are newer and more exciting to me. I haven't thought much about color until the last couple years. I will now drop the subject -- but it's fall, the leaves haven't changed yet here ... when they do I may have to write about the gingko trees.

2 comments :

jenclair said...

Beautiful stars!!

Kathleen said...

Really dark red to purple would have really made it striking....as it is it is a lovely quilt.... it's something we learn from and then we move on.