Color Challenge

Congratulations, everyone. I think the Color challenge turned out great. I certainly enjoyed looking at what everyone came up with.

Susanne

Color... me Happy.... POPPY-LICIOUS

When I understood the 'sense' and intent of the challenge word 'Color'... is was easy. I had this piece of fabric that had been nagging me for sometime. In fact, it just kept saying 'Pick me, pick me'... it wanted to be in everything!
So, just finishing a study of the Masters and Cubist Style art.. I knew what I was going to do.
Here is my Poppy-licious... done in Cubist Style [early 20th century] in all their glory. To me they look 'Happy'.

I actually used the background of a UFO...I liked the way the black and white added punch and helped move the eye. The off-kilter border adds tension and further interest.
I did a LOT of thread work and hand stitched the French Knots.
I truly enjoyed this challenge!
Carole

Wow, Ladies!!!

These are some truly incredible quilts. I love all of them!  This sure was a fun challenge. Great theme and excellent interpretations.

I hope that everyone will have fun with the Green theme too. Remember that there are a lot of ways you can interpret this. Enjoy and Happy Holidays!  Peace and many blessings, Annie

Went to my Kitchen

and there I found bright colors right away...set against the dark blue & white tiles over the sink. Having trouble getting a good photo of this, but here's the best I got today, pinned on my black design wall:

In the Skies - with Diamonds

I should have said without diamonds, but they (crystals)are in the plan. I love color, the brighter, the better. So I used pure basic dye powders and let them do their thing. I love the result and the Neon thread I'm using will punch it up even more.

Punk-a-Doodle Color Book by Jan G.

My work is usually done in bold saturated colors, therefore when the theme of this challenge, "color" was announced my mind instantly went to an idea I'd been mulling over. A color book for and of my grandson using Transfer Artist Paper (TAP) by Lesley Riley. Ever since finding out you could use various art materials to color the transfer paper, I have wanted to "experiment".
To simplify things I decided to turn my photographs of "Punk-a-Doodle" into line drawings, there was only one problem....I didn't know how. Which meant learning a new process in Photoshop Elements....not always as easy as I'd like it to be. Then I also needed to experiment with a variety of art materials to see which would give me the look and/or depth of colors I wanted. The page on the left was done with watersoluble oil pastels, I love how it looks like an old coloring book page. For the page on the right I wanted the colors to be more vibrant, that was achieved by using Crayola Sketching bright colored markers.

For the cover I decided on a bright yellow, like the color books of my childhood...at least that is my recollection. For now the piece is shown flat, both sides, however it does fold nicely and that is how it will be used. I placed staples along the binding with the plan of adding more pages, a little boy is so looking forward to coloring the pages. When I began working on this he began planning, so "we" will choose 4 additional photographs, alter them and let him apply the color. Hopefully it will become a special keepsake to remember his Grandma by.

Color Challenge

Bright colors are in my usual repertoire so it wasn't hard to come up with something bright and abstract is always fun. I wanted to convey movement and speed with the colored ribbons whipping through the quilt and around the more stationary circles.

I used one of my hand dyed fabrics for the background and then, after applying a stabilizer, spent several hours sewing a grid on it. I wanted the tactile feel of the grid and the contrast with the circles and curved ribbons without having to do that small of a grid in the quilting. I actually drew the pattern when I was bored one afternoon and appliqued it together with a matching thread zig zag. The actual quilting is simple stitch in the ditch with black thread. I did some large decorative hand stitched X's for some dark hard line contrast.

I haven't decided if I want to name this Color Movement or XOXO's. I finished this a couple of weeks ago and it is already hanging in a local quilt show along with my first challenge piece. This has been a wonderful challenge so far and I can't wait to get started on the next one!


Lisa Kay

Color Tracks

Lately I've been very inspired by the free piecing in Gees Bend quilts. I was lucky to go see several quilts on display when the tour came to the Flint Institute of Art here in Michigan a couple months ago.

I've begun exploring this type of piecing in my own way and decided that this was a good format for the color challenge. Anyone who knows me well knows that I rarely use bright colors in my work. I am an earth tone and jewel tone girl to the core so this really was a challenge for me to do.

I decided to break up the larger blocks of color with embroidery. I like big strong bold stitches that show up easily so this seemed like an excellent way to add even more color to the piece.

I also chose to leave my edges raw. This is a consistent element in my work, I almost never add binding. It was fun to work in a color palette that is not my usual one.


Lynn K. in Michigan

Dance

This is the second piece I made for this challenge. The red fabric pieces (left over from another project) seemed to dance on the black and white polka dots. I added machine quilting using four different threads and varying lengths and widths of the blind hem stitch. Instead of a close-up, I included a picture of the back - a surprise! The bobbin thread is a variegated orange-red-green cotton and I love the effect.



I challenged myself to create a piece without blue - not an easy task for me!

Susan H. in San Francisco

Ladders

This is new series I have started working on. It was inspired by an encaustic work by Daniella Woolf. I call this one Ladders, and I have already started another one in lavenders. I chose Color for the theme, and this is all in greens and blues. It is actually not as colorful as things I usually do.

Helen's Color, just basic

And here is my color. Far be it for me to be wild and crazy.

Just the basics, folks

Yellow, Red and Blue

It is always a journey for me.

That journey has shapes and feelings.

It has a start and is a progression.

It has those little sparkles which we all love!

It continues.

Another name.......the sunshine of my life......

Here is a part of my journey.

Radiating Color

I love working with bright colors so the problem for me was how to arrange them and how to limit my palette! I liked the idea of swirly lines and I created them by chopping up scraps of batiks with a serrated rotary cutter. I threw in some metallic thread for sparkle and free motion quilted all the little pieces down after fusing them to the black fabric first. Then I quilted the whole thing leaving room for the circle. I even bound it before the circle was ready to be appliqued on.

For the circle, I needlepointed a piece of canvas with yarns, embroidery floss and other fibers. I finally finished the needle point last week after working on it from the beginning. Obviously, I just wasn't applying myself! I cut away the excess canvas and sewed the circle to the quilt by machine. I crocheted two of the yarns into a long chain and couched it around the outside of the needlepoint to hide the canvas. I loved making this piece.

SPRING COLORS

COLORS

I just want to let you know, that English is not my first language. I studied English 1975 in England. So I hope you will excuse my mistakes.

The quilt for this theme was created out of the longing for color. We still have cold, rainy weather, it is snowing down to 700 m. You will notice that I am having the blues!

Color - what do I see, when the snow is gone? Green leaves, white snowbells, yellow and blue crocusses, yellow and red tulpips and so on. The sky seems bluer and the sun brighter, birds are singing and I can hear children playing outside.
I wanted an organic look for my spring picture, so I cut freehand and put the main stream vertical. I used a piece of multicolored fabric and some purchased hand dyed blue-green fabric. For the tulips and the other pieces, I took a screen-printed piece of old sheet linen.
To add texture, I did some hand-stitching.

I am looking forward seeing your works.
Heidi

Annie's "It's All About Color" piece

Hi All, Despite being pretty sick this month, I managed to get it done just under the wire, and it is a very humorous piece as all of mine tend to be. It is collaged with fusing  and then quilted. And this month I have the size right (chuckles). The name of my piece is "It's raining color!" I had so much fun with this. Jamie Fingal gave me the fabric with the dogs and cats on it. Thanks Jamie!!! I will post the theme for the next two months too on our Yahoo Group. Oh wait, I should post it here since Yahoo will be down tomorrow for maintenance. I hope they aren't going to say "Trick or Treat."
The theme for this coming month is "Green." Green can be meant literally, or it can be talking about the environment, or someone can be green with envy.

Peace and many blessings, Annie