My sister and I visited Mount Vernon a few years ago. That is when I discovered that George Washington was quite the horticulturist! He had plants imported from around the world for his grand estate. Looking back, he may have imported some invasive species, but let’s not go down that rabbit hole today.
He planted a veritable forest of exotic and local trees. My sister and I were particularly impressed with the massive Atlas Cedar. It is located away from the main house, close to the Potomac overlook. The trunk is at least three time bigger than me!
The tree is simply beautiful from a distance. Yet, there is a unique beauty when you see the details up close. Think of a quilt. It is beautiful on a bed, but even more spectacular when you get up close and see all of the detailed work. The same is true of the Atlas Cedar.
Do you see what I mean? The pinecones are so unique. Not the brown prickly things we think of in our decorations for fall and Christmas. These are tight, teal balls oozing with sap. You can even see the gradations of teal in the needles. The younger ones are greener, while the older ones are bluer and faded.
Ok, maybe not everyone gets as excited about color as I do. Some of you may be saying – yeah its green – so what? It isn’t just green. There are subtle bits of brown and gold in there. The brown is in the branches. The gold is in the edges of the pinecone. It is not as simple as it looks.
So how would you use these colors in a quilt? That is what you really want to know if you have read this far.
Well, here is the beginning of the answer. I pulled out the different hues into this palette. Do you see them?
If you haven’t noticed from my quilts, I love playing with gradients. And this is a perfect example!
Ok – I have shown you the palette, now what about the quilt. This will be a fantastic quilt combination. As usual, I will throw in another color – this time Hoffman’s 885-638 Harbor – for the background.
I used these colors in Unchained Melody, a strip friendly quilt. The colorations were simplified for this, but I really like the effect. It is like little pinecones dotting the quilt with twigs as the chains.
Trust Yourself with Color! Do you doubt yourself when selecting colors? If you do, pick a photo you like, find the pleasing colors in it. Then, match those colors to fabric. You can then translate those colors into a quilt!
Happy Quilting!
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