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Welcome to the the Running Stitch Quilts Color Inspiration blog series! In this new series, I'll be diving into the world of color and bringing you practical color palettes. Every month, I'll pick a set of 3 or 4 foundational colors to use in building out fun and expressive color palettes that you can apply to my quilt patterns or any future quilts. Keeping reading for some quilty inspiration!
My April color inspiration came from the cover quilt colors of my April Pattern of the Month - Desert Charm. (In case you missed it, all Pattern of the Month items are on sale through the end of April!)
The cover quilt of Desert Charm featured colors pulled from my baby size Desert Charm quilt in the Modern Solids layout. I used fabrics from the Mayfair fabric collection designed by Amy Sinibaldi for Art Gallery Fabrics for this quilt sample.
I loved this color palette so much that I used these colors throughout the pattern in the diagrams! I knew I had to revisit this palette again for this April Color Inspiration. Turns out I love this palette ever more now! Keep reading to watch how I turn these four colors into three different full and dynamic color palettes!
In the first color palette, I took us to a moody place by adding in grays like Charcoal and Pewter and some dark purples like Aubergine and Eggplant. Adding in these darker colors really helps balance out the inclusion of Burgandy in this color palette - having one dark tone can make it feel a little out of place. These dark colors give the quilts some good depth while allowing the lighter colors like Love and Honey POP! Just look at those yellow tones in the Desert Charm quilt mock-up below!
For color palette number two, I went against the current season and channeled my favorite autumn colors! The addition of the orange colors like Pumpkin and Brick with a bit of peachy goodness like Peach and Geranium makes this color palette almost pumpkin-scented, huh? But in all seriousness, these warm tones ground out this color palette to feel balanced and welcoming. Plus look how good it looks in a gradient in the Deltille quilt mock-up!
For the third color palette, I figured I would play around with colors that are more reflective of the spring season since we are well on our way into the heart of it! I played around with more yellows and greens, because I've been dreaming of spring gardening recently. Adding in Marigold and Candlelight for the yellows and Evergreen and Asparagus for the greens makes this the perfect garden color palette. I saved this one for last, because it looks sooo good in the mock-up of my upcoming quilt pattern, Mod Tops!
Playing with color is one of my absolute favorite things to do! Being able to blend colors together to create such dynamic color palettes for my handmade quilts makes my creative soul so happy. I invite you to try out one of my April Color Inspiration color palettes in your next quilt! Whether you use the exact fabrics or use them as a jumping-off point for your own palette, I'd love to see! Share your quilts made with my color palettes on Instagram using the hashtag #RSQColorInspo or tag me in your photo. :)
Stay tuned for next month's Color Inspiration. Until then, happy sewing!
