6 Inspiring Ways to Use Green in a

Color Palette

April 2010 Color of the Monthpresented by Maria Peagler,

author, Color Mastery

1. Capture a Watercolor Look

Watercolor artist, author, and quilt designer Susan Branch designed the Vineyard Seasons quilt from her Martha’s Vineyard collection from RJR Fabrics. Susan playfully pairs green and yellow in a sweet quilt with a scalloped border that would look great on any bed!—Susanbranch.com

2. Get Out Your Camera!

“My Farmer's Market quilt is inspired by photos I took of boxes of tomatoes at the farmer's market. I used green in the blocks and as the sashing to mimic the green stems and how the green boxes held the orange, red and gold tomatoes!” —Pat Sloan, author, Camera Color Quilts, Leisure ArtsDesigner, Georgia Fabric Line, P&B Textiles

3. Go Vintage & Versatile

“As the original designer of 1930's reproduction quilt fabrics, Judie Rothermel always offers a range of colors in her collections, allowing quilters to mix and match at will.  These cheerful green prints, from Aunt Grace Authentics, are perfect for spring projects from quilts to little girl's dresses, nursery decor, casual aprons and more.  Combine the large & small scale prints for added interest.”—Lisa Shepard Stewart, Marketing Mgr.Marcus Fabrics

4. Be Inspired by History

“Green is one of my all-time favorite colors - spring greens early in the year, down through to olive for fall, and blue spruce greens for winter.

I'm designing a Mystery Quilt - a BOM, patterned after the Miami Valley Album quilts. They were mainly applique quilts, with the primary colors being red, green and gold. Each block in the album quilt had the name or names of family and friends (and pets) embroidered somewhere.”—Jan Patek, janpatekquilts.com

5. Get Inspired by Nature

“The Sonoma fabric collection, by Franchelle Contreras, is inspired by the rich greens and deep plums of the grapes growing in the vineyards of Sonoma Valley, near Franchelle’s home. 

Green is a great go-to color.   It mixes well with all colors of the spectrum.  It can be rich and earthy as it is here, cool and bright, or calm and serene.  It works as a great emotional barometer in a design, depending on what other colors it is used with, and the depth of its shade.”—Harriet Clemens, Henry Glass Fabrics

Sonoma quilt pattern using fabrics designed by Franchelle Contreras. Pattern available for download at Henry Glass website.

6. Use Green’s Best Friends

“Green is best friends with blue-green and blue on the color wheel. I coordinated green, blue-green, and blue together in a stunning spring palette in the Spring Tulips table runner.

The background fabric is a light, dull green, while the other colors are brighter and darker.”—Maria PeaglerSpring Tulips pattern & kit2010 Color-of-the-Month series

For more information on using green in your quilt’s color palette, check out Color Mastery: 10 Principles for Creating Stunning Quilts, available at your local quilt shop, Amazon, and my online store.

Look for Maria’s latest book, The Frugal Fabriholic: Your 12-Step Plan for Saving More for Your Stash, available at Amazon’s Kindle store and Smashwords.com

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