One of the hardest fabric colors for me to work with is purple. I love it but I don’t have much of it. I’m going to blame Betty at The Village Mercantile for my lack of purple fabric. Most of my stash was built when I lived in Kentucky and shopped at The Village Mercantile and Betty always had way less purple than anything else. So, my small stash of purple is all her fault.
Really, when I pull my purples, there are blue purples, red purples, pink purples and some indigo! And those different shades don’t always play well together. They can but it seems like lately every purple I’ve pulled has been too blue or too red or too pink for where I wanted to use it.
As I began to pull fabrics for my indigo Monochromatic Challenge, these were the first fabrics I pulled.
See that fabric with the dots? It’s some Moda fabric . . something about red hats . . Old Friends I think is the name of the line. I’ve had it for a while and never seem to be able to use it so I was thinking I might could use it with my indigo quilt. I suppose the dots kinda make it non-monochromatic but since there are no quilt police, it should be fine, don’t you think?
These two fabrics match the dots fine but they’re really too purple to be considered indigo.
These are kinda washed out. I think the middle fabric doesn’t go but I realized they’re too pink so I didn’t try to find a middle fabric replacement.
These are just right for what I want to use. They’re “indigo-ish” and they match the dots. Yay! I can get the dots out of my stash!
Then I realized that the border fabric in my Making Ends Meet top would have been perfect for my indigo quilt but . . too late . . it’s all used up.
As I was putting the rejected fabric back on the shelf, I found this very light shade of lavender indigo-ish fabric and I think that livens the batch up a bit. So, these five fabrics, along with one other background (without dots) will be used in my indigo quilt.
My quilt is designed and I’m ready to start sewing but first . . dentist this morning, court this afternoon and to the home of friends for dinner tonight . . which reminds me that I have to make a cake to bring. I think I will make a Blackberry Wine Cake. That’s kinda “indigo-ish” and will use up my last box of white cake mix, the rest of a bottle of Blackberry wine . . feels good to be cleaning out the pantry!
Ann says
I can hardly wait to see what pattern you came up with for this quilt!
Jane says
Wish I could pull fabrics with your confidence, and success! Ah yes, using things up. We move in about a month and I’ve started serving the bizarre combinations that result from cooking strictly from your freezer.
Karin says
court?! Is this for the phone thief?
Karin says
I picture indigo more blue than purple…. like brand new dark-blue blue-jeans
katie z. says
Wow! You had a plan quickly this time.
Just think, after you move, you know you’re going to need to shop for some purple/indigo!
Mary C in WA says
INDIGO looks a lot like my favorite color- PURPLE! I’ll have to make a trip to the Paint store and find me a color chip or two to check my stash. The dots will definately lighten up your quilt! It’s rainy here again today so I’m busy stitching on my other Challenge…for 2011 McCalls Design Star. This indigo challenge will have to wait.
Nancy says
You can send the leftover polka dots to me. I am always willing to help a fellow quilter!! lol
Jill says
I, too, have trouble with purple. My trouble is it’s just not a favorite. I have used on occasion but not often. You choices are lovely. Good job!
Melinda in CT says
I checked my Robert Kaufman’s Kona Cotton color card for Indigo and was so surprised that it was the next darker shade after Navy. Really? I guess indigo is one of those colors that is up to interpretation.
http://tinyurl.com/433gq5l
Alycia says
You are right – there are no quilt police – so if the dots work – then they defineatly belong in the fabric grouping!!
Denise says
I was just looking at my stash and purple is one of those colors that pretty much doesn’t exist in my stash. Don’t know why – I like it (unlike the dreaded pink that doesn’t exist in my stash). 🙂 I think we need a shopping spree Judy to find good purples! and save me a piece of that cake….yummmmm.
Glen in louisiana says
I have always thought of indigo to be a dark blue. I will have to check this out.
glen
Cris says
Judy, I like to say my favorite color is rainbow. But if I had to choose one, it would be what I call blue-violet. I have lots of this color & might try my hand at it – however it is hard for me to plan new projects – the ones that “just happen” keep me very busy. I am working on the UFO project though and this month I completed something with a very indigo border.
http://quiltwrapup.blogspot.com/2011/05/may-ufo-is-finished.html
Catherine Middlemiss says
Hi I see you have some fabrics from the Moda Old Hats New Friends collection. I am desperately looking for a little bit of the red dots on red from that line. Would you have any that you would be willing to sell me? I only need 1/4 yard. Thanks so much!