Friday, July 29, 2011

Unpalatable Palette?

This is my palette for my soon-to-be grandchild's quilt.
Are these not the most vibrant colors you have ever seen together in one place?

Generations had come to places such as this.  As a little girl I had wandered the aisles along with my grandmother and aunt.  I'd hid amid the draped hidden passages, under rainbow laden tables.  As a teen I had ventured in alone, clasping the scrap of paper bearing the numbers I would need.

Today I was alone; my favorite.  No rushing, no talking, just looking, thinking and considering all the possibilities.

Marching to the door, determined not to get distracted from my duty, I could already see those bolts of lighning creating patterns on the walls inside.  I could feel the electricity pulling me in.  I took a deep breath and entered into the realm of neverending possibilities.   I was in.  I was in the land of lollipops, dark forests, exotic flowers, flowing rivers of silks and satins, and gadgets galore.  Exotic washes of color vied for my attention and I was soon pulled in, hopelessly lost to the world. . . for about 2 hours.

I had the most glorious time as my eyes drank in the marvelous colors and patterns, and my hands slid over silky smoothness, or sank into cozy plushness.   The potential was overwhelming.  Like a sculptor eyes a piece of marble and sees the future figure within, so I eyed the fabric around me.  What was calling to me?  What could be waiting, lurking inside this color, texture and pattern?

Making myself focus, I set off to get my own cart of creativity and promise.  I loaded it up with bolts of bold, bright colors.  I was going to make a baby quilt for my first grandchild, and I wanted the colors to be eyecatching and vibrant.  No sleepy baby colors for me. . . or anyone.

I rolled my cart with 10 bolts of fabric up to the cutting table.  Only one person was there before me and only one item to cut. . .good.  I won't have to wait long.  As I was waiting though, I silently pitied any person behind me.  I was only one person, yes, but with 10 cuts of fabric.

As the woman at the cutting table took my bolts of fabric and started cutting and folding my stash, she asked about my project.  She raised her eyebrows and looked a bit skeptical about a baby quilt in these colors.  She didn't say, "Oooh, how pretty". . . or "Aw, isn't that sweet. . ."
"They're going to love it" never came up either.

Another customer soon came up and stood in back of me, just as my striped fabric was being cut.  "Wow, that'll make you dizzy!"  They both chuckled at that, and talked about not being able to sleep in a room with a quilt of these colors.  I got the general idea that they weren't supporting my baby quilt idea.

I, however, know my daughter.  She WILL love it.  Her hair is purple now.  The first thing she noticed today when were "Hanging out" in Google+ today, was that my shirt matched her hair.  I held the yellow fabric on the left up to the camera so she could see it, just to see if I was on the right track.  "Oooooh, I love it!"  Those were her exact words.  I'm not lying.  Yeah.  I knew it.

The fabric I showed her is the flannel backing.  It doesn't look like flannel, does it?  It is so, so soft.  And it didn't pill or ball up when I washed it.  I love its bright yellow and all the light green, orange, pink and blue wavy lines meandering through it.

I'm excited to get started.  I've washed, dried and ironed each piece.  I wonder what the fabric is saying to me today.  I wonder which pieces want to be next to each other.  I can hardly wait to look at it again and see what design it wants to be!

Humph, dizzy.  What do they know?

They haven't seen dizzy till they've seen this quilt finished.
I'll show them dizzy!

7 comments:

  1. I love it! Your fabrics actually remind me of the walls of my classroom! Who says baby quilts have to be sweet and pastel???? I, for one, can't wait to see the finished product. BTW--I'm a little jealous that your daughter has purple hair. I've always wanted at least a little stripe of purple in my hair, just not enough nerve, I guess.

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  2. I love it! My mom made all my kids baby quilts that were full of color and life: Stained glass windows floating in a star shot sky, bright red and orange turtles diving into wild blue green waves, neon parrots flying low in the sunset over a black amazon river. We all love them. The kids are now 18,13, 11 and 8. The quilts are still on their beds. And we all love them. I especially liked the lightning bolts and electricity in the fabric store!

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  3. I love all the colors too; I'm a bright color person all the way through, & my granddaughter now has a beautiful bright quilt hanging in her room, made by my mother. Enjoy every stitch! (Loved the turkey joke, too!) And-I have a new granddaughter-this am!

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  4. @teacherdance
    CONGRATULATIONS! I can yell it now! Name? Height? Weight? Any hair? Details...I'm gonna be looking for details on your blog!!!

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  5. As you saw, I did put it on the blog. I've only seen a pic with a baby hat on, so imagine it's just like her sister, little hair. Thanks for asking! Can't wait to see & hold & touch!

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  6. I am so glad you didn't listen to the people in the store. What a fun quilt this will be. You will post a picture when you finish, won't you?

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  7. @elsie
    I will. I'm still playing with designs on Quiltivate! That's such fun!

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