Friday, March 20, 2009

Orange You Glad It's Friday?

New fabric from Pink Chalk Fabric. Mmmm. Now what to do with all of the new fat quarters etc. that I've ordered lately?
Notice the tendency toward orange? I love orange, but didn't realize the bias in choosing these fabrics until they arrived.

I googled orange symbolism and found the following (from various sources):
-Put some orange in your life when you want:

  • to spice things up when you feel time is dragging
  • to become more involved in something
  • to increase creativity
  • relief from things becoming too serious
• Orange is energy, enthusiasm, get-it-done and balance.

• Orange, though very inspirational, is not going to be favored in general.

Hinduism, Buddhism, happiness energy, balance, heat, fire, enthusiasm, flamboyance, playfulness, aggression, arrogance, gaudiness, overemotion, warning, danger, autumn, desire, Sagittarius (star sign), September. Orange has less intensity or aggression than red and is calmed by the cheerfulness of yellow.

-Orange is a power color. It is one of the healing colors. It is said to increase the craving for food. It also stimulates enthusiasm and creativity. Orange means vitality with endurance.

-Warm and Cool Colors in Healing Art
The colors used in healing art can also have therapeutic value. Warm colors (red, yellow and orange) can be used to alleviate depression and to stimulate metabolism.


-Orange is the color of joy and creativity and promotes a general sense of wellness. It provides emotional energy that you can give to others, including compassion, passion and genuine warmth.
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When young I had a favorite color, but for years, I've found it difficult to name a favorite anything. It is as if by choosing a favorite (book, movie, color, etc.), I'm rejecting the rest. (I don't want to hurt green's feelings?)

In the last 10 years or so, however, I've noticed a definite fondness for certain shades of orange.

What are your color preferences? (for individual colors and/or for particular color combinations) Do your clothes or quilts or walls reflect your preference?

17 comments:

  1. i'm one of the rare folks that likes browns and grays...but to my surprise i buy and dye blues and not to my surprise, yellowy mustards more than any other colours.

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  2. Thinking about my house I can't think of anything I gravitate towards. My clothes are pretty broad spectrum too. I tend to buy a lot of brown fabrics, or brown plus something- brown and pink, brown and blue, whatever.

    I just ordered a bunch of fabric, shhhhh, and if I remember correctly, it's pretty broad spectrum. Most of it has a specific purpose- for the boys or something. I did order some to make myself the Amy Butler Barcelona skirt and it's a rusty orange- the Amy Butler Corlander in Clay, I think.

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  3. Karoda - I love browns and greys! My clothes are often shades of brown, and I wear a lot of black and white. It is interesting that sometimes we have preferences for different areas of our lives. You do use yellowy mustards frequently and some wonderful reds!

    Lisa - I like the brown/pink, brown/blue combinations, too. I made a table runner, napkins, and coasters with the brown/blue scheme and love them.

    Can't wait to see what you do with your new fabric!

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  4. I practically shouted when the first image of this post appeared! I always love your fabric choices and so enjoy seeing what comes of them somewhere down the line. Also, you amassed a lovely retinue of orange tid-bits. I love all fire and water colors - two very different palette ranges to match the opposite extremes of my personality.

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  5. I, too, like different colours for different things. i like green and brown, but never wear them. i feel happiest when im out in the garden or the bush (forest) surrounded by green. i know what you mean about not playing favourites - i could not narrow down even to ten favourite books, or even ten authors (for example). Different colours, books, music, even friends, for different moods!

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  6. ORANGE ROCKS! Orange=saffron, popsicle orange, creamsicle orange, orange orange, mature pumpkin,flaming orange, sunset orange.
    Orange goes with purple and red ---of course!---with black with a slice of magenta so it doesn't look like halloween, orange and charcoal, orange and creams and ivories and unsalted butter, with moss and slate and indigo, with cobalt and chocolate and copper, rust, bronze, old gold, new gold, pewter and tarnished silver. See? It *does* go with everything.

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  7. I love orange too, and yellow, and pink and lime green !

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  8. ACey - :) I've washed the new fabric, and the pieces are ready to iron. Not as wonderful texturally as your silks, but some of the pieces are tighter and "silkier" than others.

    You have two healing pieces (Blue Whirled & Primary Nest) in progress that really express the fire/water aspects of your personality!

    paulahewitt - I know what you mean about nature and green. The shades of green that nature produces are so restful,comforting, and life-affirming.

    And yes, different moods and situations call for different colors, books, music,and friends!

    arlee - Aren't the descriptions of colors magic themselves? Saffron is one of my favorite words. I love your phrase, "creams and ivories and unsalted butter." Even color words are deeply satisfying.

    Helene H - Oh, lime green! That color always makes me smile and goes so well with orange!

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  9. My favourite colour is green, not too bright or light, not too dark, which I have to use in everything, though sometimes it is a few tiny embroidered leaves on a queen size quilt. Don't wear it a lot though.
    Judy B

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  10. Judy B - I love it when someone says they always include a certain color in every quilt! Green is a perfect color to include.

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  11. I wear a lot of black and/or blue, and my favorite color is brown (I love the various browns--favoring a combination of chocolate/taupe/black); but, I also love purples and, for quilts, best like reds and yellows. Your "All Done" quilt is to die for!
    Cop Car

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  12. i love orange for fun but gravitate more toward blues, greens and purples. do you think colors define us? i have a daughter whose fav has always been orange and she's full of life, vivacious and loving. my other daughter loves red. such total opposites of myself. interesting to think about. can't wait to see what you'll do with all your new fabrics!

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  13. Lisa - It is a great idea--a kind of personal signature. But I would never be able to decide on which color!

    cop car - I wonder about the way our associations have been formed. Why is a favorite color for a quilt not a color that we'd wear? Why is the color you paint a room not a color you like in a quilt?

    suesueb - In some cases, I do think colors give an indication of our personalities. In a good mood, a confident mood...we might wear brighter colors. The more consistent the mood, the more frequent the color choice...?

    Orange and red attract attention, and I would not wear either color in large doses until I was in my 40's when I bought a wonderful, full-length red wool coat. My preferences shifted from earth tones and deeper, jewel colors to brights about then.

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  14. I just found your blog today. Love it! I also love orange. :) It makes me happy. Usually when asked my favorite color, I answer red, but I don't know if that's really true or not.

    My house does not reflect my color choices. At least not the walls. I live in a log house build by my father. I am sick to death of cedar logs! So very dark in here all the time. It makes me crave white just so I can paint everything some wild, bright color! Good thing I quilt. I get to play with color all the time. Keeps me sane!

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  15. Sharon - Orange makes me happy, too!

    My house doesn't really reflect my choices either, with two exceptions. The dining room is a wonderful shade of orange and my new sewing room is bright white with bright colors from quilted items and pictures. My husband's taste is more sophisticated :p and restrained.

    Fabric provides such a nice backup for those of us who need certain colors and can't have them elsewhere!

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  16. Hmmm...good question, JennClair. I love bright wild colors; but, I want to be "taken seriously", so I dress quite conservatively. As to my penchant for browns/black, I think they are just soothing, to me. Who knows? We can just kick back and enjoy!
    Cop Car

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Good to hear from you!