Through the Eyes of a Child

I sometimes find myself being very conservative, especially with color.  I love earth tones, muted colors, pastels, brights, tone on tones and basic colors.  I find myself asking if the colors "go together" rather than if they "look good together".  I like balance.

I know what I like when I see it but am sometimes leary of taking the leep to create unconventional combinations myself.

 I love to work with children.  I teach second grade and I work with children and quilting. I get excited when I learn something from my students.  I work quilting into my curriculum every chance I get throughout the school year.  Today we made bookmarks with quilt squares on them.  Children are usually uninhibited and are not afraid of using color.  This held true in their work today.  They just pick the colors they like and color the patterns.

I learned something from the children today. I saw some old quilt square patterns come to life with some wild color combinations.  I looked at these works of art through the eyes of the children that colored them.  I saw the beauty they saw.  I saw how their color choices and finished projects made them happy, like quilting makes me happy. 

I am inspired by their inhibition and am determined to make a quilt with prints and colors I like without worrying about whether or not they "should be" used together.  I am going to work outside of my comfort zone and choose fabrics I normally would not use. I'll let you know how it goes!!!

I challenge you to try something outside of your comfort zone too!  Let me know how it works for you.

Happy Quilting,
Laurel