Earlier this week I took a few updated pictures of my Toucan Fiesta Throw Quilt for advertising it as the June special. My son happily posed for a few pictures on the quilt for size reference (especially after I told him all he had to do was work on his Sudoku puzzles while I snapped). Next, I took a few pictures of just the quilt along my fence row garden and noticed how the colors perfectly matched a blooming D’Or Day Lilly peaking out from under a fence rail. In the Instagram comment I made a glib statement about how I was going to make all of my quilts match flowers in the garden. Just something funny to post, no real meaning behind it. You probably do this too. But, it got me to thinking, what if I did try to see how many of my quilts had floral compliments growing outside my studio? Here is what I discovered.:
Firstly, I noticed the Buffalo Check toddler quilt seemed inspired by the classic gingham pattern and bricks on our patio in the same beautiful blush and soft coral as this begonia.
I love to use bright colors in quilting as well as my garden. The colors of the Chasing Rainbows quilt has a lot of coordinating flowers! Most of our new pollinator garden and these bold dahlias would be a great match.
Another great quilt compliment to the rich tones of the dahlia would be the Nordic Crossing quilt made from bright orange and coral tones with aqua accents.
I also have used a similar color pallet for the Sweet Magnolia quilt. Punchy pinks, corals and aquas, this time with a touch of gold. I tend not to use gold metallic in my garden, but I love to use reclaimed pieces of galvanized metal. The Sweet Magnolia quilt works really well with the coral begonia pictured here, as well as my mixed planters of supertunia sugar pop and lantana. I also find it would work well with the galvanized container housing my soft green trailing vine and bright sunpatients.
Sticking with the galvanized planter theme, I would be remiss to leave out the Bright and Bold Twin quilt. With its bright colors set into a gray print background, it perhaps encapsulates my garden and quilting matches best of all.
So, yes! The short answer is Yes! My work has a lot of floral matches, and other color pallets found in nature during different seasons. I love to walk around my garden in the summer, and it is no secret a lot of my work is influenced by nature. Heck, it’s even in my branding line “handmade, nature inspired.” I also do a weekly-ish walk through of my garden and post it to Instagram throughout the spring, summer and fall. If you’ve never checked it out, you can catch the highlight reel saved in my Insta Stories under “tue gardens.” You can also see how my garden started this summer with my annual trip to my local family run greenhouse, Halligan’s Greenhouse.
Do you work seasonally or decorate seasonally? I would love to hear how you are influenced by the seasons and nature. Please share your ideas by leaving a comment below or share a by tagging me on social media @laruedefleurs.
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(©2019, Janice Bailor // laruedefleurs.com)