Me and colours again.

[wrenkins]

I'm going to do our resident rower a 'going away' blankie and I have decided on made up a pattern. It's going to look like a rowing track. Pretty sure that's what it's called. 
As usual my issue is colours. So far I have lots of versions of this in my basket with a few ripples batiks thrown in for good measure. The batiks have hints of greens and purples. The inspiration for my pattern came from this. I don't want to over-complicate it but what else do I need, if anything, to make it not dull.
Thank you for your bright ideas.

[Iminei]

Thats a lorra lorra Negative space ... I dont think I would be brave enough .... 

[wrenkins]

I'm hoping to make the negative space a bit more positive by using strips of blues and turquoises to make up the blocks. Maybe even with some curved piecing (maybe not!  ). 
I'm unsure of how light to go and how dark but I want to get away from that very flat look. I do love it but I too am afraid. 

[Lowena]

I rarely dive in and give my opinion as I'm afraid of being shouted down and made to feel stupid by those who profess to know ( looking towards Dorset and Kent )
I'm sure whatever you choose will be lovely and much appreciated

[BrendaP]

@wrenkins  So you have got a lot of turquoise batik/splodgy with hints of purple and green for the big squares.

For the accent colours (the narrow strips) you should be looking at the opposite side of the colour wheel.  In this case it's orange (or red-orange or yellow-orange).  If you want the strips to jump out at you go for bright orange(s) if you want it more subdued go for a darker version; burnt orange or orangy brown.
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[wrenkins]

@Lowena you've paid your taxes, your opinion is as valid as anyone else's!
The bars are going to be boats and will likely be dark purple with black oars. Pointy parts shaping to be determined. 
I'll empty Doughty's and see what I get. 

[Syrinx]

Orange.
Needs orange!

Should be lovely

[SingingSinger]

I really like those colours @wrenkins. I'm gathering ideas for my first quilt and thinking of water and swimming pools as inspiration for mine 

[Efemera]

No patterns?

[Lowena]

I've been thinking :thinking: I love the colours and don't think it needs orange or anything bright...it's for a chap after all!.
However, the key will be the quilting of the larger "seascape" areas........waves??

[wrenkins]

No patterns except in the piecing. It's just water and a boat so yes...there'll be waves in some form. It's lovely in my head.  If any orange goes in it it'll be the lane markers but we'll see.  :thinking: I don't want it to be 'a picture' because I'm not artistic enough for that. Just a representation of boat, water and banks (?).

[RJR_38]

I think you need to draw it out with colouring pencils first so you can visualise it properly and work out where/if a contrasting colour is needed. You don’t always have to if you have enough variation in shades and tones in your colour palette - it is a different effect. At the moment I’m with Lowena and can’t really see an orange working. I like to use white or WOW to ‘lift’ a quilt

[wrenkins]

This is more or less my colour scheme with more aqua than silver grey.
I understand the shout-outs for orange but I'm not making traditional blocks so don't need the contrast. I'm trying to make it as uncontrasty as possible without being dead flat. I can see it clearly in my head and I hope I can do it justice when it comes to making it. 

[Bjay]

Sounds as if you could do wth a good browse around a fabric shop looking at colours

If its any help when I was stuck for colours I got some paint charts from a DIY store and used them to colour match. Sorted out what I wanted , stapled the colours I wanted into a note book and took that around with me until I found what I wanted

Like you sometimes I can see what I want in my minds eye but not find it.
Look forward to your results

[wrenkins]

My nearest fabric shop is probably closer to you than it is to me @Bjay  We have none here. There is one nearish to my mum with very limited quilting stuff but that's over 80 miles away. It's probably a good thing because if I went into a fabric shop I might never come out again.