not red and green

It's not my plan make a red and green quilt. It has never been a red and green quilt in my mind since I first thought of it about twelve months ago when I knelt on the floor and looked and looked at a piece of Kaffe Fassett's Wisteria fabric from the Lille Collection (third from bottom in photo below) and saw the possibility of a quilt based on chartreuse and limey greens and cranberry and blood red. For me, there is a world of difference between this scheme and 'red and green'. It may be just a matter of words to some, but I find the matter of shades more important.

A little while ago I washed all the possible candidates to remove any size, as I prefer to cut and piece and stitch softer fabrics. But I put off ironing them until there was a good number of radio programmes to keep me at the ironing board, annd this week is a belting week for radio. There are the plummy, brisk and very English tones of Katharine Whitehorn who is reading from her autobiography. There was a fascinating piece about girls' education and my old school on Woman's Hour today.

And then there is the 20 part adaptation of Dombey and Son which would, in turn, require a huge amount of ironing. I think this is my favourite of all Dickens' novels and nowhere near as sombre and dour as some people think. I also love the cover of this edition, and when I looked at it again after listening to the very edited radio version (and why do they always have to do Dickens so 'dramatically' - why not just read it the way Dickens wrote it - he put in all the drama and comedy and tragedy you need), I noticed the red and green theme of the room. 

Only saying it's a 'red and green' interior is like saying Dombey and Son is a fine novel. There's so much more to red and green. And Dickens.

Comments

[grannypurple]

It's an amazing experience to look out the window at an essentially monochrome November day, then at your excellent photos. The eye candy on your blog is always so satisfying. On the topic of your new book, I remember a list of fanciful food from the musical version of Wind in the Willows as performed by the King's Singers--not sure how much of it appeared in the original. (As a small child, coming across the word 'sandwiches' in a storybook, I imagined the children eating something quite gritty, shaped like a witch!)

[anna]

hello - i don't even know where i followed the links from to find your blog, but i was so surprised to read this i had to comment! i went to mhsg as well & was so startled to hear about it on women's hour this morning, with the dulcet tones of dr joy, who taught me all about the versailles treaty & other delights. i always expect everyone in the blogsphere to be american. i also love that red fabric with the teacups on it...

[sammyjo]

i love the fabrics you chosen for your next quilt i bet it took alot of ironing lol

[Maureen]

Where do you find those awesome fabrics? Even though I live in the US (Ohio), my husband travels to London quarterly and I"m pretty sure I can trust him to pick out fabric for me - He's done a great job with Liberty prints.

[nycstitcher]

Who will do more work on this fabulous quilt? You or the fabric? Or do you look at quiltmaking with that eye?

Thank you for such a yummy post as we sit down to cranberry sauce and the proverbial green bean casseroles that go with turkey today on Thanksgiving.

[Sarah]

Beautiful! I wonder what a colourblind person would make of it?

[Kristina]

Beautiful color choices! Can't wait to see it finished. :)

[catherine]

Another beautiful quilt in the making - gorgeous colour combinations, especially the KF wisteria print.

[Robyn]

Those KF Lille prints are amazing! That same print caught my eye and took me off on a chartreuse, taupe and lilac tangent (not at at all my usual colour preferences). I hadn't even noticed that lovely deep berry colour amongst the flower petals until I looked again just now.

[Jayne]

Ahhhh... red and green! Are you sure you don't have Welsh roots?!

[Lelia]

Love the fabrics and LOVE Dombey and Son. It's my second favorite Dickens novel after Bleak House. Your recipe book idea is wonderful, too. Maybe you cover this in your most recently published book (which I haven't been able to get yet) but how do you manage to have so many good ideas and act on them and take pictures of their progress and write well about them? I'm amazed and, if the truth be told, very, very envious.

[geek+nerd]

I love the movie Amelie - which has a red and green color palette - looooove the art direction of that movie. I loved it so much so that everything in my kitchen is different shades of red and green, with the occasional splash of mustardy yellow. It's not overpowering at all - I love it!

[willow]

It definitely looks more like a summery fruity quilt than a 'red and green' Christmas quilt.

[Stacie.Make.Do.]

Oh! I love red and green. I've always felt a bit put out that it is rarely seen as anything but a Christmas combination. I'm sure you are right and the key is the shade and hue. That book cover now, that does not say Christmas to me. Can't wait to see what you make with your great fabrics.
And the dramatic reading? Don't they trust the genius of the author to come across? They have to force it on us? sigh

[Clare]

A fabulous selection of fabric. You are right 'red and green' does not begin to relate the wonderful nuances of shade or to give any kind of satisfactory indication of the exciting visual combinations. Looking forward to seeing the finished item. :)

[msaims]

leila, i too have a red and green kitchen. or should i say scarlet and jade.

[Novembrance]

It's going to be a lovely quilt. Now I want to go read Dombey and Son.

[Rose]

I think your choices are very late summery rather than Christmas-y. A wonderful palate of fabrics to work with. Looking forward to seeing your progress with it.

[Yvonne]

I like how your blog gives me little glimpses of the UK. I started listening to Dombey and Son last night on your recommendation. A wonderful hit of England.

[mathea]

You have the makings of yet another magnificent quilt there! It only goes to show that red and green can be so much more than Christmas colours - there are so many shades to choose from: carmine, cerise, cherry, crimson, ruby, scarlet, raspberry, chartreuse, olive, lime, aquamarine, emerald, mint, pine and the list goes on and on.
I have quite a few of those fabrics in my stash as well and they look great together. I might even make something from them one day... Your photos remind me that I have been meaning to get some of that geranium fabric - I really must dash off to do some shopping before it's gone!
I love how you always find objects in your surroundings to compare to your fabric and yarn as well - the cover of that book is great. I'm reminded of a school report a friend of mine wrote way back in primary school. It started something like this: "Little House on the Prairie" is a nice book. It is blue with yellow stripes..."

[Rebecca H.]

Not a comment about this post so much as it is about the blog: because of you I learned about Persephone Books. And a few months back when I ran across a copy of a book by that publisher at a thrift store, I had to pick it up even though I knew nothing about the book itself ("Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day"). And oh, I do thank you. And speaking of that publisher (and bringing it back to today's topic of fabric), did you know that have for sale some of the fabrics used as patterns in the endpapers?

[Maryjo]

Great fabrics -- is there any possible way you remember where the "tea cups" fabric is from?

And THANKS mentioning the BBC programs -- I always forget about them until you tell us what you are listening to. Then I spend hours on the Radio 4 web site ....

where last night I also found Dr. Zhivago . By the way, Russian TV in the last couple of years serialized it, and it was much less saccharine than the old David Lean version, and frankly, almost depressing. I've never read the book, so perhaps I should. I usually try Anna Karenina every few years though -- a great winter read when you are in the cold and snow! Maryjo

[Jessica Powers]

I agree about there being more than the red and green theme overall. Plus, if people are so okay with red and green, why did I get heaps of grief for so long with my lime & hot pink schemes - they are just bright, enthusiastic young family members making a life of their own from humble red and green beginnings...

[eve]

Coming out of the woodwork to say thank you, your blog so enriches my day.
A wonderful selection of fabrics!

[Bee]

I too love the teacups fabric.
Enjoying Dombey, I've never read the book (read other Dickens but not Dombey) but have just bought a copy.