What shade am I? ...How much time do you have?! :)

When Demetria asked me if I'd be interested in collaborating on What Shade Are You?, my first question was... is there a limit? Apparently not! Which is a good thing, because if I'm anything, it's many things. ;) And shades is no different. So I started clipping and eventually culled that color card down to an assortment of neutrals and rygbiv (roygbiv minus the orange and easy on the violet).

Or, (much) more specifically, these shades...

Cotton Supreme Solids (Colors)

102 (Celeste)

281 (Cloud 9)

334 (Periwinkle)

335 (Feeling Blue)

425 (Harbor)

280 (Night)

430 (Medianoche)

30 (Navy)

106 (Denim)

429 (Jean Jacket)

169 (Haviland Blue)

94 (Cornflower)

294 (Cove)

292 (Turks & Caicos)

427 (Lake)

404 (Pistachio)

405 (Spring)

406 (Lucky Green)

407 (Grove)

359 (Pea in a Pod)

204 (Glow in the Dark)

348 (Neon)

249 (Sprout)

349 (Aloe Verde)

347 (Grass is Always Greener)

103 (Tourmaline)

182 (Lemon Chiffon)

358 (Harlequin)

342 (Peridot)

368 (Goldilocks)

247 (Hedge)

373 (Guava)

415 (Pickup Truck)

356 (Moulin Rouge)

416 (Red Wagon)

235 (Paris)

338 (Flamingo)

226 (Charlotte)

322 (Rose Colored Glasses)

311 (Rio)

357 (Sunset Ruby)

420 (Sweet Pea)

419 (Lip Gloss)

418 (Antique Rose)

135 (Carnation)

237 (Fairy Princess)

Cotton Supreme Solids (Neutrals)

362 (Argento)

283 (On the Rocks)

155 (Gray Stone)

365 (Moonlight)

310 (Burlap)

395 (Warm Gray)

321 (Greyhound)

241 (Muslin)

186 (Ecru)

193 (Sand Dune)

67 (Doll Face)

320 (In the Buff)

117 (Kona Coffee)

273 (Palomino)

262 (Croissant)

33 (Optical White)

370 (Swan)

364 (Kerchief)

111 (French Vanilla)

32 (Linen White)

228 (Egg Nog)

150 (Canvas)

265 (Custard) 

Cotton & Steel Prints

5149-03 (Pencil Stripes Grey)

8021-31 (Follow Suit Cream Metallic)

8022-02 (Cheshire Stripe White)

5118-01 (Flight Natural)

5119-01 (Chimes Natural)

3046-01 (Going Steady Grid Natural)

2036-01 (Sardinha Neutral)

4037-04 (Grid Charcoal)

4034-01 (Starry Black)

5000-10 (Cloud Metallic)

Once everything arrived, the first order of business was to sort out the neutrals. I saved the lightest for the background (top row), and used the rest to form the neutral coloration within the non-snake snake (bottom row, minus the two louder prints reserved for patterning within the infinity symbol).

I sorted that bottom row along a color gradient, and then arranged them on top of my foundation-paper-piecing pattern from head-to-tail.

Within no time, I was pre-cutting my way through all those neutrals. Call me crazy, but I pre-cut pretty much e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g as part of my process, no matter how obscure the shape. It may take a little extra time up front, but makes piecing a breeze. Plus, when it comes time to pre-cut the focal fabrics (here, all those brights!), you get a nice little preview of how each element will translate into fabric, so you can make adjustments on the front end if and when you're not in love with how the color flows (or doesn't) through a given section. 

See what I mean? :)

This infinity symbol is the slightly-less-serpentine sister to my Hiss design. Together, they make Ouroboros, a new large-format (~40" x 60") paper-piecing pattern that I'll be releasing this fall.

And it's funny how things work out. Going into this, I felt strongly that the colors I chose (and, notably, the one I did not), truly captured my "shade." But as this came together, I kind of missed the bold and fiery orange that I so easily eliminated early on in this process. 

You could say the stars aligned, then, when there was an orange buoy hanging from the lifeguard stand where I'd planned to photograph this quilt.  A perfect little nod to my newfound appreciation.

The Ouroboros pattern will be available from my shop early fall. And if you're dabbling in paper piecing or looking for a foray into pattern design, check out my new (and, technically, only) book, Adventures in Paper Piecing & Design, which is currently in prepress and set to release right around Labor Day! 

In the meantime, keep in touch on Instagram (@nohatsquilts) or here on my blog (www.nohatsinthehouse.com). And much thanks to RJR for inviting me to play along!

xo

Sarah