Monochromatic

I'm not sure why but I always love when something has been created or designed in monochromatic colors. Whether it's a room decor, a flower garden, or a quilt, it always looks good to me.

I have set out many times to plant a monochromatic scheme in my flower garden but I just don't seem to have the discipline to stick with just one color. Blues, yellows, purples, the other colors are just too tempting to me, especially red and I end up with a garden full of lots of different colors which I love. It's just not what I intend.

I guess my love for red is the reason I was able to stay focused when making this quilt.

• I paper-pieced the trees using this pattern.
• I was already familiar with the pinwheel or peppermint squares; I made a bunch of them on an earlier quilt.
• The barber-pole boarder gave me fits. I couldn't find a pattern for it so I experimented until it was the size and angle I wanted. It took several hours of trial and error but I learned a ton and am thrilled with it. It occurred to me later that I could have purchased striped fabric and then cut it on the bias but I don't think I would have been as happy with the final outcome.
• I quilted it on my sewing machine with a meander pattern.
• I bound it in solid red with mitered corners.

It makes me happy.

I think I am going to try some more monochromatic quilts in 2011.