With Easter right around the corner, I think it’s a great day for a give-away! And this one reminds me particularly of Spring…
While I was visiting the Deep South a couple weekends ago, a little package arrived from South Africa with a couple of Trish Burr’s “supplement” embroidery-related books in it, and today, I’m giving away the pair!
I call them supplementary books, because they are really meant to accompany other books or designs by Trish. Take a look, and you’ll see what I mean.
The first is a little book called Traditional Embroidery Colour Schemes. It’s a small supplement (available through Trish Burr) that’s meant as a supplement to her major work on color in embroidery, Colour Confidence in Embroidery, which I reviewed when it came out.
Even so, the little book can stand on its own, so if you don’t have Colour Confidence yet, no worries – this book will get you started on considering and choosing color schemes for hand embroidery.
What Trish has done in this little supplement is take many images of famous works of art and pulled from each of them a color scheme of five major colors.
Then she’s expanded the colors to shades and compliments, in DMC floss colors, which she shows on the opposing page. She also provides a small stitched sample, to show how the colors can work together in embroidery.
Then, in the back of the book, she includes the line sketches for the samples in the book, as well as an explanation on how to use color schemes and a page where you can make notes of color schemes used in various projects.
Traditional Embroidery Colour Schemes is not really an embroidery instruction book, but it is instructional, as it will give you exposure to how to select your own color schemes for embroidery. But the nice thing is, if you have trouble selecting color schemes, it’ll provide you will many pre-picked color schemes along with their corresponding DMC floss numbers.
The other book in the pair is the little pamphlet titled An Introduction to Miniature Embroidery.
This little booklet takes you through the concept of long and short stitch shading in small places, to create pretty little needle painted vignettes.
You’ll find step-by-step guidance through a project, along with tips to help you improve your needle painting skills. This book is meant as a supplement to Trish’s miniature embroidery kits, and it fits in well with her other books on long and short stitch shading.
Give-Away Guidelines
If you’d like a chance to receive this pair of books, please leave a comment below, using the following guidelines:
1. Leave the comment at the end of this article. You may follow this link directly to the comment area. Comments left on other articles or via e-mail are not eligible.
2. In your comment, please answer the following question:
In embroidery, do you find yourself gravitating towards a specific colors and color scheme, and if so, what is it? Or… is there a particular color or color scheme (group of colors) that you tend to avoid, and if so, what is it?
For example, in embroidery, I always find that I gravitate towards shades of reds and golds (with some accent colors, like certain greens) and blues and golds (with accents that generally involve shades of red or green), and I find myself avoiding colors like mauve and very light pinky-purples. I actually have to force myself to think of them as optional colors. And even then, I can’t seem to bring myself to use them!
3. Leave your comment before 5:00 AM central daylight time (Kansas, USA), Monday, April 1. On Monday, I’ll announce the winner!
4. Please make sure you leave a recognizable name either in the comment form or in the line for the “name” on the comment. For example, if your name is Sue, you might leave your full name, or you might say “Sue is St. Louis” or something like that, to differentiate yourself from other Sues who might leave comments, too. Thanks!
So – go to it! Leave your comment, and tell me all about your color preferences for your embroidery projects!
I like to keep my colours as close to ‘nature’ as I can – where relevant, of course. I don’t really tend to do much in the way of stylised things, where you can be more choosy about colours. So, I like natural greens teamed with the relevant floral colours etc – reds, yellows, lilacs, pinks etc… Of course, if it’s a kit or design with pre-selected colours, I’ll usually use those. Not always, but usually.
I tend to keep away from colours that seldom occur in nature, like jade (blue-ish) green and things like that.
I probably need to think more about this and ‘watch’ myself whilst selecting colours more!=)
I tend to pick colors based on which room I have in mind. So if it’s my bedroom, a lovely piece with silks and dusty pastels (think Shepherd’s Bush). Living room is a bit stronger, teal blues, reds, tans, dark browns, etc. Piano room is grey blues and white. These are my “safe” picks. But my craft/office, that’s when I try new things: bright colors ( orange?), combinations that I don’t think will look good when I start, risky color of fabric! I love color, I really struggle trying to put my own combos together, but that craft room is giving me ideas! 🙂
I gravitate towards blues, but also roses with green accents. For some reason, when I quilted (long ago), I chose reds and greens. I have a hard time using purples and oranges.
What a great idea for an instructional book. I like to stick to “nature colours”, but I am always amazed how a colour that on it’s own might not look like it belongs in nature (like a bright bright green) can “fit” when you blend it in with other shades. I love greens and aim to collect as many as I can; the more greens the better…
Absolutely, beautifully inspiring. Makes me wish I would of started these projects 40 years ago!
My favorites right now are red, gold and greens. Is there anything I tend to avoid? Probably lots of really bright colors. I like rich, but more muted colors.
I love what Trish does with color. Especially the birds. I have the color confidence book and go to it regularly. I just saw Mandarin Ducks on Bing and can’t wait to try embroidering the male–the colors are wonderful.
Hi Mary,
Start with teal, aqua, seafoam range- move to blues, greens and then purples. The page shown above from the “Traditional Embroidery Colour Schemes” would be an example of a colour scheme I would be drawn too!! If I look at my fabric stash – it has way more teal, blue, green and purple than any other color – bare minimum on the reds, pink & yellows! Thanks Mary and Trish for this wonderful give away.
I love the stronger intense colors but when I choose a project invariably I go to the lighter, shabby chic shades of pinks, rose, blues, greens. Love threads and learning how to use them to create various textures.
I tend to choose colors based on a picture, piece of fabric or overdyed thread. I like to see that the colors already work together before I go off the deep end. I prefer more muted colors rather than fully saturated ones. I have yet to find a color I don’t like, in at least small quantities, though I lean more towards ones with red-violet or blue in them.
I’m a big fan of Trish’s work and know that her realistic choice of colors as well as the subject matter has a great deal to do with that.
Color is what I see first and is the most important factor in whether or not I choose a design to stitch.
love these booklets and want to win them lol!
What a lovely book! I find myself choosing blues and have to force myself to do to other colors. I’m totally a “blue” person in my stitching, clothing and home decor.
Mary, I agree with you that I seem to gravitate towards the same group of colors with each new piece of embroidery. In fact, I have just bought a bunch of Appleton’s crewel wool in the same shades that I used for a sampler that I made in 1987! For me that is soft rose pinks, slightly slatey blues and greens that looks like pale pine with lots of white in them! I vary rarely use yellow at all, or the brighter blues. I do, however, own a very broad variety of silk, wool and cotton threads in shades of red to further my studies of French red samplers.
I don’t have go to colors. I try to coordinate with areas in my house or where the piece is going to ultimately end up. But if push comes to shove I prefer all shades of yellow/gold and blues. I think these books would be great to help me expand. Thank you.
I seem to go through color phases. I will be drawn towards blues for a long time then I will see something in Lavender or Purple then I will want to work those colors and so on. For me it keeps everything fresh and new.
Mary, I love color. If I am choosing my own color I tend to go for greens alot, I love pinks and browns also. I think that it just depends on the piece.
What a lovely book! I have such difficulty with my palettes and seem toalways seek safety in Autumn colors. I love the warmth.
Thank you for the chance to participate in this awesome give away. I gravitate toward the bright saturated colors…think a box of kindergarten crayons. When I use pastels they tend to look washed out or faded or they look ‘dirty’ next to each other. I think I am not combining them to the best advantage and need to learn more about combining colors as in what works with what. Peace
I did have a few favorite color combos that I used for quite a while, but my EGA participation and studies encouraged me to break out of that mold over time. I certainly have favorite colors, but I can also enjoy even some combos I once considered ‘weird’ when used in certain contexts. It has livened up my stitching for sure!
Oh my gosh, these books look amazing!
I tend to go for blues and greens, or pinks and purples. I think it’s because I just love those color schemes!
Mary a friend bought one of Trisha`s books on sunday and that has now been added to the list of wants!!
You ask about colours, at the moment I seem to be drawn to greens with a bit of orange and tan thrown in, blue is the colour I avoid, I do not think it is a concious avoidance it just happens.
I like bold colors and stay away from pastel colors. I’m not a fan of pinks and purples. Colors can be hard to pick and these little booklets would be nice to have. Thanks for the give-a-way!
I love bright saturated colours, like purple, kelly and lime green and turquoise, similar to what I like to wear. I try to use other colours and what I find the hardest is using the palest shades. But when I do, I find it makes the brighter colours pop. I will add both of the books by Trish to my wish list. Thanks for the contest and Happy Spring!
Ruth Ann W in London, Ontario
I tend to gravitate to the pinkish-mauve end of the spectrum… with complimentary colours of green and blue… I avoid the orange-red-yellow colours if I can, but use them when they fit into the colour scheme. just personal choice!!
Dear Mary,
I always gravitate to rich, saturated jewel tone colors, and have a great deal of difficulty selecting or using pale “muddy” colors. I do consider this a personal flaw I could certainly use help with! These little books might really help with the color issues I have, and I positively PINE to make that litte bird perched by the pansy, SWOON ……….
Cathy in PA
Greens and purples. I tend to enjoy working in those the most. Right now I’m working on a piece using a lot of oranges and yellows which is working out fine but not colours I’d be normally comfortable with. (it’s a kit!)
I tend to go with the colours of my subject but do slide towards reds and oranges in what inspires me. Most of my embroideries tend to be inspired by nature so don’t have a choice of the colours I can use.
Hugs SuzyRed
I like primary, bright colors as opposed to pastels. I do ot like orages and even yellow is not my favorite. Last year I went out to my garden with the DMC chart and made notes of what colors were present in my garden blooms.
Of late, I find myself doing a lot of Redwork embroidery – just so many wonderful designs out there for quilts that include redwork stitching and block piecing. Recently I have been using variegated reds, but not sold on them yet. Thanks for this wonderful opportunity. Judy C in NC
Ohhhh,,, What a treasure this book would be. What a great addition to my
stitching library. I am not good picking out colors so this book would
really help with choosing color combinations. I love soft pastels and I also love greens, red, golds. Theresa
In crazy quilting, I love to do contrasts. Bright jewel tones really pop on a black patchwork background, and pastels just sing on cream/white patchwork. But in the near future, I’ll be participating in a CQ round robin in which all patches and all embellishments will be done in shades of grey. That should be interesting.
What wonderful little books! Color fascinates me and I’ve loved Trish’s Color Confidence book. I tend towards the blues, purples, lavenders, indigos, side of the color wheel, but truthfully, it really does depend on the project, the inspiration for the project, and, in many cases, who will be receiving the project in the end.
Love, love, love your website, Mary. I pick up so many ideas (and have bought many of the books you’ve recommended) thanks to you!
arlene in NJ
I am brand new to embroidery. I have needlepointed for many years but am now finding the blending of threads in embroidery wonderful and very freeing. My imagination can take flight. I gravitate to pinks and purples for flower gardens with many shades of green for leaves and grasses. Such a wonderful hobby!
I love neutrals/whites and gold. Mixing different thread weights will result in beautiful textures.
I love embroidering flowers and birds so naturally I gravitate toward the colors of nature. The greens and yellows particularly are fun to work into a pattern with splashes of red (poppies!) and different shades of blue.
Hi Mary! Thank you for placing Trish’s supplement as a giveaway. Sometime during the 70s, I had my colors done, which was quite the rage, at the time, and it may still be. I learned that my complementary colors are tans, browns, mauves, and so on. It was, and is, true that I always go toward those colors when buying clothes. With your question, I realize I do the same with threads. When standing in front of a beautiful selection of embroidery thread, I head straight for the browns. This is true, even though I love bright colors. I have learned to incorporate a wide variety of colors into my work, but I still pass on orange, unless the pattern demands it!
When I sew I usually think about the person that I am going to give my creation too and use colors that go with that person. For me, I love blues and greens with yellow and orange as complements.
These little books appears to be wonderful little learning tools! I would love to add them to my stitching library. I’m a crazy quilter, so I use most colours; sometimes I will use unlikely colour choices together because they either pick up colours in, or contrast with the fabric base (for example orange and purple). The more colourful the better in my world! Grovenore
I tend to pick any shade of blue and than what ever goes with the blue. I tend to shy away from bold colors.
I love everything blue, from pure rich blue to shades of aqua and teal. Having said that, I am going to be attempting to stitch a needle painted apple for my EGA chapter’s summer challenge which has the theme “technical difficulties”. This challenge is designed to give our members a chance to stitch something never tried before or which has proven difficult in the past. Winning these little booklets would be wonderful in helping me work on the long & short stitches in my piece.
What a wonderful give-away! I am venturing into needle painting and am smitten. These would be wonderful guides to help me become proficient in this wonderful form of embroidery. I do hope you will consider me for this gift.
Kind Regards,
Linda Hayes-Trent
I tend to gravitate towards blue and yellow because I adore French Country colors. But I love all bright colors as well. Its just my nature to gravitate towards happy color combinations.
I really like jewel tones, mostly teal and purple and turquoise. But there’s a certain shade of orange that I just love–that rich, burnt orange kind of spice color that makes you think of India, if you know what I mean. 🙂
I am drawn toward blues and mauves. I love to see soft colors in floral designs as In a still life design. Berries are another favorite for me and while they should be in natural colors, I prefer softness rather than harsh colors. I would say that a mellowed natural would be a good way to say it.
I favor reds, and blues toward red, that all other colors are subordinate.
Mary what wonderful little give aways I have been looking at these little books thinking I’m going to order them from Trish. I have the big book and it is wonderful. Colours I tend to go for are actually Mary what you tend to stay away from I love the Mauves and Royal Purples along with some of the pinks and I also tend to go for some greys like silver greys. I tend to stay a way from the beiges and browns and some greens like Moss greens and brownie greens. I cant get my head around them. I also love the deep reds and deep blues. So there are so many colours out there that I like but I would have to live another life to use them all. Thanks for the opportunity to win these little books. Happy Easter everyone.
Hi
Since I love all colours and am happiest when working with colour in my quilts, it is surprising that I love working white on white, black on white and also with subdured colours in my embroidery. However, I do work in colour a lot and I prefer working with colours that are almost but not quite complementary colours. Split complementary or analogous with a near complementary is most pleasing to me.
Beth
The books look wonderful. I’m currently trying to design my own work for the first time, and these would both be so valuable to me!
I, too, tend to reds and golds, with some muted greens and darker blues. My passion is 17th century band samplers and pictures, so I tend to the more muted colors, although sometimes the original bright colors attract my attention.
I just can’t work in the more modern or contemporary colors – the brighter greens, orange range, and I also don’t like lots of pink.
I dislike intensely the use of red and green together ( I have a great deal of trouble around Christmas time). I pass over anything using these two colours together. I loooove red in all it’s forms from the palest pink to the very deepest of deep reds. I absolutely love green…from the palest to the most vibrant I can get my hands on….and everything in between. Put them together …and I’m outta here. Thank you for the opportunity of maybe getting a gift…stitching miniatures sounds wonderful.
I tend to lean towards the jewel tones mainly blues and greens. But I buy more earth tones! I love the rich textures as they are combined with other shades of the same. Thank you for the opportunity!
I tend to use all cool colors or all warm colors, depending upon the subject that I’m stitching. It’s hard to mix the two groups!
Would love either book, always open to learning more about this subject!
Seanna from Florida
Hi Mary!
I tend to gravitate towards greens and blues. Medium to light values/hues. I will throw in deep reds and sometimes very pale yellows. These colors are my comfort zone and I prefer them in my clothing and home decor. I have to force myself to pull in ‘bright’ colors like orange, pinks & purples and such.
Thank you for such a great giveaway! Always! 🙂
Happy Stitching!
Jen in Oregon
I love bright vibrant colors such as blues, hot pinks, sun yellows. The pale colors leave me blah….
I’ve surprised myself lately by gravitating toward shades of blue. Blue is not one of my favorite colors in real life, but for some reason, I love it in embroidery!
My fabric and thread stash both reflect soft earthy, nature inspired colors, especially the greens, and gold-orange-brown tones. If I do happen to select a pink or blue, it’s likely to be a heathered tone. Thanks for offering this giveaway.
As a teenager, I read an article in which a person’s favorite color was linked with certain personality traits. So at 61, I can say that for the majority of my life, I have been prejudiced against the color green. Why? Because people who like green are supposed to be exceptionally stable, sane people. Bleh! I’ll take crazy any day over sane!
I usually find myself using greens and blues, with occasional purples thrown in as well. I tend to avoid pinks when I have the chance, but if I feel that a design needs some pink – like when I was doing a bouquet of flowers and there was a carnation in there – I will use pink and red. My favorite color schemes definitely involve blues, whether blue and gold, blue and silver, or blue and green.
I don’t think I gravitate toward any particular color scheme(s), but I do a lot of Hardanger and I prefer that in traditional white or pastels rather than bright colors. In other types of embroidery, however, I do like brighter colors. I think that if I avoid anything, it would be dark and/or gloomy color schemes.
I have the Colour Confidence book, which I asked for for Christmas after you reviewed it, so I think these would go nicely with it. Thanks for another nice giveaway!
I tend to gravitate towards bright colours like deep red, blue or green. I’m not a fan of yellows and oranges.
I find myself feeling good when I use sea glass-like colors of blues and greens.
I love red. I would do everything in red unless I was forced to get outside my comfort zone. When I worked with the youth group I was pushed to examine the effects of their spontaneous choices of colours — greens and pinks and oranges — sometimes all in one animal!! And, I was amazed at how nice they looked. So now I try and add a little touch of some unexpected colour — like lime green — to a piece (well, not to white work :-))_ Thanks for the opportunity to win these books Mary. Love your morning chat!
I have to watch myself to avoid becoming monochromatic. I’m much more drawn to cool colors – blues, greens, lavenders. Maybe that’s why I live on the Oregon coast. Orange rarely makes an appearance in anything that I do.
Nancy in Newport
I am a very earthy color person and have to force myself to use pink, though I will use some on occassion; but lean towards the coral pinks to the brick reds. One can look at my home and clothes to see what colors I tend to use and pull towards. I try to use colors when making gifts that remind me of the recipient vs. my favorite colors which pull me out of my box sometimes but struggle with the choice of colors quite often as I force myself to select for other peoples favorite shades.
I seem to stitch more in pastels for some reason. When I was younger, I loved greens and golds…and never anything pastel. Strange how your likes changes over time.
Kathy
I find that I tend to go towards “water” colors, blues, greens, purples and “earth” colors,browns,golds,blacks. I tend to use less to “fire” colors, yellows,reds, oranges.
That is not to say that I never use fire colors, I just tend to use them in very small amounts and the major colors I use tend to be water or earth colors.
I always gravitate towards fall colors. My wedding colors were gold and leaf colors and I have never wavered from them. It will be fifty years soon. I like pink and purple but not mauve and medium blue and that has never changed either. I stitch in pastels but don’t have a place to put them in any room. I just like to stitch, stitch, stitch. And learn, learn, learn.
I tend to gravitate toward sedated blues/greens/browns or dusty peaches/roses. I am not an enormous fan of bright colors. I like warm and cozy feel, not bright and springy.
I tend to use primary colors the most. I need to expand my horizons – this book on how to use color would be an asset.
Thanks for the chance.
Jacqueline in No. Ohio
Hi Mary,
I’m drawn to golds and blue and seem to always choose a cream colored background! Even when using blues and greens I still shy away from white as the background. Soft is my palette and like you I have to force myself to add a little pink or purple. Red is great but pink and purple are hard for me 🙂
Trish’s giveaway would be a great help to get me out of my color rut!
Having Trish Burr “Colour Confidence” it will be a treat to be able to have this one as well.
I do manage to turn,almost all the time, around the blue, pink and white colours.
I do try to incorporate the yellow and red but do not feel as much confident with these two.
Thanks for this offer.
Reds and Greens! I am always pulled towards reds and greens; any shade of either. You would think this would be limiting, but there are so many variations possible.
The book looks great!
Debbie S
As someone else commented, I wish these beautiful books were more available 30-40 years ago but I’d definitely try to make some of the flowers as shown in the book. These old eyes are not as sharp as they were and the fingers are not as agile to do the fine shading and miniatures. I actually did make a horse’s head picture, for my Dad, with about 10 to 15 different shades of brown, tans, golds, etc. I love to work with anything red or blue. I don’t avoid any color especially if it fits into the work i’m making. Thank you for the giveaway.
Hmmm. I am always drawn to clear colors, usually pastels with some accompanying darks for depth and contrast. In choosing for myself I tend to avoid browns and oranges and grayed colors. However, I have learned that by avoiding colors I am limiting myself and my designs; so I have learned to “throw in” a color I “hate” and usually it is just the color that makes the design work. Live and learn.
I would love to own these leaflets. Thanks, Mary for offering them. Happy Easter.
LOL!!! My sentiments exactly! I’m getting better at using orange but brown is still icky in my world. Crazy quilting will always be my favorite pastime & brown just isn’t crazy enough for me. Thanks Mary & Trish for offering the booklets. Floss, are you my long lost stitching sister?
Inside me, there is a red person trying to get out! except when I embroider. This is the time I gravitate to Corals and Blues. Most of the work I do tends to be donated to charities for auctions and raffles. My family and friends receive the balance.
I do a lot of needlepainting and would love her books. The colors I use usually depend on the background. I love bright colors like reds and oranges but will use pastel colors if they show up better on the background.
Thank you Mary for this give away. I love Trish Burr’s work. Her shading is wonderful and so lifelike.
The color schemes I gravitate toward are always pastel palettes. Usually pinks and yellows, girly colors. The colors I avoid are bright greens. I don’t like green except in nature. When I was a little girl my parents loved green and my mother decorated extensively with green,so I developed a dislike for it from over use.
Blue/turquoise is my favorite color(s) with red being second. It’s interesting how my color choice has changed through the years – red is a relatively new addition. Brown and yellow send chills up my spine – to be avoided at all cost. A touch of yellow – not over powering – adds spriteliness.
It depends on what I’m working on, but I definitely do agonize over it for a long time. In general, I find that I like bright (but still natural) colors, except for liturgical stuff, where I gravitate towards richer tones.
Hi Mary,
though I always gravitate towards pink I could not pick it because I have to consider whether pink goes well with the colour of the fabric.
Hi Mary!
Such a beautiful giveaway!
I tend to avoid greens and blues because I confuse myself with them… I tend to choose one single color or white on white.
I love working with monochromatic color schemes and I really like whitework. My coloring is a “Summer” so, I tend to gravitate to that color palette. In any medium, color choices can “make or break” a piece. I think, no matter much work you put into something, if your colors are wrong, you are limiting the final look. I have just recently had shoulder surgery and in my recovery started embroidery again and enjoying it so much. The book looks like an awesome tool and I KNOW I would love using them. Thanks!!
These are gorgeous and I need more practice and inspiration.
I most always use purples, blues, greens in the brighter colors and tend to avoid yellows, browns, reds, and pastels of any color. I guess I like bright and did I mention I like purple. It might be interesting though to make something of all shades of beige and white.
Since I do mostly crazy quilting I tend to pick thread colours from the fabrics in the block. I have found that my colour prejudices (I used to really dislike orange) have disappeared since I started crazy quilting.
I gravitate to the earth tones–especially greens and rusts. i have far too many projects done in autumn colours! And although I enjoy wearing purple clothes, I really don’t like Purples in my embroidery pieces.
About 2 weeks ago i bought 3 books of triss and think they are great . My friend Mabel) just started her 2 course from rsn here in the netherlands and recommended them to me.About the color scceme i als ways end up with purples!! Many greetings Hanneke
WOW! Beautiful color combinations! Yes, I sure could use these books. I’m working on a hexagon table topper right now and put in some purple and lavender flowers with yellow centers and green leaves. I look at it and I think the green is the wrong shade. If I had these books I could compare and choose the right shade. I may purchase them if I don’t win.
I’m drawn to ‘warm’ colors such as red, orange, yellow and also greens. I, too, avoid mauve (hurts my eyes) and purple-ish pinks and blues.
Such lovely books! Small projects are just the thing to use for getting myself back into embroidery again!
Orange is the color that should have never been invented!! Don’t like it and don’t use it unless it is in autumn stuff!
I’m a fluorite person. I like pinks, purples and greens. My kitchen is painted pink, with pink counter tops and a green floor. My living room has a grayish purple rug and flowered drapes and couches (pinks, purples & green).
Trish Burr’s book looks wonderful. I have such difficulty viewing color schemes. This would be a big help in selecting colors. I love the examples that she uses.
I tend to gravitate to the red and blues and shy away from dirty browns. Having said that I really love all colour.
Those books look fun and entertaining! Send them on over to me! 🙂
The timing on this is so perfect! I was only last week starting through Trish Burr’s Color Confidence book yet again. I read it through from cover to cover when it came out, and the new pamphlets are sure to be a gem of an addition. Trish is one of those rare people who truly understand and know how to work with color.
I look at my collection of threads, and see that my purchases have been in colors for my current project – safe, rich, traditional colors for ecclesiastical embroidery: deep and rich blues, reds, golds, greens and browns. They are colors that tend to contrast well and can be seen from a distance.
But, the fun comes in with the vintage silks that I’ve been collecting from a special project I’m working on with a Monastery. Would anyone believe that at least 70 to 100 years ago, silk manufacturers made threads in what we would now call “neon” pinks, and that the sisters successfully used the most lively (and unusual) of color combinations in their work? 🙂 I would never have considered using “neon” pinks in ecclesiastical work, but having seen a most beautiful set of angels stitched in shades of pink, including the neon colors,I am a convert,(although, I am somewhat concerned whether my pastor would consent to wear pink!) It is fun to think of using colors outside the box of one’s safety zone.
Trish’s suggestion of doing a sample element with colors pulled from an original source – what a great idea! It gives one hope of breaking out of a “color” rut and venturing into new palettes!
If Trish provided any information as to timing and availability, please keep us posted!
I can’t say I avoid colors, I have favorites tho, I love purples and blues (dark) for shadows. I tend toward more “nature” type colors as I use that sort of thing for realism. But I just love COLOR!!! 🙂
Oh, I would SO love that miniature one, I mainly do miniature things!
Thanks so much
I have always liked the color blue, so most of my ideas have blue in them. I usually use the colors of nature accented with black or gold. Then again if the piece is Victorian, mauves and coordinating colors must be used. Lately I have been thinking about doing something using orange and yellow, two colors I usually avoid. Maybe it’s time I expanded my color horizon!
What delightful little books! I have one of her books but have not yet gotten my feet wet! For me it seems a little overwhelming, but SO beautiful! I tend to gravitate toward blues, purples and yellows. I just like the color combo. For some reason I rarely use orange. Not that I don’t like it, I just don’t use it. It would be a great complimentary color though, so I need to think about that. Thanks for being so gracious in giving and sharing your passion. Have a beautiful day!
Dear Mary
Thanks so much Mary for this wonderful give-away by Trish Burr. Yes I know what you mean I avoid certain colours and I tend to gravitate towards warm colours like reds, oranges, tan colours, yellow and even browns. I dislike using blue I don’t know what it is about the colour but I suppose I find it cold. In my current embroidery project blue is called for in the design, I dislike using it but it is required and when deciding on a colour scheme I have to consider blue but end using the more warm colours such as reds, oranges, yellows, greens and even browns. ‘Poor old blue it certainly gives me the blues, sigh!’
Regards Anita Simmance
I particularly like bright colors. I enjoy mixing and matching primary with secondary colors. I like adding silver and gold threads to emphasize a particular pattern or area of interest. Reds. yellows and blues with varying shades and hues are nice. I also like monochromatic designs. They can be very intricate and make for interesting designs. I like to use color to express a point of view or a creative idea or to express the particular mood of a piece of work. I think that the design often determines the color chosen for its completion.
I always gravitate towards the colours you stay away from i.e. pinks and mauves and I stay away from what I term as garish colours l.e bright crimson or fire engine red and bright yellow. It would be interesting to have a psychiatrist look into ones mind to find out where these preferences come from.
I tend to use vibrant colors and not pastels. However, it does depend on the project. I have been stitching since I was a child. I remember sitting with my grandmother and stitching. Such wonderful memories!
Hi Mary,
That’s a nice question about colours!It’s also nice when we put alot of colours into our life!
Ok!Mary my sister is getting married and i’m searching for a colourful gift for her.I like the colours Red,shaded red with gold and bright colours.Dark colours like dark pink,dark maroon,etc. makes me feel dull and sick!So i prefer brigth colours.Don’t you think if my only sister receieves this kit as a wediing gift and frame it on the wall in her room.Please if you can hurry up and brighten the bride’s day,i will be glad for it!
thank you,
Rita
Trish’s books are a real inspiration! I tend to use more greens than other colors and I usually work in some yellows. I am drawn to the more intense shades and need to work more with pastels. Someone told me to use a bit of a color that I didn’t like and it would “work”.
I have Trish’s “Colour Confidence” book and it is a totally AWEsome reference work. Needless to say I would love to have these to go with it. My color choices tend toward hues that look good with blue jeans (faded or otherwise) and ones that look good in my house with its warm southwestern colors. Plus I’ve learned to buy much less of the screaming brights I’m always attracted to and to value the quieter tones that really hold pieces together.
I’m still very much a beginner, with not a lot of pieces under my needle but the ones I have done I tend to gravitate towards jewel tones.
I go to my stash, and there I see green, and more green! Then, as I pull out the next drawer, there are all of the muted oranges, like terra cotta, coral, etc. The big question then is how to tie them all together. Sometimes it is not a pretty sight. Trish’s books are a marvelous help. I would love these.
Color can do so much! Although my favorites will always be in the “blue” range I find it amazing what colors will compliment each other when used properly. I do Brazilian embroidery and was noticing my bag is extra floss just yesterday. All the colors were thrown in there together and yet the whole bag just looked yummy. The circus colors were nestled up to the garden colors and somehow they all worked together. It was wonderful. Now I suppose I should go put them back where they belong and not leave them on the stairs!
In embroidery, I tend to gravitate towards the warm hues. I like bright colors around me. They are so cheerful.
I just happen to be working on designing a floral Bible saying, and after I get the lettering right, I’m going to start working on the colors. I tend to gravitate to blues, greens, golds and some red. I really hate orange, and greens like lime green or camo, so I shy away from that, but finding colors that look good together doesn’t come naturally to me.
I am so fascinated with attaining interest with texture that I tend to be attracted to white on white and variations such as ecru on white or white on wheat. That said, Trish Burr’s books on color have really been an inspiration to go for it with the myriad of other colors and effects that can be attained. The colors I am most attracted to are earth tones and all variations of red as well as all variations of green. I am most likely to avoid most blues as a primary color in my work using it as a balancing color in small amounts.
Oooooh goody. I love Trish’s work. I love anything with violet in it. I have red in my house so that is always a good choice too mixed in with shades of green.
I tend to choose blues, as that is my favourite colour. I also like rosy hues, especially dusty rose and heathery purple. Green is a great colour to compliment these “floral colours,” as in nature itself. I have been starting to use some brighter colours and metallics, but it’s hard to pry myself out of my box.
I tend to always gravitate towards ocean colors, shades of blue,aqua,and teal. I find these colors to be very calming. Sometimes I throw in a touch of pink or green as an accent. Even when I pull colors to make a quilt it seems these are the colors I reach for.
When I look at colors, I always tend to cranberry and muted rose colors. But then there are the plant greens and lilacs and the sunflower yellows and browns. But just about all of the combination I like, I find nature has put them together first and best of all.
I am colour-challenged when it comes to choosing my embroidery threads. I tend to go for all bold and dominant colours or all soft and subtle colours but to see Trish’s magic at work, interpreting real paintings, shows me why my designs often look ‘flat’ and hers so beautiful. With her little book, perhaps I too could create some magic.
I tend to the bright, colorful colors – pinks, reds, yellows, purples, bright blues and bright greens. I have to force myself to remember the browns, blacks and grays. Because of this, I tend to pick designs that are floral or Sunbonnet Sue type.
Beautiful booklets! In my embroidery, I tend to gravitate to all shades of pinks, purples, and greens. It is hard for me to choose colors in the yellow and brown family.
I’d love these books! Pick me! Pick me!
Maureen S.
I love all colors but I especially like the purples….these books would be a wonderful addition to a needlework library…I would love them in mine! I might be enticed to try my hand at using color schemes on my own.
I have been a Tole Painter for many years so my eyes go right to bright colors. I have a hard time using pale, light colors like pinks, light blues and mint. There are some beautiful misty pieces I have seen that I would love to do, and I am going to do at least one when I get some of my stack finished. Of course I may be 150 years of age before I reach the bottom. But it will be fun.
Those are good questions! Long ago, I did think and act in color schemes, for everything — for furniture and paints in rooms of the house, for clothes I wore, for needlework I did. I can’t say when it started officially, but I gradually abandoned overt color schemes. One day I awoke to the fact that I didn’t have favorite schemes. Quilts, clothes, and needlework were each operas with its libretto-appropriate diva, supporting roles, large chorus, an antagonist and the unexpected comic relief . I had become and remain a happy, confirmed “multi-colorist” schemer.
Not wanting chaos to come from all this, the major drawback of multi-colorism is that I spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about, color-penciling, and swatching a project. Even such getting ready to commence to begin I’ve grown to love.
Happy spring. Shirley
Oh my gosh, the timing couldn’t be better! I’m working on a project for my sister right now, and it has baby cardinals that I can’t get just right. Trish’s booklet on miniatures would be just the thing.
I find my self attracted to colors found in nature, especially yellows, oranges, blues, and purples; which is probably I why enjoy embroidering flowers, birds, and butterflies so much.
I tend to use lots of reds. Outside of that, I do a lot of historical embroidery, so I tend to stick with a palette that is achievable through plant dyes. I don’t use a lot of yellows, since I’m not terribly find of it in the first place.
I am new to embroidery, having changed my loyalty from the patchwork and quilting world. So if I am not following a pattern I am tending towards burgundy reds with gold and a touch of deep greeny blue to match the upholstery; just supposing the work will be good enough to frame.
But I remember I once went on a patchwork course and worked with magenta and green and my brain was so excited, sure was an invigorating experience.
Wow, nothing like making me think today. lol
I have a lot of colors, but seem to like watery colors the best, blueish greens, corals, that type. But also like working with purples for some reason. I think that oranges are the only color I tend to stay away from. So am thinking I need to do something in that color range, just to expand my threads. 🙂
This is a hard one because I truly have no particular favorite color/colors. I tend to prefer working with several colors rather than working with only one color on a piece. The variagated threads add interest in many designs and I enjoy working with those.
I’m not familiar with Trish Burr’s books and think they would be a valuable addition to any needleworker’s library. Lucky will be the winner of your kind Give-Away!
Your giveways are awesome!!! Trish Burr’s books are awesome!!! Thank you for the opportunity to learn from both of you. Bonnie Curtis
I love to embroider flowers so I usually use reds, pinks, yellows and blues with hints of organge. I use a variety of greens from dark to light. It is not unusal for me to use to shades of a color in my needle at one time for a blended look. Or two different colors at once! I predominately choose bright, bold colors over pastels.
I really don’t like browns and greys! I started a project for my husband: an armadillo. I worked diligently at first but found it so boring I never finished it. It’s probably in the closet with other UFOs!
This is a lovely opportunity, Mary.
I tend to gravitate to turquoise blues, turquoise greens, and terra cotta combinations, as well as shades of apricot and peach, and find that I avoid an shade of pink and mauve without fail. Interesting how we seem to resonate with certain colors.
-Sharon in France
The word should have been “any shade of pink…”
I love to see all your embroideries and all the expert advice
OOoh, Mary, I’d love to win these books! Thank you for the opportunity.
I love most colours, and like to use them in my embroidery. I tend not to use black, though I’m not sure why.
Happy stitching!
In embroidery as in everything else, I find myself gravitating to royal blues and purples. I really like all the deep colors and tend to avoid pastels.
I am a gardener and hiker if I don’t do my crafts so I often pick up colors reflecting nature. I hardly ever think about blue and purple even so we see them often in flowers. When I hiked in Zion National Park and Grand Canyon I pictured reds, oranges and yellows in my work. I can tell that nature affects my choices. However, I like to see what others are doing and often find it very inspiring.
Earth tones are the colors that I gravitate to when starting a new piece of embroidery. Browns, greens, yellows and oranges are generally among my base colors with other colors being used as accent or highlight colors. I think both of these books sound interesting and either would be a delight to receive. The one on miniatures sounds like it might help with some of those close tight areas that don’t always turn out as polished as I would like them. 🙂
For some reason, I avoid blues. It’s ironic because the last two Christmas stockings I needlepointed were for my two brothe grandsons and both were all shades of blue. They were handpainted by Liz of Tapestry Tent. I use embroidery stitches on my needlepoint and stitchpainting with these.
I have been taking an on line class from John Waddell of a kimono using my favorite colors of greens, golds,purples and fucias, and reds. I have been blocked and started looking through my art books and “boing” out of the blue, I realized I needed blues also. Pun intended.
I tend to gravitate more to cool colors such as blue, purple and green; they give me a feeling of calm and peacefulness; I tend to shy away from the reds and oranges and I really don’t know why because I like those colors too. Maybe one day with the help of a visual aid, I’ll be able to bring myself to use those colors.
Thanks for another awesome giveaway! I find I tend toward complimentary color schemes and have been trying to expand a bit (like split complimentary). I try to use colors I’m not comfortable with when I have the opportunity. (I designed one of my favorite projects around a mustard color felt that I decided to use so that it looked good.) I’m most drawn to the green-blue-purple range of the color wheel.
Hi, I tend to drift towards blues and burgundies. I like a richer color palette and tend to stay away from pastels although they do work well for highlights. Great give away . Thank you Mary.
So easy to inspired by a great painting or flower and want to use all the colors. If I am making a series or group of items, I like to keep it simple and keep it in a color harmony. But sometimes it is nice to keep things neutral and focus on different tones of one color. I love the ocean so I gravitate towards the blue, tan and whites.
I love Trish’s sketches. They could be used for outline embroidery or even applique with embroidery.
I have two color preferences. Fall natures colors (oranges, green, brown, yellow) and bright fun colors.
This is harder to answer than I initially thought. I like corals – from light to dark and also blue-greens. And I also like autumn colors. I love looking at threads in a needlework shop — all the luscious shades.
I tend not to use as many primary colors, unless it is something for a child that calls out for bright primary colors.
Greens, greens and more greens! Even if I’m embroidering skin tones it’s amazing how often a touch of green will enliven the other colours. I tend to avoid harsh dye colours preferring a more faded and ‘antique’ palette. sometimes I pick shades I would normally avoid to try and surprise myself.
I’m just a beginner and haven’t discovered things one way or the other yet! I’ve done some old fashioned red work on a couple of pillows, so maybe I like simple…but I’m sure impressed with the fancy work 🙂
Thanks again for the terrific giveaway. I tend toward blues – blue/green, blue/purple, and even blue/white in my embroidery. I notice I tend to avoid yellow but I will use gold accents sometimes. I once heard said that people naturally navigate to purple. I don’t know if this is true or not.
Judy C
I don’t enjoy any variety of the color brown. I use it where nature absolutely dictates, like tree branches, but even then I tend to prefer gray-browns. I even avoid projects with more than a tiny bit of brown, because stitching with it is boring, tiring, even depressing. On the other hand, I love almost every other color. one of my great goals is to stitch variegated iris in long-and-short. I just need to grow a lot more skill.
I find it almost impossible to pick one or two colors as favorites but taupe and pink are certainly high on my list.the world could not exist without green.Personally it just has to have browns and OH,Purples,see what happens when I am asked to choose,as an artist I need them all.The books you are giving away are just what I need as,I just found a used copy of the large book at my local Book Nook.I am attempting to learn long and short stitch after 67 years of hand stitching.Thank you Mary for all your helpful tips and tid-bits.Judy in Frenchtown.
Dear Mary,
Thank you for calling my attention to these books. I am not especially good at choosing colors. As an Aries, I seem to gravitate toward clear reds, golds, and flaming orange combinations. I use greens only in stems and leaves, and tend, even then, to use more muted shades. I almost never use purples, but will consider blues where called for. These books would certainly help.
Hi
I definitely lean towards specific colours. I realized this awhile ago and now try to go outside my comfort zone. I love blues on white, blues and greens. I took a design course and realized this could be an influence to where I live. I am in an area of blue sky, lots of trees and water (river). As I mentioned I am trying to use other colours…I am pleased with the results I have seen but still lean to blues and greens
Wonderful give away! I always tend to lean towards the blues and greens – ocean colors! But I’m always open to try an occasional yellow!
Thank you for the opportunity.
I am so intrigued by Trish Burr’s work. Figuring out what colors to use on a project would be one of the biggest challenges! She makes it seem almost effortless though. Her work is beautiful and would be a welcomed addition to my embroidery wish list of projects to do. Both of these books look wonderfully informative and inspirational.
In answer to the question of which colors I gravitate to … I gravitate to hues of purple of course, that color will be in every choice if at all possible. More recently I have been attracted to yellows, oranges, pinks and blues as well. Must be Spring or maybe just a change of heart. So many colors so little time thing… 🙂
I am definitely someone who likes earthy, nature tones, but I’m always looking to add a contrasting color to make a piece “pop”. I used to go to great lengths to make sure colors “matched”, but now I find that idea limiting and boring. I’ve learned in my quilting and watercolor work how much hues and contrast affect the way colors work together, so I’m very interested in exploring how this might work in embroidery.
when I’m picking colours, I lean toward the blue/gold or natural colours. When I do medieval/renaissance work, I use blackwork. For my regency period work, either natural colours or whitework. (as you can tell, I’m a historical reenactor and I do a lot of my work at public demostrations. I also teach classes)
I like to look for background colors or colors that are not the dominant ones. I love to work with variegated threads. I tend to like the lighter shades. My eyes and hands haven’t learned to work well with the darker shades yet. I also like monochrome work. Thank you so much for this opportunity, Mary!
I went to my box of embroidery threads to see if an answer presented itself and it did. Apparently, I love all colors and use them with wild abandon!
Renee
Austin, TX
Oh Yes! I mostly choose colors in the blue/green family, then pinks unless the design calls for specific colors.
I always seem to be using blue in whatever I do. Right now I am particularly stuck on blues and greens. I think this book would be great not only for embroidery, but for choosing colors for all other needlework – quilting especially, but even for knitting.
Mary:
I am what one might call a color lover . . . and that leads to problems as how to pick colors that work together. Most friends would say that I am a red and pink color lover. I study hard and long and look at the color wheel to work out just how I think the colors will work together in the overall picture. I force myself to use as many colors as I think will work on one project. I have Trish’s book you mention above and keep it beside me nearly all of the time. I would love to get those little booklets to supplement Trish’s book.
I tend to go for pinks, purples and turquoises. These are also colours which I like to dress in. Browns are the ones I try to avoid, but sometimes they are good to get a balance with other colours Thank you for another lovely giveaway.
I tend toward blues and purples….and purple-y pinks. Colors I avoid would be yellows and oranges. Which is strange because they’re the complements to the blues and purples, LOL!
I love red work
And blue
I am just learning to embroidery
Would love to have these books to
GROW in my abilities!
I am not very adventurous when it comes to colour and work in whites or monochromatic. There is a lot less room for error! I could really use a book like this. 🙂
I like most of the colors. However when I try to pick color scheme for the work I sort-and-sort-and-sort many colors… and end-up on green, purple and brown. I guess these colors are just sitting inside of me as I notice the same color choice when I pick my clothes.
I prefer a more muted color palette for the reproduction samplers I enjoy stitching.
I do love monochromatic red samplers too.
Actually, I’m a true novice with embroidery. Color has me baffled. I’m never really sure what colors go together.
Hi Mary,
The colors I choose seem to be influenced by both mood and season. Right now I’m feeling soft shades of green and pink with some peachy and warm yellows. It’s a gentle color palette that reminds me of Spring. In winter I would go toward deeper purples, blues, reds and gold. In Summer, I like bright and bold colors and of course, in the Fall it’s all about browns, rusts, deep mahogany and burnt orange and burgundy. Thanks for asking this question. It’s so fun to work with colors and I love Trish’s book on color confidence.
Barb A in VT.
I love needle painting faces and am always looking at
the world in terms of light and shadow. I tend to gravitate
to rose, pale violet and gold tones. I try to push my color palette to tones ‘outside the box’ like brights, reds, greens. It just depends on the subject. I avoid neon brights. Maybe that means I need to find a way to use them!
What an exellant question Mary! I think that many of us have a favorite color scheme even without realising it! My first impression was to say – I love all he colors
But then I thought: well, what is my favorite color? And the answer just came out right – blue! Everything from pale blue to greenish blue. Over the years I stitched many projects, some for myself to keep or practice, some to give away as a gifts. I enjoyed them all. But there is one project that is far from being done( as I stitch this project only a little bit at the time), but I can say that I literally enjoy every single stitch. Just because of colors. To me it is relaxation. My eyes don’t get tired. And I feel that when I am working on this project I am in that special place where everything will be Ok and all problems will be solved .
May be we are talking about color therapy here…
As for colors that are not very pleasing… Can’t say that I have any… I may occasionally prefer project with blue colors over project with bright red, but we need all colors in our life. That makes it colorful! That makes it beautiful! That makes it enjoyable!
P.S. Unfortunately, I broke my arm couple weeks ago, but guess what color I picked for the cast? BLUE…
I tend to be drawn to rich blue/purple/green colorways. But I seem to avoid orange in particular and bright pinks. Sometimes when working a chart I will be surprised at those colors being called for as accents, but when they get worked they do work!
These are lovely books, thank you for the chance at winning them. :>)
Color ! ! ! I LOVE Color! If working on flowers, I tend to try to be realistic. I accent with all shades of green and mix them as they are in nature. I really like to work in red, red/purple, purple, lilac to blue/violet. Again, I mix these together on the same project. Throw in a little orange, just a little, for a pop.
Trish Burr book are written so well. Thanks for the opportunity to win. HAPPY EASTER!
I tend to gravitate toward pink and green (my daughter’s school colors) and red, white, and blue (patriotic). Otherwise I like tone-on-tone designs or one strong color on a white/cream background. Is it any wonder I like blackwork so much — my favorite color schemes work so well in that technique!
Great giveaway! Two of Trish’s books that I don’t have. My go to colors are blues, purples, rose, peach. The colors that I tend to avoid are yellows and oranges. Hope you’re having a great day. Thanks for the chance to win.
I like most colors, tend to do a lot of blues and the sage/peach or sage/pink combos but stay away from purples and yellow-green/chartreuse. Lately I’ve been doing some florals which have 65-85 different colors, so they call for a wide range.
I tend to gravitate to colors that I perceive to be colors in which I would traditionally find the object. For example, I tend to do a rose in shades of red, pink, or yellow. My favorite color is blue, so blue naturally calls my name. I do not usually use colors in “out of the box” ways. I may say that a stem on a flower can be red, purple, or yellow. Yet, I usually use some shade of green for stems. I tend to use more traditional combinations of colors and do not expand my horizons.
Thank you for the giveaway. You are very generous.
My go-to colour schemes are teal/aqua/turquoise, clear greens and purple, but not the pale purples, often using overdyed threads and silk. I will add silver metallic quite often or holographic threads. I stitch a lot of 18 mono canvas geometric designs so this colourway is particularly great. I avoid anything in the beige/brown family…even in overdyes! I have tried to move outside my favourite colours but find it really difficult to stitch with colours that don’t speak to me! I even “see” charts I like in those colours, even if the model is stitched in other colours.
I’m a newbie to the embroidery world. All I knew was the outline stitch. I didn’t realize there’s a whole wonderful world of color out there that blossoms with needle and thread. I dearly love jewel-tone colors. I find it very difficult using primary colors. Every time I use a red or blue it seems to stick out like a sore thumb. I see I have a LOT of learning to do. I’m looking for good basic books to refer to. I’ve learned so much from your blog. Thanks you for sharing all your knowledge.
My color comfort zone seems to be in blues and greens, with some purples thrown in – ie cooler colors. Sometimes I have to remind myself to add some warmer colors, and am almost always pleased with the result, although I still hear the words of a teacher of a cloth dollmaking class I took long ago… “a little yellow goes a long way”… which is true for me!
When planning an embroidery project, I look at the color sets in my flossbox. More often than not, I use rich jewel tones and cool colors as the primary colors, then shade from there.
I avoid the primary colors and use them only occasionally to give a punch to something I’m working on. Opposite of you, one of my favorite colors is mauve as well as other muted down colors. I would say that my least favorite color is red.
Some people are born with that creative, color-sensitive gene. Unfortunately, I am not one of them. Although I’ve taken classes and read books, I still ‘don’t get it’. I find the deep, intense jewel colors please me the most… but then I don’t seem to be able to balance them with the appropriate tints and shades. Oh woe is me! My poor project sits at my side with me looking at it daily (weeks of looking at it daily) with little progress. If I can’t figure it out the color scheme soon, I shall have to get my duster out and dust it off. 🙂
Sally I am right there with you!I am always afraid I will get the colors wrong and I wind up not starting because of that. I have an ambitous (sp) Christmas project that has not been started yet because I want the Dancing Ladies to be beautiful and elegant, but I can’t decide on the colors-bold or subdued; dusty colors or vibrant? Oh well, guess I will start with foliage instead! LOL
I seem to lean more towards the cool tones of greens and blues. I also like the beige tones too. I have never been much of a fan of the warm ones such as reds and orange. I will use reds and oranges if the need arises, but yes, my choice is usually the cool tones.
I tend to always work with the colours that fit with autumn (green, yellow, orange, wine red, brown) as these are my personal style colours, I use them for jewellery creations. Also I prefer to work with gold vs. silver. I often choose white/ecru and black as well. I sometimes use blue/turquoise. I tend to avoid purple, bright red.
I tend to avoid pinks and purples. I use lots of red, orange, green and lately quite a bit of black.
Elaine in New Mexico
When I see a certain item to embroider, it usually says “What you see is what you want”. But then sometimes I will change some colors. But usually I want what I see.
Lovely books! Let’s see…I tend to gravitate toward blues, greens, and purples…mostly cool tones. I am less likely to choose yellows and true reds for my embroidery work.
I gravitate toward pinks and greens and also blues and yellows. The only cor group that I really avoid is browns when nothing else is used with them. My preference is simply lively, cheerful colors.
Hi Mary,
I love the rich, jewel tone colors, blues, browns, reds, deep greens, deep purples, the most. But I’ve seen some beautiful samplers done in soft, pastel colors that I really love too.
I think that I probably choose pinks and blues most of the time!! I looove those turquoisey blues that remind you of the tropics. I love pink allot, but blues are my favorite! Thanks for holding this contest, and remember what Easter is all about!
Carissa
I tend to stay away from oranges and browns–just don’t like those color combinations–reminds me too much of the ’70’s I guess! I gravitate to blues and greens. Would love to add these books to my library!
I would dearly love her books. I saw those pics of the birds and I want to do them so much. My color preferences depends on the project I am doing. If it’s bouquets of flowers I love lavenders and pinks, mostly soft spring colors. If its birds then of course I would do the color of the birds. I mostly love soft muted colors.
I tend to stay away from yellows and oranges as an overall color scheme. I will use them as counter accents if needed. I automatically gravitate to the blues, purples and reds on the color wheel. However I do use the darker values of yellow and orange to compliment the main colors. But for some unknown reason I am not fond of yellow/orange and it is hard for me to use these colors. I am a colorist at heart and tend to chose my embroidery pieces by color rather than design. I am constantly trying to further my understanding of color relationships. To me color is the visual language that crosses all barriers and speaks to our souls.
Barbara L. in Texas
I tend to like earthy colors–blues, greens, browns since I love nature and birds. Usually stay away from pinks–grew to hate them when I was diagnosed with breast cancer and everything was pink. Pink was constantly shoved in my face and it has taken a decade to grow some tolerance to the color.
I tend to gravitate to cooler colours. I think I find them calming.
I tend to like all the victorian colors mauve, dusty purple, etc. and I tend to avoid like the plague orange, lime green and yellow. Those are my sister’s colors. I have several of her books and would love to add these too.
Hi Mary,
What a fantastic giveaway! I am always attracted to colors of Autumn with strong contrasts. Burnt sienna’s, russets, golds, deep reds and greens are among my favorites. I love working with colors of nature. The only colors I don’t seem to be attracted to are pale pastel colors in pinks and blues. The little books are great and would be a big help with all of my creative projects. This giveaway is a nice pick me up after the long dreary winter. Thanks!
Mary Ann/Cincinnati
I have recently been gravitating toward the rich autumn colors, reds, rusts, brown and golds. then the greens are more on the avocado, olive, celery shades. I used to like the brighter colors but now I like the more muted ones. Thank you for your wonderful blog and website. They are both invaluable and I have introduced them to all my stitching and quilting friends. What hooked me was the initial post with the Easter eggs!!! Just very impressive! I am a very visual learner so your video tutorials are wonderful for me. They are very well done!!!!
Thanks again for all you do!
Wendy in San Diego
O, wow! The books look fantastic. I’m generally a copyist, since I hesitate to create my own designs and color combos. The first book is one step along in the design process. The second book on color shading is extremely pertinent to me, I’ve done a bit of crewel work, but the long and short stitch is, shall we say, not my favorite. Anything that would help is welcome!
I would really like to win this it could be a great help to me .It is great hope I win. Thank you
Well, I think I really do all colors pretty well.
But I do love red ALOT! I just try to make the stitches correct. I am still a baby when it comes to color
Ellen in Texas
When I was younger I just loved all of the greens. As I have grown older I am drawn to bold colors and glittering things and love creating something very colorful. The subtle muted colors are lovely when completed but I find it hard to get excited about using them. This little book looks like it would help anyone in their development of color choices.
I must confess New Mexico is my adopted state, but I adopted it with all my heart. I love earthtones with a pop of bright color. Think Adobe with a turquoise door. Terra cotta colors , warm and sun baked, with hints of bright green, blue, maybe a little red, a nice violet. Always remember the earth tones are primary.
I find myself gravitating towards the soft, comforting colors of the mauves and the soft complementing blue and green colors. Gold colors give a spark of inspiration in the designs that I work. Life is so hectic nowadays that I find I like working with these calming colors in the evenings as I rest from the day’s weary labors. Reds, yellows, and other bright colors clash with the mood that I am trying to create.
I am new at embroidery, so I don’t have a lot of different colored threads. I am working on art quilts and I am using embroidery to thread paint. Right now, I mostly use red, blue, yellow, green, black and white. I would love this book to learn how to choose color schemes for hand embroidery.
p.s. Thank you so much for your how to videos on how to do the different stitches. They are extremely helpful to a beginner.
I am drawn to aquas and marine blues with coordinated peaches and rusty oranges and usually avoid creams, browns and neutral tones. No matter what I choose, I am discovering that it is fun to try my own colors than always just use what a pattern/chart tells me I should. This book would really help me get better at that. Thanks for offering it to us.
Happy Easter! Thanks also for the free pattern as well.
I tend to do pieces to go with different room colour schemes, and I fins that pastels go anywhere.
I either do whites or bold colors, depending on the end use of the piece.
I gravitate toward blues, greens, and purples. I stay away from oranges and yellows. I have always found comfort in these warm colors and accent them with white, silver, and gold colors.
I would love a chance to win this! ; ) I gravitate toward chartreuse… I’m just not good at spelling it. : ) I like purples with it. ; )
~Monika K.
I love Trish Burr’s work. The Birds and flowers are stunning. I tend to enjoy working with muted colours but I have one of Trishs instructions/patterns for the Kingfisher and the use of the bright vibrant colours looks fun. Although when I quilt I love to use very bright and shocking colour combinatiopns at times. Must try some brighter colour combinations as in nature there are a lot of bright colours and tones.
I’ve discovered, since starting to read your blog and others, that I love all colors – I thought I was more of a natural gal, but no, you’ve all shown me I really love it all. This is why my thread collection is all over the map – from brights to dusty in all colors of this world and ??? Blogland has set me free into a color cacophony that has spilled over into my quilting, and filled my sewing room with color. Thank – you.
I lean to the purples and red violets when choosing. If I dare to step out of my comfort zone, I choose colors and then I am disappointed in the result. anything that can help me in the color choosing area would be appreciated. Thank you and Happy Easter.
Jo-Ann Carroll
Funny you should ask, as I was thinking about this yesterday while looking at my threads and flosses. I tend to shy away from bright orange. Well, unless absolutely, positively need be. I love soft peach, however, especially when combined with a similar shade of blue and will use peachy colors before yellows. But unless I’m stitching an actual orange in a fruit bowl, I look for an alternative color.
I use a lot of blues, greens and yellows. Love the spring, so use a lot of these in my stitching. I stay away from purples and only use orange in Halloween designs. I would love to branch out and do more colors.
Patricia
Texas Hill Country
I gravitate toward bright and happy colors. Most of all I like the colors you see in the Mediterrenean sea, from blue, to green and anything in between, aqua, lavendar.. I love it.
The colours I avoid are deep deep reds, like burgundy and purplish colours, mustard, browns. Not my taste at all.
Thanks once more for writing your blog. I enjoy learning new stitches from it, and am wiser on what books are coming out thanks to you!
(Blowng you a kiss from very wet and rainy Portugal.. Who would have thought that, rain and clouds in Portugal??)
These books fantastic for those who have trouble deciding how to blend colors.
I love Purple and Pinks.
Thank you.
Elaine
I gravitate to the blue/green/purple part of the wheel. The cool colors. In my stash you can see this very clearly and it doesn’t matter if it’s thread, fabric, paint, etc. Even my wardrobe is this way. I don’t like working in yellows, but I have them to put with my favorite pallet, along with the oranges. You can’t have a sunset without them, I tell myself. I have never stitched a sunset, though. I get pinks when I get purples. I don’t even see yellow and orange immediately when I look at a color chart and I have to make myself get them. Most of the ones I have came with collections I’ve gotten.
Thanks for asking and thanks for offering another great give away!
Autumn is my favorite season, and I prefer to work with those colors. However, I do try to use other color combinations if they work well in the designs. The design and the person for whom I’m creating the embroidery make the color choices easier. I love color! When I’m an old lady, I will always wear brighter colors because they express how I feel about the world.
My colour choices seem to be linked to the seasons. However with our present weather I yearn for the colours of summer. I know that with Trish’s colour shading there will always be a colour choice that is just perfect.
Kath
Hi Mary,
I have never used a repetitive color scheme until lately. If I am making anything for myself – embroidery on tote, clothes, I use magenta, purple and lime green. These colors are from Kaffe’s lotus leaf fabric which I love.
Great giveaway! I hope you kept a copy of each for yourself. I always gravitate toward jewel tones, in clothing, embroidery, and life. Purple is a favourite.
Because at one time I attempted to do watercolor and oil painting, I have color wheels on hand and use them when subbing colors in a pattern. I love purples, blues, pinks and earth tones, but shy from oranges. I love doing cross-stitched quilt blocks because I can use color to my heart’s content. I admire Trish Burr’s work and have some of her books; hoping some day soon to try needle painting.
Wow nice giveaway
What a great pair of books. Love the color one especially but then I am also drooling over the miniature one 🙂
Am enjoying your articles since I stumbled on them. Gives me lots of ideas and confidence in what I do! Thanks!
I always love to embroider with what I call”spring” colors; yellow-greens, lilacs, purples,fuchsia. Spring colors in nature are really very surprising!
I steer away from over doing neutrals. They have their place as natural contrast or framing, I think they should stay in the background.
Thanks Mary for your interesting tips and thoughts shared with us, I enjoy your blog.
Janie in Sacramento
I love to embroider with blues and reds, especially the rich jewel tones. I like to work with most colors; but may use less yellow, as it often looks washed out. Trish Burr is fantastic with color, and I love her book Color Confidence in Embroidery.
If I am working on something I’ve planned I will work the project in shades of red or purple with a contrasting color for accent. If I am working on a commercial kit, I rarely change the colors, because I only buy kits that ‘hit’ my color button so to speak
I rarely work in yellows, it’s just not my favorite color. I will use it as an accent but not for the whole project.
I would dearly love these two books but at the moment money is very short and I have no chance of having them so I am entering the draw in case lady luck is looking in my direction!
Estou na pré escola do bordado(tenho até vergonha de comentar e participar)… uso cores simples e básicas, e gosto muito do branco. Sempre evito cores muito escuras tanto nos fios como nos tecidos pois tenho dificuldade para enxergar.
Um abraço!
Egléa
J’utilise beaucoup les gammes de roses et de verts parce que ce sont les fleurs qui m’attirent, mais j’évite la tendance vers le violet. Je les trouve tristes et j’ai aussi du mal avec eux. Le rouge me fait peur aussi…….
I love the idea of building my “Colour Confidence” as well as improving my long and short stitching techniques. My greatest inclination in color is towards blues, ranging into purple, but I often choose the rosy reds and even like the violet reds. Greens are good supporting colors, but not my favorite choice as a main color. It’s interesting, though, how every once in a while the colors that are not favorites creep into the palette. Thank you once again for the opportunity to add to our libraries.
I tend to avoid bright red, almost any pink, and bright oranges. The colors I gravitate toward are generally blue-greens, blue-purples and greens or other earth tones.
Thank you for the chance to win! I love your blog and your newsletter!!!!
I used to work almost exclusively in earthtones and fall colors on off white and natural linen. These days I initially gravitate toward those same colors and have learned to throw in some brighter floral colors, including yellows and reds which I used to avoid like the plague. After studying color theory and sorting my fabrics by color a couple of years ago Irealized that I had very little of the red, and citrus colors. Jewel tones of amethyst, emerald and gold, along with all shades of blue and earthy browns, greens, rusts, etc. were the bulk of my stash. Now it is more balanced and I am using it all. I am evolving and so is my stash, lol. Thanks for the opportunity to win these wonderful books.
I love color, muted and bright, serene and scintillating. I do gravitate towards the varied shades of colors rather than the primary colors on the color wheel. Davi
I make beaded jewelry, too, so it’s easy to see what colors I prefer (whether or not they go together!). I definitely don’t go for the primary colors, but tend toward blues, greens, topaz, bronze, with accents of orange, yellow and/or red. A little irredescence, a little whimsy. I’d like to work from a painting because it seems thrilling, but mostly I just take off and grab what I think works. Usually it does, but I’m always surprised how what I thought would be an accent color occasionally comes to dominate the work.
As I am noticing the birds, butterflies, and bees in my backyard-they all seem to draw to bright colored flowers and find myself gravitating mostly towards primary colors. Depending on the theme of my furnishing, I like to incorporate with some accent colors like gold, copper as much as the colors can bring joy and draw the lookers to the artwork as much as possible, without overkill of course. I love all shades of greens, blues, purples, yellows… Dull, dark colors have their place to accentuate the colors, the designs so I can’t really single out any group of colors that I don’t like to incorporate in my work.
I know that I gravitate toward warm colors. I don’t use too much blue, but then it always has its place. If I am designing myself, I look at the the source for the colors. When I buy designs by others, I think I go for rich colors that pop. I think it is important for there to be pop in your color choices.
I always thought that it was the design of a piece that drew me rather than the color. Hmmm, I wonder.
The color scheme that I tend to use are the cool colors of blue green purple….although I am always looking for other challenges.
J
What lovely little books! (And I can’t wait for yours…) I don’t really have a favorite scheme – more like a passion of the moment. I like strong vibrant colors, but what I use depends on what effect I’m trying to achieve. Lately I’ve been all about tangerine, lime and purple. I do kindof avoid pastels and need to remember that they are useful for shading.
I tend to gravitate toward bold and spicy combinations – red, orange, and yellow, or hot pink and lime green. Sometimes I go with something more subtle – I’m working on something right now with grey and teal – and sometimes earthy, natural combinations. But my favorites by far are bold and bright.
I love Trish Burr’s work and would definitely like to add these supplements to my library. I would most likely stitch one or more of the pieces offered. Trish is such a good needleartist/designer and these are an example of her fine art.
I tend to use a lot of jewel tones – purples, garnets, teals, etc. Pastels are a lot less appealing to me because I think they can go maudlin pretty quickly if not used judiciously.
I gravitate towards blues and greens with accents of white and yellow…I could also do a tad orange in with that but would not want an entire project done in orange…altho I did a block once in orange for a challenge…
How nice of you to have this offer, Mary!! Thank you, Maire
This set would make a great addition to any Embroidery Library. I would love to add this to my personal library.
I am so interested in the books you are offering! What a great help & wealth of information w/ such clear pictures. I am just getting back into this craft & truly your blog has drawn me back with a new passion. I do like nature scenes & so many colors are intertwined so beautifully. I like the colors of tropical beaches w/ the various blues to aquas of water & various shades of green along the coastline. But if I was making something for a certain place in the home, then I would consider the room colors.
I am never drawn to the dark colors of green/mauve/tans used in ‘country or folk art’.
Personally, I love deep blues and deep purples with green. When I was a little girl I wrote a short story based on deep blues and green. Purple also played its role. The book was really about designing even at that young age. The problem was I never finished it.
Trish Burr is such a master at color wisdom. It would be great to win this supplement.
I love greens in almost any form. It’s definitely my go-to color.
In embroidery I love to use the colours crimson yellow and orange. These colours give me a warm feeling and make me think of the tibethan monks and the buddhism.
The colour I avoid mostly is purple. My dad always told me as a child that purple is “ugly” . Now I am 58 ! What a pity!
Greetings from Holland where everything is green!
love the books!
thinking about the question if i follow color scheme’s or avoid particular color(group) i must confess that i usually pick the warm colors and then in particularly (dark)grey, (dark)red / pink, (dark)yellow. I avoid the greens and the blues. When i look at the work of others using pale colors i really like them but it doesn’t work for me: the colors have to have a WHOW factor.
Color knowledge and selection is the weakest link in my modest “crafty” repertoire. I “cheat” and look through books or online trying to find combinations that appeal to me. Depending on what I am doing, any number of palettes might catch my eye. I find color depth, and how one might achieve that, fascinating.
Hi, Mary & Joey –
Glad to see that someone mentioned color depth in this discussion. It is so interesting to study a piece to learn how color is used to provide depth in an item. It can also be used to illustrate dimension, such as 3-D versus 2-D.
Nothing beats God’s handiwork! To get close to the smallest flower & see how many colors go into its design is simply fascinating. Or go to the bird kingdom where primary colors abound. Check out the mammals for brown and grays. And the greens! God must really like that color; it is found in both areas (plants & animals).
Even zebras and loons represent the black-&-white combo nicely. However, where I find the most study in B&W color depth is in shadows. Dutch master painters made eclectric use of shadow.
I love blues in all things, but with needlework (including quilting) I tend to favor mauve, combining it with either ice green or antique blue. My next favorite combination is burgundy with gold. I avoid orange and purple except as very small touches. I certainly could use a kick in my palette.
Love the primary colors, especially redwork right now. Don’t have enough time to do much!
These look like very useful supplements. Trish Burr does a very good job at trying to educate people on those little fine points that make such a big difference between success and failure.
Personally, I do have colors that I usually am drawn toward. There is usually some kind of vision (or “feeling”) that I conjure up in my mind and try to make the colors “look” like that. Not always successful, but!! One thing I used to do is notice when my eye is attracted to a piece of art, a magazine advertisement, botanical print, or photograph. I have a file of these, and then will just toss colors on top of the selected page (“floss toss” some call it), and can easily eliminate the ones that don’t “go” — then end up with a color palette that reflects the photograph. Because I am always personally choosing these things, there ends up being a consistency that reflects my preferences. And they are usually very calm and quiet. I enjoy being in a class (or reading a book) where I am challenged to jump out of the box. It’s all so fun!
I actually gravitate towards the pinks and rose colors, or blue and cream but have never been confident in trying other color combinations. I always was afraid of it looking “wrong” after all that work. Accent colors? Trial and error. My confidence in picking striking color combinations has sometimes left me paralyzed and I wind up going to my “safety” colors. I’ve not used a lot of gold-I did a couple pieces when I was stationed in Greece (Many moons ago) that involved stylized rose flowers with metallic gold outline stitches. I would love to create pieces with more gold as a striking accent instead of just outlining.
Hi Mary,
Although I used to cross-stitch back in the 70’s and 80’s, and then put down my needle and thread for 30 years, I am being drawn back into needlework since the beginning of this year, particularly hand embroidery (thanks to NeedleNThread! – I have been ‘feasting’ on your website ever since I found it! An entire new world has been opened up to me! Simply put, you amaze me!). Being new to embroidery, I have begun to read and study everything I can find, (and practicing all the basic stitches, too, thanks to your videos!).
I suppose my least favorite colors to stitch will be those in the ‘orange’ family, probably since that is my least favorite color in most things. However, I love all things ‘blue’, (just take a look into my closet!), and I’m about to choose my first ‘project’! (big decision!). I think I might try Trish Burr’s little pansy pattern, or her blue butterfly, (or ANYTHING using the beautiful blues that you chose to make your Marion Medallion!) I know I should pick something designed for beginners ……and it will probably be something ‘blue”.
🙂
Susan
I would greatly appreciate this book. I have so much trouble putting colors together it looks like it would help me enormously. Thank you very much.
I am often drawn to monochrome colour schemes using different shades of the same colour. I particularly like pulled thread or drawn thread embroidery techniques which display beautifully with same or similar coloured fabric and threads. My embroidery projects tend towards shades of lilac and purple which blend with the colour scheme in my room. However, I relish the opportunity to try other colour combinations – especially when I work designs for other people. I often find myself thinking what a wonderful gift colour is.
I use embroidery mostly as an embellishment to my hand appliqué. I do many floral designs and because of that I use many greens, reds, and pinks. I also use golds to accent the centers of my flowers. I love the reds, greens , and golds in the Baltimore Album style quilts. I’m not fond of orange unless its for a Fall project ( September through November I adore it!) When Fall moves out for December’s Green and red I’m sooooo finished with orange. I’m not sure why I feel that way about it other than orange seems rather harsh to me unless joined by lots of the browns and golds of Autumn.
I also love doing “Bluework” embroidery and have combined it with reverse appliqué to create a “Dutch look.” I find blue embroidery on a white background simply beautiful.
I love all colors. I go through (personal) trends. I always love nature themes and their colors. Then I’ll have a spell where I want Jewel Tones, then neon bright colors, then dusty subdued colors and sometimes all neutral or white on white. I love them all and sometimes that can make it hard to decide on the colors I want. I think both books look exciting but the miniature embroidery book looks awesome-love the little birdie.
Yes. I gravitate toward the colors of the forest where I live. Moss, Lichens, Maples, even the deer. I wish I could be more comfortable with more ‘sophisticated ‘city colors, but I am a woodsy at heart.
I’ve not done many stitching projects yet, but I love blues and blue-greens and purples. That said, I tend to stick very closely so far to colors shown with charts or patterns, so it has been more varied than it may seem.
I have the books writen by Trish Burr, I like embroidery with long end shorts stichs… I like blue and violet… I don’t like brown and orange.
I would like receive this pair of books!
I do tend to use the same basic colors and shades over and over, again and again. I suppose it is because I like to do work from a specific time period and those are the colors in style at that time. I really do need to broaden my scope. I often look at something and think “I would never put those colors together” – and yet, they work very well. Perhaps Trish’s book will help me grow a bit in the way I think about choosing colors!
I like almost all colorways, though for years I used purples with teal, green and blue mostly.
Now I use a lot more warm colors, though there will usually be a bit of purple as my signature.
Lynn Schamberger
I gravitate toward spring colors, blues and greens.
I am a newbie when it comes to embroidery (approx 1 ½ years) and haven’t really gravitated to any particular color scheme yet. I am so intrigued with how beautiful others can make things look when they embroider and my goal is to be able to blend color schemes to make something look elaborate and picturesque. I truly enjoy your emails…they are teaching me so much.
I do find myself gravitating toward a certain colours like reds/purples/browns with gold and yellows and greens, I tend to use the greens that have some grays in them like olive green, gade and khaki green, and also the blue-greens shades.
I have to force myself to use all kinds of pinks and pastals.
I tend to gravitate toward earth tones, even in how I dress and decorate my home. I have to really focus on adding the brights, pastels and primary colors.
Oh wow!!!!!!!!!!! I would love to try one of Trish Burr’s designs. I am into needle painting or thread painting and just received one of the Woodland friends character to try long and short stitching. It will be my first experience. I am not great at colors but love to get any help I can get. Please include me in the lovely give-away.
My eyes open wide with amazement and appreciation for the work presented in this book. I take a deep breath with each example I see posted in this newsletter. I would adore having this book and would use it.
My passion is purple with the accompanying shades of periwinkle, lavender, turquoise, teal and a splash of lime. It just feels clean, cool and a little mysterious. I always avoid dull, grayed colors. Otherwise everything goes with purple!
My favorite color combo is red/green-having said that, that’s true today-it may not be true tomorrow. I tend to pick colors that reflect what it is I’m trying to evoke- nature, accenting a piece of fabric,describing a mood. I try to add complements to give the scheme punch or a surprise that make it sing.
I’m a great admirer of Trish Burr’s work and am most interested in studying he needle painting technique.
Bette in SW Ohio
I love jewel tone colors and try to add bright greens and purples in everything. The “griege” colors-light tans and grays are nto my favorite.
When I first started sewing I was frightened of colour, frightened of “getting it wrong”. Nowadays I’m enjoying experimenting with colours. I love ombre, graduating from one shade to another and I’m learning to use contrast to make the colours pop. I’m growing to love green and brown even though I avoided them at first. What gave me the fascination with them is the first time I saw a list of the different names in a catalogue. I’d never thought about the colours we take for granted in nature. So moss green is not the same as fern green or leaf green or grass green – well now I know it I can see it of course !
What colours do I avoid ? I have an aversion to lime green. I’m not much good with yellow but I think I’m frightened of it so I hope to get reconciled with it one day.
I’ve always tended to use blue and pinks in my embroidery as well as quilting. I’ve come out of that phase and now like to us the purples, lilacs. I’m learning to shade my greens more like nature. When I am using a pre-selected color piece I stick with the directions and very rarely make substitutes. I’m trying to break out of my shell and be adventureous when choosing my colors. Who said you can’t teach an “old dog” new things. I’m not a dog, but I’m learning lots of new things!!!
Hello Mary,
I will intend the new Trish Burr’s online classe : bird miniature.
I don’t have the feeling that I always tend to the same color scheme. But I find myself avoiding the combination of red and white on linen, unlike many people…
When tackling surface embroidery I find myself invariably seeking the warm reds, oranges, pinks, rusts and yellows which carry deep-seated memories of my life in Australia before I moved with my family to Montreal, Canada. A background fabric of black or grey suits these well.
These colours cheer and warm me, and have even become a kind of trademark of my work.
I love deep, dark rich colors, pastels have never been a favorite. Dark greens, reds and purples are my favorites. Also some yellows. In selecting patterns or kits you can bet I will be looking for these tones and colors and straying away from those that have too many pastels.
I am still new to embroidery and everything I have done so far have been gifts for others. I try to make it a point to use all different colors (not necessarily in the same project) so that I don’t get stuck in a color rut.
These look like great books. I think they would be very useful for my daughter who has been embroidering. She is constantly asking me for advice on choosing colors for her projects. Perhaps the first book would help her in color choice. She always gravitates to pastels. Perhaps she would also learn to broaden her horizons!
I’m in love! At 70, I discovered Jacobean embroidery. The crimsons, hunter greens, goldenrods, purples, azures all just knock me off my feet. In library books, Ifound the wall hangings, table runners, even the elegant clothing worn in centuries past so appealing. The stories these tapestries reveal are facinating. When one looks at them time and time again, one sees something anew. I’m probably influenced of these colors by my personal coloring. The red hair, pale skinl green eyes and freckles. The Autumn colors are so brillant and invigerating. To own these books by Trish Burr (and thank you for introducing me to her web site) would be the best thing to happen to me in ages.
On starting a new project I sometimes fine myself wanting to break out of the colour scheme that I am drawn to, which is anything blue really, and just add that extra, unexpected colour that changes the effect whether it be dramatically or with great subtlety. With Trish Burr’s expert guidance in needlepainting, I would be able to achieve that and open up a whole new world of colour choices. Just a glimpse of these little books elicited an ‘ooohhh!’ Thankyou for the opportunity to win one.
Thank you for another terrific give-away.
Colors: I tend to gravitate towards primary colors, blues, reds, greens, yellows…not too bright but definitely not dull. Colors of the rainbow.
I tend to gravitate toward blues and I think it’s because it’s the color of flowers that I enjoy most and then I usually have to include some tones of orange to contrast. These colors just make me happy!
I was going to say orange and then I remembered my “Autumn” embroidery that is beautiful and has orange 🙂 Depending on the embroidery I like almost all colors. I tend to keep them more natural. Neons are not a favorite of mine and yet I love my boldly colored Hungarian embroidered pillows. Honestly, how can I NOT like a color palette when something is beautifully embroidered!! The threads of embroiderey are gorgeous in any color….
Specific colors and color scheme,
BRIGHT COLORS
SPRING COLORS
ALL THE BRIGHTEST COLORS OF THE ORCHIDS, TULIPS, and TROPICAL PLANTS.
The spectrum of embroidered threads is always difficult to choose from but I find myself drawn to sea shades of turquoise and teal – good for ducks and peacocks too!
I guess I use whatever colors seem right for the project I’m doing. I usually stitch for others, so I go with what works for them. I enjoy working with jewel tones more than any others, though. I’m not a fan of pastels but I have used them a lot for baby projects.
I like all colors schemes except golds, orange most yellows and browns. I like purples, blues, greens and whites the most followed by reds pinks, mauves.
Hi
I find I am drawn to the fall colors. I really enjoy working with the deeper autumn shades. The burnt orange, yellows and cranberry colors. Thanks for an opportunity to get such a great book
JE GRAVITE VERS LE COULEUR DE ORANGES ,POUPRES DES COLEURS CHAUDES , O DE COLEUR PASTEL BLEU CIEL ,
I often use a large variety of Colors in a Project. Thats my Problem! Needless to say, These books would really come in Handy for me.
Mary, I would love to win this suppliment to go with my Color Confidence book. I usually will go to a burgandy/mauve/rose color scheme and stay away from yellow/gold scheme unless it GOLD…
I always gravitate towards dark colors as they feel so ‘rich’. My favorites are purple with teal & gold in all shades. I prefer to stay away from pinks, light blues & greens, however, I will use them when required for shading, etc. Trish Burr’s books are the absolute best! Thx for this opportunity Mary.
Missy In Colorado
This looks like a lovely book–useful also for painting! I tend to favor colors that are close variations on one or two central colors.I like to dive into a purple and use lavenders and lilacs with it but to keep it from being boring would add a silver (not grey) accent. And I am entranced by goldwork! Katedoordan
I like Red Work, Blue Work, Black Work and White Work. When I am embroidering a “picture” I will use just about any color though I don’t have many oranges in my stash. These books look wonderful. Thank you for the chance.
I find choosing the “right” color the best, but most challenging part of any project! It’s kind of like shoosing the most beautiful flower – they are ALL georgeous! I love greens and especially paired with raspberry pinks! Blues are also one of my favorites. I absolutely LOVE red and all it’s cousins (back to pink again!). Thanks for another awesome giveaway!
Ruth
I especilly love greens, blues and purples. However, when doing embroidery, I use whatever color is necessary for the specific piece. especially if doing flowers, the colors vary greatly and I do like to see the variety of colors in a flowery piece.
Thanks for the opportunity to participate, you are always so generous.
Usually I like bright colors and find it hard to deal with lots of brown, mustard, etc. I am trying to evolve my color palette!! If a color doesn’t attract my attention, I sort of pass it by, esp. in clothes. I’m a friendly person and like friendly colors!
I love to embroider in blues and green. Also yellows and oranges, and also pinks and purples, but only when they are needed. Thank you Mary for all your help and advice. I would love to win the book. I’m not sure I needed to put my name in this part, if so, I’m Valoris from Edmonton Alberta, Canada.
Primary colors usually suit me just fine. It depends, of course, on what it is I’m embroidering. I do have to make myself consciously pick colors outside of pinks/violets sometimes, especially if flowers are involved.
The color book particularly interests me, as I have a mini-collection of them within my sewing book collection. This subject has been near & dear to the hearts of crafters in so many varied areas of art over the years. Personally, I think this is due to the impact & influence color can make in our lives.
I am fairly good at using a lot of colors. I probably do not put in as much orange as I could. But I adore color and love to play with it. I rarely follow suggested color schemes.
Thanks again Mary, I learn so much from you.
Shelia in Oklahoma
What a wonderful giveaway! I tend towards the blue/green/purple colors in my work, accented w/ metalcs – a peacock, if you will. I really like the red/gold combination to, but don’t seem to use it much myself. I’m drawn towards it in other peoples’ work, however.
Joan
I tend toward muted colors. That doesn’t mean pale, but I don’t like super bright colors all over the place. One or two bright colors mixed with muted colors is so effective.
Sandy
Wow, what a lovely books.
I love the colours, lavendel, purpel and the greens.
Greetings Maria
Would love these two books! I tend to choose the blues and greens but also like the warm earth tones,too. The shading is what I need help woth so this would really help. Thanks!!
I always choose the blue , even when I want to innovate, it’s my favorite color in all shades except when I’m in white embroidery mode.
Wow! Another great give-away! Jewel tones, especially blues, purples, and deep blood-red are the colors to which I am drawn. Several years ago I started forcing myself to buy orange and yellows. Often, it is hard to choose.
I love your website. I’m a french people but I have many revues and books in english. This pair of book are fabulous….
My shade are terracota,orange and olive green
Sorry for my english.
Hi Mary,
I love jewel tone colors – amethyst, sapphire, ruby, emerald – and have mostly avoided the yellow/mustard/orange range. But have really started loving some halloween/fall designs so am moving out of my normal color range. I also try to remind myself that other people will love colors that are not my pick, so that has helped me to be more open to what might look good together. Teresa
I tend to love jewel tones, nothing too bright and garish!
Thank you for the opporttunity of winning a give-away.
I gravitate toward sage greens, dusty pinks, blends of not-quite blues, and antique whites.
These are the colors that draw my eyes & heart.
I began my interest in arts and crafts with embroidery from my maternal grandma, and art from my aunt, crafts from my mother and so on, my family loved arts & crafts. I am now a decorative painter and love these little books for their design elements and especially the selection of color and stitches to blend as I do with various paints and brushes. Even though I probably won’t win, I will add her books to my wish list (hints just don’t cut it with my guy for gifts! LOL).
COLOUR in capital letters. Nasturium orange, Crayola yellow, electric blue, fuchsia… balanced with natural greens of course since most of what I design have flowers and trees, just very bright flowers. Having to design a traditional Jacobean crewel Tree of Life using the traditional “sad” colours was a struggle until I slipped in a much more vibrant peacock standing on the hill. No more traditional Jacobean for me.
Trish’s colour schemes are great at forcing me out of some of my comfort zones. I’ve explored them via her website and would love to own the book. If I don’t win it, I foresee a book order being placed.
I am a beginner with a Brother SE400…I have a lot to learn and these little books seem just right for getting my colors coordinated and various from the beginning and not having any bad habits to break.
Thanks so much,
Linda
I am drawn to the warm colors. I seem to like it ver bright or very calmming and neutral.
sewing Cindy
I always like dark colours preferably red and pink with combination of golden brown and white.. avoid grey , black this sort of colour. Black I use whenever I need to high light or make boundary line.
I tend to gravitate toward fall colors.They remind me of home.I miss the beautiful fall colors where I am from. The mountains look like they are on fire just bursting with the most beautiful fall colors you could imagine.
I really like bright vivid colors and I like it even better when there is a riot of all bright and vivid colors swirling and curling in a pattern. The brighter and more colorful it is the more likely the project will get finished.
Of course my least favorite is very dark or monochromatic colors because for me that only leads to snoresville.
I love crazy quilt embroidery but have wanted to expand my learning to needle painting. I really don’t have a color or color family that I don’t like. But I do tend to stay away from browns , greys and drab colors. My favorite color is RED. Can ya tell I love red? hehehehe
For me picking colors is exciting and terrifying at the same time. My favs are all the shades of green, fuchsia, and most jewel tones. Because I love strong colors I have to remember to add subtlety and shading to soften the effect.
Hi Mary – great give-away!
I believe that everyone has a preferred palette, from clothes to wear to embroidery. I like the basics, colors that match each other and are great as a background for whatever I fancy at the time and wouldn’t go along with other colors. So black and white, brown and beige, navy blue… and pastels, I love them all. But I have to say – since I have never designed a pattern myself (just yet), I use the colors suggested. But am probably drawn to the ones matching my favorite colors anyway! 🙂
Happy Easter!
I tend to use warm country colours however on my newest project I went with bright colours.
Since I generally do cross-stitch, it’s not so much the colors I choose as the patterns I choose. I do tend to go more for cool shades – blues, greens, purples, although nature colors also attract me (greens, browns, blues, grays). I avoid like the plague anything that is overwhelmingly neon bright, although including a few extremely bright colors in a design won’t put me off.
I would really love to get my hands on Trish’s color book as I’m currently struggling with colors for my long-in-coming kitchen renovation. It would be such a help!
Thanks Mary for your give-aways. They are so much fun!
In embroidery, I love the colors of Nature. I love colors of Birds , flowers and overall all the colors we see as we look around every day. They are beautiful.
Red, crimson and greens are some of my favorites.
Colors of discord I usually avoid.
Not only do I find the photos enchanting; I love thinking about and selecting colors (or “colours” if one prefers) for my needlework. I gravitate toward muted autumn colors and tend to veer away from bright primary colors in my work. I think that comes from having lived in New England for a number of years; I have never gotten over the beauty of the fall leaves. What I loved best during those fall seasons was seeing all the muted colors with an occasional bright gold or sparkly red showing through. I want some day to design an embroidery piece that suggests this natural phenomenon although I do not think that its full glory can ever be replicated. I’d love to receive these books – particularly as I will turn 82 on April 1. What a birthday present!
My tastes changed they the years. When I was younger everything was pastels now it’s all golds, greens and rusts. I guess my age steers me away from what I called baby colours.
My preferences over the years has changed. I use to be a teal/mauve fan. I think because the colors suited by professional flair. As I moved into less professional activities and into fun stuff I started like blue/gold. Traveling through Egypt meant have been the cause. Now I am more purple/yellow. Think I am old enough to wear purple. Colors I have never been into orange/brown. Something to do with Halloween I suspect and/or decay. Since I am now starting to design my own pieces having a color sense which includes disliked colors would be beneficial.
Chris in FMY
I almost always work in white or ecru as I love White Work. It is not that I don’t love colors – you should see my home, but when I embroider, its white that ends up on my needle. I feel that it is time to change my ways and Trisha’s books seem an easy and painless way to start.
Karen Hilinski
With most things I tend to gravitate towards bluey green colours, but with embroidery I like using bright colours.
Recently I went out of my comfort zone using vintage green colours in a vintage looking embroidery. I didn’t like it at first but know love it!
Trish Burr is my all time favourite!
I like the burgandy/wine colours and of course red with a contrast of purple. The bright lime green seems to be a good colour and when I look at the trees as they are turning colour that green is everywhere. Gold is a necessary part of my embroidery and I didnt realise how much. As I have advanced into my embroidery i notice the colours in nature so much more, and you can see all the colours that are, all just outside your window.
Hi Mary,
Thanks for another grez5 competition. My favourite colours are greens, reds,blues and yellow / golds. I like the mauves and pinks too. I never use salmon pinks, orange, brown and taupe and beige, I call these the murky browns, not my thing at all.
Cheers…..Helen.
I’m very conservative about colour. I know what I like but haven’t a clue how to explain why (even to myself).
But I’ve found whitework fascinating, and I’d gravitate to blues and purples when I browse designs.
Tessa in Stellenbosch
I could write a book on this. In general, though, I prefer warm colour schemes and colours from nature. I am almost too predictable in my green/yellow, green/pink, combinations. Somehow, everything looks good with green!
I have a hard time incorporating blue in projects. Royal blue in particular sets my teeth on edge in a lot of combinations, like red and royal blue, and to a lesser degree yellow and royal blue. I can feel my nose wrinkling! A cool blue like denim blue, or navy blue, great, but royal blue, yuck! It’s funny, isn’t it? Everyone sees colour differently, depending on how our eyes are built. It’s an interesting topic.
I am just starting to embroider again. I taught myself as a kid.
When I quilt, crochet, etc I choose whatever colors suit the person or room I’m creating for, but my favorites are shades of blues and burgandys. I’m looking forward to creating something for our house built in 1828.
These look like great books!
This time of year, I find myself longing for lime greens, bright greens, anything green!
Generally, though, I would say I don’t have a specific color pallette that I lean toward; I lean toward strong, bold, bright colors. The color itself really doesn’t matter. No pastels for me!
Thanks for the great giveaway!
Carol S.
I find myself choosing the color combo of browns and greens. Then I end up with Fall colors as accents.
It use to be blues and yellows, but it has changed.
Mary in Oregon
I stay away from primary colors. I am more comfortable with deep jewel tones, colors associated wtih the shore, and nature in general. I love metallic colors, especially copper. Love your blog.
Pat W-S
I typically stick with blues/greens and purples. I just always use those as my go to’s. I can not make myself use oranges for some reason, unless it is a really bright fluroescent orange. No rusts or brown oranges for me…I just avoid those colors…likely because I went to a high school that used orange as a color and I suppose I am just sick of it. 🙂
I like embroidery with lots of colors or monochromatic. There is not one color scheme I am particular to, but if I had to choose one color I use the most, it would be blue. The color I choose might also depend on the design or where it will be shown.
I regret of not not well understand English because your blog is really very interesting. Books seem an appearance of treasures in spite of the dam(roadblock) of the language and the Google translation is ……
( same thing the reverso traduction )
Hi Mary
I firstly work out what I am going to do with my embroidery (eg where it will go, who is it for, etc)and go from there, but if I have nothing to match the colour scheme with, I tend to go for pastel ‘dusty’ colours in pinks, blues, mauves and greens. I find them soothing to the eye and they somehow relax me.
Greetings from “Down Under”. I’m a RED Girl so anything in that colour hue is my preference. I enjoy the vibrate primary colours and am not confident with shades.
I avoid as much as possible the brown and khaki tones… I know they are important to an overall effect but I cannot bring myself to introduce those “muddy ” colours.
Happy Easter to all.
Marg
I absolutely crave turquoise in every possible variety from Navajo Sky to spruce green, teal, aqua, and an eye-stinging almost-Royal Blue. I need this color and always add red, orange, pink or white to make it pop. As for not-like color, yellow and ochre and what I call “baby-shit” green would never get chosen. Having suffered through Harvest Gold and Avocado and now a trying-too-hard springy green, though I do love true grass green, and I think a lemon is very pretty. Thank you, Mary!
Hi Mary,
My most recent projects have been Mountmellick embroidery, so I guess I really like white on white! But my favorite colors to stitch are one that complement one another, like blue and orange (in muted shades), or yellows and purples (think pansies). I have worked several of Trisha Burr’s kits; they are the best!
Thanks,
Patrice in Riverside, CA
Mary, i don’t have to describe my likes and dislikes. You and I were cut out of the same color cloth. I will add that I believe that any and all colors can go together if used in the right shades and proportions.
I drift towards the greens and rose colors, given my choice.
Thank you for the very generous give-away.
Happy Spring!
Hi Mary,
I tend to use purple and greens a lot. My favorite color is purple, and I love flowers, so the choice is an easy one for me. And although I love ALL flowers (to the point of obsession), the orange and yellow ones are way further down the line than the irises or violets are. I love color and am always interested to see how other people use it–in any medium. Of course Trish Burr’s books are fabulous and getting one would just be a real treat.
Thanks for your blog…I learn so much about stitching when I visit you.
Dawn E. Anderson
Springfield, OH
Mary,
I love all colours. When I get a Jacobean Kit and it is blue, I change it to greens. I have a pet like to greens. Something about blue does not appeal as much to me as green Your comment on an orange you had and found it hard to place. It immediately, in my mind was joy and I had it teamed with greens, purples and a few other colours to tone it down a tad. Doing a braid in the orange and oversew with purple, or green and other strong colours to compliment.
My motto with colour is, there is never a wrong colour it just hasn’t found its place. No wrong fabrics just hasn’t found its use yet.
I would not be without my Pantone cards or my large colour wheel which I ad some of the colour choices to before I start a work.
But with Trish Burr’s little bird works it is as it is and the colours have to be followed.
I have yet to see a green blue bird…! Ahhhh we live in hope!!
Martha May
Australia
I usually work with one or two colors because I am deathly afraid of color. I never had an art class until I enrolled in a community college. Truly, I even had trouble with coloring books.
I copy color. I would love to have an original thought. Susie from NY
Purple, greens and deep red (with the bluish undertones) and browns and a bright sunny yellow.
I love all of colors which makes it difficult when selecting my threads for a project. Being a novice at embroidery I usually stick with color suggestion. I haven’t reached a point where I feel confident enough to create my own design. I need more practice before I tacle that point.
While learning Japanese silk embroidery, I wanted to avoid my “western” palette.I gravitated to a pairing of an olive green and medium dark red. This pair showed up somewhere in each successive piece. I have since reverted to my western eye, but this pairing still remains my first choice.
And like you, I avoid the purple and pinks.
I find I gravitate towards the same colors in embroidery as I do in life: jewel tones, pink with gray, peacock shades, and dark colors. I’m also head over heels for white on white; I think texture can sometimes be more interesting than color. I’ve just started embroidery, and I’m self-taught using primarily your website’s tutorials. I picked up my first Trish Burr book last week, on Needle Painting, and I’ve found it already to be fascinating.
Unless I take a shopping list for specific colours I seem to come home with the same colours again and again! Blues, reds, pinks, greens.
Buying one of Trish’s kits has been great because I now have a whole collection of colours I may not normally choose, but when embroidered into the piece are harmonious and beautiful.
I usually use whatever the designer suggests. I don’t have the confidence to pick my own colours so this book would be just wonderful
I have a lot of trouble with color, so I tend to stick with the color combinations of old Caucasian carpets – navy and antique blue, gold, cream and a very orangey red. (I only figured out which red to use by holding samples against a carpet, and I was shocked to see how orange it really was!) I avoid any washy colors and also gray. However, my daughter loves gray and uses it very effectively, so maybe I need to rethink.
Mary, how on earth will you find time to read all of these comments?
I’ve learned to be a very fast reader! 🙂
I definitely find myself gravitating to red/green color schemes, but not ususally the “Christmassy” shades. Most often I find myself using soft greens and pinky mauves, or forest and moss greens with burgundy and rust shades. However, if there is only going to be one color used, it will almost always be blue!
I do quite a bit of work on silk gauze (40 and 49 ct) and I would LOVE to have books/booklets that really help me work on shading in very small projects. This would be a great addition to what I can create…thanks for the opportunity!
I love color. Love to stitch flowers and am attempting animals. After taking the Needle painting class with Margaret Cobleigh I am feeling more confident with my skills to venture forward. I am more concerned about realistic rendering in my stitching (most of the time)!
Susie Jarosz
Needle painting produces such beautiful, natural looking results. Trish Burr’s kits and patterns provide such great instructions that I stick with recommended colors. When I do branch out I tend to use colors that the recipient of the piece would like. I rarely design something myself or come up with my own color pallet. These books might help me branch out.
I seem to be drawn to blues , greens and browns, and sometimes have to
Force myself to use other colors. I was looking for a color to spike a
Piece in certain shades of blue and an orange turned out to be just the
Ticket. I find two tools helpful, a color wheel and a DMC color chart.
That way I can get ideas for colors which please my eye when placed
Together. The books look gorgeous. Thanks as always for the chance
To win one.
Like lot of people, I have my rang of favorite colors. If I choose colors, it is always mute one. I have to be careful sometimes to add some accent color, it do not come first. I have to think for that.
Excuse the way I wrote in English my first language is French.
Nicole
Blue, blue and blue again! Manuela in Italy
I love to work with blues and enjoy adding white and silver to the blues. I would love to win these books as I have been trying needle painting and all the instruction I can get would be helpful. They are so beautiful and inspirational. Thank you.
Most of the time I pick green, yellow and orange or terracota. There is such a wide variety of greens in different kinds of threads that they are more easy to blend together. I’ve trying with purple lately but no getting to pink yet. The most difficult for me is blue, it doesnot always go good with other colors
Blue and Green! Because, well I like blue and green.
You ask what colors or color scheme I gravitate toward. I wish I could tell you. The reality is that I become so overwhelmed with my inability and confusion in choosing colors, that I often avoid the embroidery project altogether! Let’s just say that I lack Color Confidence, and would love to immerse in Trish Burr’s book on the subject. In fact, I honestly believed that I was the only one with this problem.
Blues are so calming and relaxing! I tend to drift back to the blue-greys. I especially enjoy silver highlights with the darker hues of the cornflower blue. I use the darks-navy and such in place of black or brown for outlining and details. My masterpiece took 8 years and multiple restarts before I got it right. 16 different shades of blues and 5 shades of greys (as well as multiple neutrals for the background) on 22 count—the result–Blue Boy! (original painting by Sir Thomas Gainsborough)
Hello,
Since I have really just started getting back into stitching I am not really gravitating to any colors only the ones on the patterns LOL! So this would be an awesome giveaway to win. Thank you and have a great day. 🙂
I love rich, vibrant colors and tend to avoid light, pastel shades. I love greens/blues/purples and reds/greens/golds. I also love blue/white (think chinese porcelain) and black/white. Last year I challenged myself to stitch something in muted tones of browns and grays. It was something very different for me and I really enjoyed it.
Most of my embroidery is of the medieval variety since I am a member of the SCA. Trying to find colors that are similar to what they had during the period I portray is difficult but I enjoy the challenge. Still color to incorporate purples, browns and black within my work that I am doing. Thanks for all the great information that you are putting out.
I always prefer greens and blues and tend to buy kits that use these colours. They are colours that I tend to wear too so maybe it is just that I am most comfortable with them. I find pink really difficult as it is a colour that I don’t like which is a problem as my 5year old boy says that it is his favourite colour and wants me to make something with it. I’m not sure how I am going to manage that one 🙂
I find that in embroidery as well as quilting, applique (and dressing) I like muted tones. Bright colours scare me! I like to do detailed, intricate work “behind the scenes” then let my work speak for me—it’s very expressive ;>. My sister is bright and I’m dull. After attending a conference together she agreed to wear mustard and I agreed to let her help me pick something bright out for me to wear. What an uncomfortable day! But we both did it. Now we’re comfortable in our own ‘skins’.
Its interesting. I had not thought about it before, my favourite colours are blue and purple, but I never stitch with them – its always the more pastel shades of pinks, rose, gold and green. I don’t really know why!
Visiting museums in Europe is one of the amazing things I do with my husband. While looking at the paintings I try to look beyond to see how the color schemes can be used in my quilting or embroidery. I never can get a “true” photo of the colors. I tend to use purples and greens in my work.
I seem to always choose blues, whites and some greens. I just love all the different shades of blue and green that DMC comes in and I love to embroider botanicals and birds. I do use yellows, pinks and reds, but not alot. I embroidered an iris a while back and I did it in several shades of lavendar and purple, and it was beautiful. I am partial to the blues, but love to branch out sometimes. Thank you Mary for all the wonderful information that you provide for us novice wannabes.
I love green and blue together with touches of yellow. I have the hardest time with orange as a colour unless there are pumpkins involved. I cannot resist pumpkins which naturally do not fit into my home colour scheme! I do own Trish Burr’s Colour Confidential which is an amazing book.
I like lots of colors! Generally speaking though, I lean toward the subtle side of the scale. Strangely enough, I visited a local yarn store today and spent more time than I should looking at lots and lots of colors. For my current project I focused on three palettes: glacier blue, tobacco, and ginger. Each palette has six shades from light to dark. I find it very helpful to see the gradations in the same family of color. I hope I’m lucky enough to win one of Trish’s books….. and, if I do, I hope Mary doesn’t end her message with “April Fools” 🙂
I tend to gravitate towards pinks and blues. I am in the CQJP and I am trying to make each month a different colour just to push myself and use colours that I would not normally use.
Dear Mary,
What a lovely- and very valuable- giveaway- and I thank you. I love mauve, rose-pink- cremes and a touch of green. Into that mix- some blue- but all the shades are a dusty/antique looking color range. I have so much to learn about color because at this point, I just use what I think goes together and will please my eyes. Have a lovely holiday weekend and may winter soon be over!
Peg F. in NJ
I would say that I most definitely have a favorite “go to” color palette which is dusty or muted shades of pinks, mauves, blues & greens. I would also say that I most definitely stay away from color palettes that are bright or bold no matter what the colors. Now, if I like a design that is done in the bold colors well enough, I will substitute the chosen colors for colors I prefer. This can sometimes be a very overpowering endeavor but I make it work. These supplimental books would be a great asset for me during those trying times when doing a conversion.
Color enriches our lives. When I start a new project I frequently try to force myself to select colors out of my “comfort zone” and try a totally new color way.
It amazing what happens! I love overdyes and can’t wait to see how the color develops. It makes me want to keep stitching. We are blessed to have so many beautiful fibers available for stitching.
I also frame most of my work and definitely think outside the box when selecting mat board colors. I love to be bold and daring with color.
Happy Easter and thanks for your website. I love receiving it each day and you are so generous in sharing your knowledge.
Best regards.
I love pastel to medium pinks (for roses), lavenders (violas) and greens. I love the subtle shading that a range of these colors have to bring life to a flower or leaf. Thanks for the chance to win in the giveaway! I am especially drawn to the Intro. to Miniature Needle Painting book.
I tend to use brighter colors and tend to stay away from pastels. Thanks for the chance to win this set of booklets, and truly you are such an asset to this art of needlework. Thank you for all you make available to us.
I’m just getting started in embroidery. I love all color but tend to gravitate to the reds, blues and yellows. When making quilts my favorites are the beiges browns gold tones and yellows. The only color I don’t use very much is purple. Thanks for the chance to win. neena
I love color schemes of red, burgundy, burnt orange & yellow. This would be a wonderful resource to have.
Lee Ann from Illinois
I find that I tend to be drawn toward blues and greens in my needlework. These colors give me a calm feeling that stays with me. Of course, needlework itself is a way to “escape” the harshness of our lives. Blues and greens tend to relax me similarly to the beautiful Gulf beach where I live. In contrast, reds and yellows make me feel as I do when I hear a musical instrument hit the wrong note. I have found that working in blues and greens lessens my growing tired of a project, also.
I tend to gravitate towards blues and lavenders. I avoid reds. I don’t know why, but I just don’t like the color red; never have. Browns and oranges are colors I can’t wear, but I have my living room decorated with those colors. So, sometimes I do work with those colors.
I tend to lean towards blues and silvers and away from pinks. I also look to nature for colours so greens, browns and oranges show up as well but I still struggle with onkls and reds!
I tend to gravitate towards softer colors. Not always pastels, just softer shades. I tend to shy away from very bold colors. Our house is 100+ years old and we try to keep “the old look” when remodeling so my choices in stitched pieces tend to be the same. Nothing bold that stands out of place but a blended palete of softer shades.
Hm, I tend to gravitate towards blues and greens, but I have suprised myself with terracottas and browns and all sorts of colors!
I have almost always gone with the colors suggested in a cross stitch chart, but I want to feel confident enough to choose my own colors. I do nott have a LNS, so there is no where to go play with thread combinations. I tend to pick charts with jewel tones and red and shy away from oranges and browns. I have purchased the Colour Confidence book, but not yet studied it. I would love these additional books. Thanks for your wonderful blog. I have learned so much from you.
Thank you for the chance at the Trish Burr books!
In embroidery, I gravitate toward the natural colors, which really could be ANY color! For example, if I am stitching a variety of flower, or a bird, I look at photographs of that object. Flowers and birds come in a myriad of colors, and endless combinations. Having a photograph at hand allows me to really “see” and isolate some really unexpected colors. I find these color combinations also can be repeated in any type of embroidery because they are naturally complimentary.
I tend to avoid orange but I may be changing my mind! I embroidered an owl that “needed” orange and it came out beautifully. Otherwise, I favor the colors of nature and blue, green and purple shades.
Colour is something that is important to me, I take great care to make sure that the colours that I choose work well together.
For random work I naturally gravitate to blues with grey undertones. It is my favourite colour to wear. I contrast this with teals, bright pinks and emerald greens.
When I work on something that has a botanical subject I try to match the my threads as close as I can. I often take samples of real leaves and petals and match the threads. Once I took a photo and used an online colour matcher so I could get the shading right. Worked well!
I like bold colors, especially reds, blues and other coordinating colors. These booklets look very intriguing.
Regards,
Sarma
I have had really big problems with color since my days of digital art. I spend most of my time designing projects even now looking conserned and staring at color combos, second guessing all the way. I love colors of an intense hue, and as such avoid muddy or gray colors. I’m stitching on black so I avoid too dark colors unless there is no other way. I’m usualy not that big on pastels either. I do love reds and golds, but I havn’t used them as much in embroidery so far. But cool colors, especialy mint and see greens, or deep purples are my true love! Complementary colors, like purple-gold are my favourites, altough I tend to stick with monologous colors, because I am to scared so far. Really, I’m an “ALL THE COLORS, ALL OF THEM!” Kind of girl, wich explains, why I have such troubles wich color…I just can’t decide! I have been trying to learn how to do pictures with short and long stitches, and you and your site have been a great help so far, and I’m looking forward to your guidience in the future!
Also, sorry for my english, and ramblyness.
I love jewel tone schemes and try to avoid pastels I want bright and cheery and I like to work in autumn colors it reminds me of being on the east coast in the fall. purples are great with gold. I think as embroider’s and sewing it is some much fun it’s as if we have our own crayon box to mix and match and see what colors you can throw into your mix to create the perfect item
I like most all colors so there aren’t any that I avoid or favor. One thing I do is try to keep birds, trees, etc. their natural colors. I want them to look as true to life as I can make them. Thanks for the chance to win Trish’s booklets! 🙂
I find myself going to shades of pink into reds, using some purples and blue. Greens are in the blue hues. I have a problem with yellows and yellow greens. I do have to be aware of the colors to add them to my work. I just finished a landscape that I had to put in yellow for some added light to the flowers.
When starting an embroidery I will alway tend toward the reds, oranges and yellow combined with browns and all the earthy tones This said I also enjoy all colours but don’t like pastels or muted hues as much as the bright vibrant threads. I also tend to avoid blues.
I love hand dyed silks in soft shades of green or pink for baby projects. When working on a needlepoint design, I gravitate toward earthy colors with a touch of metallic in some pieces. The selection of threads and colors seems endless. One needs an art degree or a great book in addition to a skilled hand at stitching!
Hi Mary
I am so excited that you are giving these books away because I have the hardest time with putting colors together.I know I gravitate towards pinks and purples with black as an accent color.
I do have trouble with yellows, certain greens. and I am wanting to use golds but am finding it difficult to start.
I have the color wheel but still want to use many more colors and it seems these books use examples which is so much easier to see how the colors work together.
Thanks for letting us know that these books are there for people like me to use.
Aw…a bit of a difficult question since I love color in general; however, I can do some narrowing.
1. Most favorite: color combination of blues, purples, turquoise.
2. Second favorite: jewel tones – magenta, teal, emerald, royal blue, royal purple.
3. Not much into: earth tones, grey tones.
Thanks – especially loved your Easter project with the eggs…not sure I have the talent for that, but it would be a blast to try all the same!
LOVE Trish Burr’s works and I’ve really been into color theory lately. It seems to apply in many areas of life in terms of decorative arts (home decor, paint colors, etc.), as well as crafts (embroidery, knitting, quilting). I like how Burr uses paintings as guides. I find that the masters (then and now) take the guesswork out of putting together a palette, so the hard work is already done for us. A recent “House Beautiful” issue was completely on color palettes applied to home decor, and that is one issue that will never see the inside of the recycle bin. I’ve found that whether it’s a decorative art or a small embroidery project, if I love the color scheme, I almost always love the finished product. Good luck, everyone…and a blessed Lenten week!
I love blues and shy away from reds.
I love Brazilian embroidery thread – especially the magentas, pinks and greens!
I love blues and pinks with green for contrast. I have lots of projects with these colours because it seems lots of designers like them too!
What does this tell you about me? Could it be I don’t have the confidence to go it alone?
I would love to design an original work but just dont have the confidence (or maybe the imagination) to picture the finished effect.
I do not really have a “color” for embroidry. it really depends on what I am embroidering. I have mainly done solid colors or kits.
I love Trish’s work and want to do some of her kits that I have when I work up the courage to try them
Blues and greens. I don’t have too much trouble with the occasional brown; I deliberatley put orange and gold in one project because it was all green and beige and needed contrast. Red is even less frequent. I have ONE project, over the last 20 years, where I’ve voluntarily included pink – and it’s a peachy salmon-pink, not cotton-candy or peppermint. (I have an excuse for the last one, tho – I’m a natural readhead and was told, for years, that pink is Not My Color . . . and it isn’t. Not for clothing. Oh, 2 excuses: My husband doesn’t like pink for house decorations.)
I am drawn to blues, greens, oranges (with red not yellow). I seldom go to yellow or gray.
I definitely gravitate towards the jewel colours, but tend to avoid pastel pinks and yellows.
In the 1970s, a popular trend was to find your personal color palette related to the four seasons. As a “summer” I was to wear colors with blue undertones versus those with yellow undertones. In my embroidery I find that I am drawn to designs that have shades of rose, blue and green. I do not usually use orange, rust or yellow green other than as accent or contrast in very small amounts. I am currently trying to improve my shading skills and find that Trish Burr’s books are great resources for this.
While I am pretty fickle and often like the last color scheme that I have seen, overall I like pinks — particularly pinks and greens with a little yellow or violet. I also like bright flowers on a black background. Of course it is spring, ask again in the fall and you will probably get a different answer!
I am drawn to fall colors, but find i start projects in the color of the coming season. Especially now when Spring seems late in starting.
I am an artist and a stitcher and quiltmaker. Color is not a strong suite of mine. I know what looks good…when I see it. Making up the colors myself from scratch is frustrating for me. From what I can see of the 5 color book it certainly would give me a good start on things. I have nothing like the other embroidery book either. Law of averages….surely it is my time to win something soon! Patriciak425@comcast.net Patricia from Colorado Springs.
Personally I love fall colours, the vibrant reds, burnt oranges, greens, and the rich browns, although I generally don’t gravitate to any specific colour or colour scheme when I embroider. For me it depends on the project, who or what I am making it for, and what colour scheme works best. I have been know to walk away from a large Blackwork project, work on something else, and then go back to it, simply because I get tired of just working with black. I don’t consider it avoidance to the colour black itself because I love the effect it makes when it’s complete. Maybe it’s like the old adage, that says “too much of one thing is not good for you” and my subconscious telling me, “enough already”. Who knows.
Niagara Falls, Canada
I love what I call “happy colors” pastels and brights. I don’t like dark, fall colors. I have trouble working with colors I don’t like – can’t seem to muster up the desire to work on them! Also, you mistyped the title of the second book. It’s needlepaint, not embroidery. 🙂
Hi Mary. I have been stitching most of my life. I can’t say that I have avoided specific colors, but I tend to gravitate to pinks, reds, greens. I think the color that I have avoided most is probably brown. I am trying to do more designing on my own, going back to basics of color wheel for choice of color.
Thank you for this giveaway! I gravitate towards warm neutrals and country colors.
I tend to use lighter pastel colors like The colors of Easter! I find it hard to use bold primary colors. Not sure why as I like reds and deep blues but I have a hard time color coordinating the bolder shades.
When I start a new embroidery I always end up using shades of pink and purple. I love the combination of all pinks with purple and it gives me a sense of something fresh and somehow it sends me back in time to my childhood when I used to see my aunts hand stitching. Black is definetely a color I don’t even think about using when I’m embroidering. It never seems to match anything and I always think it is “too much” within a context.
Oh, my, my favorite colors to work with and to wear are in the blue and green range, so the example you showed from the Color supplement is right on. And the sample page from the miniatures shows my favorite subject of late, birds, since we have moved to an area where we see many birds from our porch and I am considering ways to incorporate them into my needlework. So, both works would be of such great value to me!
I love all of Trish’s work. It is so beautiful. I would love to win these.
Thanks for your great BLOG…..Chris
On one hand I gravitate toward soft colors like mauve, rose, muted greens. I would say almost a “dainty” palette! At the other extreme, I also gravitate toward bright bold colors. The subject matter that I am stitching plays a big part in what colors I choose to use.
I find that blues are the color I most often turn to but if flowers are involved I usually need to have some pink. Purple, orange and teal are colors that never seem to quite fit into the design for me.
Hi Mary
I favour using tone on tone, preferably beiges.
However, since two years ago, I´ve learnt to love working with a variety of colours – the more vibrant the better.
There are times when I still struggle to combine these colours, so I think I should really purchase Trish´s colour book! Until then, this giveaway would really come in handy… 🙂
I tend not to be adventurous in my color selections–I usually follow the recommended colors. I need to branch out and look at other color combinations that more accurately reflect what I like–blues, greens, purples.
Rachel W.
Dear Mary,
The colour I gravitate to is blue. Even if it’s just a small accent in a piece, I find a way to put in some blue. The colour I am loathed to use is orange. I like to work my own designs and I agonise and angst over colour choice so much I almost make myself sick. I would love to win these little supplements books on colour confidence. Anything from Trish Burr is always excellent! Thanks for the opportunity. I LOVE reading your site and eagerly look forward to every post. God bless you Mary.
Louisa
Mary, what a great give away. I usually go for med-light blue, rose and sage green. Lately I have been challenging myself a little with color. I have made a purple sewing kit, an orange crochet hook holder and I am about to start a dark red, deep green and off white afghan. I have also been collecting color schemes on pinterest.I would love to win.
What a fantastic give-a-way! Both books are on my “want/need/wish” list.
I love colour! Neutrals are amazing, pastels are so feminine & bold colours make me feel alive. Blue/green combinations are one of my favourites even though at one time it was thought that “blue & green must not be seen”!
Happy Easter, Mary.
Cheers,
Linda A
Ontario, Canada
I gravitate to the shades that are a little greyed down from the primary shades particularly the greens and blues. But I also love mustardy yellows and rusty oranges and almost any shade of red. But save mr from most pastels and almost all shades of purple ( overrated and over used in MHO)
Initially I wasn’t sure how to answer this, but when I read your example, I thought, “Aha! I do, too.” So, I’m with you.
I tend to stay away from the orange shades. Not sure why but I have noticed that use Variegated threads whenever possible.
I love greens, blue and purples! I tend not to think of oranges or pinks.
I respond strongly to color, to the point where I once decided against going into a bead shop at the Mall of American that I’d been looking forward to for days. Everything I could see through the window was some shade of brown and I was so disappointed and put off that I just couldn’t go in. My friends thought I was nuts.
I especially love peacock colors and jewel tones. And I detest non-colors like beige and khaki and taupe. I can’t even stand the word ‘taupe’. When trying to come up with a color scheme my biggest problem is knowing when to stop. Why use one color where 20 will fit?
In embroidering I always gravitate to blues and highlight with silver metal threads, not infrequently.
To compliment this, pinks purples and burgundy are reached for. Varying other colours create background to allow the afore colours to shine. One plays with other colour ranges but the ones mentioned are the instinctive ones. It’s amazing how absorbed one becomes with the creativity of colour and embroidery. Love it.
Thanks for the opportunity, Mary! I find myself staying away from bright primary colors – in my head I think of them as kindergarten colors since you usually see them young children’s classrooms. I usually use one bright color as small points of interest, something to splash a bit of color as contrast. Unless I am doing something strictly for a child in which case I use bold and bright primary colors.
Happy Easter, everyone!
I almost always use purple, pinks and reds. Maybe a little blue. It’s getting boring and I’d like to expand my color palette but since I don’t really care much for or have experience with other colors, I shy away from them. I really do need to use other colors and learn more about what they go with. Trish’s first little book sounds like just what I need to get started.
I prefer muted color like coral combined with a dusty aqua. I am considering a crewel work pillow in a jacobean pattern but using soft aqua and taupe shades as the main colors not the traditional variety of colors. I tend to gravitate towards the same color schemes. It would be helpful to have a book that showed other options. Thanks for the giveaway.
I gravitate toward purple and green (as I do in pretty much everything). I need to force myself to use warm colors (especially yellows) for no reason that I can readily explain.
I also love gradient colors, despite rarely having a use for them.
Lately i have been drawn to the bright colors of hot pink and lime green along with complementary darker greens and burgundy. Must be my spring fever in action. But I also paired the hot pink with a golden yellow in a hibiscus. I love your site–so inspirational!
Love the details in the book. Very inspiring.
Natural colors are my favorite, colors that you see. Moss green, spring intense blue sky, yellow of the sunset. Not really into the mauve, or pinks or grey.
Hi Mary,
As always, thanks for the giveaways!
I like pinks, yellows and blues, so tend to want to use those. But it depends on what I am stitching. I like stitching nature scenes and themes (flowers, trees, mountains, etc.)and I like to do the colors as true to life as possible.
But I am not good at blending colors – Trish is a master at that and I want to learn more from her!
Kathy in Kenai
I’m still pretty new at embroidery; so I don’t know what colors I’d gravitate towards. So far it’s bright greens and bright colors for the flowers in the designs. 🙂
I have several different color combination preferences. I like bright primary color combinations (red, blue, yellow), but I am also drawn to analogous color schemes, even in neutrals. Rich, deep teal blue and dark, velvety royal purple are my favorite colors.
I tend to use blues shading into periwinkle and accented with some greens and yellows. These are my favorite colors in life so I tend towards them in embroidery, too. I also like reds and pinks. I usually stay away from golds, lime greens and oranges. They don’t look good on me in clothing and so I tend to avoid them in embroidery, too.
I tend to gravitate to pinks, blues and purples. These colors are always the colors that reach out and attract my eye. I have to make a conscience effort to bring yellows and organe colors into my work.
This challenge is one of the things that has attracted me to Trish Burr’s embroidery. She so beautifully takes color palates and blends them into the most beautiful works of art.
Trish’s books and kits are amazing and I can’t wait to take her next class.
Usually I am a jewel tones kind of gal, but lately it is the oranges (peaches, apricot) and browns that I am gravitating to. I don’t mind. It’s like stretching my color ‘vocabulary’ and learning new appreciation for other color schemes! Love Trish Burr’s designs and sense of color! Thank you Mary!
I love purples, the deeper the better with reds and golds as highlights but in general I go for deep, rich colours. I’ve never been able to find a liking for pastels though, too wishy-washy.
HI Mary, thak you for another lovely giveaway competition, it is always lovely to scroll down and take inspiration from the choices of others.
For me, if I am stitching flowers or plants in any medium, I try to stay as faithful as possible to real-life but sometimes, especially if stitching a gift tag etc, I will just take the first colour that ‘pops’ out at me when I open the floss box.
*thank you – sorry, I have a slight head cold and did not proof-read my comment very well.
Marian (NZ)
Mary,
I think I tend to go through phases of favorite colors and get stuck with them for a while.
The recent purchase of Trish Burr’s Color Confidence and Needle Painting books has encouraged me to explore color combinations and any supplementary books would be treasured 🙂
I tend to go in phases, but tend to select colors specific to what I am working on.
It is a little frustrating to end up with a total color hodge-podge of finished projects, though! Picking out a few go-to colors would probably help with that! LOL!
Trish Burr giveaways always elicit the maximum responses. A sure shot way of wakening up Mary’s hibernating blog followers. I like exploring a palette of colours. Primary, complimentary, tertiary in my embroidery. You see in India, it amazes me how the most contrasting colours are paired together in women’s apparel like salwar kurtas and saris. Parrot green and fuschia pink, orange and purple. Many times they’re an eyesore but you’d be surprised how often the combination is a pleasant surprise. Personally, I gravitate towards earthy tones-rust, henna, maroons but when I’m embroidering, the vibrant flourish of carefully matched colours is always a treat to include.
I like the natural tones for my embroidery. I don’t very often use large patches of extremely bright colors.
Thank you for telling us about the books and the chance to win them!
Hi there,
When stitching I tend to lean towards the jewel tones of blue, green and purple. I find that they are bold enough to stand out in front of almost any background.
Thanks for the great blog. I really enjoy reading it.
KayseeJo in AB
I prefer reds, golds, very rich and elegant colors and do not care for pastel type colors
Hi Mary,
You website has been an inspiration for me to try out various stitches. I also got the book – embroidered flowers for elizabeth after going through your review. I also have ordered Trish Burrs needle painting book for beginners after going through your website. Thank you so much for your reviews and inspiration.
a needlework fan
priya
I like Red & green, Blue & white.
Before I stitch, I doodle bravely with colours
and sometimes , the outcome is amazingly surprising. Being a beginner, I discover by trying
out by trial. I do not have any theoretical expertise, but the trial leads to some amazing
combinations that I would not have dared to try.
I always seem to use old colour schemes. almost antigue, Rose pinks, pale yellow, moss greens. For needed sunshine in the picture I would use pale yellowf off white.
U seem to stay away from very bright oranges, very red, But it also depends on the subject that I do. Is it a landscape or is it a portrait study Colour is a personal thing. Some people you may like bright colours . I like muted colours with .
I really like vibrant colors with high contrast, like shades of blue with yellow or orange. Or hot pink, yellow, and bright green.
Hi mary,
I’m mary varma. Thanks for the giveaway. I love using a lot of dark shades of red and green in cotton and silk threads. I equally love using all shades of pink, mauve, some medium shades of brown, some light shades of blue and i love using white and black in cotton threads. In silk threads i love all medium to dark shades of pink and dark shades of blue. I find it difficult to use any shade of yellow, be it silk or cotton thread but i have to use it for most of the designs and i’m not fond of using dark shades of blue and light shades of green and red in cotton threads, but if its a must then i have no choice but to use it.
Ooh, I use a lot of reds.
And I have a deep soft spot for red and black color schemes.
Hi Mary,
My colour choices do vary depending on what mood I am in! I’m normally a blue/green person, tending towards the darker shades at present, but purples and silver/greys seem to be creeping in!
Kind regards
Ingrid
I gravitate again and again to blues and pinks. They are my go to happy colors and they go so well in so many projects. I don’t have a particular shade, just as long as they are blue and pink!
I am always tempted to use lavender / lilac / mauve and have to remind myself that there are other lovely colours. I am very conservative in the way I put colours together as I am so lacking in colour confidence.
I love green ,blue and yellow colours !
Hi Trish,
This give away is wonderful, thanks to Trish Burr I have become a keen Thread painting embroiderer, I already own several of her books and DVD, however I don’t own “Colour Confidence” and aim to rectify that as I have seen a copy and it appears to be very helpful, the colour I avoid IS orange, I never use it succesfully, however I like dark red/maroons and greens.
I hope I am sucessful, fingers crossed.
Flora
I tend to use colours from nature. Usually photos from gardens I’ve visited or the natural beauty of the countryside, tend to give me the colour schemes / inspiration that I use in my work. I do like bright, vibrant colours and sometimes muted colours help bring a piece alive. Thanks for a chance to win.
I tend to embroider mostly botanicals, so color depends on which plant is being worked. Blues, greens and pastels seem to be more prevalent than the warmer shades.
I prefer to use lavenders and purple when doing embroidery, although I love to shade with reds and pinks when doing flowers. I find oranges are my challenge… to make attempts to change this I can add butterflys to my work..
My favourite colours tend to be earth tones. Greens, browns, greys and shades of red. I don’t really avoid any particular colour but I won’t use pink unless it is really necessary. I also enjoy white on white.
I tend to use gradients when I work, like I did this embroidery using dark blue, light blue and white. I try to explore other themes and options but most of the time end up using gradients.
I’m a crazy quilter who loves to use needle-painted motifs in my work, so the needle-painting book would be special to me. Regarding color selection, I believe I am pretty wide-ranging. I can’t pick a favorite scheme. As a challenge I recently did a large block in red-orange and apple green. Loved the way it turned out. I do tend to prefer strong colors to pastels. Thank you for this give-away.
I tend to gravitate towards soft colours, in the past I have used a favourite cross stitch designer such as ” Shepherd’s Bush “, and used their colour families. For shading I love to use vibrant shades and would go to my patterns for Lavender & Lace. One thing I lack is colour confidence. I purchased two of Trish’s books and love them, but wish that I had the confidence needed to proceed further with colour.
Happy Easter Mary, and I sure wish you would write a book, goodness knows it would be a best seller.
I like all colors to embroidery with so it is hard to narrow it down. It is all according to the project I am working on.
I tend to avoid bright and primary colors, greatly preferring pastels. I am trying to ranch out more though, even to the use of my least favorite color: red. Would really like to win these books as I have Trish’s Color Confidence.
I like natural shades, and I lean towards greens and burgundies. Love the excitement of choosing.
I used to have favorite colors but over the years I have come to appreciate all colors – that being said, the colors I usually hesitate to use the most are in the ‘very pink category’.
Would be fun to win these books!
I find myself gravitating towards the blues and purples. I love the darker colors with a little bit of brights thrown in. I don’t think there is any “group” of colors I do not like!
I’ve often said I don’t have colors, but looking at my stash belies that — whenever I want to play with and try out a new thread I pick up blues and golds. Otherwise, it’s mostly historic colors and strong clear tones — cobalt blue over a dusty one, that sort of thing.
i love anything in blue. i am afraid of using orange and reds.
vicki moses lake, wa
Choosing a color for embroidery does not come easy for me and it is such an important part of the process. I usually go first for the blues but would like to be a little more creative.
I seem to gravitate towards the jewel tones, with heavy representations from blue and green. I often use green with purple as an accent, because I find they complement each other (even though we’ve been taught from childhood that they must never go together!).
I buy pink and peach threads, because they’re so pretty, and they just build up in my thread bag because I don’t find them any fun to work with 🙁
Me, too! I buy threads that are pretty to look at, but then don’t use them. Often I am waiting for the ‘perfect’ project that never comes!
I tend to stick to more muted colors with an occasional bright color for accent. I don’t want any ” loud” colors jumping out at me, but I love color and I love Trish Burr’s work!
Reading all these comments has been a great study. I am new to embroidery and have been studying the technique of needlepainting. In fact it was your Trish butterfly giveaway that lead me down that path.
This has been a wonderful subject. I have intently read all the comments and am fascinated. I especially liked the feelings described by colors chosen. This is great conversation. I am too inexperienced to have my own color schemes to be drawned to or avoid at this point. I am working from Trish Burr’s beginners book and each exercise opens up a new pallette to work from. With each one I am watching the colors burst to life due to shading and highlighting. The way colors play off each other is almost euphoric. The way you can set a dark value and watch it tuck a little leaf down is magic. I hope this wonder never stops unfolding. I just finished the little bee eater and was breathless at times by the beauty of Trish’s choice of colors as I laid each little thread in its place. I am so happy to be among all of you. Thanks again Mary,for opening your “university” of embroidery. I would still be wandering about had I not foung you.
I think I could be perfectly happy stitching white-on-white for the rest of my life since I do a lot of Hardanger and drawn work. Having just completed EGA’s Design for Embroidery class, however, I am attempting to incorporate color in small things I try to design. While the color wheel continues to baffle me overall–it seems disingenuous to say one is picking Color Scheme Y to represent Spring when one is really picking colors because of the particular flowers one wants to stitch–I can manage to select a two-color-on-white-fabric scheme. Forward from there, I hope!
I usually choose colors depending on the project, but I always like blues, greens and the salmon colors at DMC. Thank you for thinking of us and sharing these books – what delightful teaching tools they would be when I teach children to embroider!
I love working with fall colors, and also for spring I like purple in all shades and a touch of gold or green for spring.
I haven’t done alot of embroidery using yellow it is my lest favorite I think but am trying to incorporate in the project I am working on now which is a “Tribute to MY Mom” wall hanging she passed away in 1990. She loved flowers wo want to do some yellow along with my shades of purple.
Patti Sue in KS
I tend towards blues, aquas, pinks and stay away from yellows and oranges. Although I love all colors, I feel more confident with variegated threads, from Caron. I can look at the variegated threads for ideas that wouldn’t have occurred to me.
Greetings,
I am working on getting back into doing embroidery work after many years away from it. Encouragement on how to break away to do something different and learn how to do shading with blended colors would be greatly appreciated. My color pallet tends to stick to very basic colors.
Thank you,
J
In my embroidery projects I tend to lean towards blues and tans with a hint of green and gold. Sort of a sand and sea feel for me. I find these colors soothing and relaxing to look upon. I almost never use reds and oranges because I do not personally like the colors. The only time I use red is for Christmas projects. The books look wonderful and I know I could get a lot of use out of them since I am a beginning embroiderer. Thank you for the chance to win and thank you for all of your inspiration on-line. ~Gin~
I tend to gravitate to reds because that is my favorite color, but I always pair it with greens. I would like to know how to choose other colors to go with red instead of always green. I tend to like the darker richer colors.
I also like blues and yellows/golds.
I stay as far away from orange as I can!
Weeeee!! Another fabulous Mary Give Away! Thank you, Mary!
I almost always gravitate to blues-periwinkles-violets. Somehow the different shades seem to complement one another very well. I stay away from reds, oranges, yellows, pinks, and “earth tone” combinations.
I am working my first Trish Burr project right now (the pygmy kingfisher.) Her work is gorgeous. What a wonderful giveaway!
I got so excited about the giveaway, I forgot to answer the question! I tend to stick to cool colors and jewel tones; lots of blues and purples and greens. I have to remind myself that pastel and paler shades are an option.
I avoid yellows, but not golds. I just hate to stitch with yellow threads of any kind, but when I work with gold, whether it’s a metallic or just a golden color, like DMC 729, I enjoy my results. Maybe I have trouble seeing it clearly enough to be please with my work… I tend to stitch late in the evening when the kids have gone to bed. With five daughters I’ve done my share of smocking and embroidery in the pink/purple realm. I don’t mind those so much.
I always love baby to rose pinks, and complementing spring greens, and baby blues. I think they look very cute together.
The problem I have, is that I always seem to go for the same tones, which then leaves my finished piece looking a little bit ‘flat’. So I think I need to include darker and lighter shades, and that might create some depth 🙂
I have a tendency to first lean towards warm colors and fall colors are my favorite. My second choice would be the bright floral colors of spring. Both colors schemes seem to inspire me.
I love any shade of green and other colors that are found in nature except for yellow. I find that color difficult to work with in my embroidery even though it is a color of the sun.
I definitely tend to gravitate towards brighter, more modern color palettes with lots of complementary or tertiary colors. I love playing with color, but bright and bold are definitely a requirement! And I will say that pink will always sneak its way into whatever it is I’m doing, I have too much of a weakness for pinks!
Oh, and thank you for the giveaway! ♥
I have to say, I love green in all its shades. It complements all other colors, and adds a natural touch to everything.
I’m just starting to dabble in the long and short stitch, and I’m sure these books would be very helpful!
I really appreciate your web site, and follow it daily. So much information and education. Thank you so much!
Those books look absolutely lovely!
My favourite colours are purple/mauve/violet, greens, dark reds, copper, rose and browns. I like earthtones and muted colours, like in the danish flower threads. But most of all I get cravings for different colours at different times. For example, I’ve always found blue to be a boring colour and have avoided it, but now I can find my self looking at blues. Albeit often dusty, dull blues that sometimes are more grey than blue or teal that’s almost more green than blue. But it has included dark jewel tone blues too. And recently I’ve found myself buying fuchsia and neon pink beads eventhough I’m not usually a fan of jewel tones nor neons. If it continues I’ll soon even buy pastels!
Sometimes I also challenge myself to use a colour or set of colours I don’t usually work with just to push myself out of my comfort zone. Guess that’s partially what’s happened with blue for me.
In embroidery I gravitate to purples, especially darker shades, and raspberry red.
I choose violets in other needlework – when I knit shawls or personalizing cross stitch patterns.Also in home accessories like blankets or bedding purple and raspberry red are my favorite colors.
I use as many colors as possible, but I avoid green, yellow and white – but I love silver and gold accents.
I love to work with all shades of blues – indigoes, lilacs, lavenders, royal blue, sky blue .. I could go on and on 🙂 I also like to work with solid basic colours – reds, earth tones, greens, yellows, black .. I love all colours!
I tend to not work with a single colour – I like to have some colour in my work.
I have a tendency to choose purple,and yellow (different shades) in most of my projects.Although I have a lot of problems combining colors,I research in the internet about it. I put my threads together to see how it looks,I guess I need to learn about color theory, so the book about colour schemes will be a fantastic source of color combination for me. Your give away are always great.
As an experienced stitcher, I find that certain colors and color combinations are most frequently pleasing to my eye. Combinations of the mauvey-pinks, dark burgundies and complimentary greens (with a touch of gold thread) find their way into my hand over and over. These colors are peaceful, relaxing and soft. Interestingly, certain colors clearly affect my mood, such as, browns make me feel overburdened, blue with yellow finds me happy…
If you were to look at my huge stashes of silk threads, you would find the same colors in different hues. I absolutely have a preference. Although, I would like to explore ‘color’ in more depth in the future.
My name should be Viotet; I was born in February after all! From tea cups to ‘togs’, from needlework to yard work, from what decorates my walls to what sits on my windowsills, I am surrounded by gorgeous greens and everywhere a splash of violet! DMC 208-211, 550-554, and 986-989 have been my favourites ever since I first picked up a needle at age 6. For those extra-special pieces, my favourite over-dyeds are Weeks 1291 Basil, and Waterlilies 006 Amethyst and 236 Appalachia. Stitching with these colours brings me inner peace, hope, and great joy!
Colors like sea glass…blues, aquas, greens, soft yellows and off white call to me like the sea. Embroidering with soft colors like a baby blue, light green, pale yellow and violet make my embroidery feel like its singing with thread. But to be quite honest a true red, blue and lime green will make me smile at the boldness of my stitches.
I tend to gravitate towards one color, because I am slightly color blind/daft. I always feel after I make color choices that they look awful, so I put down the pretty multicolor project, and pick up the simple redwork project. I would LOVE to have some color guidance.
This looks like a very useful book. I love free hand embroidery and always take longest time selecting and deciding which thread and color to use. I tend to be attracted towards blue and then shade of blue like purple to burgundy. wedgewood blu dominates my dinning room and my bedroom wall is lilac. I may be thinking something to go with the house unconsciously.
I am a librarian of local EGA group. I will definitely get this book for our group
I try and have a vast variety in my color pallet and find that I gravitate toward blues and greens and blueish-greens between them. Looking over some of my previous work I have found that I might also have an affinity for purples too.
Yellows are probably my biggest weakness, never thinking of using yellows. I find myself reticent to use yellows even if a pattern should call for it. Also, I find I never much enjoy working with pastels unless I am shading something, so the color can look gradual. That isn’t to say I heavily rely on bright colors, but maybe just richer ones.
I absolutely love the beautiful colors of the sea — the blues, greens, purples, a touch of black and gold, some beach gold tans — and tend to always move toward them. It becomes a challenge to work with others, but when I do they still tend to be deep rich colors, jewel tones — seldom will a pastel appear. Bold! Seldom subtle! I would love to do more color exploration and I’m sure Trich Burr’s companion books would be a wonderful inspiration!
Thanks for all the helpful tips on your website. I am new at this type of embroidery, but find it fascinating as I am learning.
I am making a wall hanging for my three pre-schooler grandchildren. It is an alphabet motif, and has figures of apple, blocks, cat, etc. I hope they are not teenagers by the time I finish it!
I am using bold colors to make it interesting to the kids. I am using all colors and shades to help me learn what will blend together harmoniously.
I tend to chose vibrant colours, colours more close to nature. And I love the contrasts of various shades of pink and blue, yellow & green & reds.. The ones I tend to avoid is dull colour schemes. You tend to get bored working on dull colours esp in a larger project ..
And, thnx Mary for such a wonderful give away.. Love Trish’s books and her works
I tend to use all shades of 1 colour: a safe choice! So I try to force myself to ignore that urge. The same thing is the use of glimmering beads or thread: for some reason I find it hard to use it, even if I ‘see’in my head the ideal picture of what I want to achieve. Do you recognize that? And I love making small things, I sometimes make embroidered brooches; and then I don’t wear them very often because I don’t want to attract attention. You have to be brave to be an embroiderer! (Love your site, I have learned so much since I discovered it) greetings, Marjolein from Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Thanks for the giveaway!
I love Trish Burr books! At work (it´s a place where we do ecclesiastical hand embroidery) we fight over her books. I usually win because I´m the only one that really understands English. Everyone´s bugging me to translate the books…
Sorry for these side comments.
So, back on track:
I love using pastel colours. Right now I´m embroidering a pall (palia in spanish) with pale greens and blues and gold. It will have a gold medal of St. Joseph in the middle.
Happy Easter everyone!
candice from Barcelona
Hi Mary,
I gravitate towards blue/pink/purple. However, I have been forcing myself to use yellows and oranges just to broaden my thinking. Interesting how we react to color.
My quilting sisters influenced me in this aspect.They use color combinations that look totally random on their own but put together look great.
Also, I am very fortunate living in Hawaii where colors exist that are not often seen on the mainland. Between the sea, land, sunsets(including the occasional neon green light flash) rock formations and plant life (think “Bird of Paradise” with colors of red, yellow, white and purple) life is not the 8 colors of the Crayon box.
That said, due to the sunshine here, colors that work here would not necessarily go over big in Boston.
All the best,
Jacquelin Ihsan
I like muted colours, dusty pink etc. I love green and blues and greys as well, but they need to be ‘toned down’ although can be dark (so not pastels). I think this is because I look better wearing clothes in such colours – I look really pale in pastels. It is funny thinking about it – I like using colours in embroidery that match my clothes!
Asia
My favorite colors are,well all pastel colors and earthy or natural colors. Though my favorite, favorite,favorite is lavender! I basically see beauty in all pastel and natural colors. I do tend to avoid floresants or anything to flashy.
Hi Mary, what a nice-give-away! I adore all kinds of pinks, and lilacs and I need to remind myself they’ll only look good if I throw in some neutral shades of light brown, off-whites and spring greens to add balance — but I have to make myself do this and I am glad when I’m looking at my completed project.
Sabrina of Lawrence
I love green and bright fluorescent and jewel tones. The brighter the better!
I find myself graviating towards blues and silver. I tend to avoid orange and yellow-orange.
Sonia Bhrara
I love jewel tones. I try to avoid pastels, it just starts to look a little too homemade instead of handmade to me.
I find that I tend to gravitate toward bright colors. I like my pieces to be vibrant, sometimes I will see a color scheme that I love but that I would normally never use in my own work and I will let it inspire me. I use a lot of blues and blue-greens and all the hues of those inbetween. I don’t use a lot of neutrals and pastels, I like tropical colors, think lush rain forests and all the wonderful flower-y colors:)
I have always gravitated toward two groupings of colors. First, I have always loved what I consider spring garden colors–reds, pinks, purples set off against yellows and greens. These colors make me happy and there are elements of them all over my house. To a lesser degree, I am drawn to shades of blue and green, set off with yellows. It makes me think of bodies of water and also the sky set off against the greens of trees. I would love to win these two little booklets. They sound wonderful.
I have always loved blues — in every shade and form — and have used blues in most of my needlework and embroidery. However, about ten years ago I met an Irishman (notice the name change!) and started incorporating more greens and yellows into my designs and pieces.
About half the time I decide to change design colors if I am using an already created design because I want it to suit my decor, etc. In doing this, I have learned some of colorways and what works when making changes and what causes more problems (for me!). I have had a couple projects languish because I have “boxed” myself out of a good next color to use! And then I have to get creative to resolve the piece.
I do not use oranges much, nor bright pinks or overly bright colors much at all. I may use grayer or more subdued tones if I need to for accent but I can’t even remember the last time I used any of those colors in a piece for myself. Maybe in a rainbow or some baby gift but even then, these are not natural for me to turn to.
When I am designing a piece or considering changing colors, I usually go with a colorway from a fabric or general colors in a room or in the “scene” if it a nature type piece.
I do a lot in peaches, pinks or greens as they coordinate well with my decor. But I enjoy doing cross stitch and following a nice multi colored chart. I really like all colors but my least favorite is purple and I have been known to switch it to something I find more flattering if a charts calls for large amounts of it.
Thanks so much for the chance to win these two lovely books!
I love yellows and greens! They say daffodils and springtime! Reds have always been tough for me. I have more knots and thread problems with red than any other color, would the dye be part of the problem or is it just me 🙁
I love colours and mixing them. thank you for this chance. hugs Alessandra
I tend to gravitate toward shades of pinks or blues because I work a lot with baby items and tend to use softer shades for my works
Mary…
I have a tendency to favor green…light, dark, grey green, blue green, various and multitude shades of green! I don’t know what it is…but that seems to be the color thread that I enjoy the most.
Today it is snowing here in the Buffalo area…which is covering up nature’s green. I can’t wait for Spring to see green again!
А мені подобається амбре. Останнім часом тяжію до сірих відтінків, але дуже подобаються і лілові та рожеві.Одне знаю – кольори мають бути приємні оку, бути трішки пастельними…спокійними.
And I like ambre. Lately gravitate to the grey tints, but very liked and purple and pink.Know one – colors must be pleasant an eye, to be a bit crayon…quiet.
I find myself gravitating towards the greens and blues. I grew up in an area where the ocean and mountains are in the same view. I am currently living a flat lander life completely land locked. I really miss the greens and blues…not to say the golds and browns aren’t pretty!
I don’t gravitate toward any particular color but like clear bright colors. I like the colors to make me happy. Muddy tints are depressing
Candyrie from Redding CA
I use black far too much. I love the contrast it gives – and it satisfies my minimalist tendencies – however I’m pushing myself to use other dark colours for contrast.
I’ve been across the board in terms of a general sense of color, but my favorite piece I’ve done uses an electric blue and an intense pink that I really love together. I keep coming back to early-90s-hip-hop kinds of bright, super-saturated colors. The higher the sense of contrast, the better. You could probably blame a childhood spent with Lisa Frank Trapper Keepers.
I love bright jewel tone colors and pale rose colors. I don’t like neon lime green.
I think it’s amazing how many colors are found in natural things! Just when you think a color is ‘unnatural’, such as poison green, you see it in a photo of a rain forest frog. I tend to favor jewel tones but also love the colors of autumn at different times. Aqua and teal are particular favorites of mine, currently.
I LOVE jewel colours and tend to lean toward them for most of my work, but lately I’ve been looking at birds on pintrest and trying some of those combinations. Mother Nature sure knows how to work with colour! I’ve just discovered the Lilac Breasted Roller, and would love to try out these colours! If birds don’t provide ample inspiration, then I fall back to either jewel tones or flowers.
Oh what beautiful yummy things Trish does. I love bright colours and ‘real ‘ things to stitch. Blues and into greens, pinks into mauves are my favourite shades with bright hints of colours mainly red and yellow. These colours tend to cover a great many things in nature which is my passion. To me stitching like patchwork needs to be an adventure for me as well as for the observer.
My favorite colors are the b lues or blue-greens. My least favorite are oranges and yellows. Thanks for offering these.
I love blue and white, it’s so fresh and clean! I’m planning to do some blue-work soon (that’s what originally lead me to your site). I’m mainly a quilter but am interested in doing more handwork and embellishment in the future.
Have not done a lot of original work, mostly following the colors from the pattern. A little dull. I don’t really have many colors that do not appeal to me, other than yellows and lime greens are hard to use but I see where they are needed as I do the work. I remember when you reviewed her book. I have done some of her birds but using the colors she has chosen. Would love to have her books.
These little books look just right for me. I have been reluctant to spend the $ for Trish’s ‘big’ book on this subject since all her birds frighten the living daylights out of me (ornithophobia is a wonderful tool for living, not!)
Colours, ah colours. I confess to an overwhelming preference for purples, as witnessed by the fact that I have 3 large storage boxes of purple threads but at the most one of the other colours. I also like blues, pinks, bluish-reds – well really I like them all with the exception of orange, yellow and some, mostly bright, greens. Just the opposite of Mary by the looks of things, lol.
G’day Mary, On my Pinterest colour board there are 2 definite colour schemes that dominate. A rich turquoise tending to the green side with complementary deep reds & golds, and the other is rusty autumn colours
with the appropriate accompanying colours of the season.
I love white on white and cream and visa versa too.
Cheers, Kath from Oz.
I am drawn first to the greens as the foundation colors for most of my work deals with nature motifs. I love rich blues, purples, golds, deeps reds to then play with each.other and the green. I try very hard ti stay in the sames hues and tints and saturatuons but.also try for contrast
Excuse the poor phone typing.please.
Cynthia Long in Seattle
Stitch witch cottage
I was first taught to do crewel embroidery using Appleton’s yarn and always loved their muted coloring, which goes well with my home decor. It seems red, gold and greens are my favorite colors and I use this extensively. I may add some blue or purple for variations. Now, looking through my collection of silk threads and Sulky threads, these three colors predominate.
The books look like a wonderful addition to my needlework library.
I like all colors and use them all in embroidery.
I always gravitate to greens and golds. Wow, if there is orange also, I will really like the pattern.
I tend to gravitate to the jewel tones on a regular basis. I also like vibrant colours. I tend to avoid pale shades. It always depends on the piece that I am working on though.
Hello- I would really love to win these books! This is my biggest problem when doing embroidery- color choices! I tend to lean towards alot of blue-teal-purples-pink colors, but everything seems to blend too well. I do alot of Christmas pieces too so of course the standard red-green-gold-white colors are used. I would like to design more on my own and could sure use help in choosing proper color schemes! I hope I win!! Thanks, Elaine W. from Connecticut
A little calm in this storm of life—-subtile shades with just a splash of interest–not to overpower— gentle.
Thank you Mary and Trish Burr for so much information and inspiration.
Colours, more colours, even more colours and then there is the Trish Burr’s understanding of colours!!!
I love any colour that makes all the work I do look realistic. I have all Trish’s books and also bought and downloaded the minature designs. The supplement to assist with these minatures would entice me to start them sooner than I had planned.
You know how it is – there is always something wonderful to do in the world of embroidery. And what to do next is often determined by the colours in the picture/photo of the design.
Help – there are not enough lifetimes to do all that I would like to do, and I LOVE the Trish Burr minatures. Please help me to choose them next!!!
I do a lot of my work in rainbow colors. It makes me happy. I have an aversion to pink and purple, so I rarely use them.
Hi,
I’m attracted by white embroidery and designs with very bright colors. I avoid designs with a combinaison of colors that is not attracting to me.
Have a nice day!
I tend to go with blue-greens and deep reds.
Both books look very interesting. Thanks, Mary for making these available
I tend to use more of blue and red colors. I am always terrorised to choose colors for needle painting. Choosing colors is the most stressful work while embroidering which I otherwise find very creative and fulfilling. I would love to win these supplementary books. Thank You.
I will work one color scheme for a while until I get bored with it and then I will move on to a different color scheme. I love all colors.
I use a variety of colors in my projects, but shades of green and blue both toward the yellow spectrum always find their way in to most of my pieces.
Thanks for the giveaway!
Michele
I will always lean toward my favorite green/purple/gold shades of the desert. I have to force myself to look at the new (again) modern colors of the brighter pinks, greens and oranges. They are starting to grow on my tho!
Jewel tones-deep purples, emerald greens, the dark blues of “Starry Night,” these wow me! A deep purple pansy with just a touch of black gives me pause. The magic of sunset orange, red, and gold bring passion to my soul. Pastels? Umm, ah, well, ok-I’ll try to highlight something with them, but what? An aster? But that purple iris is so chic with its accessories of emerald leaves.
Dear Mary,
Whenever I go to a fabric store to look for threads and such I tend to pick one or two colors and get different shades of it. I really like to use darker shades especially reds and blues. I haven’t done enough embroidery really to have my own color palette yet but I have been meaning to experiment with different combinations.
As such I can’t think of any colors I don’t like except maybe beige or neutral colors. So this give-away looks like a great opportunity to learn more about color combos, lol.
Thanks Mary, keep up the good work.
When I’m starting from scratch, I tend toward purples and blues. Purple is my favorite color…plus all the flowers that color brings to mind! Yellows, pinks, reds are after that, but always in subdued shades. What I really avoid is very bright (garish) colors not found in nature. I grew up in the 60’s and didn’t like the “mod” colors then, and I still don’t like them, for whatever reason.
When I’m selecting a published design or kit, I will either pick one in my preferred colors or sometimes I substitute my color preferences for the ones recommended.
I love to use floral colors–purple, blue, green, pink.
Mary I am enjoying receiving and reading your newsletters. I have just recently started back into needlework and quilting and I am looking for small projects to start out with. Your website is assiting me by providing inspiration and links to purchase a kit as a starting and learning point.
Trish’s work looks amazing and the challenge of needlepainting and colours that she addresses in her books would be wonderful to browse and learn from.
I tend to gravitate towards greens, blues and yellows but find it a real challenge to put together colour combinations. I am always amazed at the combinations of colours and patterns that can be put together with amazing results.
Happy Easter,
Nina
Most of the embroidery I’ve done to this point has been smocking for little girls so lots of pastels. My favorite ever was brown smocking on a pick polka dot brown background dress.
Are these pamphlets available for purchase somewhere?
I tend to go for the richer colours and I do like a very deep purple like Aubergine especially with a deep rich green and old gold.
My go to colours have been reds, blues and greens with a bit of gold. I don’t generally use the “dusty” versions. I’m trying to use more vibrant colours lately for some presents I’ve been making for the nieces – orange, coral, turquoise, yellow with some dark brown to bring it all together. Thanks for this chance to win these lovely books!
Please enter my name in the give-away. I am excited to learn a new method of needlework. I love Trish’s designs! Thank you, Mary, for all the gifts you have been giving us in your blog!
Susan
Used the new Burr “Color Confidence in Embroidery” book from our local library for a split stitch lesson and it was a wonderful resource!
Jewel tones speak to me–peacock blue, magenta, teal, scarlet, viridian, ochre–as well as cool neutrals, such as taupe, silver, pewter, slate blue and cherry blossom pink. I loathe pastels, neons, and any color royal.
I’ve recently returned to embroidery to unwind after a day of mortarboard bureaucracy, student conferences and papers. It’s a relief to make something beautiful, something with my hands.
Hello,I just found your site and I am so excited.I can’t wait to try the embroidery eggs. Who would of ever thought of doing such.I plan to purchase the stitches for flowers.Thank you for sharing your creations.Your ideas are full of insperation,thank you again,Carol
I just love colours. I have a hard time limiting myself to a few colours. If a project requires muted colours I can just as easily use them as embroider one with primary colours but as my friends tell me ‘less is more’ so sometimes I just have to stop myself from using too many colours. I love great contrasts like gold, dark olive green, purple and white together or dark brown, bright turquoise maroon and cream.
I do love the way many shades of the same colour can be used as in needlepainting though.
Yes, I do have favourite colours that I like to use – emerald green, fuchsia, royal blue, white – vibrant colours. I really do need to get out of my rut and these booklets would certainly help.
I tend to like pink (mauve) and green — more of the victorian color pallette. Lately though I have been gravitating toward blues — maybe they are more calming when I stitch with them. Never like to stitch with orange just not an appealing color to me.
I gravitate towards blue, yellow, green, fall colors. I don’t like bright reds (unless its Christmas), lime green.
Mary:
Thanks for another great give-away. I have Trish Burr’s Colour Confidence book and love to look through it when I ‘m planning anything involving color, including painting/decorating a room! I find myself leaning towards muted autumn colors most often – red/golds/browns/ with some blue-y accents. Thanks for the chance to win!
I find myself gravitating to the reds and greens when I plan a project. Mostly because burgundy and green are my favorite combinations. I have been wanting to experiment with a wider range of colors, but I do not have the understanding of which colors compliment each other. I have recently started purchasing all the DMC floss colors to encourage me to step out of my comfort zone and try something new.
I like to use red,gold/yellow,green and some shades of blue.I don’t use browns often,am not sure about the reason…Thanks Mary and Trish for this wonderful give-away.
My tastes change and lately I’ve been working with lots of clear, bright colors–think Mexican embroidery colors.
Thanks for the chance to win.
I love reds and jewel tones but I seem to be leaning towards more neutrals lately. I stay away from orange/salmon colors.
I like to use cool colors, green, blue or purple much more than warm colors. Except sometimes I use yellow, which complements green very well.
I love Trish Burr’s work! I find I tend to navigate to the mauves, pinks, and reds. I decorate with these colors and it all just fits wonderfully…ouch–add an orange and it would be a punch!
The colors I am drawn to reflect my love of nature as well, more prominently with the greens on the yellow-green, olive green spectrum. Greens which are found in leaves, for the most part, or coniferous needles. I love the patterns and shapes of leaves and often, when I’m on hikes or walks, just enjoy picking up a leaf and admiring its symmetry and the variations of color within the leaf. I also love oranges–both sides–red orange and yellow orange…maybe influenced by fall leaf color. It’s interesting to think about, that’s for sure.
I always find myself gravitating to the autumn tones – yellows, oranges, reds and browns. I will use some green particularly the olive greens, as a contrast but I am not a green person and so tend to restrict its usage. I also like blues but in moderation and blended with other colours. I recently attended a Deerfield workshop and though I can appreciate the overall blue effect, it doesn’t really appeal to me!
I love all the colors. I especially like green, blue and purple. Depending on what I am making or for whom the color choice maybe bright or softer more calming colors. Sometimes I like to work many brightly colored threads in a Whimsy design, or as close to natural if a botanically correct design. Just have fun with color. Colors are wonderful.
I tend to go towards brighter colors. I would like to start using more pastel or lighter colors.
I tend to choose colors based on the room a project will be placed in. I do wish I had a place for a pink project. I love the color but it doesn’t fit into my decor nor any of my friends.
I tend to gravitate towards blues and greens. I love reds and golds and even reds and pinks. My embroidery skills are very limited and your site has helped and encouraged me so much!
I tend to gravitate toward soft colors – blues, teals, lavenders, mauves, golds, etc. To be honest, though, I don’t rule out any color, finding that each has its place in the right design.
This is a tough question for me right now . . . I like ALL colors. If asked what my favorite color is I’d likely respond “green”. BUT in my stitching I seem to have no “favorites”. It may be because I’ve had some art and color training, so try to look at everything as a possibility. Looking around my studio I see a wide variety of “color schemes”.
I’d say “bright oranges” are the most difficult for me to work with . . . browns, rusts and the paler end of the scale, corals and peaches are fine, but I have a hard time using intense orange. (I wonder if this means my *next* project should be a bright orange poppy? 😉 Always trying to push the envelope!)
I have a copy of “Colour Confidence” and several of Trish’s other books and recently stitched one of her birds and took the “Strawberries” class here on Needle and Thread. Either of these ‘supplements’ would be a welcome addition to my stitching library and would be a great resource in my continued exploration of ‘stitch painting’ and working with color.
Thanks for the opportunity!
Sharlotte
I like different colors. My prefers depend from season, sunny or cloudy the day is. I have many UFO’s, so I can chose. But I like “nature” colors more. And, of course, white. I only do not like synthetic colors.
Have a joyful Easter!
Agnė
Greens and blues are my default colors. I spent vacations as a child on the Gulf coast and to me the colors there in that light are the most beautiful on earth. I would bring shells home that looked so detailed and vivid in that setting but looked washed out when I got them home away from the other worldly light of the Gulf coast. And green in my opinion is the most nuanced color of all. I judge the degree of color selection of a group of threads by the number of different shades of green. Usually there are more greens than any other shade in a thread group that offers lots of choices of colors. For me, colors are living things…a color has an emotion, a texture, a smell, and a taste. Perhaps it’s because my mother read the book “Hailstones and Halibut Bones” to me as a child.
I find I am especially drawn to shades of blue with a touch of green in them, especially if they are accented with a touch if rust or copper. And I tend to shy away from shades of blue with a touch of red in them, in fact from the whole purple family. But the problem is that there are always exceptions–I can be crazy about some combination which, if you just described the colors to me, I would be sure I wouldn’t like. And when I try to put colors together myself, I usually end up with something that’s nice enough, but is lacking in that little extra something that makes it special. I’d love to expand my skills in the color direction.
I am new to the art of embroidery and still experimenting. I have gravitated towards complimentary colors, a la Klimt. This looks like a marvelsous book and would be a welcome addition to my all too small collection. Lee Anne, the Newbie
I have a preference for soft and pastel colors and shy away from the more brilliant ones except when they are needed. Peach and apricot and earth tones draw me in. I love what Trish does with her colors. I have a couple of her books, not Colour Confidence, and a kit that I am trying to find the courage to start. Would love to win these little books.
I use a lot of blues and purples in my work.
Trish Burr’s work is beautiful. I would love to win these!
The colors I tend to select are more subdued. I feel that the design I’m working on will stand out better. I would like to use bolder colors. Perhaps as I develop better embroidery skills, I will prefer bolder colors.
I love all colors but I tend to reach for mystic shades of purples and lavenders and shades of greens as one finds in wild flowers or in a flower garden, for embroidering and other needle’n thread creations.
I find myself doing a lot of monochromatic color schemes, something like a picture in sepia tones. I love colors and have hundreds of variations of threads. I just seem to take them out and look at them, but they are to good to stitch with. Or maybe I’m afraid to make a mistake and they will come out unnatural or harsh.
Blues are my favourites, so easy to match without trouble. Reds (like DMC 498) are also great. I marvel at designers who use multiple colours, they are so talented.
Both go well with an accent of gold, metallics are fun too.
Dear Mary,
In embroidery I choose my colours from a picture of nature which I like eg. calendars. There I find colours which God the great blender has blended. But I like soft pastel shades like the ones you show in the article esp the embroidery booklet. That is why I would love to receive it. Thanks
sr. Nirmala
Blues and purples with green accents!
Blue! I love any shade of blue, particularly periwinkle. I would always choose blue for knitting or embroidering if I could. I love the cool, calmness of blues. And I never willingly use orange or brown – boring colors! 🙂
I love all the reds, purples, oranges and “warm” colors. Strong pops of color with some interesting fibers mixed in. I like colors that make me feel so very alive
Even though blue is my favorite color, I do not have very many items embroidered in blue. The colors I choose depends on what I am embroidering. It is fun to sit and plan the colors – although sometimes the array of colors and threads can be overwhelming.
Thank you for another give-away and Happy Easter!
I absolutely love Trish Burr’s techniques and have also loved the things I am also learning from this site as well!
I find myself always gravitating towards green/blue combinations. I find that pallet pleasing to my eyes but I should force myself to look at other colors of the rainbow!! Thanks for the giveaway!
Love all colors! I prefer to work with colors most found in nature all times of the year! Absolutely am in love with Trish Burr’s color techniques and with the many techniques I am learning from this web site
Oh,whatever a lovely book! I’ll so happy to win it!thanks for all your good ideas.Love.Bea
I like to do redwork in green!!
I always just pick coordinating colors that I like.
I tend to choose projects that feature colors that appeal to me – usually brighter, clearer colors – but I push myself to experiment with more subtle color palettes. And I love poison colors for their ability to really bring a project to life! I am working more historical projects these days so am intrigued by Trish’s new pamphlet on the subject. And I love Trish’s birds so NEED the other one as well! 😉
Thanks for your most excellent blog, Mary – and for making it so fun with the contests!
Happy Easter!
Since I learned to embroider on baby clothes, I gravitate to pastels. These books would be just the thing to break me outside that box! Thank you for this great give-away.
I love all shades of pink and violet. I especially enjoy purples and turquoise together.
I find myself always leaning towards red and gold, with black and sometimes white accents. Every time I tell myself no more red and gold, I fall right back into that same color palette. Colors that I never use and avoid, would be browns and yellows.
Most of my embroidery work has been done on quilts, applique. Lots and lots of blanket stitches and french knots. I love purples, but find myself using lots of shades of green because of the content of the applique. I have done four or five full size wall hangings all hand embroidered applique. Now I would love to find hand dyed perle cottons to up things a notch. Bet I will be looking for purples and blues first, sky colours. The only colour family I need to push myself to purchase or use is orange unless it is a pumpkin, then necessary. Hope I win, looks like the books have lots of ideas. Thank you for your tutorial on the stem stitch. That’s how I found you. That stitch still causes me grief and I am left handed. Pulled out everything I did yesterday. Tomorrow I will watch your tutorial again and PRACTICE.
I tend to like the pinks & purples, they’re just so pretty to me!
I love colour. Sometimes it’s the couloirs in a design that inspire me to make it. The brighter and more saturated the colour the better. I especially love Brazilian embroidery and silk threads for this. I just started a hard anger piece on robins egg blue linen using garnet threads. It is gorgeous if a bit untraditional.
I love earth tones and my least favorite color is pink though I will use a touch of it now and then but still lean towards the pink coral vs. true pinks most of the time. I love to see all colors used but have to be happy with what I choose to know I can live with it after I’ve spent the hours into making it.
I’m enjoying using a variety of greens at the moment. I like bluey greens but find bright blues really difficult although I can cope with pale blues of any shade. I don’t have a lot of colour confidence and am more likely to ‘copy’ other people’s choices. I’m hoping I will gain in confidence as I sew more. I’d love to design my own piece but always decide to follow a pattern at the last minute. I’ve got lots of ideas but just can’t seem to make the move and go for it. Perhaps the booklets would encourage me to take the plunge!
My work tends to gravitate around lettering. I love positive affirmations and inspiring quotes and rather than write them down and pin to my mirrors, etc., I love bringing them to brilliant life adorning the piece with small designs and pictures of creatures of nature. I do flounder with color though both in my embroidery and bead work (I absolutely love combining beading with embroidery. My colors are usually deep and contrasting but I would like to learn to blend with more subtlety.
I embroidery according to the season.Valentine:Red, white, pink; July 4, red, white, blue; Mother’s day, pinks; Father’s day, Blues; Thanksgiving is Fall colors; Christmas is reds, white, greens, sometime I use blues. I use three colors when embroidering: 2 major and one minor color. This method works for me! I love color in my every day life. piddypat in Texas
Trish Burr is so inspirational i could just sit an look at her work for hours and still see something there i did not see before.
i love to work in pale sagey greens and dusty pinks with some grey too, but occasionally i go wild and go red red red with flaming yellow too.
my daughter loves the deep purple and violets of pansies contrasting with the vibrant yellow and cream highlights so i sometimes work with these too. i find black the hardest thing to use it just is so flat– i would love to learn how to make black come alive
What embroiderer, or what crafter for that matter, doesn’t love color! Add Trish Burr to the notion of color and it’s a win-win combination. While I tend to love brights and metallics when embroidering, I also love to represent nature where color is sometimes subdued. It isn’t always easy to choose the right colors for a female bird when standing in front of a display of metallic threads worthy of a peacock’s tail, but I do try. Trish Burr’s book looks like just the thing to help people like me!
ciao Mary..ti seguo con ammirazione da tanto tempo ma solo oggi ho focalizzato il tuo give away…sicuramente per la mia difficoltà con l’inglese….ma vorrei provare anch’io a partecipare…ti rispondo alla domanda dicendo che amo i colori che dal lilla vanno al blu. Non c’è un vero colore che non amo perchè dipende in che disegno si trova…….magari essendo così ai limiti del tempo..sono un po’ fortunata!!ci spero molto perchè questi libri devono essere fantastici…grazie
I always gravitate to the rich jewel tones, using the lights only as complementary color, or for adding highlights. Although I do like pastels, I don’t care for them in embroidery, as I feel they just don’t show up as well. And I must say that I nearly always steer clear of orange. Not only in my stitching, but in my clothes, my home, even my garden!!! I guess I really don’t like orange – But I know I DO love anything by Trish Burr! 🙂 Karen Gass
I love prints. They are a great way of putting colors together. To take the colors out of the print and put them on to my projects. I love the muted colors. Then you can add bold accent colors with them to set it all apart.
I find that I have a vaguely medievalist sense of color – all over the chart and resembling the work of a 6 yr old left with a full big box of crayolas. I have a fondness for blues, as well as gold – lots and lots of gold!! I did an Opus Anglicanum piece that had so much gold that the review was less gold, more shrubbery. When turned to the sun, the effect was blinding.
I cold really use these books to help me focus on colors in a rational way. I get so lost sometimes in just the color selection that I take forever to complete projects – like now.
I like the bolder brighter colors. I love blending colors also like differant greens in leaves and trees! I like things to catch your eye! Thank you for the give always.
I am new to embroidery so I haven’t found my set of colors yet- I’m just trying lost of them!
I don’t think there are any colors I avoid, but I do gravitate towards pastels in pinks, blues, greens, etc. Sometimes I appreciate bold colors like when I appliqued Jacobean flowers but generally I prefer a lighter palette.
I really love Trish’s work and is a wonderful teacher. I would love to have her book so that I can practice her methods. I tend towards Spring colors of coral, green and blue. Would love to win this giveaway.
Ruth on the First Coast
I am new to embroidery and this looks like a wonderful way to learn color management.
It is Easter and here in the Midwest color will start to turn from brown to green as the rains begin. Speaking of colors changing, I always love the earthy terra cotta colors blended with golds, reds and shades of blues which simulates natue’s colors year round. It is those purples and pinks that look good in nature but don’t fit on my samplers and needlework. They disagree with my senses and I avoid them at all costs. Most likely this is because I do not know how to work within color families. The three Trish Burr books I have do not deal with the color palate and choosing colors from the same family. Thank you Mary for giving away such useful info to someone who can truly use the info. Happy Easter everyone.
Your post today made me smile. I hadn’t commented previously because I thought I had run out of time. I’m probably making a huge mistake thinking the small projects in the books would be doable for me. (By the way, I’ll be first in line for your little projects….)
I love the cool colors. Which generally means a lot of fish. And your purple slug. Which may not be turning out the way you’d hoped, but you wouldn’t have known until you tried. And at least it’s purple.
Lori from Mountain View, CA
When choosing colors for myself, I tend to lean toward blues/purples. I usually avoid orange/yellow as main color but I could not say why. I like to see items made with these colors, but never choose them for myself. When choosing colors, I usually do not worry about whether or not the item will go in a particular room. That does not matter to me as much as being happy with what I have made.
Some of my favourite colours are in the range of blues, greens & purples. I usually stay away from peachy pinks & flesh tones although I do love sea shells & they often come in those shades.
I tend to use variations of blues, greens, purples and pinks – and default to orange as my accents! I should try switching the theme around and see what happens. I also tend to use hyper realistic of psychedelic colour schemes rather than natural ones, I think because I get nervous about colour matching reality, and doing it wrong deliberatly seems more secure than doing it wrong by accident! Similarly although I love the look of pale toned designs I tend to go with bright when doing my own.
What a lovely books! I love a lot of colours.
And this is a lovely give-away as well.
I wish I´ll win one. Would be great!
For colours and patterns those books are very interesting.
Kind regards, Marjo
The Trish Burr supplements are gorgeous! Thank you for your generosity. For several months I have been poring over your site, trying to summon enough courage to try embroidering again, after 50 years! While I used to gravitate toward jewel tones, I have come to realize that I am excited to try many colors and combinations that I might not have thought about in earlier years. Now, if my brain, fingers and eyes will just cooperate…
Kathy H in Fl
Hi Mary, Happy Bunny Day!
I work with Mother Natures rich colors – jewel tones! Like the beetle wings purple blueish greens,emerald green and copper, along with butterfly wings, tropical birds, rain forest greens, and how about the beautiful flowers? Their colors are so vibrant and deep you just sit there and go awwww!
I also work with mid-tones and pastels for contrast – they make the jewels pop!
Mary
Of course I would love to win the Trsh Burr
Suplements. Her books are always wonserful.
Thank You for all the amazing things you show
us.
Robin Marks
I love all colors, some more then others. Muted greens and flower colors for flowers,pastels for babies and girly items the most. Brights,muted pastels,etc. It depends on what I’m doing.
Reds and greens–especially corals are my colors. And warm colors. I’ll move into purples somewhat reluctantly, but usually warm ones. Cool colors are the last that I think to use. But the bad thing is that red, magenta and pink all tend to run like crazy if you use rayon threads. It is a trial!
I love color and I choose based on project or mood or season…If I am to pick what I want I look at the color around me; blues from the ocean and the boats in it; silver whites from a fresh fallen snow mixed with holly green and red were colors I used for a christmas ornament .. I do love green red combos….I love the idea behind looking into a painter’s eye and using their colors….
Hi Mary:
I tend towards soft shades, pastels, and earthy shades as well. I think that is because it feels safe. Perhaps with more experience I will work in a few bright colours in the future. Currently I prefer to work with pale blues, lavenders, soft yellows and earthy greens, whites, off whites and creams.
Good Luck to everyone,
Regards
Ann
i have enjoyed doing needle painting projects taught by Tanja Berlin, who is a member of the Calfary Guild of Needle and Fibre arts in Calgary AB, Canada. I purchased Trish Burrs. Book on Colour Confidence, and have really enjoyed reading it. instead of saying that I have a favorite color, I could say that I enjoy seeing how the shades of one color family work together and what can be used to accent them, such as complementary colors.
My ‘colours are changing’. I’m also a quilter, and you can see this by what fabrics I’ve bought. I still love blues and whites – I can plan something using those effortlessly, but I’m also working more than I ever used to with reds, yellows and oranges, but that is still a conscious decision, rather than an automatic choice.
A couple of years ago I did a City and Guilds course with three amazing women – it was really interesting to see how our use and sense of colour developed over time, we had four very different palettes. Mine was more ‘greyed’ than the others, and I think I was the only one who used coppers and black in any of the final pieces.
The colour I still avoid is Pink. In quilting it is almost absent from my fabric stash! I use it occasionally when sewing, but always with other ‘spice’ colours, to keep it in its place.
I don’t naturally gravitate towards oranges, browns, taupes and purple so tend not to use them in my work. I have done a lot of work using pinks and green.
In embroidery I seem to gravitate to the blue purple blends of colors and I seem to avoid yellows and oranges I like the colors because they are mellow and relaxing so it is calm and inviting to work with the colors it releases all stress from the week and gets me on a happy even plain to enjoy what ever is happening later in the week.
Hi Mary and Happy Easter!
To answer your question, I tend to prefer bright colors in my work (more quilting than stitching these days) and stay away from “grayed” colors. Another way of approaching it is if I looked at my stash of embellishments and fabrics, RED would fill the most storage containers!
I also have red carried through many rooms of my house.
Thanks for the opportunities to win such great supplements!
I like deep rich colours – reds, blues, greens which go really well with gold threads although these are better used in small amounts and combined with a neutral background.
I do not like pink at all it just does not appeal. Perhaps I should set myself a challenge to embroider something using pink!
Hi Mary,
Happy Easter and thank you for this ‘give-away’ opportunity. My favorite shades for use in embroidery are the autumn shades of the falling leaves. These colors complement my living room furniture and I would like to do a set of Jacobean-design crewel work pillows in these colors. The instructions in Trish’s booklets would be very useful.
I always tend to use deep rose, corn flower blue and olive greens. I’ve tried to vary the colors in my new projects, but can’t seem to get away from my “comfortable” combinations.
I don’t think I really have a clear color preference. I do not have a super good eye for color, so tend to either follow a designer’s suggestions or keep things fairly conservative.
Hi Mary,
Happy Easter!!
I am, on occasion, attracted to earth tones, sometimes to jewel tones, then again, I just love soft pastels, etc., etc., etc. I guess I’m more attracted to designs than the colors, even though I LOVE color. It comes down to this: If I see something I like (for whatever reason), I’ll probably buy it. Oh, how I love to stitch!
I love jewel tones like sapphire, emerald, ruby, etc. I really don’t like orange & yellow and find myself shying away from those colors. I also love varigated color threads!
Hello,
I seem to always have blues in my work and seem to avoid greens. I have learned to love green over the last several years, but maybe my greens stash needs to be enhanced. (Shopping opportunity!)
Thanks for holding this giveaway. I think this would be a very useful tool.
Betsy in the sunny and mild Seattle suburbs
Trish Burr has outdone herself with her miniature embroideries. They are just beautiful and the color schemes can only be described as delicious. SC
I have always adore rich saturated jewel tones. I like to have the saturated colours to stimulate my eyes and my mind. They bring a hint of luxury as well…
Happy BunnyDay,
I think that I like one color scheme and then BAM I see a picture of something and I am all in with primary colors and not muted tone. I must admit that I am not drawn to purple shades and pinks. I have however usednthese colors on flowers and loved the results…… basically anything goes….I think .that is what makes life so fun…..learning and changing and growing….
Hope your holiday was wonderful,
Cathie from Frisco TX
I love color, so sometimes I like for things to have realistic type colors and sometimes I go for the cartoon feel, and sometimes I just go for redwork, (or whatever single color is my favorite at the time.) I find that my color choices tend to lean according to my moods…don’t know if that a good thing, but I love bright colors..so..and would love to win either book, thank you for offering them.
In embroidery, I have preferred using monochrome designs – shades of gold, blackwork, and redwork. Only now I am drawn more to the bright colors I see on the embroidered eggs which I intend to take up and try.
Wonderful books!
I mostly do cross stitch, and usually redefine part of the pattern’s colors.
I tend to replace the light or dull colors to darker, shinier ones. Greens, pinks are the first victims. I also put some gold or silver into my patterns whenever I could.
I like colors of Blues, Purples and Greens most of time. Blues like royal blue or cobalt and deep purples like voilets and dk lilacs, greens most like evergreen,moss green and dk greens. love to do redwork type . and embroidery around appliques for quilts or other piece work.
Joanie in W. Tn area
I gravitate toward blues, blue-greens and greens. I will use other colors, but these are my strogest preferences. I avoid browns and purples/lavenders.
Thank you for this offer.
Designs seem to talk to me though I do gravitate to natural coloring rather than fanciful ones. Hair is going to be blonde, brown, black, etc. and not orange or blue – though in this day and age, orange and blue hair is rather common!!
I gravitate towards purples and yellows to reds and I tend to avoid all the greys and browns.
Color, every color, green and pink for spring. Purple in any shade and with reds or
golds. Blues and teals. I guess it is easier to tell you my least favorite. Dark yellows and oranges I do not work much with, however, they have their place in design. Oh, black, white and reds, very classy. I could go on and on… G Daniece
For Christmas, I usually end up choosing red over green and gold over silver. At other times of the year, I usually choose patterns with blues, purples and greens. I have never been fond of the pinks and purples that seem to be so overwhelming in the girls departments these days. When I do patterns the reflect the “real world”, I like to have colors that are close to the real deal. For that reason I guess I will never stitch pink flamingos.
These ‘little’ books look great! They would be a valuable addition to my library.
the colors that i lean toward are teal and bright pink with blue greens and light purple. i also like burgundy blues and plae metalic gold. these color choices depend on mood, time of year and where in my home the piece will live. tnank you jo mchenry
The beautiful art work and ability to take my skill set to another level. Thank you as always for sharing! Diane
My colours lean towards neutral soft tones with the occasional splash of vivid colour to accent the whole project. My accent choices are mainly cool colours, as I love their vibrancy.
Mt favorite colors are jewel tones of blues, all so vibrant and so alive, they make me feel so good!
Hi Mary and Happy Easter everybody! There are a couple color schemes I’m comfortable with, like blues and browns, pinks and greens. Unless the kit already has the colors coordinated for me, I’m afraid to try and tackle yellows and oranges with red. Something really summery. I love to see these colors together but I am not confident enough to put something together on my own. So I stick to soft colors. In my quilting magazine this month they out together a palette that mimics, summer fruit. Lemons, cherries, oranges, and plums. It’s gorgeous. I think if I had some practice I could learn to be fearless with colors. Maybe that should be my goal this year?
Thanks Mary!
Melissa Bird
Hi Mary,
I love all colours and tend to teach myself as much as I can from your site and books, books, books so everything I embroider is quite eclectic in regards to colour. It depends on what the subject is. My favourite colour is green and my biggest problem is that I don’t have the FULL RANGE of all colours in every thread possible. You know all the silks and cottons and wool available, Oh that is dreaming, I should own a shop of threads just for my choices. I cant think of any colour that I don’t like. I would love to do something in just one colour with all the different hues ranging from the palest to the darkest and maybe that would be in the blue range as my daughter loves blue and I haven’t done much in that colour. Hey thanks for the great work you do and the competitions……
Most of my past embroidery was smocking done for my daughter. I tended to choose aqua/peach or pink and pale green, because she looked good in those colors.
When I embroider for myself I choose jewel tones, especially emerald green and amethyst.
I always gravitate to a realistic look depending on what I’m stitching…natural earthy colors more than artificial or fantasy colors. Colors I am not fond of would be magenta, maroon or darker pinks unless they are used as shades for other colors.
I used to like subdued colors, but now I lean towards really vibrant ones. I’m currently in love with this gorgeous navy blue I’m using.
Gracias:pero yo se que es muy dificil enviar esto aca donde vivo
(Colombia),pero yo lo seguire a traves de esta pagina,vivo viendola con mucho interes.
I gravitate towards blues and greens, although I also love purples and reds. I don’t like pastels as well, so I usually end up with darker versions of my favorite colors. I like oranges, but have trouble coordinating them with other colors, so I don’t use them very often. I would love some guidance on how to use all the colors more effectively.
Thanks for offering the chance to win such a great prize!
I tend to stay away from blues, but I love the reds and greens. And I just love all the birds Trish Burr designs.
Mary, as a rule I love the colour white. Lately I’ve been collecting light pinks through to dark reds. I think with Spring around the corner I have visions of roses in my head.
I would love to be luck enough to receive either of the booklets from Trish. I find her details so wonderful.
Eva
I tend to avoid reds and oranges. For some reason i have always been uncomfortable with theses colours and really have to force myself at times to use them. It doesn’t stop at embroidery either, because i don’t even wear these colous, or have them in my house!!!!!
I love the autumnal colors and somehow gravitate towards them. However I love trying out combinations of colors in nature. I am a little choosey about the shades of green though.
I take care to see that the color combinations used in the embroidery, go with the color schemes used in the room they are meant for.
Overall, I love all colors in their right perspective.I love embroidery and the effects of the stitches and the colors used in it, just like the strokes and colors, in a painting
I am always drawn to my “happy colors”–blue and yellow–the sky in Spring, daffodils all around. The pinks and purples don’t pull my heart-strings. Maybe I should challenge myself and use them in a new design or two. Hmmm. I wonder if. . . . But I need some help from Trish Burr!
Most definitely love the fall colors, rusts mostly, maroons, greens and golds. Least favorite are yellows, teals and pinks…..no particular reason….maybe I am not putting them together in a coordinated way. Always open to learning new things! Grace from Minnesota
Much of my color schemes are based on what I am working on. However, I will admit that I am often drawn to patterns that have bright, jewel tone colors. They seem so much richer and give the right pop to the overall look.
I have almost all of Trish’s books. I like her style of embroidery and her very easy to follow directions. I always pick a blue palette, if offered because I find blue very calming. I never pick a pink because it’s too feminine for my taste.
My color choices tend to go to earth tones. Autumn is my favorite season of the year so it makes sense to me that I choose these colors more than others. I am trying to get out of my comfort zone and use colors that normally don’t appeal to me, such as pastels. I have found that mixing darker colors with a much lighter color can produce some amazing results!
What a fantastic giveaway,who wouldn’t want Trish Burr.
I always gravitate towards earth tones. Greens,browns and oranges in all their forms.I tend to find they will always look good if you want to introduce another colouration,because that’s want happens in nature.I always stay clear of dark somber colours as I like colorful work it attracts the eye and keeps them looking.The joys of colour.
My experience in needlework started at about the age of 8. My Grandmother and Great Aunt started me out. Bought a bunch of floss at the 10 Cent Store for $.05 and $.10. did a few pillow cases and moved on to the farm animals and didn’t have the time to dedicate to needle work. Now I have retired and dug out my stash of floss and iron-on patterns and want to continue what they started in me. I’ve used your website videos to relearn the stitches and wow, a lot of new ones! I’ve also inherited quite a lot of materials from family. I have tons on floss in over 200 colors, but definitely need the guidance on how to make the most of the colors I now have. My Grandma & Great Aunt are no longer around so I’m definitely in need of help. Love your website and probably would not have returned to needlework and stuck with it without your invaluable website. Thank you!
Karen
I like patterns that lean towards “jewel tone” colors – garnets, deep sapphire blues, rich, emerald greens…..I am not a “pastel person” at all!!
Hello Mary, I hope I’m not too late, I’ve no idea what day it is never mind what time it is where you are.
I have a passion for stitching seasons, it has been my excuse for years for buying 4 patterns not 1 each time I enhance my stash. So my choice of colours changes with the seasons as you might say. I love the rich autumn colours, reds, yellows, oranges and browns, then again it could be spring with crocuses in purples and yellows, with those beautiful spring greens, or winter with blues and greys, with hints of dusky pink, but vibrant summer colours of startling pink, purple, orange, yellows, and greens can be so uplifting. How can anyone choose favourites, or leave any out? Actually I sometimes leave all of them out, stitching calico gardens in all neutral tones, using texture and different threads to add interest and leave the colour aspect to other people’s imaginations, its surprising how many shades of cream and off whites you can find you can find when you look!
Hello Mary, I hope I’m not too late, I’ve no idea what day it is never mind what time it is where you are.
I have a passion for stitching seasons, it has been my excuse for years for buying 4 patterns not 1 each time I enhance my stash. So my choice of colours changes with the seasons as you might say. I love the rich autumn colours, reds, yellows, oranges and browns, then again it could be spring with crocuses in purples and yellows, with those beautiful spring greens, or winter with blues and greys, with hints of dusky pink, but vibrant summer colours of startling pink, purple, orange, yellows, and greens can be so uplifting. How can anyone choose favourites, or leave any out? Actually I sometimes leave all of them out, stitching calico gardens in all neutral tones, using texture and different threads to add interest and leave the colour aspect to other people’s imaginations, its surprising how many shades of cream and off whites you can find you can find when you look!
Hi, Mary! I could swear I answered this challenge, but don’t see here what I wrote. The fact is that I have always since a little child craved turquoise and would settle for any muted aqua or eye-stinging almost royal blue as long as it was blue-green, peacock, petrol, teal or even spruce green. My avoid colors are ochre for sure and sometimes yellow or orange, though I have a growing craving for burnt orange. I never liked avocado or harvest gold that we all suffered through in the last century. Now we suffer fashionable greens that I think are trying too hard. In selling fabric, I came to appreciate all the shades of brown, taupe, beige, bitter chocolate. I love how the Italians especially will throw in an unexpected color like hot pink, citron yellow or orange in a color scheme that would otherwise be tasteful (i.e., boring) and subdued. In embroidery, I usually use the thread color indicated, but the books would help me understand WHY and also how to decide colors for myself. I love your blog!
Beautiful books! I’ve been trying my hand at crewel and doing long ans short stitch shading (your site for stitch instructions was very helpful). Thank you for your teaching.
The colors I love to work with are shades of greens using teals and then to blues. Reds and oranges are next. I do not mean to quote the example but I never use mauves and very light pinks (hot pink and normal pink, yes) maybe I just have not found the right use for them. Come to think of it I only have one light pink and one mauve skein of yarn bought at a yard sale about 4 years ago.
ciao sono francesca, vorrei partecipare a questo giveaway
Hi,
I would like to use all the colors available in nature for my works and also try to use naturally dyed threads!
I have this simple wish of learning long and short stitch, if its from Trish Burr’s books.it will be even great!
Thanks,