July 30, 2015

Red Hot

Today I'm exploring Red. Gone are the beautiful lush greens featured in my previous color post called Seeing Green. The 4th of July is a red, white, and blue holiday here in the States and inspired my look at red for July. The 4th always has me wearing red t-shirts and feeling quite patriotic. Now the holiday is long gone and the Red Hot days of summer have arrived. And though the fresh greens of cooler, wetter months have faded, (or gotten crunchy brown like our grass) there are plenty of red flowers to keep things looking bright and cheery.



Red is the symbol for "stop" worldwide, so I hope you'll stop today and take a moment to see the red in my life . . . perhaps it will give you a new appreciation for the red in your life.



Red is a bold strong color. It captures our attention and demands we take notice. Reds played a big part in the Denver Botanical Gardens Chihuly exhibit last summer and seemed especially well chosen for these fantastically wicked looking spikes. Danger . . . warning . . . fire . . . hot . . . sharp . . .




Red symbolizes many things, often with contrasting implications. Love and passion. Anger and aggression. Things of the heart. Historically it is identified with fire and blood. All conjure strong emotions and powerful meanings. I prefer the love connection myself. Who doesn't want to get red roses from the love of your life?  Love . . .



Red is a symbol of power and importance and wearing it is thought to give people confidence, courage and a winning way. Warriors even thought red brought victory to the battle field. 

The deep red of garnet is associated with love, passion, and inspiration. Garnet is the gemstone of Aquarius and the birthstone for January. Here is a beautiful red garnet necklace by my daughter of Emily Claire Studio. It would be a wonderful gift for someone you love or maybe even for yourself. 
Wear a little red and bring out your inner confidence and courage. See her new online shop here.



Summertime brings fresh ripe fruits in bright mouthwatering shades of Red. Most of my favorite fruits are red. I have an apple a day and love fresh strawberries and cherries when they're in season.



Several years ago I made a quilt featuring lots of juicy red fruits called "Fresh Baked". I use it every summer along with the fruity dishes I display.

www.springleafstudios.com, fruit quilt, pie quilt



Soon I hope we'll have some ripe Red tomatoes like these . . . 



In the mean time, maybe I'll finish "Vine Ripe" the red tomato quilt top that's been forever getting completed. If ever there was a Red Hot quilt, this is surely it.

www.springleafstudios.com, tomato quilt


Growing up in a rural farming community, farmers usually either had red tractors or green tractors. I remember mostly red on my uncle's farm. Sometimes you'll see a red barn here or there as well. I see this bright red barn down the street every time I take a walk to the park.



Red geraniums always remind me of home and my Mom. She planted them every summer along with red and white petunias. This traditional floral quilt pays homage to her love of flowers so I just had to get a photo of it with red geraniums in the foreground.



Bright red cardinals also remind me of Mom. They were a common sight around her house but aren't native to Colorado so I miss seeing them. Instead I make do with Cardinal quilts. This is a block from a quilt I made for her. The second is a small Christmas quilt.

www.springleafstudios.com, cardinal quilt block

www.springleafstudios.com, cardinal quilt block
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I love to decorate with cardinals and poinsettias for Christmas so Red is definitely the color of December at our house. 



The quilt above will be replaced this year with my new Christmas quilt featuring red and green Kaffe prints. The design is based on the Drunkard's Path QAL at SpringLeaf Studios. See the tutorials here to make your own version. 

www.springleafstudios.com, Kaffe Fassett, Christmas quilt


Of course, if you know me, I have to throw in a few leaf photos for good measure. Red leaves.





The men in my life seem to like red too. My son's car is bright red and he loves it.


And this art piece by my husband really speaks to the Red Hot topic quite well don't you think?



I'll leave you with this photo that relates back to the 4th of July where my Red Hot inspiration started. Red is the most popular color for flags around the world. 77% include red. 



For some interesting color facts and myths I found ColorMatters an interesting site. Here's a little red tidbit according to the site. "The history of languages reveal that red is the first color after black and white. All languages have words for black and white. If a third hue exists, it is Red." 

Check out my other color stories here on the Color Inspiration page. 
I'll be adding more colors as inspiration strikes.


7 comments:

  1. I love red. My favourite berries are usually red ; ) It's fun to see all the different reds here

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  2. Such pretty pictures, Anne! I used to have a red kitchen, and even had the same strawberry cookie jar like the one on your shelf, on the right. I don't use red often anymore, but it's sure a strong color that I should reconsider using. This is a lovely post. Thanks for taking the time to come up with so many gorgeous photos.

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  3. This is so beautifully written, and the pictures are gorgeous. My mother-in-law always had big white pots of red geraniums, one of my favorite memories of her.

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  4. I LOVE your collection of fruity ceramic/pottery bowls and dishes! I have one small lemon juicer that reminds me of this style of kitchenalia, but yours is delightful! Red makes such a statement, doesn't it?

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  5. Beautiful photos mom!! I especially love your ability to find leaves in red haha! I challenge you to find a leaf in every color story that you do. Red is so stylish. <3

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  6. I love red. The very first pieced quilt I made was red and white. I told the quilt shop owner I wanted red and everyone was very surprised. I ended up with about 20 different red and white prints for my queen size sampler quilt, took me 6 months to completely finish the quilt, stitched in the ditch on my domestic old Singer. Loved this blog. Thanks for all the great pictures.

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  7. I have loved reading your color series, and this RED one is no exception. Fun to see that you found red leaves to throw it--you clever girl. Wonderful!

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WaHoo!!! You're leaving me a comment. Thanks for stopping by and do come back again. Quilt on, Anne.