Colorful Interview with Venus De Hilo

Today's COLORFUL INTERVIEW is with Venus DeHilo aka: Stephanie all the way from beautiful Hawaii!  Stephanie has no fear when it comes to mixing brights, flowers and polka dots! She just GOES FOR COLOR and it comes shining through in her quilts.

So Stephanie,

Name 5  you think are "ODD" together....  or weird combos?

"Odd fabulous", or "odd icky"? I have a high tolerance for weird, and "odd fabulous" is a good description for that lovely tingly feeling I get when two colors really snap for me.

Combos I find "odd icky" or just don’t see the appeal:

1) the aqua + red craze

2) the gray + yellow fad

3) mustard + olive

4) navy + brown

5) primary colors + white

Is there a color you find you always use?

Oooh, it's so hard to narrow that down. What comes to mind first are the greeny blues (teal, turquoise, aqua), in medium and dark tones. But I also use a lot of medium greens and orange, and most of my projects include a dark red-brown-purple. That base note creeps in with almost everything, and has a big presence in my stash.

three colors you use most together

blue & green + orange, brown, or purple

pink & orange + brown

Can you relate your favorite color to something in your childhood?

Probably the biggest influence in my childhood, color-wise, was that my mother has a very mild color palette. She is most comfortable with pastel blue and beige, and avoids anything bright or intense. I probably became more aware of my passion for intense colors (especially in combination) because whenever I reached for them she would try to talk me out of it or just flat-out say "no."

What color makes you feel happy?

I like to wear and be surrounded by blues, but for a pop of mood-enhancing color, you can't beat Orange! (photo evidence: my handbags, water bottle, and eyeglasses case)
Can you tell me why?

No... "happy" strikes me as the essential quality of orange. There is no why, it just is. What makes me really happy, though, are lots of colors together… the fabric bag in the picture sums that up pretty well.

Is there a color you avoid?

Mauve. Beige. Most pastels. I used to avoid white, but have challenged myself to be more open-minded: one of my WIPs is an aqua+white project.

Can you go to colorlovers and make a palette that you think is very YOU?

I was very excited about this, until I discovered palettes are limited to only five colors... that's not enough! Very, very tough... Here's what I came up with:

Stephanie's colors of choice

and then make one you think is very "Victoria"?

What I love about your quilts, Victoria, is how you mix affection for tradition with fearless whimsy and exuberance. And I know you love red! Here's what that looks like to me:

What colors she thinks (I) Victoria uses

Stephanie, I think you have me pretty pegged! I guess I am an easy read! LOL! I had a pretty good idea of colors you like, from your signature block you sent me. I have to say, I did your colorlover profile palltte before you sent me yours and It's pretty close to yours!

“Victoria's pre-concieved idea of Stephanie's colors of choice”

I think it's interesting how we associate colors with people...  I think the fact you live in Hawaii, makes me think of you as a rainbow! and very flowery! 

So it's fun to see your stash! Tell us about your stash.

My stash is tucked away in several places:

Stash 1: the main fabric cabinet, sorted by size. (1/2 yd-2yd pieces above, 3+ yd pieces below)

Stash 2: under the sewing table (protected from window light, also the room is small): FQs and scraps, and a bin of "orphans, extras, and scrap-pieced fabric". Every one of these is crammed full.

Stash 3: the sewing-room closet. These bins are all full, too. Some is garment fabric (I think I'm going to sew clothes, but rarely do with the exception of Fat Quarter Skirts); one drawer holds my meager selection of solids; some is home dec weight which I’ve started using for pillow backs; some are WIPs and UFOs, and way too many, plus more on a higher shelf, are what I call "FUFOs" (Future UFOs: fabric purchased for specific projects that I’ve not yet started).

One of my 2012 vows is to not acquire any more FUFOs. I have enough to keep me busy for years (and some WIPs/UFOs to finish up first!).

This stash is woefully short of lights, solids, and "blenders". I may relax my "no precuts" policy and invest in FQ sets in order to fill those gaps, but I’d like to use up some of what I’ve got first, clear a little space.

and a favorite quilt you've made that represents these colors you use often?

I chose this pillow over a quilt, because it is totally "me."

Thanks for inviting me, this was a lot of fun!

Aloha,

Stephanie

Thanks so much Stephanie for letting us into your STASH!  Now can we all come over, raid it and lay in the sun afterwards?  ;-)  

For you readers, HOW DO YOU KEEP YOUR STASH?  

IS IT VISIBLE? ON SHELVES? DRAWERS? TELL US!

Victoria

Be sure to stop by Stephanie's blog and say hi!

Jackie has the QUILT ALMANAC 2012 ISSUE with my quilt in, in her store, click here.

Next week we visit Art Quilter Jamie Fingal!  See you then!