Thursday, January 12, 2012

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:
VdeH-stash-2.jpg
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.

VdeH-stash-3.jpg

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!


8 comments:

  1. Having lived in Hawaii for 3 years you can't help but love bright clear colors -- Hawaii is a wonderful color palette -- all those gorgeous flowers not to mention the most wonderful shades of blues and greens. Terrific interview and it's nice to read how others use/see color.

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  2. I really like bright colors. I would say, red, orange, and lime green are among my favorite colors to put in a quilt.

    Nice interview.

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  3. eight bookcases are visible mostly neatly folded.

    then there is the stash in the coloset, neatly organized in bins.... since rarely seen, not used. Then there are piles and piles of fabric in a back room that is waiting for a home and a dusting. Then there are boxes and boxes in storage that from time to time win the lucky draw and one or two will come home with me and hit the shelves or the piles. In writing about this like a big bang moment - what the heck am I doing. Comes down to impulse buy .....

    now if the way you have this set up EATS my comment I will be MAD MAD MAD and may not leave a comment anywhere for weeks. The settings on blogs that eat the comments are the reason I like anonymous comments. I discovered early on that anonymous comments did not get eaten. Heck if I have taken 10 minutes to compose a comment I want someone to read it. Here goes...

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  4. Since I just moved to a cozy apartment, I have most of my fabrics in the book cases in my living room. The books went, the fabric stayed. It looks so pretty all organized by color and stacked there. I have mixed in a few books and other things to break it up. And I might have a bin or two under my sewing table, and a bin or two under the window seats. Well you know how it grows. hehehe.

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  5. Thanks for sharing Stephanie's views on color. I have my fabric in open shelves from IKEA. The scraps are in bins and Bella thinks they are hers. She gets very upset if the colors get too mixed up. ;-)

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  6. Thanks for the interview, Victoria!

    I wish I could keep my stash on open shelves, but have to protect it from sun damage. This morning a significant portion of the scraps stash is all over the sewing table...

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  7. I'm always in awe of Stephanie's work and enjoyed the interview!

    I live in Hawaii, too (though on a different island) and really have trouble with the light fading my fabrics - I don't know if people everywhere have this problem. I keep most of my fabric in bins in a closet with the door closed & I pulled a large piece of green out yesterday & it has fade marks on all the folds!

    Maybe, despite my tinted windows & blinds closed, I should buy less fabric unless I'm going to use it right away! Horrors!!!! That'll never work!

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  8. It's wonderful to see how different people are affected by, and use, colour! Stephanie your cushion is divine, I love the colours you have used in this and your quilting is fabulous. xo

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