The foible of green

Green is my favourite colour – when it’s not red, yellow, blue, orange, brown, black, white or some shade in between. But it’s also often my most frustrating colour to work with; there are just so many shades of green out there.

A year or two ago, I crocheted two cushion fronts out of Rowan’s Ivy Cotton Glace. I thought I’d easily find matching fabric to make up the covers. I didn’t – and not for lack of searching. I ended up stitching the crocheted fronts to dupion silk covers, which looked good through the crochet but not too good when viewed from the side.

I’ve also made the mistake of using too many different shades of green in one piece of embroidery, ending up with a headache-inducing mash of colour instead of the subtle hues and gradations that occur in nature.

One of the first pieces of quilting fabric I ever bought is (what I refer to as) Creme Soda green, because of its similarity to the tin of the much-loved South African soft drink. It sits in my stash drawer, the spinster on the shelf.

I could go on about my adventures with green, but all this talk is making my fingers itch. I’m off to make something. I’m thinking… green?