Beach Bovine ideas

I have recently been introduced to modern quilting.  The fabrics and designs are so much different than what I've been around--and yet the brighter, clearer colors and clean designs suit my tastes more than not.  One local quilt shop, Piece by Piece, features tons of pictures of all their new fabrics.  I've been reading their blog... and the creative juices have been flowing.

The holiday placemats that were brought out this week got me started.

  Cute, winter scene, in non-traditional colors.

The photo doesn't do justice to the light, lime green.

Yummy polka-dot tree.  Doesn't seem out-of-place at all.

Graphic snowflake-print blue tree.  Just as Dr. Seuss would have imagined it.

Penguin salt-and-pepper shakers go so nicely with the placemats!  And this is where I made the leap from "isn't this all so pretty" to "hey, I've got a pattern idea".  Notice my little penguin friend: he is not black and white.  He is sporting an alternate color scheme.  And it looks fine.

So... what else have I seen recently that would look okay in unreal colors?  Oh yeah, a pattern by Amy Bradley designs called "Beach Bovines"

(Pardon the quality of this photo.)  The pattern is for a wall hanging, but I don't do wall hangings, so I bought it with the intention of making placemats.  I was just worried about how the bright jellybean colors shown in the pattern would work with any possible table decor.  But my little penguin friend has opened my eyes to the possibilities of alternate colorways.

Imagine a pink-and-maroon cow with brown-and-pink printed bikini.  A taupe sky and navy blue grass?  I think I might have a tendency to go overboard with colors.  I believe the solution is to completely copy the color scheme of something else I like.  (Maybe not the color scheme of the snow-scene placemats I already have, but at least I know I like those colors together.  Saves me from myself.)