Last week PANTONE announced the 2026 PANTONE Colour of the Year. The next day, the 2026 Kona Colour of the year was announced. They could not be more different, so let’s look at Cloud Dancer and Wander
2026 Colours of the Year: Cloud Dancer and Wander
PANTONE Colour of the Year – Cloud Dancer
Let’s just say it from the start, WTH PANTONE???
If you haven’t seen the now viral video of the lady burning her PANTONE colour chart in disgust, it’s out there. Let’s face it, Cloud Dancer is basically white. It took lots of imagination on their part. Not!
According to PANTONE, Cloud Dancer “is a lofty white that serves as a symbol of calming influence in a society rediscovering the value of quiet reflection. A billowy white imbued with serenity, Cloud Dancer encourages true relaxation and focus, allowing the mind to wander and creativity to breathe, making room for innovation.”
Ok, in this year of global upheaval, they chose white as a calming influence. I’m just not feeling it. What do you think?
KONA Colour of the Year – Wander
Kona describes Wander as “a calm, confident green that invites curiosity and open-ended possibility.”
If one wants to look at this philosophically, one could view green as new ventures, opportunities, etc, which is a smart move considering the year we have all had. Forward thinking and moving on to better things.
This is a beautiful shade of green and I see lots of opportunity to use it, but green is not an easy colour to use in quilts sometimes.
A Quilt Example
I decided to create a quilt in PreQuilt design software. I love the Hunter’s Star design and I quickly added the colours. It’s a great, high contrast quilt, if you don’t mind the white.
My Final Thoughts
I hope this gives you food for thought as we move into 2026. Will you use these colours in your quilts? I don’t need to buy any more fabric, so I will skip on Wander.
One Last Thing
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