The Colors Pulled Me In

The colors suggested for Bonnie's current 

 Good Fortune mystery quilt have been calling my name.

DIL visited Changdeokgung Palace, Seoul Korea

a few years back and shared this photo.

I used it as my desktop wallpaper for a while.

Look at those blues, greens, reds, and multiple oranges . . .

She also shared this photo of the  Forbidden City in China.

Again blues, greens, reds, and multiple oranges . . .

(both of DIL's photos should supersize if double-clicked)

And so I have pulled these fabrics from the resource boxes

to make a quilt that I shall call NOT a Mystery.

I am NOT going to make a Good Fortune mystery quilt.

But much like I did with Bonnie's Grand Illusion mystery,

I used her colors to create Party Hat Optional.

This time around, I'm contemplating

a half-rectangle design 

along the lines of Wilkommen.

None of this will happen until sometime next year.

So for now I have made notes 

and tucked them inside the project box.

Quiltdivajulie

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"Everything you look at can become a fairy tale and you can get a story from everything you touch."
Hans Christian Andersen

Alter Ego (my namesake quilt)

One of the final four blocks . . .

(Mixing up the four outer corners added fun to the process)

Another of the final four blocks . . .

(the inner black and white remains constant throughout)

Third of final four . . .

(there are at least 15 different black and whites in the outer position)

The last block!

Woo Hoo!!

photos will supersize if double clicked

Blocks created using Bonnie Hunter's Chunky Churn Dash.

I tried scattering the colors randomly,

but ended up devising my own rhythmic repeat.

Can you find it?

I cut enough to make a BIG quilt 

(Bonnie doesn't make small quilts)

knowing that I would have lots of extra pieces for . . . a SCRAPPY BACK.

I've already stitched the leftover hourglass block pieces into HSTs ...

lots (!) more fun to come as the back evolves!

This one is going to be really wonderful once it is off the design wall

when it wil not be so perfectly flat.

Still need to add the inner stop border and the outer borders . . .

And I found the perfect binding fabric hiding in my stash!

LOTS more stitching ahead!

Quiltdivajulie

Wordless Wednesday

Final Decision?

I've had this stash of fabrics set aside for months and months ... 

you can't see the greens, but there's a stack of them

ready and waiting.

Now that Spirit Song and Jester are at the binding stage,

I can begin work on another quilt top.

After plenty of pondering, quite a few sketches, 

and a LOT of mind changing,

I'm almost certain that I've finally (!) settled on a design. 

I will not be making my version as large as Bonnie's, 

and there's always the chance my layout will morph from hers

(it happened before with my Dandelion Detour and her Old Tobacco Road);

but I love the two color scrappy look;

and I can't wait to actually use that fabulous magnolia print

that originally inspired this combination!

I then planned to use these colors

for a project during Tonya's Liberated Amish Get Together ~

after living in northern Indiana's Amish country for many years,

the colors remind me of peaceful summer cornfields,

bountiful autumn harvests,

ripening spring wheat, and

 the glorious, hardworking Clydesdale horses

 of well-tended farms.

Ideas are flowing . . .

but first, I need to cut into a lot of fabrics!

No more stash paralysis ~ let the process begin!

Quiltdivajulie

Design Wall Update

As an antidote for gray skies, I raided my stash of 2-1/2" strips (my version of Bonnie's Scrap User's System) ~ then chain stitched the scrappy colors and random lengths together before cutting the one very long strip into 65" lengths. Here you can see the results pinned on Design Wall No. 2, waiting to be stitched together.

Next I raided my remaining stash of greens (what remained after IBOL) and came up with enough 16-1/2" squares (many with sub parts yet to be assembled) to piece a randomly scrappy back for what I am calling "Stash Soup" (eventually destined for the Mountain Baby Blanket Project).

My selvage 'zinger' quilt is almost ready for assembly! I still need to cut 4 corner blocks and strips for the skinny inner borders ~ but this one won't be stuck on Design Wall No. 1 too much longer. There are several others just waiting for their chance to take its place . . .


Quiltdivajulie
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"It is not the form that dictates the color, but the color that brings out the form." (Hans Hofmann)

Meet Me in the Rose Garden

Earlier this year, I took two days of vacation in the middle of a week in order to attend one of Bonnie's trunk shows and participate in her Sister's Choice half-day workshop in Franklin, TN.

The quilt above ~ Meet Me in the Rose Garden ~ is the result. Pieced entirely from stash fabrics and quilted by Chris with traditional Baptist Fans, it has been laundered and is ready to become one of our use-me-often quilts.

Rose Garden and I went to Shelby Farms at lunchtime on Friday to soak up some sunshine and enjoy the breezy, beautiful scenery. I had to stop and wait while this growing family crossed the road ~


Eating lunch at the park is definitely better than eating at my desk!


Especially when your picnic table is under a tree like this one . . .


Did I mention it was breezy?!?


Quiltdivajulie
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"Look at the trees, look at the birds, look at the clouds, look at the stars. . . and if you have eyes you will be able to see that their whole existence is joyful. Everything is simply happy. Trees are happy for no reason. . ." (Osho)

Sunday Afternoon Picnic

Here is the second of the two Super Bowl Twist quilts that I made ~ Sunday Afternoon Picnic.

As with Cotton Candy, I pulled yardage from my stash for the pieced back.  This is one of the corners ~ not quite sure why this Moda floral was purchased.

Here is another corner ~ this Moda floral was used on the back of Sweet Dreams, the oversize queen charm quilt now living at Chris's house.

Third of the three fabrics ~ this one was first used in a now worn-out quilt for our younger son (undergraduate dorm).

And one last "crumpled" photo showing the back with one corner of the outer border showing.  The binding used on this quilt was my alternate for Dandelion Detour.  Again, Chris did her wonderful meandering on this utility quilt that will be donated to a local senior come December.

Not much time for sewing this weekend ~ lots of government inspired/required paperwork, house cleaning, yard work, errand running, etc.  But, the sun is out and it is GORGEOUS outside.

Quiltdivajulie

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“Spring is nature's way of saying, "Let's party!"” (Robin Williams)

Cotton Candy ~ Completed

Photo 1 (above) shows the back flipped forward over onto the front. It's been a while since Chris has meandered one of my quilts ~ but for this utility quilt, it was the perfect choice.

Photo 2 shows the inner and outer borders plus binding against part of the back.

Photo 3 shows the quilt crumpled in the wicker rocking chair early this morning (just as the sun was coming up). This quilt (and the second Strip Twist ~ binding just underway) were major stash reducers.

Photo 4 shows the scrappy, pieced back fabrics (more stash reduction). Come December, both of the Strip Twist quilts will be donated/gifted to homebound seniors through the Silver Bells program. [pattern: Strip Twist by Bonnie Hunter ~ I participated in her 2009 Super Bowl Twist online quilting 'retreat']


The shredding truck is coming to the office on Friday ~ this morning, there were 12 boxes of old files and papers stacked at my desk (one of my attorneys started cleaning out last night). Combined with the 4 boxes that have already gone, we can actually begin to see the floor near my desk again. Lots more to go through and no firm date on carpet installation yet, but the sooner we can clear the decks, the better (knowing full well there will be multiple last minute messes to deal with). One day at a time. . .

The sun is out and it is supposed to go into the 70s today ~ WOO HOO!

Quiltdivajulie

I'm Glad I Listened . . .

Do your quilts talk to you? Do they whisper? Shout? Demand? Nag? Insist?

Well, this one kept pestering me to make it 4 blocks wide by 5 rows long instead of the planned 6. . . so I finally gave in and went with it. It's a VERY good thing I did, because ~ when I attached the burgundy inner borders on the two sides, I had less than 1" of fabric left!

It pays to listen to that little voice in your head . . .

So, here is the top for Meet Me In The Rose Garden. Still need to piece the back (you can see the fabrics below, on the right) and put away the leftovers ~ but I'm already off into the midst of Pass the Pickles Please.

Yes, there's a whole lot of cutting going on ~ this is about 2/3 of the strips needed for the 56 toothed segments.

And here on the design wall, I'm trying to add in missing pieces to complete the blocks Chris had started. Still more cutting needed to have enough of the inner and outer segments . . . I'm sure I'll change up some of the color combinations but, for now, getting an accurate count is the important part.

One thing is certain ~ Pickles will be a gloriously colorful scrappy quilt!

Quiltdivajulie

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“Intuition is a combination of historical (empirical) data, deep and heightened observation, and an ability to cut through the thickness of surface reality. Intuition is like a slow motion machine that captures data instantaneously and hits you like a ton of bricks. Intuition is a knowing, a sensing that is beyond the conscious understanding — a gut feeling. Intuition is not pseudo-science.” (Abella Arthur)

Fantastic!

Wow ~ what a wonderful 2 days!  

Had a grand time sitting through Bonnie's trunk show and lecture (if you have the opportunity, grab it) . . . SUCH fun to meet in person after nearly 5 years of online correspondence.  And the best part?  The talented, generous, and extremely gracious program chair/registration contact for the Cumberland Valley Guild invited me to stay at her house, along with Bonnie!  Sharing downtime with them in the evenings was priceless.  

When they left for today's all-day workshop, I went off on my own ~ stopping by the Woodcraft store to pick up a couple of things for DH and then on to the new location of Stitcher's Garden (the two businesses are now in the same shopping center ~ talk about super convenient. . .).

Myra (shop owner) said she actually has less floor space than she did before, but the 12' ceilings and large number of new shelving units make wandering amongst the 1000s of fabric bolts marvelous fun.  As you can see from the photo above, I did not come home empty-handed. . . I now have backing (fabulous multi-color print ala Laurel Burch), dual inner border fabrics (black and gold), binding (purple), and enough fat quarters to mix with what I have on hand to piece the 56 fickle pickle blocks for our new bed quilt.  The colors make both of us smile ~ how can we go wrong!

Tomorrow it is back to work ~ I wish I could stay home and sew, but I need to pay for all that fabric!

Quiltdivajulie

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“Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, 'What! You too? I thought I was the only one” (C.S. Lewis)

Workshop Project Underway ~

Next week, I'll be participating in Bonnie's Sister's Choice workshop in Franklin, TN ~ this is the quilt I'll be working on . . . The nine-patches were pieced from leftover bits of earlier quilts, notably Afternoon Tea (think blue skies and sunshine). I've pinned them onto the design wall in a 4 x 6 layout (tried to balance out the distribution of blues that contain flashes of other colors) and am attaching the row/block labels to the completed blocks for easy transport (you can see the project box below ~ from the on-sale scrapbooking aisle at Michael's).

I'd love to be able to actually assemble the center of the top while I'm there (but, more likely than not, I'll still be piecing blocks which is just fine). When the time comes, the borders will echo the burgundy tones.

As I passed through the sunroom on my way out the door this morning, this is what I saw . . .

Quiltdivajulie
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"Who among us hasn't envied a cat's ability to ignore the cares of daily life and to relax completely?” (Karen Brademeyer)

It's Monday ~ here's an extra quote to enjoy:

"Try to relax and enjoy the crisis.” (Ashleigh Brilliant)

Friday Flimsies to Share

Cotton Candy's top is finished ~ shown here looking up at it hanging over our balcony. Turned out I didn't have enough of either of the border fabrics I'd originally chosen, so it was "back to the stash" for alternates. The binding will be the same rich royal blue as the outer border. . . really like the way this turned out and I know it will be even better once it is quilted (start pondering, Chris!).

And here is Sunday Afternoon Picnic, also waiting to go to Chris for quilting. The binding for this one is a yellow/green diagonal stripe.

Your eyes are not playing tricks on you ~ I changed up the border widths between the two quilts (pattern dimensions were used for Sunday Afternoon Picnic but I modified them for Cotton Candy based on available yardage for borders).

These quilts were created in response to Bonnie's Super Bowl Twist weekend challenge ~ and will be gifted to our adopted seniors in December as part of the local Silver Bells program.

It's Friday ~ the busiest day of the week where I work (even with two of my three attorneys out of town, the inbox is overflowing). The countdown to 5pm is underway . .

Quiltdivajulie
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"My choice of colors does not rest on any scientific theory; it is based on observation, on feeling, on the experience of my sensibility. Inspired by certain pages of Delacroix, an artist like Signac is preoccupied with complementary colors, and the theoretical knowledge of them will lead him to use a certain tone in a certain place. But I simply try to put down colors which render my sensation." (Henri Matisse)

And another one joins the list:

This is the beginning of a wonderfully scrappy, stash reduction Sister's Choice quilt that has moved up on my list quite unexpectedly [especially because of my almost-last-minute decision to visit a Nashville-area quilt guild when they host Bonnie of Quiltville].

I've spent several short bursts of time before and after work pulling strips from my stash and trimming the creams into usable 6-1/2" rectangles and 2-1/2" squares. The blue and yellow squares were already cut to size from ends of earlier quilts, now sorted to create 25 unique nine-patch blocks. Still some more cutting and sorting to do, but it won't take too long.

Not enough of the primary burgundy? Back to the box to find another with similar value. For some reason (could it be the colors?) ~ this kind of decision making exhilarates me, unlike the organizing/filing choices I have to make all day long at work.

Off to the doctor for a follow up on my knee. . .

Quiltdivajulie
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“It takes both rain and sunshine to make a Rainbow.” (author unknown)

. . . Cotton Candy

This is the second of the two Super Bowl Twist quilts I started (click to enlarge photo). The blocks are finally laid out on the design wall, patiently waiting for me to stitch them together. Best of all, I'm so tickled to have used up almost all of the Moda Quilt Pink jelly roll that has been lurking about in my stash for 2 years!

The lower piece will become the narrow stop border and the upper fabric will be used for the outer borders.

And these are the fabrics that will become the pieced backing...

What to use for binding? I pulled two lengths from my box of leftover bindings and stitched them together end-to-end [one is a happy, vibrant purple print and the other is a royal blue on blue floral] ~ assymetrical, decidedly un-pink, binding ahead!

No clue when I will get this assembled ~ the dress/tie project is sprawled all over my studio right now; the batiks for our king bed quilt are stacked on my sewing table with the first blocks on the other design wall; the long-overdue basket quilt is loudly calling my name; and this morning, before work, I pulled out 2-1/2" strips and squares from the stash for Bonnie's Sister's Choice quilt (I'm going to attend one of her workshops in early March).

SO many colors and possibilities ~

Quiltdivajulie
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"One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries.” (A.A. Milne)

Super Sunday

This will become place mats for our dining room ~ Chris helped me find these when we were visiting the Arlington quilt shop earlier this afternoon. The go-with-perfectly fat quarters were pulled from various spots around the store.


The shop opened at 1 and there were at least 6-8 of us waiting for them to unlock the door. I was still there at 2:30... they were SO busy. Love what the new owner is doing ~ I'll go back the next time I need something, no question.


Sunday Afternoon Picnic update: the top is finished! (lots more photos added to the album)


I've started stitching the first strips for the second quilt (Cotton Candy Skies), but stopped because Chris delivered Kitty Chaos and I had to hurry up to get the binding stitched in place.

I've been hand stitching while we watch the Super Bowl. [Love the Boss! Also liked the Cheetos/pigeons and Monster.com commercials (especially the office with the moose on the wall - or the desk, depending which side of the wall you're viewing).]


I so wish this was a three-day weekend . . .


Quiltdivajulie
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“How did it get so late so soon? Its night before its afternoon. December is here before its June. My goodness how the time has flewn. How did it get so late so soon?” (Dr. Seuss)