The Rolodex Project - an Update

These blues were the penultimate group of backgrounds to be added.

And these greens were the final group.

That means that all of the backgrounds are now glued in place, with the corners of the cards rounded, and the Rolodex runner holes punched.  

(I started the process last March)

There are twenty sections in my Rolodex Color Wheel:

Red, Pink/Fuschia, Orange/Cheddar, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple, Turquoise/Aqua/Teal, and Brown are the single colors.

The color combinations include Blue/Yellow, Turquoise/Yellow, Blue/Green, Green/Yellow, Aqua/Pink, Pink/Green, Red Violet/Yellow "Acid" Green, Black/Blue, Cool Neutrals, Warm Neutrals, and Black/White.

The two baskets behind the Rolodex contain bits and pieces in each of those color groups - ready for the collage-ing process.  

The base unit came with 500 blank rolodex cards.

I now have less than 25 blank ones in reserve and I destroyed at least a dozen in the process of getting to this point; which means there are roughly 465 cards with backgrounds on the unit right now.

Each of those individual cards will get the collage treatment before they are glued back-to-back into pairs (465/2 = 232-233 pairs).  

I'm guessing there will be approximately 15-20 cards in each of the twenty sections (some will have more, some will have less).

From here on I don't want to think about any of those numbers - I just want to play with the collage part a few cards at a time until they are all done.

Quiltdivajulie

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"Rather than trying to straighten out my quirks, I realise that my weird bits are are perhaps the most interesting bits about me."

Helen Wells

Rolodex Color Wheel and Squirrels - Photo Heavy

I've finished three more color groups for my Rolodex Color Wheel - first up is yellow.

These are the front sides of the ten yellow cards plus the divider (top).

And these are the back sides.  

(if you supersize the photos, there are so many little details to explore)

Here's a close up on one.

Next up was turquoise.  These are the front sides of the ten newly finished cards, along with the divider (top).

And these are the reverse sides.

The top card in this photo tickles me because of the shape of the character's face sitting on the stick and the expression of th pilot on the stamp.  And yes, that was intentional on my part.

These two stamps are just loaded with fine details - I wonder if people really stop to look at the stamps on their mail (when the stamp is other than the basic flag).

The third group features gray.  These are the front sides.

(Wanda - I included your squirrel photo on the bottom right card)

And these are the reverse sides.

The squirrels are a big part of this color group . . . 

They make me happy.

These three groups of cards comfortably fill up my Rolodex - 266 single cards collaged on one side then combined into 11 color groups containing 133 pairs.

But I have nine more color groups (pairs of colors like black and white, blue and yellow, pink and green, etc.) prepped and ready to collage so later this year there will be a second Rolodex Color Wheel.

Now here's a short little video of Color Wheel No. 1 in motion . . . 

For a larger view, click on the play arrow then look in the lower right hand corner of the frame for the full screen option (hit "escape" on your keyboard to return to normal view).

(to see still photos of the other color card groups, click on the label below the quote to see all earlier posts for this project)

Quiltdivajulie

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"Don't be like the rest of them darling."

Coco Chanel

Rolodex Cards This Month

I chose PINK as the first group of Rolodex Color Wheel cards to finish for January. 

(remembering that all of the original single white Rolodex cards had their designated background color already in place)

These are the finished fronts (all photos should supersize).

And these are the finished backs.

Next up - WARM LOW VOLUME cards.

Finished fronts . . .

Next

. . . and finished backs.

The next color group was RED.

Here are the finished fronts.

And here are the finished backs.

January's total finished front/back cards - 38.

While DH worked on the lights in my sewing studio, I went ahead and pulled out the BLUE cards in the other room.

These are the finished fronts.

And these are the finished backs.

Since I was on a roll, I went ahead and pulled out the GREEN cards.

Here are their finished fronts.

And here are the finished backs.

The final group for this month involved PURPLE.

Finished fronts . . .

. . . and finished backs.

The grand total of paired front/back cards completed in January is (drum roll) . . . 74!

Progress feels good.

(I'm also very happy to have learned a couple of new techniques that made it possible to move these along much more quickly - thank you to the many makers who freely share what they do online.)

Quiltdivajulie

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"And the dandelion does not stop growing because it is told it is a weed.  The dandelion does not care what others see.  It says, "One day they'll be making wishes upon me."

B. Atkinson

Rolodex Update

I've been plugging away with the backgrounds on the white Rolodex cards.  This is the red violet/lime green group.

This is the blue plus green group.  The greens look a tad yellow and the blues look rather gray in the photo - they're much more lively in person.

This is the turquoise plus yellow group.

The orange group.

The yellow group (oops, need to round the corners on these).

The pink plus green group.

The aqua/turquoise/teal group.

The pink plus aqua group.

The pink group.

And the cool neutrals group.

There are three more single color groups left to do - blue, green, and purple.

And honestly, I am SO ready to be done with phase of the project.  Like cutting a bazillion triangles for HSTs or cutting/piecing 1,000s of 1.5" squares together, it gets tedious after a while.

It will be a lot more fun when I can spend time adding collage to the cards before gluing them into pairs and putting those finished cards into the Rolodex (but that phase is going to wait until I FMQ a couple of the waiting tops and get those aboriginal HSTs up on the design wall).

Quiltdivajulie

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"Repetition is the mother of learning and the father of action, which makes it the architect of accomplishment."

Zig Ziglar

Touching Base

Shirts and Such has been pin basted and the free motion quilting is nearly complete.

This photo shows the top and backing with the thread I'm using.

I've also decided to start using the two vintage Rolodexes I found in a thrift store.

The first one (black base) has cards measuring 2.25 " x 4" so I'm calling it The Tiny Things Rolodex.

This section will feature bits and pieces of packaging.

This section will feature things related to TEA.  

Clearly this one will be a longer term, background kind of project as I find bits and bobs to add.

The second rolodex (light gray/tan base) contains cards that measure 3" x 5" - I'm going to fill it with a variety of non-valuable postage stamps from a wide variety of sources, most free or at very little cost.  Its very non-original name will be the Postage Stamp Rolodex unless I come up with something more clever.

This particular section will feature stamps related to architecture and buildings.  (Do any of you know where Helvetia is?  Switzerland!)

Another section will feature sports and the Olympics.

Other sections I've already decided on are Christmas, Women, Men (including former presidents), Planes-Trains-Automobiles, Nautical, and Flowers.  There will be lots more topics added as I work through the stamps I have in hand.

(and if any of you have cancelled or unused stamps that you no longer want, I'll be happy to re-home them and add them into this motley mix)

I've also discovered this project, and given my love of Happy Mail I've taken their pledge to write one letter (or more if the muse strikes) each week.  

If you're curious, their website is here: https://www.thesundayletterproject.com/

* * *

Family Dinner Sunday, Dentist on Monday, Grandparents Day at Young Man's school on Tuesday followed by a sleepover visit,  Thanksgiving on Thursday (not a big production as there are only 3 of us plus the grand-dog), and then take-down of November's seasonal decor and put-up of December's.    

After a couple more rainy days, our temps are forecast to drop into the freezing zone once more.  Even so, as soon as S&S is finished I will bundle up and get outdoor photos to share here later in the week.

Quiltdivajulie

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"So here's the thing:  unused art materials are of ZERO value.  Enjoy them.  That is why they exist in the world - to bring joy.  Go create something!"

Daisy Yellow

Rolodex Update

Before I begin sharing my gradual return to the sewing machine, I'll share this update on my Color Wheel rolodex project.

Here I tried using my glue stick to add a strip of frayed fabric - I was surprised at how well it adhered.

I also used some leftover strips of scrapbook paper and tried stitching skinny strips of fabric to them.

These will be chopped into shorter lengths and glued in place as I work my way through the rest of the cards in the various color groups.  

I may not use all of them but I proved to myself that my idea would work.

I have finished all of the color section divider cards using punch cut paint chip circles to cover the letters on the alphabet dividers that came with the unit.

Here's a 30 second flip through (twice around) so you can see how they look.

CLICK HERE to see the video on DH's You Tube channel.

And finally I pulled all the blank cards out and spent several hours working through the different color groups to find background papers and sort all the little extras (stamps, etc.).

This is how the rolodex looks with only the divider cards.

Over the coming weeks (and probably months) I'll make a few cards at a time and gradually re-fill the voids between the dividers.  

I'll also be on the lookout for more interesting bits to add to the mix.

Quiltdivajulie

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"We spend too much time in our heads.  Analyzing.  Wondering.  Asking. Planning.  Stop.  Come back to here, now.  Where I am it is mid-afternoon in late summer.  The sunlight is flooding the grass and ground.  It feels still.  And that's all there is for now. And all is well."

Victoria Erickson

More Pieces of Progress

The blocks for Brumous, the new January kitchen table quilt, are made and up on the design wall.

I want to do some re-arranging to eliminate the too dark blobs before clipping the blocks together so I can web the quilt top.

Gnomeville, the January dining room wall quilt, is pin basted (at long last).

And Inglenook is finally pin basted as well.

By chance, I happened upon the website of Ali Manning - Vintage Page Designs and the Handmade Book Club.

I watched her washi tape journal mini class and had a brainstorm.

What if I took five of my old daily stitching progress journals (that I've never once referred back to) and used them to make ROYGBIV journals/glue books as a long term project (and as a way to use up the Rolodex color wheel snippets once that project is done).

I used her method and some of my washi tape to transform the covers.

I have set aside a small basket for each of these so I can add bits and pieces as I find them - but I have promised myself I won't start in earnest until the 207 remaining pairs of Rolodex cards are collaged. 

On a related note, does anyone else feel guilty when they pull colorful Color Catchers from the washer and go to toss them in the trash?  

I have kept some of mine but wasn't sure how to use them for anything.

Until now.

Another washi tape journal cover with a repurposed file folder as the base is drying as I type.

Here's the inside cover.  

I think I might stitch some fabric snippets to the sheets before the two signatures (total of 8 color catchers) are sewn into the cover. 

Time will tell.

For now, it is back to the sewing studio . . .  

Quiltdivajulie

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"An artist is an explorer."

Henri Matisse