Wednesday, April 5, 2017

And today is April 5th, I've made a big pile of projects on the living room floor, took a picture to place on Instagram and on the linkup for the second quarter. Funny how it seems there are three recalcitrant students being held back a year, every quarter. Even funnier, I just did a headcount and fully half of the contestants are laggards. I would laugh if I could.

Top left is the spiral hexaround, a Julie Yeager design. I found three packs of Big Twist in a peacock stripe (50% off coupon made the skeins $1.48 each). There are 24 motifs done, unfortunately I decided to complicate the matter by adding an extra row around with various colors picked up from the stripes (lots of indigo). 

Next is the latest reproduction of Cheerful Child by Carolyn Christmas - such an easy and quick set of patterns; then a T-shirt I am drawing Jean-Michel Basquiat's Trumpet for fun using a grid method; then the stubborn string wall quilt. Second row a large brown motif afghan which is in the stage of sewing all the motifs together, but this one has proved back-breaking in the assembly stage. I need to just bite the bullet and finish, which is what I was trying to do last night with the Monet baby blanket A. There are many more rows to go!!
The scrappy brown triangles/white panels will have cats appliqued at the finish, now I'm hand stitching random patterns in each white panel. 

Third row holds two colors of linen and a dress pattern, I would like to make sheaths but haven't gotten past the cutting paper stage. Two sunflower towels, one newly finished baby quilt A in Ladies Luncheon pattern (it looked quick easy fun) which awaits a fun-flannel backing and more free motion experimentation (poor little patient). The Happy Wishes quilt top is all together and will be backed by a crazy quilt selection of flannels. The last row is the Danish Mermaid color selection of Scheepjes Hygge CAL 2017, then baby quilt B which now needs only binding. Grand total of 14 for whoever is still awake. However, I know I will "do better" than last quarter when I mailed the first finished piece to my brother, and forgot to take a picture of it before doing so. Penalty kick!
June 2016 I was traumatized, reading of the tragedy of Kathreen Ricketson. I was so impressed with the material in Brave New Quilts that I took copious notes on the lessons and the projects, wanting to utilize color as she explained it, and even bought some gray yardage, wanting to try her "Gray Play," an exercise with tones of gray (warms and cools look different with the same gray.) I haven't sewn it yet, but I will - I owe it to her legacy to proceed from her guidance.   

Fast forward nine some months - I may be finished with the blocks - not sewn together yet but here is my Gray Play exercise. There are sixteen blocks finished in the example shown below - red center surrounded by gray and vice versa. I grabbed and arranged nine pieces to show for one day in the IGQuiltFest Amy Ellis scheduled in March, trying to give a good representation of the exercise, and my goal in making these blocks was to have presentation of both warm and cool colors to express the warm and cool sides of gray. Thanks Kathreen, rip.