Monday 31 March 2014

Table for...Eight?

Happy Monday, all! I finished the placemats for the Ottawa Modern Quilt Guild silent auction tonight. I backed each one with a different colour and quilted each one with a different motif. Great practice!

Fronts: 


Backs: The colour in the photo is not quite right, but you get the idea. 


I'm trying to decide if I should list them as one set of eight, two sets of four or four sets of two. Thoughts? 

Also, anyone know of any good April Fools jokes to play on kids? I'm itching to prank my three little wild things tomorrow morning. A friend suggested switching the kids in their beds so they wake up in each other's beds so we may try that. 

Have a great Monday, all!

Friday 28 March 2014

TGIFF! - Innocence Lost, Courage Found

Riddle me this: A woman is in a completely bricked-in room. On one wall, there is a large mirror, but there is no door. There's a bench in the middle of the room. She's a clever one though and she got out. How did she get out? Answer at the bottom. Hint: Think math.

I started this quilt a few weeks ago using the Fibonacci sequence up to 13. I worried that it felt too simple. You assured me that it wasn't. Thank you!

I took your advice and stayed simple with the quilting too -- lines every 1/2" -- but for each stripe I quilted the addends (I looked up the term) from the sequence in the opposite colour. Eg. for the red stripe that is 5" wide, I quilted 2 white lines along one side and 3 white lines on the other. I filled in the rest of the stripe with matching red lines.


I also decided to learn how to piece the binding to match the stripes. Yay! Lessons learned -- use the quilted top measurements not the original unquilted top measurements. I had to redo a number of seams because the stripes were smaller once quilted. Seems obvious now, I know. LOL!


The back is just a simple white backing. 


I won't talk too much about the name, except to say that the colour choices were deliberate and reflect the name for me. The optimist in me can't leave it at that though so while the red was chosen for its negative meanings, it was also chosen because it means courage. And the reciprocal nature of the design means that the red flows back to the white too. Same idea with the name. :)

Finished size: 41" by 65"
Fabric: Kona White and Kona Wine
Batting: Hobbs Heirloom - 80/20
Thread: Aurifil 2021 and Aurifil 2460

Linking up to TGIFF!, which is over with Leanne at Devoted Quilter.

Answer: She broke the bench in half because two halves make a whole (hole). ;) Happy Friday!

Thursday 27 March 2014

Random Is As Random Does

From Facebook
Nova Scotia may be closed due to yesterday's record breaking snow storm, but the voting is open for the 2014 Pantone Quilt Challenge until tonight at 11 p.m. PST. There are so many gorgeous quilts! If you'd like some precious purple inspiration, definitely check it out. My Purplelicious quilt is in the mini category. Just sayin'. ;)
2014 Pantone Quilt Challenge: Radiant Orchid

I've been meaning to write about Canadian Quilt Talk for some time now because I love it! It's on later today, but it's a podcast so you can catch it later and listen to past episodes too. It's not just for Canadians either! 

Brandy Lynn Maslowski, the host of Canadian Quilt Talk, also recently did a successful kickstarter campaign to publish Kristy's Quilt, her children's picture book. Here's a bit more about the book: 

Kristy's Quilt is a heartwarming quilt adventure based on a true story. This children's book features 10 year old Kristy, a spunky little quilter who blossoms at the In Stitches Quilting Retreat. A book for ages 2-92.


Brandy Lynn Designs The Kristy's Quilt Project Screen Shot 2014-02-05 at 11

If you are interested, you can still support this project or preorder a book from Brandy Lynn. You can connect with her at www.brandylynndesigns.com 

Tuesday night, we had a Beaver Dance Fever party for our Beaver Colony. I had made a YouTube playlist of Just Dance songs (kid-appropriate ones!). The Church where we meet has WiFi so we hooked up the computer to a projector and had a giant Just Dance session. Seeing 20 Beavers decked out in t-shirts they had decorated themselves and glow bracelets dancing away to this song, made me exactly this:



Happy dancing!

Linking up to the Live A Colorful Life for Really Random Thursday!

Wednesday 26 March 2014

Projects, Projects Everywhere

It's been a long time since I've done a WIP list post and I'm feeling the need for a recap of where I'm at with WIPs/UFOs/PIGs and any other acronyms for projects in the works.

New Projects:

Placemats: These are for the Ottawa Modern Quilt Guild silent auction. I'm trying for 'scrappy sophistication with a backing of fun'.

Fronts:

Backs:

Completed Projects:

Modern Totems: Blogged about here.


Current Projects:

Fibonacci of a Different Kind: This one is just about done. Will hopefully be able to share it on Friday.


Scrap{Bee} 2.0 QuiltThe quilt top is done, the backing is done and it's basting and ready to be quilted.


Carsick/Scrappy Trip AlongThe last you saw this one, it was the kaleidoscope of colour with all the blocks laid out. The top is done, but no pictures yet. Backing fabrics picked out.
What are you working on this week?

Monday 24 March 2014

When Life Gives You Snow...

Last year and this year's snow dyes
Snow dye and make a rainbow! Like a lot of Canadians, I'm feeling quite done with winter. There are few signs of Spring around here. It's -10C today and we even got a 10-15 cm dump of snow on Saturday. Sigh!

Trying to make the most of things though, I decided to have another go at snow dyeing over the weekend. I used the same process I used last year. For those who are new to my blog, check out this post and this post for the results of those fun experiments.

Warning: Very photo heavy post!


First up, was Procion MX Sun Yellow 108 and Mixing Red 305 to make Orange:

Snow dye:
 
Melted:

Results:

Top Layer:
Bottom Layer:
Details:


Impressions: Some cool swirls and separation of yellow out in both layers. Interestingly, last year I used Golden Yellow 104 and Strongest Red 312N and the results are very similar.

Next up, Mixing Blue 402C

Snow dye:
Melted:

Results:

Top Layer:
Bottom Layer:
Details:

Impression: Love these ones! The blue is gorgeous.

Then, Golden Yellow 104 and Mixing Blue 402C to make Green

Snow dye:
Melted:

Results:

Top Layer:
Bottom Layer:
Details:

Impressions: Not at all what I was expecting, but I love that the colours separated a bit. I find these two have a bit of a topographical map feel. Hmm...

A Sunset, which was supposed to be Golden Yellow 104, Strongest Red 312N and Purple (Strongest Red 312N and Basic Blue 400), but I think I did two Strongest Reds by mistake. Oops.

Snow dye:
Melted:

Results:

Top Layer:
Bottom Layer:
Details:

Impressions: Cool dot effect -- something in the snow?

I had such good results in making Snow Crab Nebula that I thought I'd try that one again. Golden Yellow 104, Strongest Red 312N and Purple (Strongest Red 312N and Mixing Blue 402C) in a radiating circle.

Snow dye:
Melted:
Results:

Top Layer:
Bottom Layer:
Details:

Impressions: Yay! Another interesting one!

I also wanted to see if I could get a nebula-style piece, but with green at the centre. Green (Sun Yellow 108 and Mixing Blue 402C), Light Purple (3/4 tsp total of Strongest Red 312N and Basic Blue 400) and Purple (Mixing Red 305 and Basic Blue 400)

Snow dye:
Melted:

Results:

Top Layer:

Bottom Layer:
Details:

Impressions: Definitely disappointed with both of these ones. The green is too dark, but there is some beautiful play between the purples and where the blue dye separated.

Snow dyeing is such an interesting process, but you really have to be open to whatever comes out. I was very sceptical of the green snow dye. The colour didn't look great in snow form, but wow, do I ever love the results! Same with the Mixing Blue. Using three cool primary dyes (Sun Yellow 108, Mixing Red 305 and Basic Blue 400) and three warm primary dyes (Golden Yellow 104, Strongest Red 312N and Mixing Blue 402C), I was able to get a pretty rainbow of colours to work with.



Have a great Monday, all!
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