December 21: in the style of...

my friend Suzanne L. Vinson. New scarf: a holiday gift to myself from Flytrap Studios 

Happy solstice.  Pray for peace.

December 13: outtakes

We walked down to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts on Sunday to get some pictures of my quilts for the pattern covers.  I ended up with over 100 pictures.  We were almost done, when Selina happened to suggest this beautiful place in front one of the education buildings.  I probably took 20 pictures in front of this door, just this quilt.  My poor wife knelt and stood and knelt again, all on damp bricks (it was misty, to say the least).  The result?  Some of the best pictures I've ever taken, let alone the best pictures I've ever taken of a quilt.  Hopefully I can decide soon which pictures I want for the covers.  Until then, here are some of the "outtakes."

December 10: inspiration

A few weeks ago we watched my favorite Christmas special... How the Grinch Stole Christmas.  I was very surprised at how vibrant the colors were.  I remembered them being not quite so electric.  Towards the end, when the Grinch is riding back with the loot down Mt. Crumpit, towards Whoville, I was stuck by the colors of the snow, trees, and sky.  Here's the color palette I came up with from those colors:

The colors are as I remember them, so not necessarily exactly as seen in the movie.  I'm not sure how I feel about it, but it is definitely interesting.  Here are the colors (left to right):
Robert Kaufman Kona - Magenta
P&B Color Spectrum - 03BV
Moda Bella Solid - American Blue
Robert Kaufman Kona - Citrus
Robert Kaufman Kona - Wisteria
Michael Miller Cotton Couture - Starfruit
Art Gallery Pure Elements - Verve Violet
Art Gallery Pure Elements - Lemonade

I've also been looking for inspiration in lines.  Here are two somewhat unlikely sources:

The would both make really cool modern quilts.  You could take the basic shapes, draw it out and piece, especially with the grate.  They could also be used as quilting lines, especially the lines from the chocolate bar.  I'm actually kind of excited to start playing around with those lines - I'll post if I come up with anything.  Maybe the color palette above and the lines from below?

December 7: in progress

Pow-Wow.  A new pattern from Cluck Cluck Sew.  This will be a class at Quilting Adventures in the spring.

November 26: right now (this very instant)

Trying to finish up this quilt for a new beginner class I'm teaching at Quilting Adventures in the winter/spring.   Straight line quilting on either side of the seam, including through the beautiful border.

I am working on so many things, and I'm so excited about them.  I have many beautiful pictures to share, I just need to take the time to blog about them.  Next time I'll (hopefully) share some of my great autumn pictures and pictures of the sew-along that my friend, Abbie, and I are doing - The Circle Game by Jen Kingwell Designs.

November 9: more...

Finished up the water lilies quilt!  I can't wait to quilt it, I have some awesome ideas, but because of the way the class is working, I actually can't quilt it yet.

I've also been working on a bali basket.  This is a class that I've just taken over from my mother, so I thought I should make one.  The technique is super easy and quick, these would make such wonderful gifts (not that I will be making any as gifts).  I'm teaching the class next week at Quilting Adventures.

I'm realizing that my pictures (and posts) have gotten a little....  blah.  I will try and take some cool pictures of my next project or inspiration!

November 3: water lilies (or palmettos)

I spent most of the last week in Houston, TX, for a trade show - Quilt Market.  It was fun, but hard work, as always.  I blogged about everything I did over at the Quilting Adventures Blog.  I came back with ten million ideas, including many for new projects and classes.  I'm working on Carolyn Friedlander's Palmetto pattern as a new class.  Except I wanted mine to look like water lilies, not palmettos.

 

 If you look carefully,  you can see that I'm actually foundation piecing, not paper piecing these.  I hate paper piecing, but I am so excited to be able to foundation piece these - I can't wait to teach the technique!