quilting fun

At long last, I have a new quilt for my bed!  Sort of like the shoemaker's children, I have been getting by with a quilt on my bed that doesn't really fit.  For a long time.  I decided to put some spark into the color scheme of the room with some bright, fun prints.  I used my own pattern, Hocus Pocus, because it goes together well and works with a variety of fabrics and prints of assorted scale.  But it has taken me a long time to get the quilting done, and now I am happy I did it.  Not so much that the quilting was detailed, just that I always put it aside in order to do quilts for customers.  And then one day I said "Enough!"  And the hedgehogs went on the frame!

 I did some improvisational piecing for the back, to make it fit.  I had purchased that solid blue fabric, the perfect color, but not enough (and I bought all I could get!).  So leftovers from my blocks and border were called into action, and I love the unexpected look of the quilt back.

Next on the quilt frame is this Christmas tree skirt that is made with a special ruler and will be included in an upcoming class at Bear Patch.  It's not as hard as it looks!  The center will be cut out for the tree trunk after the quilting is done.

Did you remember to turn your clock ahead?

dock decor

I have just returned from a weekend away at my friend, Debbie's, lake cabin near Chetek, WI.  We had such a good time and some fun memories.  I like to walk down the path and steps to the lake in the morning when I wake up, just to check on what's happening on the water.  The first morning, this is what greeted me---

Maybe a Northern Water snake?

Kind of stopped me in my tracks!  I ran back to get my camera and zoomed in to get a decent picture without venturing too close.  I have looked at some pictures and think it is a pretty common water snake, but the distinctive markings that would prove it are on the underside of the body.  No way was I going to be looking at the underside of that body!  We never saw him again out in the open, so I am hoping he found some other bit of lakeshore to call home.

We did some sewing, I was working on a new quilt that will be written as a pattern soon.  I enjoy writing up a few patterns, but have no intention of making it a career.  But something happened recently that involves my pattern, Hocus Pocus, that I designed and wrote back in 2009.  

Hocus Pocus

Much to my surprise, I found that this quilt is shown on the Timeless Treasures website.  It is a digital rendition using their batik fabrics, and really looks nice!  I guess it's a good form of advertisement for me, but very unexpected.  I'll be communicating with them to see if they like any more of my patterns!

any recommendations?

I have been sewing up some more hourglass blocks (that's the name given to these blocks that are made up of 4 equal triangles), aka quarter square triangle blocks, for my newest rendition of my Hocus Pocus quilt. I wrote about this not long ago and realized after getting a few of the pieces up on my design wall that the dark brown sashing strips that I had planned (and cut a heap of) were too strong for the look I was hoping for. So now I have auditioned some other choices and have moved closer to what I want, and wanted to share the process with you a bit.

Looking through my stash, I found 2 solids that might work. The first one is that first strip that runs from top left to lower right, it is kind of a muddy goldish color up close. When I saw this on the shelf I immediately thought it would be just the ticket, but up on the wall I am not loving it. Then just to the right of that is a brighter yellow strip. When I saw this on the shelf I thought it was way too bright, but when I see it with the blocks I like it. On the right is the dark brown that is getting the axe. And even though I hadn't really considered it at first, there is the option of going with the white that is the design wall showing up between blocks. A viable option, but I am leaning towards the yellow.

I share this with you because I know that picking out colors to put into a quilt is a big road block for many of the people that I meet at the store. They don't feel they have the confidence or the skill to pick anything that goes well together. Well, I have never had an actual art class, never dabbled in paints, never studied color theory. I do own a color wheel, but it is pretty dusty, which shows how often it gets used! Most of what I do is trial-and-error, just like the process I described above. Some of it is intuition, some luck, partly kismet, and mostly practice. What I choose also reflects my personality and mood. How do you choose? If you have any advice, please feel free to share!