If you look up teasing in the dictionary, you'll find a description of spring weather in the Northwest. Warm, cool, sunny, rainy, breezy, calm - from day to day you never know. And the weatherman isn't really sure either. Now that the tulips are finished, the one bright spot in the garden is this poppy.
It'll soon have lots of company.
This glorious shade of coral makes me want to quilt it, paint it and photograph it. I'll put that on the list. Along with all the other ideas and a whole bunch of UFO's
I finished this little hanging which I did as a test piece from the new book "Patchwork City" by Elizabeth Hartman. It's not my usual MO, but it was fun to do. I'd like it better hanging on a darker wall, but I don't currently have any.
I liked that the blocks and quilts had familiar names. They should be familiar; Elizabeth Hartman is from Portland and many of the names are Portland-based. These small blocks require accurate cutting and seaming and I'm relearning to measure as I go along. It's more exacting work than I've been doing lately and I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. I went back to my Sally Collins books to review my skills. If you're not familiar with her work, Sally makes small-scale quilts and by that I mean really tiny pieces and perfect intersections. While it is very unlikely I'll ever do such small work, the lessons are valid for any size. The bottom line is that the more accurate the cutting and piecing, the less weeping and gnashing of teeth.
I gave up making clothes years ago. I loved it for many years but quilting stole my heart. I jumping back in - okay, more like dipping my toe in by making a sun dress for my 9-month-old great niece. I hadn't intended to do this, but the green seersucker with embroidered pink flamingoes called to me and I just couldn't walk away. So I bought a pattern, brought it home and decided to read through it just to be sure. It calls for a zipper which I thought was odd. I made Barb about a million sun dresses when she was a baby and toddler and while I no longer have evidence, I'm pretty sure none of them called for a zipper. Seems to me that it wouldn't be very comfortable when sitting in a car seat or a stroller. So I'm changing it. (Hey, I took Children's Clothing Construction in college. No zippers there either. ) Kids grow out of stuff so quickly that the simpler, the better. Here's a sneak peek at the fabric. I dare you not to love it.
I'll keep you posted on how it turns out.
Quilt for Fun
Candy
