Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Kaleidoscope 3

No change in the weather, except that there is more snow and the wind is blowing harder. The news shows many accidents, some with loss of life. Right now, the sky is still cloudy, snow still falling, but it is very bright. Yesterday I got a glimpse of blue sky, just enough to make me hopeful!

Yesterday I put the binding on Kaleidoscope 3,
for want of a better name. It is a bit larger than 2, smaller than the first one I made. I left the photo 'large' so a double-click should reveal my crazy scribble quilting. This one will hang in a window. I have # 2 there now and even though it is too small for the space, the light shines through and it looks like stained glass. This one will fit better and have the same effect. I used the gray print on the back, mostly because I had enough of it, but it gives the other fabrics that look of stained glass when the light shines from behind.

Now I'm working on an asymetrical quilt. The challenge was to design a 12" block in odd squares and rectangles, then put it together by rotating the blocks or doing something interesting. You can see the block here, but when the quilt is finished, it will be more difficult to discern where it begins and ends. The color didn't turn out well on this one. Perhaps I was too close and the flash distorted things. I'm sewing the other blocks so will soon have the top done and ready to post. Hopefully the colors will be truer then!


One thing about this weather -- I've no reason to go anywhere and more time in my sewing room! Trouble is, I also feel like curling up and eating chocolate.

Monday, April 21, 2008

Crazy weather

Since weather seems to be the topic for quilt blogs these days, these pictures ought to make everyone feel better about their weather. Or maybe they will make you want to grab a big comfy quilt, wrap yourself in it, and drink hot chocolate all day! That is about what I feel like doing!

We had a balmy week last week, tulips up, grass showing green, buds on trees, etc. Then it started to snow on Friday. It has not stopped. The one photo is our front step at 9 am. At 7, my husband had shoveled it bare! The other is the view out my studio window to the back (northwest). It is cold and the roads are terrible. We had to go out late yesterday and watched cars turning 180 degrees in front of us, two going in the ditch, a large pick-up on its side in the
median, and when we got home, there was a robin sitting in the tree on the boulevard!

We often say here in Alberta, "If you don't like the weather, wait a minute."

I'm waiting!

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Kaleidoscope 2

I've been quilting much more than taking pictures or blogging. This week the mystery quilt has gone to a longarm quilter, so it seems a good time to post another picture. (net work connection is acting up... and keeps disconnecting in the middle of uploading, so I'll post when I get it fixed)

This is K-2, my second kaleidoscope. I did a narrow
piping in the binding and put a few beads on it, mostly a cluster hanging from the middle. Yes, my points matched (some wind up putting a button to cover up this difficult part of this pattern), but I wanted to do this.

The close-up shows the quilting. I did a formal pattern, which looks nice but I hated doing it.


K-3 is partly quilted and should be finished soon. This one is getting a similar
quilting pattern but all freehand, which I call scribble quilting, and I make it up as I go along.

I love making these and will do one now and then just for fun. I'm imagining the next one in bright, rich colors, even metallics.