What is your favorite color? Answering that is like deciding which one of your kids is your favorite - IMPOSSIBLE.
Before quilting, I used to have favorites - in my clothing, my home decorating, my car. I loved green and mauve in the 80s, blue and burgundy in the 90s. I wore olive drab everyday from 1979 to 1995. Not my favorite, but it brought out my green eyes.
Now that I am quilting, they are all my favorites - each one like a special, well-loved child. I have this feeling that since its not paint, an expensive couch, an expensive car (all cars are expensive these days) or clothing I wear, I can use any color I want. In fact I am trying to experiment with different colors and color combinations. I even have an entire board on Pinterest dedicated to color schemes.
I love rainbow, or I call them color-wheel quilts. I've got a couple of quilts going that include 24 colors of the color wheel. The first one I started about 3 years ago - Technicolor Galaxy. The other one I did with a small group from our guild and is called Eclipse.
Technicolor Galaxy by Alyssa Lichner at Pile O' Fabric is a absolute explosion of color and shape. I really enjoyed collecting FQ of lots of different colors. It was tough to find exactly the right shades to make that color wheel effect. Yellow-green, red-violet, orange-yellow, turquoise-green. I even like saying the colors and imagining their deliciousness.
I am almost done with this one - I just need to do 3 more outside corners, and then I am ready to quilt the sections. I quilted the center section a few weeks ago and I really like how it turned out.
Eclipse is a foundation pieced quilt by Kimberly of Main Street Designs. A small group of us in Kaw Valley Quilters Guild did this together and we are all showing ours at the upcoming quilt show. It is really cool to see how different they are in different colors. I used color wheel colors with a black background. It just came back from quilter Sandra Cockrum, and as usual she did an outstanding job. You can't see all the fabulous quilting in the pic, so come see it in person at the Kaw Valley Quilt Show on 7-8 April.
So, enough for now, but not nearly enough about color. I'll post later about the other colorful quilts in my studio.
Keepin' it Curious!
I try not to take myself too seriously. I love thinking and writing about the techniques, designs, patterns, fabrics, and friendship of quilting. But sometimes, ya just need to be a little silly.
So this evening, I am sillyfying things up a bit and pondering the best snack(s) for quilters.
It was actually this photo I saw on FB that led me down this snacky road. I actually snorted when I saw it!
Quilting is a very hands-on activity. So the type of snack is very important. Cheetos, which I actually like, would be a no-go. All that orange gunk getting all over my fabric.
M&Ms would be a bit better - although they claim they don't melt in your hands, I know better. Also, I really need to reduce sugar intake, so even though they fit nicely in the tool tray of some machines, they would also be a no-go.
At our retreats, my friend Shari always brings Bugles and Veggie Dip. I don't usually eat this yummy combination at home, but I sure do look forward to it on our retreats, or when I go to her house for sit and sew.
I have to say I have not done a thorough, scientific study (might be fun) to identify the best snack to munch while quilting. However, I have returned several times to Target to get some yummy trail mixes. I crave this sweet dried fruit mix, but like M&Ms it has loads of sugar, so I try to keep my hands off.
My go-to mix then is this protein rich, carb-lite, TexMex Mix. Almonds, peanuts, spicy corn sticks, pepitas and sesame sticks - a good combo for me. A little salty, so a glass of something cool afterwards is called for. It even comes in this potentially reusable, handy size plastic jar that could be really useful for something, but I haven't figured out what yet. My current jar is down to the broken pepitas at the bottom, so another trip to Target is in my near future.
What is your go-to quilty snack? Maybe I should do a poll?
Just curious,
Outside of the quilting studio I am working on major decluttering - I'm not quite to minimalism, but that is my eventual goal. Bringing nothing new into the house except for those things really needed. Decluttering room by room and donating and selling as much as I can. I envision a space that is open, clear, comfortable. Neat and tidy and easy to care for. I see me spending time with family and friends, sewing and having fun; not spending time organizing and cleaning stuff. You can't really organize your stuff, you just have to get rid of it.
The Living Room is there. Family Room and Kitchen are at about 75%. Bedroom about 95%. Office needs some work - about 40%.
Then I go down to my quilting studio.
Most days it is in a state of minor chaos even though I have the intention of tidying up after every project change. I am lucky that I have lots of space to spread out and can still work with a little chaos.
I have fabric that I bought because it was pretty, but don't know what to do with it. I have over 100 started and asking to be started projects. I have patterns and books. I have thread. I have notions. I have buttons and ribbons. Yarn. Loom. Spinning Wheel. Stuff. And I love my studio stuff. But I don't come close to using it all.
How do I balance my desire to have a well-stocked studio and a neat and stuff-less home? I can easily clear out my books and closet, but I'm just not there yet with my fabric, patterns, and crafting stuff.
I don't want to waste time organizing stuff I don't need or really want. I may not always have the luxury of such a large and comfortable studio space. I need to get it under control. Just because I have the room for it now, doesn't mean I should keep it all, right?
I've got lots of routines, storage bins, and lists. I also have too much stuff. So I guess I have to bite the bullet and get rid of stuff I don't use, patterns I'll never make, fabric that I don't like anymore.
OK, so I pledge to use the "Organize" spot on my rotation to actually identify things to get rid of. Ideally I would like to reduce my stash by about one third. It's not going to be easy, since I downsized when I moved here 4 years ago - of course I have upsized some fabric and patterns since then.
Here's my plan of battle:
1. Books
2. Patterns
3. Fabric
4. Knitting Stuff
5. Cross Stitch Stuff
6. Miscellaneous Stuff
Maybe a crafter's garage sale is in my future.
I can do this! Who wants to do it with me?
Now that I am quilting, they are all my favorites - each one like a special, well-loved child. I have this feeling that since its not paint, an expensive couch, an expensive car (all cars are expensive these days) or clothing I wear, I can use any color I want. In fact I am trying to experiment with different colors and color combinations. I even have an entire board on Pinterest dedicated to color schemes. 
Technicolor Galaxy by Alyssa Lichner at Pile O' Fabric is a absolute explosion of color and shape. I really enjoyed collecting FQ of lots of different colors. It was tough to find exactly the right shades to make that color wheel effect. Yellow-green, red-violet, orange-yellow, turquoise-green. I even like saying the colors and imagining their deliciousness. 
I am almost done with this one - I just need to do 3 more outside corners, and then I am ready to quilt the sections. I quilted the center section a few weeks ago and I really like how it turned out.
Eclipse is a foundation pieced quilt by Kimberly of Main Street Designs. A small group of us in Kaw Valley Quilters Guild did this together and we are all showing ours at the upcoming quilt show. It is really cool to see how different they are in different colors. I used color wheel colors with a black background. It just came back from quilter Sandra Cockrum, and as usual she did an outstanding job. You can't see all the fabulous quilting in the pic, so come see it in person at the Kaw Valley Quilt Show on 7-8 April.
Keepin' it Curious!
