Gatherings Giveaway

Pat of Gatherings has a lovely summer giveaway. I can attest that her hand-dyed ribbons are lovely and her design choices (graphics, colors, placement) are spot-on. I've learned a lot from her. It ends tomorrow, so head their now and add a comment! (Good luck!)

They're here---Pieces of Friendship

My puzzle pieces from the Pieces of Friendship swap arrived this weekend. Aren't they awesome? I'm just thrilled...Pat did an amazing job of putting the group together for me.

The pieces I received are from (top row, left to right) Grace from IN, Liz from KS, and Pat from IN and (bottom row, left to right) Robin from GA, Annette from the UK, and Elizabeth from VA. Thanks, everyone, for sharing with me.

More catching up

Last weekend we visited the Century Plant in East Chicago, Indiana, again. It was supposed to bloom the first week of April. I think it was probably the cold, nasty weather and snow that kept it from doing so (ya' think??). It has grown, at least a foot, and if you look closely you can see the tip is starting to open up. I wouldn't be surprised if we see a bloom this weekend. The weather has been a bit more moderate this week (at least there's not been any more snow).

I focused this weekend on my puzzle pieces for Pat Winter's Pieces of Friendship swap. I now have three done and have a fourth underway.

I showed this first piece before, here. Pat suggested that since I felt it still needed something, perhaps a charm would do the trick. I added a small bee charm and I do like it.

This second piece is more traditional crazy quilting, still using wool felt for the fabrics. I had fun stitching this one and another charm added a finishing touch. I stitched it to focus on the lovely little button I'd found in my stash.

This last piece is my favorite. The photograph makes the ground fabric a bit more green than it should be. It's more of a dull tarnished gold color.

In playing with these small pieces, I'm experimenting with colors. The dull gold is stitched edged with dark gray and stitched with a variegated green, a fine, dark metallic, a multicolored thread for the French knots, edged in turquoise and hot pink and topped with bright ribbon flowers. I like the layering effect on this piece. It has a dragonfly charm. (my husband liked this one so much, I set the thread mix aside and am going to make him one of his own, using a heart shape)

The red piece above is really more brick tones and I paired that color with lime, turquoise and taupe. Sounds odd, but I think it works.

I'm trying to move out of my comfort zone and pair colors I wouldn't normally and make it work. I have a theory that any two hues will work together as long as you get the right tint or tone or proportions or a linking color. I'm enjoying experimenting.

The piece I'm working on now is a pieced background of greenish wools with varying tints of blue in them. I'm planning some small beaded flowers for it but haven't gotten the rest sorted yet.

This size piece is perfect for play and experimentation. The odd shape makes it a challenge and keeps it interesting. I'm really happy that Pat came up with this idea and the swap.

Puzzling it out

For a while now I've been struggling with making puzzle pieces for Pat Winter's Pieces of Friendship swap. I got some fabric with paper dolls to use as a central image. blah. I colored in some toile with fabric crayons. feh. I tried some simple crazy quilting with fabrics I have. ho-hum.

Then last week, on our visit to Esther's Place, I found a large bin full of hand-dyed, felted wool fabric pieces (and bought way more than I could afford).

My first piece is an experiment in working with these materials. I pieced the wools and did seam treatments and then needlefelted a flower.

I often use a copier or the camera when a piece is developing, to help me "see." I'm not sure if it's the flattened plane or the different media, but I can often see things in a photo that I don't on the actual piece.

This wip photo clearly shows the large empty areas on the left that just stand out too much and detract from the flower. That solid green corner just pulls your eye away from it.

You can see in the final version at the top of the page that I used some simple embroidered swirls to break up these areas. Now the focus is back on the flower. At least, that's how it seems to me.

Photocopying can be even more helpful because it drops out the color. I almost always copy a design in progress, just to see where the lights and darks are and how things flow.

I think I'm on the right track. Pat Winter blogged several times recently about having a hard time with red as the main color. I think that influenced me to select a wool plaid in red and bittersweet as my focal fabric for my second puzzle piece. I have the background pieced and now trying to figure out where to go next.

I have a scrap of a silk print that has a bittersweet background with grayish-turquoise flowers on it, so I think I may try to incorporate that color. My initial inclination is to do something autumn with those background colors--perhaps a fall leaf or pine needles but I'd like to push a bit out of my comfort zone with this.

I also cut a solid fabric puzzle piece from a nicely mottled wool in a butternut color. I think it will be a stunning background if I can figure out what to put on it.

More quilt show...

First, Leila very thoughtfully noted the blog with the sweet teacup pincushions in a comment to yesterday’s post. Here it is in case you missed it. Mimi Kirschner does lovely work.

In lieu of a real vacation, I’m taking some long weekends this fall. Hopefully we’ll have more time to play and have fun on the weekend. Actually, last weekend was all fun and not a chore got done. I think I have just barely enough undies to make it through this week! We’re already planning for next weekend and right now we’re looking at this art studio tour in Porter County, Indiana.

More on the quilt show. Pat Winter’s booth was just lovely. Her bags, purses, and pendants are beautiful in photos--but they're even better in real life! She had her garden quilt there, too, on a display stand. It's one of those pieces you can look at for hours and always see something new.

And Pat is much too sweet. I need to get a better picture of the pendant I bought with it's lovely tag. This is blurry (I took it outdoors on a cloudy morning but there was still glare). The embroidery is exquisite. Everyone at my guild last night fell in love with the teeny flower sequins Pat used. I was thrilled to note when I got home that the pendant really complements a new jacket I’d gotten the day before. I felt quite the queen yesterday in my new jacket and pendant! (even the lime green ribbon was perfect!)

And look at all the goodies Pat very generously gave me – lovely silkies, ribbons and a dragonfly kit and a bliss kit. I’m in heaven. I’m very lucky to have people like Pat in my life.