Red and orange make a difference

I spent time yesterday cutting out all the squares I needed for this quilt.  About 20% of them are from the red and orange plaid shirts in the collection.  This morning, I made up ten of those blocks and added them to the mix.  They won't be this predominant in the finished quilt, but I think I like the overall idea.  Thanks to those of you who supported Tom in this idea.  Even with all my cutting yesterday, I still have a shelf full of blue shirt parts.  I cut all the small bits into 2 1/2" squares, so now I have quite a few of those as well.  They may make an appearance in this quilt in some fashion before all is said and done.  I really enjoy making quilts with no real end plan.  Just enjoying the process.

This is my July AAQI quilt.  It is 6 1/2" x 10" and is hand quilted.  If you look closely, you can see some of my hand stitching.  I love these rich warm colors together.  The little inserts of turquoise came from the same color in the small piece of Sandy Gervais designed Tranquility I have used. To see this line, check out this site.) It is the olive green with the orange, brown, blue and cream squares. I used to have quite a bit of this fabric, but I think this may be just about the last of it.  This was the first line of fabric I used to make a quilt when I got back into quilting a couple of years ago.  My chosen style and fabric selections have changed quite a bit since then, but I still love all the fabrics in this line. 

In these two projects, I have combined all kinds of patterns from very traditional shirting plaids to bark cloth to my favorite Jinny Beyer design.  I have thrown caution to the wind in the shirting quilt mixing solids, batiks, plaids, paisleys, and whatever else comes out of my scrap bags.  This goes against the voice in my head that tries to remind me that there is an order to the universe and I should be paying attention to it.  Sometimes I do, but not for these two.  Maybe next time.

The chickens are loving the warm weather as much as I am.  They had their wings clipped yesterday after Janis Joplin decided to see how high she could fly.  Doesn't that sound just like her namesake?  They are now content to munch on the fresh greens Tom gives them every morning when he lets them out of their coop.  I am enjoying watching them grow but wondering how long it will be before they start paying rent with delicious blue shelled eggs.

Joyful quilting, everyone.

 

Back in the studio at last

I finally made it back into the studio to work on quilts.  It has been way too long.  The place was such a mess, I couldn't find a table top or anything that I was working on.  After spending some time straightening things out, I decided to work on some small projects.  I have posted the red and white part of this one before.  Here it is with the border.  I just need to quilt it and add a red binding and it will be done and ready to send to Germany as part of the Doll Quilt Monthly swap for July.  The theme is Patriotic.  I am hoping red, white, and blue fulfills the theme.

This is the June quilt for the doll quilt swap.  This theme is Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue.  The lighter border is old fabric I had in my stash.  The darker fabric is new from my trip back East.  The borrowed is the idea for the pattern from an antique quilt pattern I saw in a book.  The blue should be obvious.  This one was really fun to make. I really like the dark fabric.  I wish I had purchased more of it.  This one is on its way to Florida.

This last piece was made for a new friend who had us over for dinner the other night.  I knew she liked purple, so that was where I started.  It is a 12" square with fast finish triangles for hanging, if so desired.  It is always tricky to make anything for someone you don't know well.  The colors are a bit tame compared to what I have been working with lately, but it was very calming and peaceful to work on.  Maybe a larger calm quilt is in my future.  We will see.

For those who are interested, we did get the chickens.  We have four beautiful Americauna chickens:  Veronica Lake (the blondest and most difficult to get into the coop at night), Janis Joplin (the one with the darkest coloring who dares to be different), Katherine Hepburn (the classiest looking and the one who behaves the best), and Lady Bug (the one with the dark cheeks who Bella named).  I will try and get photos posted soon.  So far, we have enjoyed getting to know them.  They are pretty quiet, making only soft murmuring sounds unless they are upset at us.  They love the weeds from our flower beds and oatmeal.  By the end of the summer, we are hoping for fresh eggs with beautiful blue shells and creamy yolks.  As we go along, I will add snippets of our life as backyard chicken farmers to this blog, along with more quilting adventures.

Until later, joyful quilting, everyone.

The baby chicks

Aren't they cute!  I am not really sure when they will be big enough to come home with us.  They are only a few days old in this photo.  This will be a fun adventure.

Joyful quilting, everyone.