In the Lull

Here, again, is the palette I chose for the Dead Simple Quilt-Along with Lily's Quilts.

When it all began, I was under the impression that the qa project was to be done in solids. Not sure how I got that, but that was my plan. And somewhere along the way I took Lynne's great idea to ask Peg and Becca from Sew Fresh Fabrics if they would make me up a custom bundle of prints to go along with my palette. (What a great service!)

I had in mind, at the time, to make a mini version of my layout in prints on the back of the big solid quilt. I still love that idea, but in the lull of the Dead Simple Quilt along, I veered off.

The idea came to me to make a mini quilt. Actually, three. One in solids, as originally planned.

I finally tried organic straight line quilting and love how it looks. The binding was inspired by a quilt in Malka Dubrawsky's book, Fresh Quilting (remember this post?). Obviously, it took a little extra work, but so worth it!

Then came another mini - still in my palette - but done in the prints.

This baby got my very first free-motion quilting.

Lastly, what choice did I have but to do a third mini done with a solid/print combo.

I tried a different free-motion pattern on this one.

And so my vision of a large solid quilt turned into . . . an autumn trio.

Each quilt is 16X21".

Linking up with finish it up Friday, Celebrate Color, {Sew} Modern Monday, and of course, the Dead Simple Quiltalong.


REV. Just 'met' Elizabeth of Pieceful Life and am linking up with her little quilt monday.

A Dead Simple {Revised} Plan

I had a plan for the Dead Simple Quilt-Along {see here}, but things have changed slightly. This was my chosen palette:

KONA wheat, sweet pea, olive, tan, lupine

Well, when the fabric came, I realized that in reality, olive wasn't the right green for this palette, so I've substituted KONA artichoke.

KONA wheat, sweet pea, artichoke, tan, lupine

It may be hard to tell from these swatches. In fact the swatch for sweet pea really isn't as dusky as it is in person. But artichoke seems a better fit.

If I were to follow Lynne's layout, mine would look something like this:

I may be tweaking it a bit, but there is my tentative dead simple plan.

W.i.P. Wednesday

I must say, I enjoy W.i.P. Wednesday - seeing what others are working on and sharing my own projects.

Ongoing projects

For the Love of Solids - My 'large' project is coming right along! I finished the top last night and pieced the back. Now on to quilting! 

For my 'small' project, I'm going to attempt a zippered pouch (finally). I have a pattern and I have a plan.

Cappuccino Bali Pop Quilt - Block-piecing continues - interrupted by For the Love of Solids (read: deadline).

100 Quilts for Kids Quilt Along - I've begun piecing the Storytime Squares quilt, but haven't gotten too far - same reason as above.

Dead Simple Quilt Along with Lily's Quilts - We're supposed to chose a fall palette, and I chose one from Design-Seeds. {see here}

KONA wheat, sweet pea, olive, tan, lupine

Sibling quilt #1 - Still need to make a label and ship.

do.Good Stitches {a Charity Bee} - This is my first month with the 'Faith' circle, and I couldn't be more pleased! We've all been asked to do a Swoon block - I'm researching fabric choices.

Upcoming projects
* Stash quilt - zig zag quilt. 

* Shades of Grey.
* Swoon quilt with Terrain!

* Quilts for siblings #2 and #3.

On hold
Block-a-palooza quilt along needs basted and quilted.

Let's go check out more w.i.p.s over at Freshly Pieced!

Pick a Palette

I'm intrigued with the Dead Simple Quilt Along, because it's all about the color. According to Lynne, the pattern will be simple, simple. If you want to join in, it's time to pick a palette!

After much deliberation {love Design-Seeds}, I have chosen mine:

One of the reasons I chose this one is that though it is an 'autumn' palette, it includes some purple, which I don't see alot of in the fall colors where I live. But I love it, and look forward to using it with the greens and browns I'm more familiar with. I'm anxious to see what you all choose!

Color

I’ve been thinking a lot about color lately. Maybe too much.

Yesterday, when my coworker walked into the office, rather than kindly saying, “Good Morning,” I blurted out, “I love your shirt! It’s KONA Kiwi!” {duh. True story.} Thankfully, he’s a very good sport and just laughed. And in all honesty, when I got home and checked my KONA Color Card, his shirt was actually Pistachio. Ha.

I suppose it all started with the Rainbow Charm Swap, followed by the Color Wheel Charm Swap. I just finished up my Summer Sampler, chock full of solid, citrusy color. And then I’ve been working on my 4x5 bee blocks, and agonizing over what ‘lime’ really means, and ‘cardinal red’, and ‘pomegranate.’ And on top of that, I’ve had my for the love of solids swap partner’s favorite color stuck in my head, wondering what other colors would go great with it. I’ve also joined up with the Dead Simple QA with Lily's Quilts, which basically will be focusing more on a chosen color palette than the pattern. All of that adds up to a lot of color!

Imagine my surprise when I opened my google reader yesterday and saw the announcement of Celebrate Color with Stitched in Color and friends. Celebrate Color is an event that "celebrate(s) the colors of fall with inspiration tutorials, contests and prizes during the months of September, October, and November. Because color inspires us all, Celebrate Color is for fiber artists of all kinds." Very cool, don't you think?

As I've mulled over color palettes for the solids swap and the Dead Simple Quilt QA, I've been posting ideas on my "Color Inspiration" Pinterest board {here}. You already know that one of my favorite sources of color palettes is Design Seeds. Besides their frequents posts on facebook, it's great that you can search for palettes by topic, season, or color. I thought I'd share a sampling of my favs . . .