Valentines 2014

I’m taking a break from sewing to bring my annual review of our family’s home made valentines. They are always heavy on puns.
I am not as clever with words as the rest of the family, so I have to get out art supplies and my sewing machine

Here are the bookmarks I made for L and P

and the stitchy card I made for T

T is always the punster
Here are his for L and P


Give that man a needle and thread, here’s the one he made for me!


L sent some clever ones

the hands open for this message

P got out the power tools and the paint, she made T a wooden heart and a scratch off one for me


and the scratch off reveal


For more valentine fun, check out Pattiwagon’s blog, she has some additional ones.
Until next year

Introducing Palette Builder

I’m having a great time with Rachel’s Color Intensive class. Today she introduced us to the free online tool Palette Builder.
When the site opens it asks you to load an image. This can be any digital image from your computer or the web. The tool, selects spots on your image and suggests Kona Cotton solids to match. You can click on the spots and move them to a different area of your image, and a different color will be selected. I think Benjamin Moore has a phone app that does something similar with paint colors, but this is the first fabric color tool I have found.
I loaded the fabric mosaic I made last week and spent some time playing with color selections.  Now not only can I waste my time on Instagram, but now with Color Builder.


Just in case you want to join the fun, there is a button on the right side of the blog that will take you right to the website.
Later..

What I’m Reading

I’ve read a lot of books over the past year, but the ones I have read most recently are the ones that stick in my mind, so in random order, here are my reviews.
Good Lord Bird by James McBride
Can’t say enough good things about the book.  It is a fictionalized account of the raid on Harper’s Ferry and the events leading up to it. The narrator is a 13 year old, and the literary techniques used by the author are very effective.



The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
During the Thanksgiving holiday numerous top book lists came out, and this one was on everyone’s list. There’s a good reason, the book is outstanding. Donna Tartt is terrific writer. I read it much slower than I normally read so I could savor every word and phrase. if you are looking for a light-hearted, feel good book, look elsewhere. This book is a heavy lift.


The Lowland by Jumpa Lahiri
I’ve read everything this author has ever written, but this one is different because many parts of the book are set in India.  It follows the story of two brothers, one in India and one in Rhode Island. There’s a reason Ms. Lahiri won a Pulitzer Prize. She’s an outstanding writer.


Second Person Singular by Sayed Kashua
I would never have found this book on my own, it was recommended by one of the bloggers I follow. It’s a quick read but not a lightweight book. The author is a Palestinian who writes in Hebrew Fortunately it’s available  in an English translation. The book chronicles the lives of two Arab men who live in Jerusalem. One a successful lawyer, the other a socially awkward social worker. Their lives intersect in unusual ways. I liked it not only for the psychological drama, but also for the window into life for Arabs living in Israel. 
That’s it for now, next on my list is S, the complex book by  J. J. Abrams (Creator) , Doug Dorst (Author)





Later…

Spring Fabric Mosaic

I have joined Rachel at Stitched in Color for her Color Intensive workshop. So far it is really fun, but there is homework!

We were asked to create a fabric mosaic using colors that felt like Spring to us.
It may look like an odd assortment for a Spring palette, no daffodils, no rabbits, no baby farm animals, but I live in Florida where Spring is different from most of the US. Today it is 79 degrees and sunny. The ocean is still too cold for swimming unless you are a tourist or a surfer in a wetsuit, but it’s great for walking and enjoying the ever changing surf. The wading birds are getting their green eyes and mating plumage, and there’s an outdoor art show somewhere nearby every weekend. And what might you ask is the black and white fabric in the center…why it’s the checkered flag for the winner of the Daytona 500.

Vintage Quilt Revival Block-along Week 3

This week I narrowed my palette choices and I’m happy with them. I remade the plum tea leaf block in green and and now the plum block becomes an orphan.

In working with this week’s blocks, I found a new block I just love, Dove in the Window. That gold star is my favorite block so far.

I had a little trouble with the Art Square block. I made it according to the instructions in the book and just wasn’t happy with the big white square in the middle of the block, so I did another one with a  printed square in the middle. Now I’m thinking that middle square is too graphic for the rest of the quilt and I may just go with the white square and use it as a canvas for some fancy pants quilting. Or I may make it again with a more tonal print in the center and start an orphanage with my reject blocks.

Here are the blocks to date.

That’s it for the conventionally pieced blocks, now it’s on to paper piecing the remainder of the blocks for the quilt. Paper piecing is not really my thing, but perhaps I’ll use my Michael’s coupon and get this light box. Artists are giving this children’s art box rave reviews,  the blogosphere claims that it is better than many light boxes and it is lightweight and portable. It’s certainly a step up from the window I've been using.

Later...