Auditoning More Fabrics

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A lot of greens got auditioned this afternoon for the Tropical Punch blocks. This first one is a hand dye done by a non-blogging friend who’s a quilter. She contacted me this afternoon and suggested caterpillar guts green, knowing I had some of it. Somehow or another this green got named caterpillar guts green by someone — and the name has stuck. As soon as I read her e-mail I knew exactly which fabric to dig out.

As I was auditioning fabrics, I just kept going. This green is a bit too dull, I think.

I had forgotten I had this Fairy Frost and decided to try them against that. Don’t think this works at all. I have tried them with a plain black and that doesn’t work either.


Then there’s this green which is quite rich, but again not quite right.

This green and the caterpillar guts green are the two that I think come closest to the effect I’m after. Of course, it would help if I could have taken better pictures today but the light was absolutely terrible — a very overcast, grey day.

This is a green Fairy Frost. Again, not quite the right effect.

At the moment, I’m leaning towards setting them in 2 rows of 2 with a small LeMoyne Star in the centre. If I do that, the star will be in the purple and will be surrounded by either an orange or yellow. Then the green will be used as a thin sashing between the blocks. I plan to bind it in orange — I think.

Choosing a Setting Fabric

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The gold fabric I showed yesterday to set these blocks just wasn’t quite right. What I’m looking for is sizzle, sort of a visual heatwave after the long winter we have had.

So I went stash shopping and auditioned a few. First I tried this blue.


Then this. I had to use the flash for this picture which has distorted the colours a bit. If I decide on this I’m thinking the green right against the blocks with a thin strip of the orange on the outside.

This one? I don’t think so. The pink seems to wash out the purple but if the purple really is my “neutral”, then maybe I can get away with this. It’s the pink, of course, to which I almost always gravitate.


I like this effect too — sort of tropical punch by the water.

This green isn’t bad. However, if I go with green I think it will have to be a lime green.

A different blue than the one in the first picture, just a bit darker. Again the tropical punch by the water effect.

Lester is spending more and more time on the windowsill now. Still no sightings of his entertainment troupe, the squirrels and birds, but the gardeners are providing some action out on the roof garden for him to watch.


And Smudge watching to make sure we don’t miss a photo opportunity.


Tropical Punch Blocks

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The four Tropical punch blocks are finished. Now to figure out how I want to set them. Should they become a long table runner — about 50″ more or less?

Or would they become a square wall hanging that would finish at approximately 25″?

My initial thought was to use this gold as the setting fabric, but now I’m thinking about a really bright green batik or even a pink/purple batik, neither of which I have at the moment. Hmm, maybe a trip to the LQS is in order. I like the gold fabric but to keep it really bright and feeling tropical tropical, I’m thinking the green or pink/purple idea might be better. The four blocks were incredibly fast to go together, using the 6.0 LeMoyne Star Inklingo collection.

I’m working on another of the sky quilt corner blocks right now. I have this one to finish, the last one to do and then it will be on to the rainbow.

Lester doesn’t much care as long as he has a cozy kitty bed to curl up in.

Smudge looking rather regal, I think.

Snowy Windows at Night

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It was a cold and snowy night but the teddy bears had come out of their cave, hoping that they might find that spring had arrived. Such silly bears to come out at night when it was clearly snowing, as they could see had they only looked out the window of their cave (they have a very special cave with a window to the outside). The snow was piling up on the window panes but still they came out.


The bears were, thankfully, dressed for the elements. They sat down in the snow outside their cave, in front of their window, and wondered, “When, oh when, will spring arrive so we can come out and play?” After a few minutes, and upon getting rather chilled from sitting in the snow, they turned about and trooped back inside for some honey and other bear goodies to tide them over until spring arrived.

This is Snowy Windows at Night, my Four Seasons Quilt Swap 5 quilt.


It was a lot of fun being challenged to make a monochromatic quilt and, of course, I loved piecing the curves. Off it goes now to its intended recipient. I hope she likes it as much as the bears did!

Smudge certainly knows how to relax.


My New Iron

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On Sunday I got my new iron, a Rowenta. This is the model I got. At Christmas I got into a discussion about irons with my cousin, who is also a quilter. She absolutely swears by her Rowenta and strongly suggested I get one after hearing me moan about the issues I was having with my old iron. She and her husband were in Florida for a couple of months over the winter and picked one up for me there. It’s amazing that, even with the exchange rate as bad as it has been lately, the iron was still markedly less in the U.S. than it would be here — almost $60 less.

Daphne was excited too.


She had to get up close and have a real good look at that wonderful sole plate.

Then she had to test out how it moved. As she hadn’t been in the martini shaker like she was last summer, she was quite capable of taking the iron for a spin.

Daphne wasn’t the only one who wanted to test the new Rowenta! I did too and — well, it’s incredible. Amazing. I cannot get over the difference this iron makes. The amount of steam is wonderful. It just glides over fabric. I had a few pieces of cotton that needed ironing. They were done in half the time it would have taken with my old iron. I love the fact one can actually see the water line — big difference from the old iron. Even where the water is poured in is fabulously well designed. It’s not going to be a chore pouring water in when I want steam. And the best part? It gets hot. Not like my old iron that did not get hot enough and really wasn’t effective unless I was using steam. This is exactly what I want in an iron — steam or no steam, it works like a charm!

I also had one of the Tropical Punch blocks to press. Done in half the time. I love the point on the end of the iron – makes it so easy to get in and press the intersections on the backs of blocks. Next on my list is one of the Rowenta ironing boards which have shown up lately in a department store here. I love the width of those!

It was an absolutely gorgeous weekend. Sunday we met friends for coffee. It was a fabulous, fantastic spring day. Brilliant sunshine, air that had that incredible fresh feeling of spring and, while it was cool, there’s no winter bite to the air at all! We are still having relatively cold nights, but to have days like this is such a treat after a long, cold winter.

The cats, on the other hand, didn’t find a new iron all that exciting. Lester snoozed.

While Smudge gave us another “find the kitty’s head” puzzle to sort out.


Twilight Block Fabric Picks

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Now that the baby quilt is ready to quilt (and hopefully will be finished by the end of the weekend), I’m dreaming about getting back to the sky quilt. I think these fabrics will be the choice for my twilight block.

I started another Tropical Punch block last night. Four 12″ blocks should make a good-sized table runner, I think. I’m having some thoughts about how I’m going to join them to add a little more interest.

Lester, keeping warm on the heat. We’re to have a wind chill of -15C again this morning! The gardeners may have been working out in the garden, but it’s sure not time for planting anything yet!


Smudge, very alert. If you click on this and look you can see how wet his face is. He has the oddest drinking habits of any kitty I’ve ever witnessed. He sticks his whole head in the water bowl, then lifts his head right up, sticks out his tongue and catches the water as it runs down his face.


Baby Quilt Top Done!

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Now that the piecing is complete, I am really thrilled with how the little baby quilt has turned out. All that’s left now is to press, baste and quilt it. Although it’s hand pieced, I’ll be quilting it by machine.

Thank you to everyone for the ideas yesterday on the sky quilt block. I think I’m going to make a twilight block for the fourth corner of this quilt but have so many ideas that I believe I’ll do another, night version of it with sparkling stars, a harvest moon and who knows what else! I also picked out a set of fabrics for yet another Tropical Punch block tonight.

Smudge, sleeping with a paw out of the kitty bed.

And Lester dozing after another busy day watching the gardeners on the roof garden and a few birds that showed up. Looks like his entertainment is starting up again.


Sky Quilt Ideas

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As I work on adding the setting pieces to the baby quilt, I keep thinking about the sky quilt. I think this block will become my “blazing sun” block rather than the sunset one.

These fabrics will be the ones I’ll use for the sunset block. There’s sometimes that glorious shade of mauve/purple to a sunset and I really wanted to incorporate that into the block.


So now that’s three corners of the sky quilt taken care of — sunrise, sunset and blazing sun. Any ideas for the fourth corner?

Smudge really does like to get close to a camera. I think he’d like to learn how to use it to take pictures of himself!

Lester is more aloof. Sometimes. He was very interested today watching the gardeners on the roof garden. They were working on the flower beds and he was glued to the window. When a huge pigeon came along and was strutting about on the grass, Lester’s tail was switching and he was chattering. First real entertainment of the year for him.


An Almost Finished Baby Quilt Top

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Almost half the setting pieces are now in place. I’m starting to like this little quilt again. As it’s for a baby, the bunny (who’s getting ready for Easter) had to get in on the photo.

Now I’m thinking I may do a blazing sun block for one of the remaining corners of the sky quilt. Which would leave one corner. As soon as the baby quilt is done and the Four Seasons quilt is on its way, I will be working on that blazing sun block — I think.

Spring is definitely on the way. The gardeners were here on Monday cutting down bushes and clearing away the debris from winter. What a wonderful sight to see!! And the little leaf buds on the trees are definitely starting to swell a bit.

Smudge in his kitty sleeping bag again.

And Lester with another teddy bear.


Sunrise and Sunset

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Being completely unable to resist working with these fabrics, the sunrise block was stitched together this weekend.

The sunrise and sunset blocks side by side. They will be in corners of the quilt when it’s done.

The sky quilt, as I’m now thinking of it, will have the rainbow in the centre, and then a different block in each of the 4 corners. Sunrise and sunset are done. I’m playing with ideas for the other 2 corners — maybe a moon done in a deep blue with a silvery white for one of them. And then maybe a silvery white star on a dark blue background for the other? I’m still very undecided, but it’s fun to think over while I’m doing other things.

The setting pieces for the baby quilt are all printed and the first side is now finished. This is just lots of continuous stitching, so it won’t take long. Well, it won’t take long if I stop playing with the sky quilt!

This week I will finish and mail off the Four Seasons quilt. I was somewhat confused about the mailing date but checked the Four Seasons blog and the date to mail is March 30. Mine will be mailed before then for sure.

We had a glorious weekend. Temperatures of almost 12C and sun. Lots and lots of glorious sun. We even saw some little green shoots in a garden when we were out for a walk. I think spring may finally be on the way.

Smudge is catching up on that lost hour of sleep.

Lester is hanging out with the teddy bear.