Daffodils and Spring

We never planted daffodils in the yard but they appeared a couple of years ago to welcome Spring. Now, I look for them each year - and I'm never disappointed when the blossoms open.

Daffodils are such beautifully dainty flowers with such sunny dispositions.

I didn't notice the tiny bug inside this flower until I was viewing these on the computer.

I love it when surprises like that happen!

The darkness of the surrounding foliage really makes the daffodils stand out.

I love this shot looking straight into the flower.

Union Square: Finished!

I finished Union Square this weekend.

Man, five borders is a lot of borders to cut and sew! Not sure I want to do that again anytime soon.

I do like it, though, and it was pretty easy to make - always a plus in my book!

Next up: a blue and white quilt using 4-patches and 16-patches. For this one, I'm using a free pattern from Mary Quilts (http://www.maryquilts.com/easy-double-4-patch/).

A finished scarf for Amy

I meant to knit a scarf for my nephew's girlfriend for Christmas but ran out of time. I did get this finished and sent back in January - a bit late but finished! The colors on this picture aren't quite right. The colors are actually a deeper teal green rather then the blue tones here. I'm not sure why the camera picked up such blue tones. I hope it's a good on Amy.

Midnight in the Tropics - Block 4

Block 4 consists of Poppies. I love poppies so love this block. The most difficult part was, once again, selecting the colors for the individual blooms. I love reds, so knew one poppy was going to be red.

These are the reds I chose:

There are just so many pretty colors that selecting the "right" ones is very difficult!

Here's the orange poppy:

And a pink poppy:

And my yellow poppy. Well, it's more of a yellow and orange poppy but that's okay with me! One of the consistencies in this block is the bud. I'm using the same batik for all of the poppy buds but decided to use different greens for the leaves. So, here's the finished block:

And here are all four blocks ... guess it's time to get appliquing!

Union Square: ready to sew together!

All of the blocks are done and the side triangles cut. It's up on my wonderful design wall and ready to sew together.

It should go together fast and hopefully, that means this part of it will be done over the weekend. With luck, I might even get the borders on!

Union Square: a new quilt

Like most quilters I know, I always have more than one project going at any time. So, after selecting, cutting and basting the pieces for the Midnight in the Tropics blocks, I decided I needed something to work on when I've only got a few minutes. I looked through the various kits I've bought over the years (but have yet to make) and pulled out this book and the associated fabrics: I've always wanted a red, white and blue quilt, and Union Square was exactly what I was looking for - it wasn't complicated and would go together fast! Here's what it will look like when finished, and the fabrics that came in the kit:I got all the strips cut last weekend and started sewing the uneven nine-patches right away.The background triangles that border the uneven nine-patch blocks are made from a creamy white solid. When I first saw that, I was skeptical. It seems a bit boring but that's what the picture shows so we'll see; regardless, the triangles are cut and ready. The red and white four-patches went together quickly, too.The half-square triangles are sewn on now but weren't when this picture was taken.

These are the four border fabrics. The inner border is the lightest red at the bottom of the pile, the blue star fabric is the second border, the light floral is the third border and the deep red is the outer border. It'll be bound in the blue star fabric.

So, the blocks are sewn and ready to assemble into rows. More pictures as that progresses!

Old Eagle Eye

Randy snapped this yesterday as we were heading back from the river; it's just a great shot.

Hellebores are blooming...can Spring be far behind?

Midnight in the Tropics - Block 3

I really thought I'd posted last week. Really. So imagine my surprise when I pulled up the blog this morning and see I've been very negligent in getting Midnight in the Tropics - Block 3 pics loaded.This is a challenging block for me because again, I wanted to use a variety of colors. Tropical flowers are very colorful and I really want that reflected in this quilt. The flowers in this block are nasturtiums. After a lot of debate, I decided that I'd do the four flowers in four different tones - even if nasturtiums don't come in these four shades. It is my quilt, after all, so get to I make the decisions. One flower is shades of tangerine/oranges (with a touch of pinks):

One in shades of pinks (with a touch of yellows and oranges):

One in shades of red-oranges (with a touch of yellows and a bit of shiny gold):

And one in yellows (with a touch of pinks and oranges):

I made many different star centers in many different fabrics before deciding on the black batik. I love the irridescent look; like tiny spots of light might be shining through fence or hedge and onto the flower. I also settled on a blue/purple/green variegated batik for the flower buds. And yes, I went through several fabric iterations before deciding on this fabric. My first inclination was to stay in the red/orange/yellow tones. But the buds in those colors seemed to get lost, rather than stand out within the block. To me, this fabric works because the buds hold a promise of a beautiful bloom; however, I'm left to imagine what the color will be. It's like a surprise waiting for the right time to happen.

Another choice was to decide on the fabric for the radiating spokes of the leaves. This was my first choice. But I think it's too blah and a bit too gold.

This is the one I think I'm going to use. (Of course, I retain the right to select a different fabric later - that goes with being both a woman and a quilter!) I like the color tone better against the darker green, and I like the patterned fabric better; there's more life to it.

I just think it plays better with the other colors, and brings in just a touch of the blue-greens from the buds and the background fabrics.

So, block 3. I like it!

Like the other blocks, I wanted some consistency within the block itself; a place to rest your eyes, if you will. So, my constants for Block 3 are the leaves, the buds and the star centers, although I think there's enough variation in the batik bud fabric to give a sense of change there without being overpowering.

Three down, one block to go! And a note: I have finished most of the applique on block one (lower right corner). There are three small leaves at the pointed end of each stem that I still need to cut and applique but that should go quickly!