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!

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!

Midnight in the Tropics - Block 2

So, block 2 and honeysuckle flowers. For me, selecting the fabrics to use is still the hardest part of any quilting project. I get bogged down with too yellow, too light, too much contrast, too wild, too overpowering. It's just too much too! I started by pulling out all my yellows because I decided I wanted my all four of my honeysuckle flowers to be yellow...nice, bright, bold yellows. With maybe a bit of orangey-red thrown in. Just because.

The first fabric I used is this batik. I love batiks because the fabric has so many possibilities, especially if the pattern is random like in this piece. I struggled with how to position the pattern until I decided to think of the darker stars as shadows falling across the flower; some are closer and some farther away just like they would be in any garden. Oh man, is that artistic thinking or what?

I got this great yellow and red piece of fabric at my favorite quilt shop (http://www.creekside-quilting.com/) in Des Moines, IA during a business trip. It reminds me of fireworks exploding in a summer sky.

I've had this yellow-on-yellow fabric with the tiny squares for many years. I loved it when I bought it and still do.

I went through a phase where yellow didn't fit into anything I did, so this fabric sat in my stash, patiently waiting for its time to come. In my everything-is-black-and-white-technical-writer-world, the squares needed to be cut in perfect little up and down lines. It certainly couldn't be set at an angle! Setting things at an angle was, well, it was a bit daring for me.

And maybe a bit too artistic.

And anyone who knows me, knows I'm not typically either of those things.

Realizing that there is no right or wrong for pattern placement when it comes to applique was a light-bulb moment for me. Really.

I know light-bulb moments for most poeple are life-changing; earth-shattering even. Me? Well, I take whatever light-bulb moments I can get, no matter how small or insignificant they may seem to others.

The fabric in this next block is a companion fabric from a Laurel Burch collection that features a mermaid and various sea creatures -- it's a darn cute collection and someday I'm going to make a sea-life Laurel Burch wallhanging with the mermaid as the focus. It's going to be daring. And artistic. And I'll smile every time I look at it. But I digress.

So, here's the block with all the flowers on it. And while I questioned doing all the flowers in yellows, I do like the final result. I am trying to keep a bit of consistency among the individual blocks (the technical writer in me still demands a bit of standardization). For this block, it's the stamen. The fabric I chose has a lot of bright tones and a bit of gold sparkle to it.

Two down, two to go! (Did you just hear that big sigh of relief from me?)

One last note: there will be small leaves scattered on both of these blocks. Like the stems, I'm planning to go wild and use different fabrics for each leaf.

Because I'm daring.

Really.