Color Suggestions Wanted

February has turned out to be a very green month--almost all of my photos are green. I'll be back to work on blue-violet and violet quilts soon, but thought I'd give my loyal fans (HA!) the chance to help pick my next beading project. You suggest the color (the first response wins) and I will come up with a project that includes that color in some form.

(As an aside, that is about two light years beyond my normal comfort zone, but for some reason I can't wait to dive in. Has an alien taken over my brain???)

I've Got Beads That Jingle Jangle Jingle...

The jump rings I ordered for this bracelet arrived yesterday and I spent a couple of hours putting it together. I sacrificed about a dozen sterling jump rings in the process--the beads are large enough that it was a challenge to close the rings cleanly and I had to re-do a few. I added the Hill Tribes silver strawberry charm to try to offset the weight of the beads, but it turned out to be more ornamental than functional. Oh, well, I like it anyway (and DONE is GOOD!).

Getting my package from Fire Mountain Gems triggered an organizing binge. I can't imagine that right-brained non-Virgos are likely to succumb to the overwhelming urge to move this here and that there, but I was pleased with the result. As Monk says: "It is a blessing and a curse." Amen to that! My project boxes are labeled, the pliers are happily ensconced in their new box, the jump rings and headpins are together in one place and all is right with my little world. Except, of course, I'd rather whip out another bracelet than work on things that need to be done. It is back to the grindstone, however...

Golden Details

"Settle" -- that's something we tell the dogs to do when they have the wanders (it works, eventually). I needed to shift gears from a piecing project yesterday to foundation piecing yesterday, but just couldn't get into it. One can only play so much Pogo...

Since instant gratification is a good thing, I dug out these beads to start a bracelet. Alas, I ordered the wrong sized jump rings and couldn't start it after all. It gave me a chance to play with my macro lens so all wasn't lost.

Left-Brained Thoughts on Scrap Quilts

Pat was looking through "Scrap Quilts" by Roberta Horton in our meeting today (only during the boring parts!), so I dug out my copy when I got home. The dogs and I had a good hug while I looked through it for the first time in ages. As any proper left-brainer would, I enjoyed the analysis of what makes scrap quilts work (I'm not sure I can even spell "gestalt"!):

Lots of fabrics -- I can do that!
It must visually show from afar that different fabrics are used
Not every fabric can be noteworthy
Repetition of color makes things go together
Accent colors tell you where to look, move your eye across a quilt and add excitement
Colors need to be mismatched

Which brings me to the Ocean Waves quilt I made in about 1992 (I was working on it when Hurricane Andrew hit). Go ahead and laugh--I started it with the intention of "using up" my greens! Mint green was the rage when I started it, and I had to put it aside for a while until a better range was available. I still have some of those "new" greens in my stash...

What is funny, though, is that I initially didn't mean to add the bright pink accents. It was a green quilt, darn it! Those little bits are so important, though, that I'm glad I left them in.

Interesting how I've internalized a lot of Roberta's "rules" so working this way comes naturally now.

Z is for Zombies!

I wish I'd known about these a couple of years ago--they would have been perfect for my nephew:

A Young Mad Scientist's First Alphabet Blocks

Since I finished my class samples for the upcoming term, I treated myself to a Ratmobile kit!!! Be jealous, be very jealous...

A Good Hum (Tiddely Pom)...

Mr. Wonderful UPS guy delivered a treasure today: "Pooh's Library" with the original illustrations by Ernest Shepard. It is absolutely perfect for a dreary day:

The more it snows (Tiddely pom),
The more it goes (Tiddely pom),
The more it goes (Tiddely pom),
On snowing.

Here's to good friends like Pooh and Piglet and Eeyore...

Darn and Double Darn

I hate it when I think I've got something all figured out and then it doesn't work out as planned. Such is the case for this combo. I used the Phillip Jacobs print to pull colors for the block, with the goal of using the print in alternate blocks (small quilt set 3x3, with paper-pieced blocks at 12, 3, 6 and 9). Now that I've got one block done I'm not sure I like it. The print might work in the border, but I've only got a fat quarter of it at the moment. Bummer!