Sunday, September 28

Quiltspiration 365 - Unlikely color match

Sometime unlikely color pairings are the way to go. A couple of years ago, I made a baby quilt for my niece Chloe. At the time, The Very Hungry Caterpillar was my daughter's favorite bedtime story so I bought the book and a cute panel for my niece. I selected a paler of bold solids to pickup the colors from the panel.


Red, aqua, orange, blue, yellow, purple and green. All were offset by a chocolate brown border. All of these colors are covering most of the spectrum of the color wheel. By all accounts, the result should be terrible ... but



I think it worked really well and make it visually balanced with the colors from the panel. I then used the same colors to piece a very colorful back to match.



But most importantly, the recipient loved it :)






For more Quilt inspiration, visit the Quiltspiration 365 bloggers:

Kitty: http://nightquilter.com

Chelsey: http://www.niniandthesea.blogspot.com

Laura : http://www.niniandthesea.blogspot.com

Jennifer : http://neverjustjennifer.blogspot.com

Brenna : http://www.beknitpicky.com

Cheryl : http://sweetdreamsquilting.blogspot.com

Jessica: http://sweetdreamsquilting.blogspot.com

Cathy : http://www.aquiltingchick.blogspot.com

Sarah : http://www.aquiltingchick.blogspot.com


Sunday, September 14

Quiltspiration 365 - Meditereanean blue

I was born and grew up in the South of France, where the blue of the sky is rivaled by the blue of the Mediterranean sea and complemented by the white of the rugged coastline. I love all the shades of blue, and green and I love mosaics. It just came naturally to combine all shades of blue with the stark contrast of white to make a quilt for my father-in-law. 





So after picking all the shades of the Mediterranean blue

And finding just the right layout

This quilt was born 
The front


And the back






For more Quilt inspiration, visit the Quiltspiration 365 bloggers:

Kitty: http://nightquilter.com

Chelsey: http://www.niniandthesea.blogspot.com

Laura : http://www.niniandthesea.blogspot.com

Jennifer : http://neverjustjennifer.blogspot.com

Brenna : http://www.beknitpicky.com

Cheryl : http://sweetdreamsquilting.blogspot.com

Jessica: http://sweetdreamsquilting.blogspot.com

Cathy : http://www.aquiltingchick.blogspot.com

Sarah : http://www.aquiltingchick.blogspot.com

Sunday, August 31

Quiltspiration 365 - One design, 3 ways

Before I started coming up with my own quilt design, I often  used existing patterns, using my own fabric choices and colorways. It is easy to let yourself get boxed in reproducing verbatim something that already exists.

Here is an example on how just changing your color way can completely transform a simple design:


In beige, red and pink




In black, purple, red and yellow


In white, green and purple

All 3 side by side


Be bold, be daring and create!






For more Quilt inspiration, visit the Quiltspiration 365 bloggers:

Kitty: http://nightquilter.com

Chelsey: http://www.niniandthesea.blogspot.com

Laura : http://www.niniandthesea.blogspot.com

Jennifer : http://neverjustjennifer.blogspot.com

Brenna : http://www.beknitpicky.com

Cheryl : http://sweetdreamsquilting.blogspot.com

Jessica: http://sweetdreamsquilting.blogspot.com

Cathy : http://www.aquiltingchick.blogspot.com

Sarah : http://www.aquiltingchick.blogspot.com

Sunday, August 17

Quiltspiration 365 - Creative process - wildlife photo

I usually create quilts without using a pattern, or if I use a pattern, I tend to give it my own twist. But sometimes it takes a little help to get to where you need to go. There is a lovely woman in my life , Gram Betty. She's part of my extended family. She and her daughter, Joan, shared their love of quilting with and taught me the basic when I was an absolute beginner. I really wanted to make something special for Gram Betty. Something from the heart. I knew how much she missed her trips to Canada and the loons on the lake she used to vacation at. 


Drawing a realistic loon from scratch was not an option so I had to get some help from a photo. 

Then the stash shopping started. Mostly Batiks for their organic feel.

I printed the photo a couple of times and clipped the various elements for the birds to use as templates
I glued the pieces with school glue and added a couple of lilypads and aquatic plants

To finish the effect, I used a thread painting method to secure the pieces, add the "fuzzy" effect on the chick and in the water to create the illusion of the reflection 


Here is the finished piece. Gram Betty loved it :)






For more Quilt inspiration, visit the Quiltspiration 365 bloggers:

Kitty: http://nightquilter.com

Chelsey: http://www.niniandthesea.blogspot.com

Laura : http://www.niniandthesea.blogspot.com

Jennifer : http://neverjustjennifer.blogspot.com

Brenna : http://www.beknitpicky.com

Cheryl : http://sweetdreamsquilting.blogspot.com

Jessica: http://sweetdreamsquilting.blogspot.com

Cathy : http://www.aquiltingchick.blogspot.com

Sarah : http://www.aquiltingchick.blogspot.com





Sunday, August 10

Fixer upper - The 1st floor bath

When we bought our new house, we knew there would be a lot of work involved, even before being able to move in. The previous owners had not bothered with much renovations beyond painting so a lot of rooms we still much in the same state as in 1985 when the house was built. And then the house sat empty for almost 4 years. We set priorities to having at least one functional full bathroom and a serviceable kitchen. 
  

This is what the first floor bathroom looked like when we first toured the house






First a bit of demo: 
Remove the old vanity, toilet and fixtures, peel the grimy glued on vinyl flooring 
then fix the holes


We had a good laugh when we found a patch of the original wall paper behind the toilet tank:
Space Invaders style :)


Then new floor and fresh paint,  new vanity and backsplash



Tada !!

 
We did keep the light fixture above the vanity after a good scrub of course


New bathroom for under $1000

Sunday, August 3

Quiltspiration 365 - Free motion walk in Boston

There are so many aspects to quilting, design, fabric selection, piecing, and of course quilting. The quilting can be as simple as straight lines, a stipple or complex as feathers and other motifs. During our New England vacation, I took many pictures that I will use in future projects, many of them in unlikely places. You can find your inspiration everywhere:

A tin tile in a bakery


A window in Boston's North End

Woodwork in an old whaling ship


Ultra modern building materials on the New England Aquarium

The sidewalk near Fenway Park

or even jellyfish ...


Visit the Quiltspiration 365 bloggers:

Kitty: http://nightquilter.com

Chelsey: http://www.niniandthesea.blogspot.com

Laura : http://www.niniandthesea.blogspot.com

Jennifer : http://neverjustjennifer.blogspot.com

Brenna : http://www.beknitpicky.com

Cheryl : http://sweetdreamsquilting.blogspot.com

Jessica: http://sweetdreamsquilting.blogspot.com

Cathy : http://www.aquiltingchick.blogspot.com

Sarah : http://www.aquiltingchick.blogspot.com



Sunday, July 20

Quiltspiration 365 : A day of wonder and wander

We are on vacation and taking a trip to Boston.  We left Maryland Friday and stopped in Poughkeepsie NY overnight. Our firmed up plan only included a visit to the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome for Saturday afternoon. So in the morning, we did a little research and ended up visiting the FDR Springwood Estate and the Vanderbilt "Hyde Park" mansion before heading to the airfield.

The grounds near FDR's house were absolutely stunning. A true color overload.







At the presidential library, a floor mosaic made me smile


And the Vanderbilt estate was full of patterns, geometrical arrangements


interlocked wit more organic patterns




Even the ventilation grates were pretty 


Not to mention the amazing  carved stone patterns


Beauty is everywhere, in nature as much as in man-made wonders.


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