Friday, April 15, 2011

A Beautiful Day


Yesterday was a beautiful day! Actually it was the second beautiful day of the week, and today makes the third. After months of mostly cold days and grey skies, followed by weeks of rain, I can't adequately express how good the warm sun feels on the skin, and wonderful blue skies look to the eyes.


It was the perfect day for Hubby and me to head out to our favorite worn and weathered barn, and have a little photo shoot of this newest "non-pattern" quilt. (The results of the photo shoot also provided great incentive to give the blog a new look, starting with a new header!)


The process for creating this quilt, titled "Spring Fling", was basically just like the one I outlined in my last post, however this time, my main base for each block was a square shape, (instead of a rectangle).


I used nine squares, each cut the same way into 5 separate pieces and stitched back together with 4 different fabrics, (instead of three as I previously did). The blocks were then stitched together randomly, so some blocks are upside down, or laid on their side.


When my one daughter saw the finished quilt, she described it as "organized chaos", which I thought was a perfect description. The process of working this way is basically organized, yet the finished results yield a quilt full of energy and movement. There's a whole lot going on in this relatively small quilt, but an underling order exists. (My own little "chaos theory" wrapped up in a quilt!)


The five fabrics in this quilt were pulled from my stash and consist of a coral-red Kona solid, (used for the base squares), along with a red Kona solid, an aqua Kona solid, and two japanese flowered prints.


One of the things that I noticed during the photo shoot was how some of the lines and shapes of the quilt were similar to some of the lines and shapes of the patched barn. I like knowing that what we love, has a way of seeping into our work, even when we aren't consciously trying.


More rain is in the forecast for tomorrow, so it will be the perfect day to stay indoors and sew...


but while I'm stitching, I'll be thinking sunny thoughts of lazy warm days, blue skies and whitewashed old barns. xo