Inspiration has been low for me lately. I keep looking for a new direction but keep hitting dead ends...
But then this little lightening bug showed me the way...
I spotted her the other day crawling on a planter. I was taken by how her clay colored head was the same color as the clay pot, and at how vibrant the bright green moss was. This led me to look up and notice the moss growing on the tree trunk...
Which led me to impulsively run in the house grab some plain muslin fabric, soak it with the hose and rub it all over the tree trunk, (reason #325 the neighbors think I am a kook.)
While I was at it I also rubbed in some clay earth and a couple of decaying mushrooms...
After baking the wet and stained fabric in the sun, rinsing it well with the hose, hanging it to dry, and heat setting it with an iron, this is what I had.
And from there I started to quickly cut and sew my new stained fabric with plain muslin...
The colors faded a bit after a final wash in the machine... but I love the subtle shifts, how they melt into each other. I like the quietness of this quilt. It is very much in line with how my life feels currently.
There was never any question in my mind as how it should be quilted.
The understated colors work great with the densely quilted lines.
The backside is plain muslin... I like this, too. Just texture.
Due to the fact that I am unsure of the long term light fastness of the colors, I have decided to not put this one up for sale. I need to do more experimenting and testing before I felt comfortable. This also gives me a good excuse to keep it as I have just the spot in my not too sunny, pale green foyer to hang it!
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Mo and I really and truly appreciate all the continued loving thoughts and wishes shared with us from the last post.
From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you. xo
after we finished with the fireworks and cake and ice cream - then it really stormed but we were all safe and sound inside in bed.
The 2 weeks before however, were a very different story. If you follow the Minick/Simpson blog you've seen Laurie's house with all of the photographers, etc for the photoshoot for American Patchwork & Quilting. Well - I had that many people in and out of my house and my bedroom for over a week trying to fix my DSL connection so I could work. And so Tara could work. My computer is in the corner of my bedroom. I work here - then email things to Tara up in the office. We couldn't charge, we couldn't ship. I couldn't work at the computer because there were people on it trying to fix things. It was not fun! Hours and hours on the phone - my IT lady - my son - days later - still no wireless connection. We couldn't really do much of anything - yada, yada, yada. After a week they finally sent a technician out and it took him over 8 hours to get it done. Still don't know why it happened. If you want to know what I do when I'm stressed out - I have a pretty clean house and office.
And the binding is on Zoie's Baskets. It's ready to go to Knoxville for the booth at the AQS Expo. Come see us there.
