Marty's Fiber Musings: July 2013

Roll out those days~

Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer

Those days of soda and pretzels and beer

Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer

You'll wish that summer could always be here

Nat King Cole

So, the bump is a boy!

What's his name? The HUmAn of the house is more news aware than I, so each morning I ask....hey....what's his name? And HumAN doesn't know yet. Do you?

Here at home, I asked Herman and he doesn't know ~

out in the country, the bloodhound and the bro don't know ~

on the lake, the cob and pen are curious....talking about the newborn ~ but his name?

No, we don't know.

On the street.....We haven't a clue ~ May be William, Charles, or Baby Blue Eyes.

In front of the mirror ~ Mirror, mirror on the wall tell your secrets to us all ~

What we do know is that the bump, now the boy is giving the royal family something to crow about.

So, what's his name?

I wanted real flowers, but that didn't happen ~

I wanted flowers this morning.....but, it's too hot to pick them from the garden! Nothing like instant gratification - sketches in Photoshop.

The Vase No. 1

The Vase No. 2

Playing favorites today. But then my favorite quilt block is always the one I just finished! Thanks to Pile O' Fabrics and Sew, Mama, Sew! I have completed BOM #5...."Like Rain" and it is by far my favorite. I love the simplicity of it and it was oh, so easy to construct using a Jay McCarroll Center City fabric as my focus.

It looks great with the first four blocks.....just one more to go. I plan on sewing my six blocks together for a big block sampler quilt. But, I think I will go back to No. 5 and make at least four of a kind to make just the perfect modern baby quilt. More on that idea later!

Big Quilt Blocks measure 25" square. Loving this big block sampler quilt

Since I've used the Kona Snow on three of my sampler big blocks, I'll need to find a different background for August's BOM 6 to tie this lap quilt together.

YES, I CAN!

- And I blog too

In conversation the other day I told a new acquaintance and scrapbook-er that I blogged. She said she couldn't blog, she wasn't interesting enough. And I've thought about her saying that ever since and I'm asking myself: "Am I interesting enough to blog?"

I have a passionate interest in quilting.....quilting of any type.....art quilts, modern quilts, traditional quilts. Does being passionate about my quilting make me interesting enough to blog?

And I love puttering around in my back garden. Relaxing in the swing room.

or watching the bumblebee gather pollen from the flowering sage in my herb garden,

bumblebee gathering pollen from flowering sage

and the elephant garlic heads following the sun,

giant elephant garlic heads following the sun

or just pondering over the clay pots... wondering what flora I should use.

But does being an avid gardener make me an interesting blogger?

And I enjoy a bit of traveling

around town

and in the country

But does being a traveler an interesting person make I?

Oh, people....how I love to watch people.....but am I as interesting as this barber?

or these folks waiting for the chef to open the restaurant door. Would being among these interesting-looking people help me be a more interesting blogger?

My good friends thread-sketched on fabric art cards took a vote and unanimously they agreed that while I can't always carry on an interesting conversation with adult or child

my imagination makes up for the lack of this social skill.

It's agreed upon by the non-verbal members of the household that one doesn't have to be interesting

to blog!

I appreciate their quietly non-spoken vote of confidence!!!

and I blog too

Eugenia

Molly

Peaches

Priscilla Lee

Satchie Claudine

Sara Jane

Willie May

Collage No. 25

This is what happens to a minimal skinny quilt picture when altered in photoshop. I haven't made a photo collage in quite some time so with the already intense morning heat, decided to stay inside and play a bit. From here to there!

Where the livin' is easy!

We've been slaves to the garden this summer

but it's worth it

when we see these spectacular

Agapanthus in full bloom

and the heat loving yarrow

either pink or

cerise red...not sure

sunlit big leaf hosta

Mexican petunia shows itself proudly amongst the mint in the herb garden

Brown-eyed Susan and first blush of the Autumn Joy Sedum

In our garden there's a sunflower seed buffet for everyone

and the bathwater is always cool

How much thinking about does one quilt need?

My initial reaction to Brandon Mably's fabric collection was LOVE! I bought and I brought home several yards.....as much as I thought practical that day and set about considering how I wanted to showcase my love. I've been making more and more modern quilts and since traditional blocks can also be put into a modern look, that's the direction I chose. The very traditional Churn Dash in Brandon's fabric looked really good against the Kona Aqua.

I quickly became quite bored with my first layout on the design wall. I was going to cut more of the Kona aqua to sash each block, but thankfully didn't do that!

Churn Dash quilt block with Brandon Mabley fabric

Putting the quilt blocks away for a few days to work on other projects helped to clear my mind so, when I pulled all the blocks out again, I decided on this on-point arrangement. While I liked this, I felt that there just wasn't enough jazz-it-up that Brandon's fabric deserved.

So, in my usual determination, I just kept piling it on. The more fabric, the better. Right! This quilt is beginning to come alive! I think! I haven't quite worked out the mechanics of how this is to be sewn together, but I'll think about that some more. In the meantime ~

Happiness is Friday with a lot of thinking time behind me and a lot of sewing time ahead.

Busy with June and July Blocks of the Month ~

Once upon a time I laughed at people who proclaimed to have been busy. You see, I thought busy-work was a way to add to one's self-importance. "What have you been doing today?" I might ask. To which I got the response, "Oh, I've been busy."

I finish the conversation....under my breath as I smile at this very important person......"Doing What? Oh, never mind. I really don't care what you've been doing today."

Perhaps I should re-think my thoughts on busy work since I got busy yesterday. Busy catching up on my Gen X Sister's Ten BOM. January, February June and July (as the song goes).

June color ways 1 and 2 "Contrary Wife" Blocks with Brandon Mably and Kaffe Fassett fabric

July color ways 1 and 2 "Hattie's Trick" using the same fabric lines.

That's seven months completed.....fourteen blocks...six more to go! I can see a quilt coming together putting classic traditional quilt blocks in a modern setting. Now, that's worth being busy about.

The Friday After The 4th of July - pictures

We had a most enjoyable Fourth of July here in Monroe where traditions abound. One tradition, going on for the past 30 plus years, is the 'parade' at Triangle Park in my neighborhood. The young and old children don their patriot colors, hoof it or cycle it or cart it over to be a part of the parade. The HuMAn and I walked over to enjoy the festivities yesterday morning and I came away with a few pictures.