Two by Two and Doobie Doobie Do

My Mother always freaks out about what I do. "Lynne, you make quilts, you blog, you WORK, and you COOK." Yeah, well, I like to eat well, what can I say. So I got up yesterday and made some granola (because I can make it better, cheaper and healthier than I can buy it), then I cooked up some farro (love it in grain salads, which I will have for lunch this week), made two loaves of bread (again, better, cheaper, healthier than the stuff at the store), made some onion jam (great on sandwiches, pizza and pasta; again, part of the menu plan for the week), some sesame noodles, and then because I wanted something different, some salted caramel brownies. (Mine probably weren't cooked enough, but I never made this recipe before. Still they are damn good. I'll bring them to work and pass them around.) After I did all the dishes, I made the bed took a shower and then went into the studio to start sewing up the blocks for the Winter Whatever Quilt. Having done all that cooking ensured two things: 1. I didn't have to feel guilty for spending the rest of the day sewing; 2. I'd have something to eat whenever I got hungry. I didn't have to stop to cook. I do this cooking thing every single weekend, (obviously with different items) and I have done it for years. It makes the rest of my life easier. I'm not quite sure why my Mom freaks out about it. Later today I'll put a couple of lamb shanks on the stove to braise all afternoon. I'll have an easy dinner and leftovers for another meal this week.

Basically, I think (and plan). I'm always thinking. Part of this is making my life easier, so that's why I do it. To me, it's no big deal. I also love to cook, so for me this isn't work.

I started taking the blocks off the design wall, trimmed them up, paired them, and sewed them together.

yadda yadda yadda.

I have six vertical rows sewn together.

My friend the Selvage Fairy wrote to me and said this quilt didn't so much remind her of trees as it did ripples of water, even though she likes it anyway.

I do too, and the ripples thing works too.

Woodland

I have been making more blue slabs and cutting more blue triangles.  Really.

 But looking back at my inspiration, I thought, there's a lot of space that's empty, and I am working to fill up all my space with colored triangles.  What if I didn't?

So for grins and giggles I filled up some of the space with white with colored prints triangle slabs. They would have the same black and white side triangles as the rest of the quilt, but having this "empty" space would allow my colors to twinkle, and would suggest the dappled light of a woodland area.

Here are a couple of the white triangle slabs.  Now this could fail dramatically, but I won't know for sure until I try, and I won't even know that until I...

Make. More. Blocks.

(sigh)

And then I'll have to surround them with the black and white side triangles...

And then I'll have to move them around on the design wall...

And then I'll have to add some black and white side triangles to the white slabs and see if the idea works or if I have rocks in my head.

You know what I think, really?

I think it could work.

Because I WANT that empty space to stay empty. And I WANT that unexpected jolt of... Oh, there's nothing there. Oh wait. There IS something there.

Heh.

And because, no I couldn't resist (because I can resist everything but temptation...)

YES!!!

Purple

This is what came out of the little bin I have marked as "Purple." In fact, the color is really "Violet." Violet (or Purple) is an equal mixture of red and blue. That yields the color in the middle stack in the photo above. To the left is Blue Violet, which has more blue than red, and to the right is Red Violet, which has more red than blue. Because blue is a cool color, Blue Violet is cool, and because Red Violet has more red, Red Violet is a warm color. True Violet straddles the fence and is equally cool or warm, depending on the colors that surround it. 

Red Violet with white makes Pink, by the way. Pink is not light red. If you add white to red you get a color like salmon, which isn't pink.

Last night I worked with the Red Violet stack, and made these scrappy slabs.

(By the way, these blocks use the Tri-Recs Tool Ruler Set).

I threw them up on the design wall next to the blue ones I already had up there.

Yes, I'll be making slab triangles with the blue violet and violet scraps, and I may also add some dark green.  This quilt would be made of the jewel tones of sapphire, ruby and emerald, and maybe some gold. All those dark tones would need something to lighten it up, and it might need a good swift kick in the ass. I'm thinking a tiny bit of acid green, hot pink or orange.

Because, you know me. It ain't gonna be anything you'd expect.

I mean, like, Duh!

Blue Triangle Slabs

I made more of the blue slab triangles last night, and decided to throw them up on the design wall to see how they'd look. Then I threw up some of the white side triangles. I really do like this layout, but I will have purple and maybe dark green in the mix too.

Since I'm a big believer of having something unexpected in my quilts, I decided to try a few of the leftover reds from Fruit Loops.  These reds tend to be warm reds, and I would prefer they be cool reds, but you get the idea.

I called the sewing machine guy and we talked a bit. I told him the thread cutter wasn't working every single time. "What's really weird though, is that when it doesn't cut, it's the BOBBIN thread that doesn't cut. The top thread cuts consistently."

The guy said, "Now that's good information. I had a machine that did the same thing, and I had to call the manufacturer, and they said to replace the bobbin race**. When I replaced it, it worked fine. So I will order a couple more and call you when they come in. I'd like to work with your machine for a couple of days, so don't bring it in until I call you. That way you won't be without it for too long."

Now the needle threader won't work, and I think that's just an adjustment. I did some sewing on some heavy stuff last weekend and it may have knocked it out of alignment. I will replace the needle and recheck my settings before I bring the machine back.

I haven't finished sewing the binding on the pink quilt, and that has to get to California by Christmas. If I have to surrender my sewing machine for a few days, it will force me to finish that, so it's fine.





** (I think that's the name for the little thing the  bobbin sits in)