Sneak Peak

Are you sick of seeing that grass quilt yet?  Well, you probably want to see the finished quilt already.  So do I!  I did manage to get the binding sewn on last week, but I still have to handstitch it down.

In the meantime, I've started another project.  I'm waiting to see how this one turns out.  The colours are out of my normal range - cream - and I'm trying out something design wise.  If it works and the response is positive I'm hoping to share it with you as a quilt-along. So far so good, but I need to make one more block.  Yes, just one more block.  Before I can do that however, I need to find a nanny and find childcare for a weekend trip I have booked. Gee, this mommy thing sure gets in the way of my quilting sometimes.

That's A Lot of Thread!

Wow, I finally finished the grass quilt.  And I can tell you that I lost count of how many bobbins I used but I went through five spools of 100 metres and two half spools on 500 metres of thread! That's a lot of thread!

Speaking of the thread, I used my new favourite kind of thread for quilting: Presencia Mercerized Egyptian Cotton.  I've made a few quilts with this thread now and I'm hooked.  It doesn't break, the lint isn't too bad, and the colours are wonderfully saturated. For the grass quilt I used three different greens and alternated colours for each row of grass that I quilted.

The binding still needs to go on, maybe tonight.  It will be another multi-pieced one.  First I need to sneak into the closet in the girls room and grab my bin of green fabrics.  Smilosaurus was having a rough day and went to bed early, early tonight.  Hmm, maybe I'll skip the binding and head to bed myself because I feel an early morning coming on.

PS  Stay tuned for one of my announcements later this week...

What Do You Think Of?

Thank-you so much for all your comments on the different potential layouts for my water inspired quilt. One of the things that struck me in the comments was the difference in what it meant to think of water.  Some thought of waterfalls or rivers, others thought or tranquil lakes. Most saw blue and most saw easy movement.

To be honest, I wasn't sure myself what water meant when I started it.  It was really inspired by a pile of fabric that simply read water to me.  But all the comments got me thinking about what I wanted this quilt to truly represent.  So I dug through the photo archives and found some inspirational water photos.

Hubby at the deserted beach bar on our honeymoon.  An hour on the scooters, some very scary looking Cuban military guys, and this completely deserted beach with a bar.  A stocked bar, and an eventual bartender who fed us fresh papaya and cold beers.
That's me in the water at Pilar beach, again on our honeymoon.  We snorkeled there one day and went back to simply soak up the sun another day.

The view of the ocean storms of the Northumberland Straight on our vacation to Nova Scotia two years ago.

Hubby jumping the waterfall at Sierra de la Laguna in Baja this past Christmas.

A water fight in Baja.

Introducing Smilosaurus to the ocean in Baja.  A calm day, perfect for babes in water and more snorkeling.

The girls getting creative on a hot day in the backyard.  Yes, that's a blue box for recycling and the garden hose.  And our new grass.

Smilosaurus in the bath.  Our lovely harvest gold bath suite.  Don't you love it?

That cute the little girl again.  This time in Waterton National Park, just a little over a week ago.  Mountain lakes are perfect for her and her favourite pastime of throwing rocks.

Does that help define water for me?  Let's see... Adventure and tranquility, activity and relaxation, excitement and calm.  Now, what kind of quilt will that make?

Water Version 5

Okay, I'm changing things up again. But in reading through all the comments I think I need to try a few more things before I settle down and make a decision.  You've come up with really interesting ideas. Good challenges too.

Before I go making any more changes, what do you think of this one?  So far the basket weave effect has had mixed reviews. This one builds off that overall effect, but I think it might be a bit more balanced in composition.  What do you think?

We're off for the weekend and unless the weather cooperates next week I'm not sure if I'll get a chance to play with layouts again soon. You've given me SO much more to think about.  Thanks again for all your opinions.