Color, please!

"To read a poem in January is as lovely as to go for a walk in June." Jean-Paul Sartre

Anyone who knows me well knows that my favorite color is purple. The trim on my house is painted purple, and almost every flower in my gardens is purple. I absolutely love this time of year when all this color springs forth and greets me everyday. 

Walking around my house, even on the gloomiest of days, makes me smile. Flowers can take a very dark moment and turn it around if I let it. I simply have to give in to its beauty.

Today, I finished the snowball nine-patch using David Butler's Curious Nature line. I can't deny that I struggled a bit as I worked on it. So many one and one-half inch squares. I thought I'd go crazy!

In addition to the tedium of the construction, the monochromatic scheme left me running on empty. I was absolutely craving COLOR!

However, I must say that when it all came together, I appreciated its simply beauty. I'm hoping to find a border fabric that gives it a final touch....and then done.

Then, I gave myself just what I needed when I needed it most....a rainbow! These fabrics will become the next block of the BOM quilt that I will be working on over the summer. I wanted color? Well, color I got and plenty of it.

I can't wait to begin...

Summer's coming...

I find it hard to believe that the first day of summer is less than a month away. It has been a beautiful spring with lots of rain to make everything lush and green. My garden flowers are loving it. However, in my time, I wonder where it has all gone. Maybe it's my age, but each day runs like a river into the next. I often have to look at the calendar to know what day of the week it is.

I got to spend some time at the Cloth and Bobbin on Wednesday talking to Johanna about possible summer classes. I sat on the floor looking at patterns and fabrics, having very little time constraints....a rare thing, indeed. Our first decision was to use some of David Butler's fabric. We chose 4 fabrics from his "Curious Nature" line. As I began to cut the initial squares, I realized that they all really needed to be fussy-cut due to the bold design and the nature of the pattern. 

Next, we chose a cool paper-pieced wall hanging that will be done in these fabrics, some of which are from M & S Textiles Australia. Rich colors and crazy Aboriginal designs are enough to get my creative energies flowing.

I've also been working on a quilt from Karen Combs' book, Celtic Pieced Illusions, using a yellow to orange range of batiks for the background with a beautiful fall-colored ginkgo leaf batik for the interlocking design.

So, how many projects do I have going on at the same time?......oh no...too many. I also just got my Block Swap partner for June, so add that to the list....oh, and keep working on the BOM for the fall....deep breath!