Always Late, but Still catching Up With the Prompts

 A little catch up post here for the latest challenges that I've been working on! I finally got the Positive Thinking quilt finished up. You can read more about it here if you like. This was an amazing outcome for a little seed of an idea that didn't seem super promising right at the beginning. For one thing, the color palette felt a little iffy to me!

And look at it now? It's the sort of thing that makes me so resolved to always try and meet these challenges, slow though I might be. It's just a good thing in terms of stretching ourselves! Just can't believe some of the quilts that I end up with by giving a little time and effort to an idea that maybe didn't feel genuinely inspiring at first. You know, because it didn't come from the heart. More like determination to see it through by hook or by crook? 

The free-spirited Sun of My Life quilt!

This quilt top is a result of working with the AHIQ:Sun prompt. Had to use up few yellow fabrics in another quilt before my mind would give me permission to start in on the 'real thing'. It's been quite the journey and yet, I'm so, so, so happy with the way it turned out. And with barely any yellow included? Isn't that interesting? These colors mixed with the improv. background, larger scale applique flowers and a funky sun? Too much fun. I find myself wanting to make more of these. Yes please!

Another sun 'cuz apparently one isn't enough!

Of course, I can see all the things that should've been done differently with the improv. pieced background, but how to successfully plan that part out  beforehand? Obviously more experience would help. You can read more about this project over here if you want. This has become a very late night for me trying to get these posts up so gonna have to keep this short and sweet!

I still intend to start a quilt with intended improv. borders like Janie has suggested for a new challenge. It feels like a good one! Really, really looking forward to this one after contemplating a half dozen possibilities.  Have to clear up my list a little bit and also, give time to one or two more starts before I dive into the brand new prompt. Just can't quite let a couple other ideas go in the event they languish too long and fizzle out on me....

p.s. I'm pretty sure these small, darker brown hourglass blocks were the abandoned parts from an earlier AHIQ prompt. I did eventually meet the challenge, but these hourglasses were the wrong size and had to be discarded. Love that they ended up in another AHIQ challenge attempt! 

Plans for 2023

 Happy New Year everyone!

Ann and I have been setting challenges on this blog since January 2017.  We have noticed that recently fewer people have had the time/inclination to follow the prompts, though in some cases we know you are still working on prompts set some time ago.  With that in mind, we are not proposing to set a prompt for the first half of this year.  Instead, we're going to suggest a monthly topic.  Hopefully this will prompt some interesting discussions around quilts and quilting.  

Of course you are still welcome to post your quilts here and to share other ideas/thoughts/inspirations as you feel inclined.

So, to kick us off, I'm inviting you to post about your quilting hopes and plans for this year.  I hesitate to use the word "resolution" because I know that's not everyone's cup of tea, but is there a new technique you would like to try, a quilt you want to make or  a project you plan to finish?  Is there something you've done already that has left you with an itch to scratch?  Have you already spotted the first squirrel of the year?  Or maybe you just need to figure out a way to carve out more time or space.  

I'll post mine in a day or so, but feel free to chip in any time.  

The gratuitous quilt picture shows four of my tops done in response to challenges: Two blocks, Tulips, Symmetry and Sun.

Luciferous

Luciferous is now a quilt top (aka flimsy).

SO very far from my original idea, but so completely "me."

To assemble the top I stitched sets of rows (3 then 4 then 4 again) instead of working from the top to the bottom.

MUCH easier to work with.

This is the bottom set of four before the final yellow row was added.

I am really, really happy with the way this came together.  

The top measures 57 inches wide and 66.5 inches long.

Before putting Luciferous into the "waiting to be quilted" closet, I made some notes to myself about how I want to piece the back.

A week or so ago I realized that this backing, originally intended for Razzle-Dazzle, was actually better suited to Luciferous.

(Tropical Flair by Hello Angel for Wilmington Prints)

The Rollicking Robots "Glitch" yardage by Patrick Lose will be used for the binding and also for the inserts in the back.

Luciferous will definitely be a colorful scrappy happy quilt.

* * *

You can read the rest of the winding back story by visiting my blog and using the Luciferous label at the end of this post.

Quiltdivajulie

Response to New Challenge

Last week Ann shared the latest prompt for the Ad Hoc Improv Quilters.  

I came home from my visit with Lynne with a huge stack of scrap slab triangles that I'd made from her leftover blocks and scrap stash - including these forty-seven yellow triangles.

I have a good sized box of yellow bits and pieces to make enough more for a generous lap quilt (same size as Kefi).

So the "yellow" part of the challenge was easy.

But what to use for the side triangles?

Initially I thought about a blend of aquas, light blues, and turquoises along the lines of Poppyseed's Quilt (gifted to one of our nephew's families).

I even thought about using the elephant fabric for backing.

But this mix didn't make my heart sing, so I put the aquas and elephants away and went back to the stash.

During a long telephone call with Lynne we discussed the option of using greens.  The contrast representing sunshine and green grasses is powerful but I wasn't convinced I wanted to make such "dark" side triangles. 

So the greens were returned to the stash.

A while back I mentioned wanting to make a pink and yellow quilt inspired by a photo of Lynne's mom sitting under the Yellow Zebras quilt while reading her new Christmas book about Yellow.  So I pulled out a batch of pinks to see if that might work.

Again, I like the colors together but the intensity still felt too strong for an entire quilt top.

So the pinks were returned to the stash.

Eventually I realized I had been fighting with myself over NOT using my black and white stash.  

For some silly reason I had convinced myself that was the "easy way out."

So I pulled out this box of 10" squares cut a long time ago for a project that went in another direction . . .

. . .  and I found the obvious answer for the side triangles after using the black and white squares for this "mock up."

 

I then went to the stash and chose these black on whites to use for the side triangles.  

So my project in response to Ann's "Here Comes the Sun" prompt will be a quilt I've named Luciferous.

(adjective meaning "bringing or giving/providing light or insight")

Quiltdivajulie

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“People often called us perfectionists, but we were not looking for perfection. We were looking for some kind of magic in the music.”

Paul Simon

AHIQ Prompt July 2022: Sun

 Our family is already anticipating the solar eclipse that crosses Texas in 2024. Since some of them live in the path of totality, there's a place to easily visit and view. With my mind stuck on sun and eclipse not to mention sunrise, sunset, sunshine... SUN seems like a possible prompt.

How to start?Use the color or a traditional block including medallions, rising sun, and a galaxy of star blocks. Songs and quotes often include the sun. Some of my favorites include: 

    Peter Pan is the sun and the moon and the stars!

and

    Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy.

and

    It's gonna be a bright, bright sunshiny day. 

Whether you create a paean to our bright, particular star; segue off a traditional design; or simply grab your yellows, Here Comes the Sun!  "It's been a long, cold lonely winter." Let's make some time for joy. #AHIQSun is the tag so we can all follow your work. 

Join the celebration!

For the Americans, Happy Fourth of July!