Ooh! Sale!

Don'tcha love sales? Chronicle Books has 30% off everything (through Sunday), which means that both Sublime Stitching and Amy Butler's In Stitches are on sale. I may be buying both.

Added: Denyse Schmidt's book is in there, too, if there's anybody left in the quilt-blog world that hasn't bought it already. And when I started adding items to my cart, I found out that orders over $40 get free shipping.

(Found via the always-fun Daily Candy.)

Flash!

Protozone pattern
Originally uploaded by Mellicious.

I love little flash applications you can play around with, and this is a good one - it's not really terribly flexible but you can do some fun things with it. (Try hitting the red button - which I guess is Autodraw - and then switching back & forth between "repeat," "reflect" and "rotate.") Good for inspiration purposes!

(My brain immediately breaks into the Flash Gordon theme when I look at that title. Hope everybody else doesn't have the same problem!)

Water Quilt

Water Quilt: Reflections
Originally uploaded by Mellicious.

The quilt above is from Mayfest. There's a link to the online show back an entry or two. (It bugs me not to give the maker credit, but that's guild policy. Go figure.) Added later: After a conversation with one of the guild members who was present for the discussion of the "picture policy" I am going to start posting names again. Apparently it was not their intent to keep people from posting names; that was my misinterpretation when I read it. (In my own defense, it's not very clearly written.) Quilt above made by Cyndy Martin (and the full name of it is "Water Quilt: Reflections").

In other news, I made a myspace profile for no good reason - it's here. Now will somebody tell me what to do with the thing, please? (I already had to delete one random guy that wanted to be my friend - possibly because your profile defaults to single. I did figure out how to fix that, at least!)

In other other news, I have enough subunits to finish the swap blocks, and I have three weekend days left to work on them. (Two Saturdays plus Monday of Labor Day, I'm figuring.) Hopefully it won't take that long, anyway! Then after that I have to finish whipping together my little leaf wallhanging, which also needs to be done very soon. Then maybe I can go back to normal quilting. I have promised myself not to start any more swaps until after such time as I make quilts out of the swap blocks I have already. That ought to keep me out of them for a good while!

Alexander Henry "Rose Tattoo" fabric

Alexander Henry "Rose Tattoo" fabric
Originally uploaded by Mellicious.

Hey, I posted an entry with no pictures yesterday, did anybody notice? Can't have that! So here's one of the fabrics I bought for your viewing pleasure. (I have no idea how these fabrics are going to fit into the Muertos quilt - I just thought they were awesomely cool, and they fit in with the ideas I have so well. They may end up being on the back.)

One reason I bought the two fabrics with the roses is because I realized I have to put red into this quilt. One of my grandmothers just adored red, and I can't see how I can do a quilt that's a tribute to my grandparents without having red in it. (I was originally thinking of a palette with really pure brights - that is, cyan/magenta/yellow - but I have already backed off of that.) I was talking about putting marigolds into it already, so I was thinking that I would just add a red flower to the mix occasionally. Red goes well with yellow/orange, anyway. So now I am thinking black background, yellow-orange-red flowers around the edge, and inside that, anything goes, as long as it's bright!

(No, I have no clear idea what's going in the middle yet. Pictures, and of course there has to be a skeleton in there someplace, this is Dia de los Muertos we're talking about. But exactly what it's going to look like? I'm not there yet.)

(More of my skull-print purchases here, here and here.)

Linkorama

Pictures from the European Patchwork Expo! (Lots of them!) (From Jerrianne.)

And that reminds me, the Mayfest Quilt Show gallery is online - here.

I added a link to the last entry, too, so it'd be with the picture - I found the patterns for that quilt online.


As far as the swap update - I concentrated on making subunits last weekend; I think I made enough for about 3 blocks. So that means if I can do that again next week, I will have enough to finish, and I'll just have to sew them together!

I've been buying fabric for the first time in a while - first I bought some Christmas fabric at Hobby lobby, then I bought retro Christmas fabric from Contemporary Cloth (which probably doesn't match the first fabric at all), then I bought skulls from Virginia Quilter (several different prints, actually). Everything I got is for specific projects, at least - I've stopped just buying stuff for my stash, I have quite enough in my stash as it is, thanks! - but I may have to make two Christmas quilts to reconcile the traditional fabric with the retro one. Oh well, you can never have enough Christmas quilts, right? (And at the moment I don't have any Christmas quilts, I gave the one I had away!)

Summer Rentals

Summer Rentals
Originally uploaded by Mellicious.

Quilt above made by Martha Walker of Arizona; entered in the category Mixed Technique the 2005 International Quilt Festival.

Added: QNM has posted foundation patterns for this quilt - here.

I have been slacking on the exchange blocks, and I'm running out of time. I have six more blocks to do and only 4 weeks or so to do them in - although there are a good many more subunits made than that. I have got to get seriously going this weekend - or else I'm going to have to break my custom and work on them at home. (What a concept.)

I have been doing some planning, and even a little bit of research, for the Day of the Dead quilt. I looked at several webpages about how it's celebrated in Mexico (rather than, you know, in Austin) and that gave me some ideas. For example, it's traditional to make floral arches out of marigolds, so I want to work marigolds into it somehow - I'm thinking either as an arch or some other kind of a surround for the quilt. I have no idea whether I'm talking applique flowers, or beaded flowers, or what, though.

In the Beginning "Julianna"

In the Beginning "Julianna"
Originally uploaded by Mellicious.

Oh, this fabric looks so much like something my mother would love. I'm going to have to track some down for her.

Avlyn "Nature's Palette"

Avlyn "Nature's Palette" in indian pink
Originally uploaded by Mellicious.

Ooh, I like these. These are organic cottons dyed by hand with vegetable dyes and other natural substances. The colors are great. See more of them here, and most of them are available online at eQuilter.

(Although apparently eQuilter doesn't have the one above. I am sad.)

Catch-up entry

Houses in the Country in Costa Rica
Originally uploaded by Mellicious.

Quilt above made by Maria de Los Angeles Artavia T.; from the exhibit "Shapes and Colors of Costa Rica" at the 2005 International Quilt Festival.

Wow, I haven't posted in two weeks, how'd that happen? Partly it's that I haven't had much to report lately, quilt-wise - I'm working on the swap blocks, and I went out of town one weekend so I didn't get to work on anything at all. Actually that's not entirely true - I took all the bits and pieces with me to start on the Day of the Dead quilt, and I sorted through stuff at my aunt's house, and I started a piece of embroidery. I had a piece of cyan-blue batik with swirls on it, and I started outlining swirls in reverse stitch, in heavy perle cotton (#5, to be exact). It looks cute, I should've taken a picture before now. The most entertaining part was trying to explain to my mother and my aunt and other assorted relatives about the Day of the Dead quilt. I don't think they quite got it.

Updated picture of swap blocks

pink & cranberry swap blocks
Originally uploaded by Mellicious.

Here are the four swap blocks that are finished. I have some more bits and pieces (i.e., subunits) together but this is it for finished ones. I like them all - the one with the too-light center probably the least, the two on the top row the most, although I also like the bottom right one with the lighter corner star points really well, too. Since I keep running out of one fabric or another, they are going to keep changing a little bit, anyway.

This exchange was supposed to take place at fall retreat, and I don't think I'm going this year. It's the first time in maybe 7 years that I haven't gone. I know I'm going to be sorry I'm not, but there were too many other factors - mom's disability, money, a minor shortage of vacation time.... (I had enough vacation time and in fact had already put in a request to use it - but I have taken an awful lot of vacation already this year and am going to be taking more, so on top of everything else that may have been the tipping point.)

More autumn leaves

new autumn leaves
Originally uploaded by Mellicious.

I have promised to make another autumn leaf quilt - a small one - so here's the beginning of that. I haven't decided how many leaves I'm making exactly. We'll see how it goes. (Last time, I totally got addicted to making the things, so you never know.)

Another summer quilt

24/7 (detail)
Originally uploaded by Mellicious.

"24/7" was made by Rachel Wetzler of Illinois; it was the 1st place winner in the category Innovative Pieced, Large at the 2005 International Quilt Festival.


I don't have much to say about my own quilting right now. I am making cranberry blocks, still. I will try to take a picture tomorrow, if I remember!