Color Inspiration Thursday {14}

August 15, 2014 kittywilkin 3 Comments

Color is everywhere. Sometimes, the coordination of complementary colors is what attracts your interest; sometimes the play of very different or unexpected colors stands out; and sometimes the complete saturation of one color is striking enough to draw your eye. This week’s color inspiration palettes come from color-rich scenes from a fairly common structure: a lighthouse. As always, my photographs are created into palettes using Play Crafts’ Palette Builder 2.1.

Corresponding Kona cottons from left to right:
Pewter, Earth, Cocoa, Poppy, Sienna, Taupe

Last weekend, my family and I took a lovely day trip to Owls Head, Maine, and began our day with a visit to the Owls Head Lighthouse. When entering the lighthouse, the red stairs circling up the red brick interior struck me as very beautiful. Having my camera ever at the ready, I took a few photos, carefully keeping the sunspots out of the frame. Subtle, earthy reds.

Corresponding Kona cottons from left to right:
Delft, Ash, Everglade, Dresden Blue, Black, Chestnut

Once at the top, I was greeted with another beautiful sight. The bright blue sky and blue ocean, reflected through and by the lighthouse light made a peacefully blue-heavy scene. Ideally I would have loved to wait until some tall, gorgeous sailing ship was in the background, but there’s only so much one can do when two little kids are waiting. Beautiful lighthouse blues.

Do you prefer palettes created primarily from a single color, or those featuring multiple colors?

Search facebook, instagram & twitter for #quiltspiration365 for a quilting inspiration for every day of the year (more on this soon!)

Life, Quilting

A Perfect Pair: Wine and Fabric {Blanc & Low Volume}

August 11, 2014 kittywilkin 5 Comments

Last month I had a revelation during some early evening vacation hand-stitching: wine and fabric go splendidly together. My first serendipitous pairing of wine and fabric has resulted in a habit of maybe choosing wine based upon its fabric-pair-ability, and in seeing various types of wine and fabric mates all over the place.

While my first wine and fabric duo were quite specific, pairing the specific wine with a single fabric line, this match is a bit more general: Sauvignon Blanc pairs wonderfully with low volume & mostly-white fabrics. This is good news for all of us! The next time you’re working on a project involving low volume prints, you know a Sauvignon Blanc will be just the varietal for you (especially on these hot summer nights)!

Bonterra has been producing wine from 100% organic grapes since 1993, and they passionately believe that organic grapes make better wine. Since I already opt for as much organic food as I can, and after trying their Sauvignon Blanc, I can’t disagree.

What is wine? Some might say it’s a fine beverage meant for a glass. We won’t argue with that. But we at Bonterra believe that a wine should also be a perfect expression of the grape from which it’s made and the land on which those grapes are grown. (from Bonterra’s website)

Yes! I would add that wine should also be paired with a fabric that is a perfect expression of the varietal or flavor. I have decided to step up to that task. I grabbed a stack of some of my favorite low volume, mostly white fabrics, and a bottle of Bonterra Sauvignon Blanc and headed to Crescent Beach in Owls Head, Maine for a photo shoot. Crescent Beach has gorgeous fine white sand that sparkles in the sunlight, a rarity in Maine where rocky coasts are the norm. The stones that meet high tide are smooth, round, and often white, so I knew this was the perfect location for the blanc-low volume shoot.

The perfect pair:

Fabric
Any low volume or primarily white fabrics.
My stash grab includes:

Collection/Designer/Manufacturer

Botanics/Carolyn Friedlander/Robert Kaufman Fabrics
Some unknown sketchy cloud print
April in Paris-French Themed, Script Noir//Timeless Treasures
Koyoto Garden/Lori Mason/Andover Fabrics
Comma/Zen Chic/Moda Fabrics
Sylvia/Lotta Jansdotter/Winham Fabrics
Eclectic Elements/Jim Holtz/Coats

Wine
Varietal: Sauvignon Blanc
Producer: Bonterra
Vintage: 2013

Description of wine from the label: Intense aromas of grapefruit, citrus, kiwi and fresh cut grass greet the nose. As you drink, the crisp acidity gives the wine a fresh vibrant feel with flavors of grapefruit, lime zest and grass that closes with favors of melon and a nice tart finish.

A perfect pair, indeed.

Design, Life

Color Inspiration Thursday {13}

August 7, 2014 kittywilkin 7 Comments

Sometimes you see a burst of color so amazing, you just can’t let it go. That happened to me yesterday, when my cousin Kayley posted these amazing photos of glass sculptures created by Dale Chihuly, seen at Chihuly Garden and Glass in Seattle, Washington. Kayley is visiting our aunt in Seattle, and her photos are just amazing! They are taken with her camera phone, but the back-lit glass sculptures look so vibrant that I feel like I could reach out and touch them. Most of the photos are detail shots taken of a suspended 1,400-piece, 100-foot-long sculpture.

Part of Dale Chihuly's suspended 1,400-piece, 100-foot-long sculpture in the Chihuly Garden and Glass in Seattle, Washington. — Part of Dale Chihuly’s suspended 1,400-piece, 100-foot-long sculpture in the Chihuly Garden and Glass in Seattle, Washington.

I think you will agree that these photos just begged to be turned into quilt-inspiration color palettes!

These beautiful palettes are created with Play Crafts’ Palette Builder 2.1 and photographs taken by my talented cousin Kayley Gallagher.

Corresponding Kona cottons from left to right:
Tangerine, Lipstick, Ocean, Royal, Cedar, Citrus

I absolutely love this color palette! Consisting almost entirely of primary colors, it is bright and cheerful. I think it would make a great kids’ quilt.

Corresponding Kona cottons from left to right:
Mahogany, Poppy, Lipstick, Plum, Surf, Hibiscus

This palette makes me think of the purple hat ladies. Purple hat ladies make me think of fun-loving, bold and beautiful women who do what they want without concerning themselves with what others may think. Can you tell that I hope to join their ranks someday? What fun! Passionate reds and purples, with a bit of rich mahogany make this another vibrant palette.

Corresponding Kona cottons from left to right:
Black, Sable, Cappuccino, Shadow, Parsley, Honey

This palette isn’t colorful, but sometimes we need to focus on neutrals. This earthy palette has a good balance of neutrals and achromatic colors and would make a lovely subtle quilt or foundation for a quilt with a splash of additional color (maybe a bright Leprechaun green to pull from that subtle kona Parsley?) Plus, what an amazing glass squid sculpture!

Corresponding Kona cottons from left to right:
Slate, Lime, Wheat, Lipstick, Rose, Corn Yellow

I’ll leave you with one more rainbow color palette to cap off this week. This photo features all the colors of the rainbow, which is well represented in the resulting palette. I don’t know about you, but I’m on a definite rainbow gradient quilting kick lately. You can’t go wrong with rainbow!

Special thanks to Kayley this week for letting me use her photographs to help inspire more colorful creative works of art. Enjoy!

Design, Life

Color Inspiration Thursday {12}

August 1, 2014 kittywilkin 2 Comments

One of my favorite parts about traveling is the variety of new sights that you get to see. I like to look at things from an up-close-and-personal perspective, especially when it comes to nature. With my background in environmental science and ecology, I like to think that I see differences and similarities in landscape and vegetation that a normal passerby may not notice. Nature is endlessly beautiful, and when seen from an intimate distance, that beauty is intensified greatly. Here are some bits of beauty as seen in my travels over the past week.

These color palettes are created using Play Crafts’ Palette Builder 2.1 and my photographs.

Corresponding Kona cottons from left to right:
Charcoal, Coal, Pewter, Black, Stone, Taupe

The beach on Lake Erie is a nice balance of fine sand and smooth rocks of varying sizes. I’ve become accustomed to the rocky Maine coast, and the beaches here in Ohio are a gentle respite from those footwear-requiring, albeit beautiful, beaches. Varied rock types, including many conglomerates and fossils can be found along the beaches, which add to the aesthetic.

Corresponding Kona cottons from left to right:
Palm, Laurel, Black, Chocolate, Shale, Coal

These green buds were too awesome to pass by. It’s another earthy, dark palette, but the balance of green and shady grey-blues with the dark black/brown are a beautiful embodiment of green goodness.

Corresponding Kona cottons from left to right:
Evergreen, Fog, Shale, Palm, Ivy, Parsley

Buttonbush is a wetland shrub typically found in standing water. When I was a wetland scientist doing delineations, we LOVED finding buttonbush since it is an obligatory wetland plant and therefore a clear indicator of the wetland area, not to mention its gorgeous and whimsical flower. This palette is included more for the novelty of the plant than the colors, but it’s another lighter variation on the green and blue nature palette.

Corresponding Kona cottons from left to right:
Spice, Gold, Amber, Garnet, Rich Red, Peridot

I wouldn’t leave you without at least one big burst of color! This tiger lily from my mom’s garden just burns with vibrancy! While tiger lilies bloom in the height of summer, I can’t help but feel a bit of autumn in this palette. I’m a summer lover, though, so I am NOT hurrying autumn along by any stretch. I just need to make that clear. I’ll take summer for as long as I can have it!

Enjoy! I’d love to see what you create with these palettes.

english paper piecing, Hand Stitching

Work in Progress: Vacation English Paper Piecing

July 30, 2014 kittywilkin 10 Comments

It feels like I’ve been on vacation for most of July, which is not a bad thing! While traveling and away from my sewing machine, I have taken the opportunity to try my hand at English Paper Piecing (EPP) for the first time, delving into stitching my first and second Lucy Boston Patchwork of the Crosses blocks. I was inspired by Jan at Sew and Sow Farm blog to try the Patchwork of the Crosses as my first EPP.I completed my first block (left) during the car ride from Maine to Ohio, and have almost completed my second block (right) since I’ve been here at our rental house on Lake Erie. I have had a lot of fun finding the perfect little peeks of fabric for each of the pieces, called “fussy cutting” by the quilting community, and decidedly meticulous but perhaps not so fussy, per a discussion I recently had with my artist brother (more on that in a later post).

The coast of Lake Erie is gorgeous and very different than the coast of Maine. I had a good shot of my EPP wips on the rocks earlier today, and here are the results:

Playing with depth of field in photographs is so much fun. I love the difference a little camera setting adjustment can make with the photo outcome. — Playing with depth of field in photographs is so much fun. I love the difference a little change of focus can make with the photo outcome.

Beautiful rocks with a gorgeous backdrop.

Lark by Amy Butler lends itself well to "fussy cutting". — Lark by Amy Butler lends itself well to “fussy cutting”.

I have not yet removed the papers from either of the blocks, except the four center bee pieces more as a test to make sure I could get the paper out than anything else, and I love the way the backs look. Every little basting stitch, the crisp folds, the tiny hand stitches holding them all together: beauty.

I think I have decided that these blocks will be turned into a table runner or centerpiece. My plan is to make another block the same as my first with the four bees in the center, and use the new Lark-heavy block as the center with the two bee blocks on either end, joined and bordered by some other background fabric. I still have to decide what color to use in the outermost border for the center block, but I’m leaning toward yellow.

I then might add one more outer edge of some other color, to make the center block larger than the outer ones. I am really enjoying the process of English Paper Piecing, specifically how portable it is and how it is so easy to pick up and put down for even just a five minute sewing stint. I’m looking forward to exploring other EPP template shapes. So far I’ve found hexagon, diamond, and triangle templates, but it looks like there are no rules; any shape or combination of shapes can be made into templates. Let the pattern creation begin! Well, after I finish these blocks of course.

What is your favorite EPP template or pattern?

Design, Life

Color Inspiration Thursday {11}

July 24, 2014 kittywilkin 2 Comments

This week you will get another glimpse into the colorful world of the Maine coast. Meanwhile, I’m driving all day long with my husband and two small children, off toward Ohio for our next family vacation! You get the better end of the deal, I think, but I hope to have some new fun photographs for next week’s color inspiration.

As always, the color palettes are created using Play Crafts’ Palette Builder 2.1 and my photographs.

Corresponding Kona cottons from left to right:
Charcoal, Steel, Pewter, Dusty Blue, Sweet Pea, Black

I love to get a really close look at the stones and shells at the beach. What from above looks like a bunch of rocks, when inspected from an inch or two away, is an entire world of complex beauty. Tiny bits of shell, stone, sea glass, and even pieces of sea creatures create a gorgeously intricate scene.

Corresponding Kona cottons from left to right:
Steel, Fog, Wasabi, Yarrow, Sunflower, Raffia

Vacationing with children, there are sure to be little splashes of color in the form of buckets, shovels, and other beach toys. I couldn’t resist a photo of this bright yellow bucket in the surf, and I love the color palette that resulted. Yellow and gray are GREAT together!

Corresponding Kona cottons from left to right:
Pepper, Coal, Spice, Earth, Primrose, Shale

A lobster tail washed up onto the beach, providing the perfect finale for the Maine coast color palettes. After all, Maine and lobster are synonymous according to some people. I have really loved the heavy presence of gray in many of these coastal color palettes, and I love how well gray plays with the pops of color that emerge in other details.

I hope these color palettes inspire you, and I would love to see any quilts that you create using these palettes!

Quilting

2014 New Quilt Blogger Blog Hop Wrap-up

July 22, 2014 kittywilkin 3 Comments

2014newbloggersbutton3 This year I was honored to be a part of the New Quilt Blogger Blog Hop organized by Beth at Plum & June. Through this blog hop, I got to know so many awesome quilters, helped jump start a couple of awesome friendships, and learned a ton about quilting and blogging in general. If you missed it, my introductory post is here: Let’s Get Acquainted! It includes everything you ever wanted to know about me, and then some.

As of last week, the final round of new quilt bloggers have posted their introductory posts, so the hop is officially complete! For those of you who haven’t had a chance to hop around to all of the awesome new quilt bloggers in the group, here’s your chance. Compiled by Yvonne at Quilting Jetgirl, here is a complete list of all of the new quilt bloggers and their introductory blog posts in no particular order. Yes, there were a TON of us… pace yourself! There is no better way to get to know some new, follow-worthy bloggers. Enjoy, and tell them Kitty @ Night Quilter sent you!

Serena @ Sew Giving

Deborah @ Sunshine Through The Rain

Jane @ Where Jane Creates

Jennifer @ A Quarter Inch From The Edge

Carla @ Granny Maud’s Girl

Jenny @ Jack’s Room

Sharon @ Color Girl Quilts

Carmit @ Quilting Rainbows

Jehn @ Jehnny And The Boys

jehnny and the boys melodie and feathers quilt — Some of Jehnny’s favorite quilts: From left to right: Melodie’s quilt, Feathers quilt

Elli @ Lovelli Quilts

Sharon @ Motherdragon’s Musings

Cynthia @ Cynthia’s Creating Ark

Sally @ Wonky Patchwork

Bee @ Pink Almond Quilt

Debbie @ Quilting Makes My Heart Sing

Leanne @ Devoted Quilter

Karen @ Capitola Quilter

Sarah @ Berry Barn Designs

A favorite baby quilt by Berry Barn Designs.

Liz @ Green Cheese Quilting

Janet @ Simply Pieced

Ruth @ Charly and Ben’s Crafty Corner

Kristyn @ Melon Patch Quilts

Linh @ Calling All Stitchers

Alida @ Tweety Loves Quilting

Rachel @ Quiltineering

Shauna @ Shauna’s World

Pam @ Sewing Wilde

Wendy @ Wendy’s Quilts and More

Jan @ The Colorful Fabriholic

Carole @ From My Carolina Home

Lin @ Lin’s Quilts

Kate @ Thread Everywhere

Cheryl @ Texas Quilting Gal

Jenn @ Sew Crafty Jenn

Heather @ QA Creations

Cornelia @ Pieced with Love

Chelsea @ Patch the Giraffe

Carole @ Fresh off the Frame

Joanna @ Riddle and Whimsy

Riddle and Whimsy's Round Robin center for Possum Magic: A group of Aussies and Kiwis from the Blog Hop have started up their own Round Robin. — Riddle and Whimsy’s Round Robin center for Possum Magic: A group of Aussies and Kiwis from the Blog Hop have started up their own Round Robin.

Camelia @ The Recovering Perfectionist

Nurdan @ Hug-a-Bit Quilts

Paula @ Mud, Pies, and Pins

Lori @ Sew Psyched

Christina @ Wips and Tuts

Diana @ Sew Crafty Chick

Marcia @ Cozy Capatiller

Judy @ Quilt Paradigm

Jasmine @ Quilt Kisses

Beth @ Cooking Up Quilts

Elizabeth @ And Pins

Daisy @ Ants to Sugar

Rachael @ The Floral Suitcase

Jennifer @ Never Just Jennifer

Alice @ Blossom Quilts & Crafts

Jill @ Pie Lady Quilts

Kelsey @ Lovely and Enough

Some awesome fabric designed by Kelsey at Lovely and Enough.

Megan @ Sew Stitching Cute

Stephanie @ Late Night Quilter

Jen @ Bower Bird Patch

Afton @ Quilting Mod

Jessica @ One English Teacher

Barbara @ Suzy Homemaker

Cynthia @ Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework

Mary @ See Mary Quilt

Laurel @ Drowning In Fabric

Linda @ Talking Lunch Box Quilts

Rebecca @ One Wee Bird

Anne @ Hudson Valley Quilts

Diana @ Red Delicious Life

Terri @ Childlike Fascination

Sarah @ Smiles Too Loudly

Vera @ Negligent Style

Michelle @ Michelle Bartholomew

Barn Door quilt by Michelle Bartholomew.

Katie @ Good Golly Ginger

Cheryl @ Meadow Mist Designs

Jana @ Jana Machado

Karin @ Leigh Laurel Studios

Kim @ Ties That Bind Quilting

Yvonne @ Quilting Jetgirl

english paper piecing, Hand Stitching, Life

A Perfect Pair: Wine and Fabric

July 21, 2014 kittywilkin 8 Comments

Sometimes, after a long, hot day on vacation, you open up the perfect bottle of wine to help refresh the evening. And sometimes, when you open up that perfect bottle of wine, something serendipitous happens: you realize that it’s also the perfect bottle of wine to pair with your current handwork project.

Who knew that wine and fabric could pair so well? There’s no debate that this is the perfect pair, though. Birds & Bees Sweet White wine is a refreshing and crisply sweet wine perfect for cooling off on a hot summer’s evening. Properly chilled, this wine is smooth and has the perfect balance of sweetness to make it pleasant and refreshing. I love that the back label says “Birds and Bees Sweet White evokes sunshine and laughter, passion and romance.” What’s not to love?

As I enjoyed this lovely wine, I worked on my Lucy Boston Patchwork of the Crosses, my first ever foray into English Paper Piecing. The feature fabric fussy cut for the center cross is none other than the Bee Sweet Fabric from Bonnie Christine‘s Sweet as Honey line. Talk about the perfect fabric to pair with Birds & Bees Sweet White!

This serendipitous encounter on the coast of Maine got me thinking about pairing wine and fabric more often. For those of us who love stitching, and love a glass of wine at the end of a long day, why can’t there be a perfect pairing of the two? You would pair the “right” wine with your dinner, so why not pair the “right” wine with your stitching? I admit, this idea of pairing wine and fabric had me giggling and laughing into the next day (or was it the wine?), so it is decidedly something I must try to do again.

The perfect pair:

Fabric
Fabric: Bee Sweet in Sunset
Collection: Sweet as Honey
Designer: Bonnie Christine
Manufacturer: Art Gallery Fabrics

Wine
Wine: Birds & Bees Sweet White
Producer: Trivento

What is your favorite wine? Favorite fabric? Maybe I’ll try to find its perfect pair!

Design, Life

Color Inspiration Thursday {10}

July 17, 2014 kittywilkin 9 Comments

Greetings from the coast of Maine! This week, my family is vacationing on Hancock Point, Maine, with my husband’s family. We’ve had a solid mix of sunny and stormy weather, but the forecast looks promising for the remaining two days of our trip. Despite the rain, I’ve taken hundreds of photos since we’ve arrived (does anyone else have a penchant for filling camera card capacities in record time?!), both of my kids enjoying playtime with Grammy, Grampy, and Aunts and Uncles, and of course plenty of shells and rocky coast. Be prepared for a good month of Maine coast-fueled color inspiration!

Here are the inspiration color palettes for the week, created with Play Crafts’ Palette Builder 2.1 and my own photographs.

Corresponding Kona cottons from left to right:
Baby Blue, Charcoal, Moss, Dresden Blue, Raffia, Biscuit

A Maine coast inspired day would not be complete without a photograph of the gorgeous crashing tide on the seaweed and barnacle-bedecked rocks. I have loved watching the tide ebb and flow, and our view of Acadia (that’s Cadillac Mountain in the background) makes the view that much sweeter. There is something peaceful about the gentle sway of the seaweed as the waves bring the tide in or out, even with the smashing spray on the rocks. I love this color palette exactly as it formed. To me, it’s quintessential Maine coast: peaceful and earthy.

Corresponding Kona cottons from left to right:
Steel, Sable, Smoke, Black, Moss, Charcoal

Exploring the treasures that abound along the coast is especially exciting with my two- and four-year-olds. There is nothing like the endless wonder of a child encountering nature’s beauty. This starfish is being gently held by my normally rambunctious two year old son. He didn’t even throw the rock into the water after holding it–amazing!

Corresponding Kona cottons from left to right:
Ash, Shale, Old Green, Stone, Black, Charcoal

Never in my life have I found more perfectly polished and abundant sea glass than on this private home’s beach on Hancock Point. I love sea glass, and simply stacked on a smooth, dark, Maine stone, this palette brings me so much joy and peace. A bit of gentle turquoise (Shale meets Old Green) and light grays, with the solid foundation of the black/charcoal stone.

Enjoy these first peeks into my week. There will be more Maine coast palettes awaiting you next Thursday!

Life, Paper piecing, Quilting

Vacation Rainy Day Sewing: First Foray into English Paper Piecing

July 15, 2014 kittywilkin 9 Comments

I never wish for rain while I’m on vacation, and this trip isn’t any different. Sometimes, though, you get rain even if you don’t want it. We are on vacation on Hancock Point, Maine, for the week with my husband’s family. The rental house is right on the ocean and has an amazing view of Bar Harbor and Acadia, located directly across the bay.

Acadia and Bar Harbor as seen from our rental house on Hancock Point, Maine.

Until today, we have had gorgeous weather and have spent much of our time swimming (or quickly dipping, in my case) in the ocean or walking along the beach looking for treasures. I don’t think I could ever tire of gazing at the beauty left by the tides.

Today, it is cold, dreary, and pouring. In trying to beat the rainy vacation day humdrums, I decided to pull out my sewing stuff. This morning I tried my hand at English Paper Piecing, starting with the fussy cut center for a Lucy Boston Patchwork of the Crosses. I must say, handwork is quite fun!

I had to unstitch and retry one of the honeycomb pieces since the pattern didn’t even come close to lining up on one side. Admittedly, it wasn’t a whole lot closer after I redid it, but I decided to go with it.

Having never done any handwork before, I felt like I was flying by the seat of my pants. How far apart should the stitches go when joining pieces? How exactly does one “whip stitch” the corners? I think I did two whip stitches, but it seems to have worked for the moment. I can see the stitches a bit, but my mother-in-law said that the slight peek of stitches is part of the charm of hand sewn creations. I’ll take her word for it.

I can certainly see why so many people travel with their English Paper Piecing projects. Progress is made in small bits, so it is easy to pick up and put down as needed. I finished sewing the center four honeycombs together at the breakfast table this morning, and once I figure out what color scheme to go with for the rest of it, I am looking forward to passing the rainy days with stitching.

I also brought my sewing machine with me on this trip. It’s the first time I’ve ever brought a sewing machine on vacation, and I debated for quite a while whether I should take it with me or not. Now, with the next two days forecasted as torrential rain and chilly cold, I’m so glad I did. Not to mention the fact that there is a singer treadle and table right next to my bed in our bedroom.

While this treadle is missing its belt and therefore doesn’t work, I am taking it as a clear sign that I was meant to bring my sewing machine on vacation with me. Perhaps this afternoon I’ll do a bit of machine sewing as well!