It’s too early for these snowy palettes, I know. Tell that to Mother Nature in Maine. Last weekend we got buried by nearly 18″ of wet, heavy snow. Many trees still had their leaves, so the heavy snow put much of the state out of power from fallen trees and downed power lines. We were without power for just over three days, and life kind of had to slow down during that time (obviously!). I certainly didn’t do any blogging, and did just a bit of hand-sewing and knitting between keeping the wood boiler stocked, the generator running smoothly, reading stories by candlelight, and otherwise entertaining the kids. We are the fortunate ones; many homes in my town and the surrounding towns are still without power, five days later.
At our house, snow downed an entire apple tree, a few big branches from another apple tree, and snapped quite a few branches of my favorite magnolia trees in our front garden. Our chicken coop outdoor run was completely smashed, and many other tree limbs are down. I certainly have some yard maintenance damage-control ahead of me, and I think I’ll be wielding a handsaw (or a chainsaw if I’m lucky enough to find a neighbor or friend to lend me one and give me lessons) more than a sewing machine the next few weeks. But still, Color Inspiration Thursday must go on! So here, your unseasonably early, autumn, snowy color palettes for today, created with Play Crafts Palette Builder 2.1 and my photographs.
Corresponding Kona cottons from left to right:
Titanium, Chestnut, Moss, Graphite, Avocado, Bonsai
I really like this gentle, earthy color palette. It’s such a simple photograph: prematurely fallen leaves on a mountain of snow, but the greens make a strong showing, balanced nicely by the greys and dark brown.
Corresponding Kona cottons from left to right:
Pewter, Shadow, Cappuccino, Mahogany, Coal, Paprika
Corresponding Aurifil thread from left to right:
2610 – Lt Blue Grey
2600 – Dove
1285 – Med Bark
2360 – Chocolate
1246 – Grey
2355 – Rust
Even after getting completely pounded by the snow, the leaves dance daintily on the snow. These red and orange leaves are particular favorites of mine, although the palette reads heavily in the greys and browns, with just that splash of Kona Paprika. I love the Aurifil names for these colors, too: Dove, Medium Bark, Chocolate–what’s not to like about chocolate!? I definitely would use this palette for a lap quilt for my living room.
Don’t worry; we did enjoy the snow, too.
My children enjoyed playing in the snow. Here they are, mid-storm, making the most of it!Round two. The snow continued to come down, and trees began to droop. I wish I had thought of knocking snow off branches at this point!
Here are a few more glimpses of the aftermath of our crazy November 2nd blizzard here in Maine:
Morning has broken. The morning after the storm. No power, day two.My poor snapped magnolia branches. There are many more like these two.The absolute mess that is our chicken coop. There used to be a few nice trees and a lovely path up to the coop.The chickens, three days after the storm, are finally beginning to venture down their leaf-strewn, snowy path.I honestly thought I did a good job building this chicken run, but the heavy snow and drooping branches (no longer visible) took out it completely.Completely uprooted apple tree.Lots of snow, lots of destruction, but still beauty abounds.
My hope for all of these color inspiration posts is that someone gets their creativity spark ignited and creates a gorgeous quilt or other work of art based upon one of my palettes. Since I and many of you are quilters or other fiber artists, where better to let inspiration strike than the fabric shop? This week’s color inspiration comes from Alewives, a gorgeous fabric shop in Nobleboro, Maine. Palettes are made using my photographs and Play Crafts’ Palette Builder 2.1.
Enjoy some color inspiration eye candy:
Corresponding Kona cottons from left to right:
Steel, Geranium, Rich Red, Crimson, Garnet, Thistle
Wooden spools, assorted ribbons, and a lovely palette of pinks and purples.
Corresponding Kona cottons from left to right:
Terracotta, Cinnamon, Mahogany, Lipstick, Paprika, Salmon
Corresponding Aurifil thread from left to right:
2350 – Copper
2245 – Red Orange
5024 – Dark Brown
2215 – Peach
2355 – Rust
2220 – Lt Salmon
One of my favorite spots in Alewives is the collection of fat quarters in the center of the store. Arranged by color in awesome vintage wooden bins, these fabric bits beg to be touched, gazed upon with wonderment, and then (naturally) purchased. Yum!
Fabric eye candy; how gorgeous is this fat quarter display!?
Corresponding Kona cottons from left to right:
Bark, Med Olive, Med Juniper, Arctic Ice, Peach, Toast
Another gorgeous glimpse of the fat quarter bins. I could see this palette making its way into a lovely gender-neutral baby quilt. Or a soft, autumnal lap quilt or table runner. Or just about anything!
Corresponding Kona cottons from left to right:
Bison, Wine, Cinnamon, O.D. Green, Kelly, Spice
I loved the color and fabric choices for this quilt display. Isn’t it wonderful when you walk into a shop and are not only swooning over the fabric, but are also are inspired by the quilts displayed around the shop?! I think the match of Kona Kelly to that darker teal is off, but you get the idea! Aurifil matches it as 2285 – Med Spruce, which looks like a more accurate match along with the 2850 – Med Juniper match for the Kona O.D. Green.
To see a few more glimpses of quilty beauty from the Alewives shop, visit my post Color for Quilters & the Maine Modern Quilt Guild. If you are ever in or near Nobleboro, Maine, I’d definitely recommend stopping in to Rhea’s shop. Tell her Kitty sent you!
Note: I have no affiliation with Alewives Fabrics; I simply think it is a gorgeous, well stocked and kindly owned local fabric shop and I like to spread the love! Plus, It’s kind of awesome that their minimum fabric purchase online is 1/8 of a yard, AND that they will send you a 1/16 swatch if desired! That is hard to find with online shops! Enjoy browsing.
This week’s color inspiration comes again from the bog. There were so many pops of color in that oasis ecosystem that I just had to share more than one week’s worth. Palettes are made using Play Crafts’ Palette Builder 2.1 and my photographs. Enjoy!
Corresponding Kona cottons from left to right:
Avocado, Steel, Sable, Old Green, Plum, Pepper
I love how this little pinkish (Kona Plum) leaf just pops right up with burst of color amongst the evergreens. Getting the leaf in perfect focus was a bit tricky with the wind and fading light, but I think it still works. If nothing else, it makes me smile.
Corresponding Kona cottons from left to right: Steel, Bison, Brown, Ruby, Wine, Lipstick
Corresponding Aurifil thread from left to right:
1246 – Grey
4173 – Dk Olive
5024 – Dark Brown
2230 – Med Peony
2355 – Rust
2265 – Lobster Red
I love this photo. I don’t know if it’s the mirrored red berries all blurred in the background, or the bits of blurred green swirled into the mix, or whether I am just really drawn to the pop of the red berries. Either way, I love the photo and the resulting palette. It makes me *maybe* think I could be ready for snow in a couple months, as long as there are pretty red berries to brighten it up a bit. Maybe.
Last week, my kids and I joined some friends for a walk at the Orono Bog Walk. From the Bangor City Forest Report website, “the 4,200-foot long Orono Bog Boardwalk enables visitors to City Forest to see a bog up close and personal without getting their feet wet… The bog itself encompasses 616 acres on the Bangor and Orono town lines and is home to hundreds of species of hardy yet fragile plants and some of Maine’s rarest bird species.” It is a truly magical place; you walk along the boardwalk through the woods for a few hundred feet and you’re suddenly in a completely different world, where the ground is covered in squishy moss floating on water and trees can’t grow taller than my two-year-old.
My kids and their friend at the Bog Walk.
This week’s color inspiration comes from the bog. Palettes are made using my photographs and Play Crafts’ Palette Builder 2.1. I have included matching Aurifil thread for one of the palettes, but if you want the matches for all of them, let me know and I will start including them, too.
Corresponding Kona cottons from left to right: Moss, Ivy, Taupe, Coal, Honey, Mushroom
Corresponding Aurifil thread from left to right:
2905 Army Green
4173 Dk Olive
2372 Dk Antique Gold
1158 Med Grey
2910 Med Olive
2900 Lt Kakhy Green
This tamarack was glowing in the late afternoon sun. I honestly thought the palette would be more gold-orange heavy, but the dark background colors make a bold appearance. The golden needles in their perfect little swirls entranced me, and perhaps might inspire a quilt design for the future.
Tamarack from afar. The golden yellow swirls of needles called me in!
See how the tamarack, stunted in its bog home, glows in the late afternoon sun?! I also think it’s amazing how a “normal” tree can look so different when you get right up close and personal. Perspective is everything.
Corresponding Kona cottons from left to right: Moss, Ivy, Steel, Iron, Peridot, Raffia
A sweet evergreen, bringing us cool and earthy greens and blues.
Corresponding Kona cottons from left to right: Wine, Deep Rose, Mahogany, Spice, Bison, Leaf
This pitcher plant blended right in with the bright red peat moss! Pitcher plants are among my favorite plants, and they are ubiquitous in the bog. Their autumnal red and fuzzy trap-mouth make them so gorgeous this time of year! Did you know that pitcher plants are carnivorous? That’s right–they eat meat! Ready for your daily science lesson? Here’s a bit about how pitcher plants work, from Encyclopedia Britannica(it’s still a useful resource!):
Pitcher plants… have unusual tubular leaves that are shaped like urns, trumpets, or small pitchers, with a flap that partly covers the top of the pitcher. Insects are attracted to the mouth of the pitcher by a trail of nectar-secreting glands that extend downward along the lip to the interior of the pitcher. The lip is covered with stiff, downward-pointing hairs that are not easy for an insect to climb upward on once it has partly descended to gather nectar. Just below the lip, in the steepest part of the pitcher’s throat, is a very smooth area without hairs. Like a greased slide, this zone sends the insect tumbling down into the liquid pool at the bottom of the pitcher, where it quickly becomes submersed and drowns. The insect is then digested by an enzyme secreted within the leaf. (from Encyclopedia Britannica online article “pitcher plant”)
How awesome is that!? A hunting plant. Who knew that a carnivorous plant could inspire a quilt? Any other science geek quilters out there? What is the strangest thing that has inspired one of your quilts or craft projects?
Honestly, I thought I was ready to move on to autumn. But then we had a stretch of warm, sun-filled days without frosts at night, and my dahlias went wild. Can you ever get enough dahlias? I know I can’t. So here, again, is a color inspiration post thick with dahlia’s. I’ve created color palettes using Play Crafts’ Palette Builder 2.1 and some of my photographs, and I’ve included a few additional palette-less dahlia photos for added inspiration. I truly can’t get enough dahlias!
Corresponding Kona cottons from left to right:
Wine, Cocoa, Taupe, Tan, Deep Rose, Black
These first photos were taken on my dining room table, resulting in a rich and shadowy capture of the dark colors within the dahlias. After some photos on the table, I decided to change it up and move to directly in front of a window, with the dahlias on top of a white piece of paper. It’s amazing how much a move of five feet and a different backdrop changes the photo!
Corresponding Kona cottons from left to right:
Iron, Smoke, Coal, Green Tea, Artichoke, Herb
The added light brings out the pastels within the dahlias. Gorgeous, soft, gentle.
Corresponding Kona cottons from left to right:
Bordeaux, Honeysuckle, Corsage, Zucchini, Stone, Moss
Get a little closer, and pop! Here comes some more of that bold and vibrant color. I just love the balance and aesthetic perfection of dahlias. Nature amazes me every. single. day.
While creating these palettes, I made an exciting discovery! The Palette Builder now matches not only Kona cottons, but also Aurifil thread (my favorite!) and Hex values. My computer programming husband informed me that Hex values are for using the colors in a web format.
Corresponding Aurifil thread from left to right:
4030 Plum 2479 Med Orchid
2562 Lilac
5015 Gold Yellow
2900 Lt Kakhy Green
5013 Asphalt
I personally love Aurifil, and I am now even more inspired to choose a palette (maybe even this one!?) and order the exact Robert Kaufman Kona cottons and exact Aurifil threads and make a lovely, gorgeous, completely coordinating quilted creation!
Although autumn is here, the flowers are still blooming with a gusto, and warm days still peek out here and there. Today’s photos are from our trip to the coast a couple of weeks ago. Palettes are made using my photographs and Play Crafts’ Palette Builder 2.1. Be inspired!
Corresponding Kona cottons from left to right:
Charcoal, Coal, Titanium, Black, Shadow, Amethyst
Patterns are found everywhere in nature, and rocks hold some of my favorite designs. There’s something soft and gorgeous about these hard stone lines and grey coldness. Perhaps my love of stone and rock and the patterns that they display has something to do with my love of the color grey in quilts! I may have just had a revelation there!
Corresponding Kona cottons from left to right:
Poppy, Carrot, Amber, Papaya, Gold, Paprika
A pop of autumnal color, illuminated by the late summer sun. After a morning rain, these flowers were just begging to be photographed and turned into a nice fall quilt. I can see using this color palette in some autumnal projects, or even just to create a bright and cheery fabric creation. Even the Kona names are cheerful in this palette: poppy, carrot, amber, papaya..! It’s almost musical.
I haven’t gotten into the habit of making seasonal sewn creations yet, maybe because it takes me so long to complete a project that by the time it would be finished, we’d be on to the next season. Or maybe I just haven’t fallen in love with the right project yet. Do you create seasonal quilts?
When Laura from Adventures of a Quilting Diva asked for volunteers to design itty bitty mini paper pieced houses for her Mini House-Along, I thought it would be fun. Little did I know exactly how much fun! I had such a blast sketching out and piecing this little Mini Snail House, and I’m a bit afraid I may be hooked on mini houses!
This mini house block finishes at 5″x5″ (5.5″x5.5″ unfinished) and was super fun to piece. I think it was the smallest block I’ve ever made, and being comprised of five foundation pieces made the itty bitty fun even more extreme! Next time I think I will use a smaller print pink scrap, or maybe even sketch or solid for the snail, but overall I kind of love it! I honestly didn’t think I’d be all about the itty bitty paper piecing, but it was so fun. These mini house blocks are a fabulous way to use up those tiny scraps you know you’ve been saving.
This block is available for free in my Craftsy shop, as the October block for the Mini House-Along. While typically one might think of haunted houses being more fitting for October, I think this works perfectly: it’s a snail dressing up as a house. Or maybe a house dressing up as a snail? Either way, we’ve got Halloween covered.
You can download the previous blocks in Laura’s Mini House-Along here:
or visit Laura’s blog for more details about the inspiration and design of the previous blocks in the Mini House-Along.
Design Inspiration
This block was heavily inspired by Suzy Ultman‘s fabric collection Suzy’s Dollhouse for Robert Kaufman. Once I agreed to design a miniature house, I started looking for house styles, sizes, shapes, and features everywhere. I found my inspiration right in my very own fabric stash!
Suzy Ultman fabric line Suzy’s Dollhouse was my inspiration for this mini snail house block.
This past weekend we were treated with a surprise, hot, summery day. We took advantage and spent the day in Bar Harbor, enjoying the warm sun, gorgeous late summer flowers, and wading barefoot in tide pools left on the sand bar bridge to Bar Island. Today’s color inspiration palettes are a fleeting last glimpse at summer. I am saving two more for next week, after which the more earthy, subdued tones will appear (or maybe fiery autumn hues!?)
Corresponding Kona cottons from left to right: Steel, Rafia, Coal, Lilac, Pepper, Iron
I love the wavy quilt lines left on the sandbar by the retreating tide. Speckled by bits of shell and stone, the little troughs make for fun exploration for both the eye and little hands and toes.
Corresponding Kona cottons from left to right:
Purple, Magenta, Pepper, Cerise, Violet, Thistle
I couldn’t resist this last burst of color. Do you ever tire of gorgeously colorful flower photos? I don’t. I sure hope you don’t either!
Here are a few more shots from our sand bar adventure in Bar Harbor:
I am holding onto the last hot days of summer (when the rare treat day above 70 happens), but I do love the crispness of autumn, too. The other day my four year old daughter went outside and said, “I love this season, mom.” I replied, “Oh, you do? Why do you love it?” and she said, “It smells so fresh outside! Do you remember this season, mom? Do you remember?” I do remember, and as much as I love summer, I’m happily anticipating the turning leaves, crisp, fresh air, and earthy-root veggie stew season that’s upon us!
Today’s color inspiration is noticeably autumnal, as the garden shifts from colorful abundance to the muted tones of the tail end of the growing season. Palettes, as usual, are created using Play Crafts’ Palette Builder 2.1 and my photographs.
Corresponding Kona cottons from left to right: Peridot, Pewter, Geranium, Coal, Titanium, Slate
To be honest, this color palette surprised me. It seems so soft and pastel, when I was expecting a more bold, red and green-led palette. I debated playing around with the color dots to change the palette to fit my expectations, but decided to leave it as is. It’s a very gentle, soft palette that would work well in just about any quilt.
Corresponding Kona cottons from left to right: Citrus, Wasabi, Palm, Bonsai, Kelly, Yarrow
Here’s another sunny palette created from some lingering flowers. I love the combinations of yellow and green paired with a pop of blue and orange. I’m not sure how accurate the Kelly kona match would be; I think Everglade would match better. It’s fun that the Wasabi kona cotton makes an appearance here, though!
I absolutely love the fact that the Palette Builder 2.1 matches the corresponding kona cottons for each palette. It’s always fun to see where each kona color appears in the photograph. I think the time is nearing for me to choose one of my palettes and create a quilt from it and its kona cottons.
Welcome to rural Maine, your next stop on the Around the World Blog Hop! Stephanie from Late Night Quiltertagged me last week, and as she explained, the hop is like a giant blogosphere tag game where those tagged can share a bit about their creative process as well as what they are working on. Sounds like fun!
I met Stephanie less than a year ago, but I already feel like we’re sewing soul sisters. To start, we have completely unplanned, practically identical blog names that pretty much describe our lives. Since meeting Stephanie, we’ve teamed up (with Michelle, too!) on a number of fun ventures, such as starting up the Late Night Quilters Club on facebook, opening a Late Night Baby Etsy shop, and planning an awesome time at QuiltCon in February 2015! Stephanie is an awesome writer and quilter, and recently started a longarm quilting and pattern design business with her other half, Michelle.
Rainbow jellyrolly quilt top.Pink and grey baby plus quilt.
I’ve also been making some (secret) progress on my July Supernova Swap blocks, but can’t show you any more than this tiny peek:
Sneak peek at my July Supernova Swap blocks.
In my pattern design world, I’ve finished the sketch out phase of a new pattern, completed the fabric pull for the testing phase, and then realized I forgot to make the paper piecing pattern a mirror image before printing. Oops!
Fabric pull for testing out my new paper pieced pillow pattern.My IG post when I realized I had forgotten to mirror-image my pattern before testing. Fishie swimming against the current… oops!
As is my nature, I am working on quite a few projects in addition to these, including my first foray into English Paper Piecing (to be a table runner one day), a couple other paper piecing patterns in the early design phases, the very first quilt I’m making for myself, and about five+ projects that I’m itching to begin but haven’t truly started yet.
How does my work differ from others in its genre?
This is such a tricky questions, since no two quilts or quilters are the same. How do you define a quilt’s genre? There is so much debate about what makes a modern quilt, and honestly I’d rather be sewing than debating whether I’m sewing a modern quilt or not! I’m not sure I’ve decided on my quilting style just yet, and perhaps I never will. I definitely am drawn to more “modern” quilt designs, and I LOVE modern fabric. I still feel like a lot of my work embraces the traditional, and my paper piecing patterns are inspired by nature and my love of aesthetic flow. It reminds me of what my brother said about me in high school: You’re a jock, nerd, geek who listens to punk music and wears preppy clothes. Basically, I’m me. And my quilts are mine.
As for my blogging, my love of nature and photography can been seen weekly with my Color Inspiration Thursday posts, where I create a color palette from some of my photographs. Nature geek photographer, meet quilting.
An example color palette from my weekly Color Inspiration Thursday posts.
I’ve also started having fun blogging about my forays into pairing wine and fabric. You know you want to check out those posts! There are many more to come, don’t you worry.
Find the perfect fabric for this wine? Don’t mind if I do…
Why do I write/create what I do?
My Let’s Get Acquainted blog post from a few months ago answers this question fairly well. The bottom line is that I’m a stay at home mom of a two year old and a four year old, and I’ve discovered that I must create something each day in order to stay sane (at least somewhat sane). Taking time to sew and blogging about it forces me to take a little bit of time for myself, even if it’s only 20 minutes a day. Thank you, blogosphere, for holding me accountable for doing something for me: quilting.
How does my writing/creative process work?
I have a rapid fire mind that is constantly thinking of new ideas of fun projects, things to make, patterns to design, etc. I’ve always been a creative person, and quilting is just one more outlet for that creativity. As far as pattern design, I start off with inspiration, which can come from literally anywhere–a pattern on a building, a sight along a walk, a burst of color–, it becomes an idea in my head, then I sketch it out in my grid notebook, tweak it a bit until I’m satisfied with it, scan it, pull it up in Inkscape, and turn it into a pattern. I usually have fabric already in mind in that original vision, so that part’s all taken care of from the get-go, too (for better or for worse, as you’ll see below).
Inspiration for my buoy 1, 2 & 3 patterns.
As for making quilts, I’m very drawn to the aesthetic flow of a quilt, especially relating to color. Usually it’s a color combination or flow that draws me to a pattern, and then I go from there. I’m really bad at following patterns to their fruition, and usually just use them as a jumping-off place. Choosing fabrics for a project is the hardest part for me, I think in part due to the fact that I typically already have the “perfect” fabric in mind before heading to the quilt shop. Maybe I need to just design fabric, too?
Now that you’ve visited my design space in rural Maine, I’m tagging these three awesome bloggers. Go check them out!
Laura from Adventures of a Quilting Diva: Laura is my partner for the Supernova Friendship Block Swap, and a fellow paper piecing and quilt pattern designer. She’s also the mastermind behind the #quiltspiration365 group of bloggers with a mission to provide inspiration every day of the year.
Anne from Play Crafts: I use Anne’s Palette Builder 2.1 every single week to create my Color Inspiration Thursday posts. She’s a computer programmer AND a quilt designer, and creates some awesomely beautiful stuff. Anne is one of my quilting superstars, who I’ve been following from my very first foray into quilty blogging.
Yanic from Family, Faith, Food, and Fabric: While not a strictly quilting blog, Yanic blogs from the heart about many things I relate to and enjoy reading about. Her blog name sums it up well.
To check out more of the stops in this wild, world-wide blog hop, here’s an easy link to a google search for posts: Around the World Blog Hop blog posts. Enjoy hopping!
I grab a needle and thread once the kids are in bed
Night Quilter 