Project Quilting 17.1 - Clean Cloud

 Just like Project Runway, Project Quilting gives you a challenge and you get a set time (One Week) to produce something that fits the rules. I skipped last year, but I'm back to participating this year. I loved this first challenge: Clean Slate, inspired by Cloud Dancer, the Color of the Year according to Pantone. Not a super exciting color, but it's Not Just White as a lot of people instantly responded. 

I was one of those naysayers, but then I looked a little closer at Cloud Dancer, all because of this challenge. I'd copy/pasted in the directions into the word processing program on my Mac and I looked at the screen. Well how about that, it's really not just plain white. And look at all three greys on the screen versus the white "page". 

Something all super light grey or white would be kind of boring, so I wanted structure and texture. I started with a simple 4-square of two light grey fabrics, each one flipped to have the back as the front. It's subtle but I thought it worked to reflect what I'd noticed on my computer screen.

I dug around in my "FabMo fabrics to be dyed" box and found some interesting pieces of fabric to use to surround the four patch.

Here's my piece, named: "Clean Cloud" it's 13"w x 14"h.

Here's a closeup of it. I'm pretty happy with how it looks.

The Smoothest Grey

As I talked about last month, I've been on the hunt for the correct grey to use to finish my City Sampler quilt top. After my in-person search of the two fabric stores in Santa Cruz turned up nothing, I bought these online.  Unfortunately, I found that none of these were even close. I really thought Dove was going to be it. It really truly doesn't work to color match on your computer screen. Grey is one of those really contextual colors, you just don't see how green or purple or yellow it is until it's next to something else.

These are the Ruby+Bee solids for the MQG challenge. That raincloud grey color is a nice grey, but also not it.

I had a re-check post-op appointment last week so I headed over to Golden State Quilting, and bought up the last of the bolt of the Painter's Palette in the color: Mist. This is an in the car picture to check that my in the store eyeballing was right, the sample has a white index card behind it.

But here in a sunny window, without the white index card, I really think this might be the match for me. 

It's the mist, I think this is the one! I think I'll cut a couple strips after I was it and see how it matches on the almost done quilt top. Fingers crossed...🤞🤞🤞

Start of Something Grey

 

Started in on a new small quilt for the 2024 Stretching Art & Traditions exhibit. The exhibit will be shown at several of the Mancuso shows next year. My original sketch for the theme of rhythm included a five sectioned grey background. At first I was going to use all solids, but I decided to try out some "reads as solid" prints. This was my first selection. Way too dark.

Much Better.

Good, that'll work. 

Pieced and color corrected. And this is just the background, there's going to be some color happening (of course!)

Here's my sketch in my sketchbook, this will be 24"wide x36"high.

Just happen to have 7 recently dyed greens in various shades/combinations to use for the circle-ish shapes. That's where I'm at so far with this. It's due next month.

On the Road Again

 I'm out of the studio and on a road trip with my sons, we're just driving, listening to music, talking, stopping when we feel like it.  So with wifi at our hotel, I'm going to inflict some vacation pictures on you, just because they're so different than what I usually post. 

On this trip at first it was just my youngest (Alex) and I, because my oldest (Zach) had flown up to Washington a few weeks ago to visit with friends and go to a music festival.   So we drove up to Port Townsend to pick him up and then drive back home again.  What a treat it is to get to spend this time with just us together, I'm really enjoying it, I love that my boys are so much fun to talk to and be with.

Zach is going to be moving up to Washington for college pretty soon in the fall, so we wanted to spend some time up here getting to know the area a little better.  Alex and I were noticing it is a really long drive up from where we are in California, it just takes a loooong time to even get out of our state (about 6 hours!) and across the border.

But I'm reminded from all those many driving family vacations I went on as a kid, that it is fun to take that slower pace instead of flying and see more of our country and talk to people in new places.  Alex got to go to Walmart for the very first time, seriously, he'd never been to one, what a concept huh?
   
On the second day of our trip driving through Olympia, Washington (state capital), we noticed that you keep seeing the capitol dome everywhere, around every corner it seemed.  So a picture had to be taken while we were in pursuit of lunch.  And note the blue sky, seems that was all we're going to see for a couple days.

 Because here is how it looks this morning from our hotel room in Port Townsend. greygreygrey.

 With masts appearing over rooftops like bare trees.

The shore is grey, the water reflects the grey fog, the coast in the distance is grey too.  Good thing I like grey.