Valerean

Pick Up Limes had a short video about taking a color walk as a mindfulness exercise, so I tried it and had a lot of fun. To follow in my footsteps, check out my album of pics here.

I'm hunting around for palettes for my 2026 annual project, and the way I do this is to first find a photo I like with the colors I want in it. I then upload the picture to a palette generator to get the colors in blocks. Despite my long dislike of the color pink, this is pretty close to one of my favorite palettes of all time, it just needs some snow white and green in it. This palette's photo is one I took myself while I was walking the dogs. I like browns, too, and I'm tempted to do an all-brown blanket because it would go well in our master bedroom. I'd just have to make it king-size, and that's a bit ambitious even for a long-time crocheter like me. Long time ago to keep a promise I later deeply regretted making, I gave away probably the most beautiful Victorian crazy-quilted tote I've ever stitched (long story, vindictive person involved.) Although I did the right thing in keeping my promise, the whole mess was very unpleasant for me. I...

I'm almost ready to start work on designing my summer art quilt for 2025, which will be the pink-only Art quilter's bingo challenge quilt (say that ten times really fast, ha.) I usually make what I like during summer, as it's my favorite season and I tend to indulge myself, even with new projects. Projects I make from challenges or patterns, however, put me a bit more on edge. This t-shirt quilt turned out to be a bear to piece and quilt, but it's also become my favorite quilt to snuggle up with. I also really like how challenges inspire me. Making this quilt out of a one pound bundle of vintage fabrics chosen by someone else pushed me to consider how to use lace as fabric, with lovely results. My last one-color art quilt challenge helped me get over my hatred of yellow, so it's good for me (I still dislike it, but I'll use it now, versus completely avoiding it altogether.) I've had a long and unhappy history with the color pink, which I associa...

When Pantone announced Mocha Mousse as their color of the year for 2025, I was not just underwhelmed again, as you can see from my rename. Baby poop brown, okay. Guess calling it a dessert makes it more palatable. Kona will save me with their choice, right? Nope. They picked Mom's favorite shade of purple for 2025. So that I'm not always thinking about changing diapers or tearing up and missing my mom, I am picking my own color of the year: Beachcombing Magazine's sea foam . Image credit: The third image in the post was copied from Beachcombing Magazine's article about sea foam colored sea glass, which is linked (and super interesting.)

That little yarn holder I picked up in a junk shop cleaned up like new, and is proving very handy when I don't want to haul out my yarn bowl. A bunch of hand-dyed embroidery thread that arrived at the end of summer. This is instant inspiration. When little things make you happy you don't need big things.

After finishing my exPeariment blocks I made another three using the needle turned applique method that worked best for me, and then worked out an arrangement I liked. After that I trimmed the blocks and embroidered them with some vintage yellow perle thread. For the backing I used a thrifted pale yellow broadcloth. The finished piece fit the top of my little folding editing table perfectly. I had mixed emotions while I worked on this project; I liked learning more about applique, using fancy fabrics and figuring out a pleasing arrangement. I'm still not in love with the color yellow, but I think the aversion therapy of using only this color helped me appreciate its sunny beauty a little more. One more space marked off the Art Quilter's Bingo card.

I did another experimental pear patchwork block using silk sewn backward to a muslin foundation and then turned out and ironed flat. The applique looked okay, but was a bit thick to sew through with my embroidery needle. Then I tried another needle-turned applique, this time doing it the way I thought it should work by cutting curves only when I reached them with the needle (and it was easier than the classic method.) I think the third method works best for me, so that's what I'm going to use for the project.

To do a test run of my idea for the yellow-only project, I found this free pear outline clip art , resized it, and printed a template. I cut out the template pieces and used them to make a pear and a leaf applique from two of my yellow-only fabrics. I am not very good at applique, but I managed to sew both pieces onto a rectangle of yellow moire, and embroidered them with yellow, green and violet threads. Here's the finished block. I'm not sure if needle-turned applique is the way to go, so I think I'll do one more block using another technique.

While doing a bit of research on yellow, my least favorite color, I found this article with a test that allows you to check how many color receptors (cones) you have in your eyes: "You can check this rainbow: how many color nuances do you count? If you see less than 20 color nuances: you are a dichromats, like dogs, which means you have 2 types of cones only. You are likely to wear black, beige, and blue. 25% of the population is dichromat. If you see between 20 and 32 color nuances: you are a trichromat, you have 3 types of cones (in the purple/blue, green and red area). You enjoy different colors as you can appreciate them. 50% of the population is trichromat. If you see between 33 and 39 colors: you are a tetrachromat, like bees, and have 4 types of cones (in the purple/blue, green, red plus yellow area). You are irritated by yellow, so this color will be nowhere to be found in your wardrobe. 25% of the population is tetrachromat." I see 35 separate colors, so I ...

I used to use DeGraeve's palette generator when I wanted to use a photo of mine as color inspiration, but these days it doesn't always work. Canva.com bills its photo-based color palette generator as easy and fast, and it's certainly that. I'm going to hunt around a bit more and see if there are any others worth recommending, but I think if you just want a few colors this one is fine.

Pantone announced their color of the year for 2023, which is Viva Magenta. While I'm sure someone was paid lots of money for creating the color campaign video, I don't think I've seen anything quite so hideous in my life. In fact, the very last place I want to visit is the Magentaverse. So. Pass.

I made this stitch practice piece to try an experiment with seam ribbon as binding, which mostly worked except at the corners, which were awkward. The back is a mess so I won't show you that. Another practice piece, testing how to layer fabric strips in a variation of quilt-as-you-go rather than piecing them together in traditional fashion. This came out a little better and taught me a lot. The only color I want to work with right now is purple, which is my mother's favorite color. While Mom was never a comforting person, I was always able to gain some strength from her presence in my life. Sometimes it was just remembering the hard times and difficult situations that she had survived that made my burdens and tragedies seem smaller. Other times I just clung to the idea of who she was to me, and what that meant, mainly I am not alone in the world. Now that I'm alone in the world, I take comfort from memories of my mother in my life, and what she loved, and tha...

Since I have stopped paying attention to trends I just this week found out that Pantone chose this shade of bluish lavender as color of the year for 2022. I spent most of 2021 with violet on the brain, so it should have appealed to me. Instead I thought, Eh, okay. I have no idea what color will catch my eye or take over my quilting and sewing. It's always an emotional thing for me. I usually don't fixate on one, although I've had years like 2021 when I've worked primarily in one chunk of the color wheel. Green is a favorite of mine, especially paired with gray. So are any range of sea or sand colors. I love light and beach colors the most, I think, as they're calming for me (I also did my house in them), but I also appreciate dark and bold palettes for their drama and energy. Now I'm wondering what my personal color of the year will be. I know it won't be bright yellow or hot pink (over my dead body colors) and I think I've temporarily exh...

I can't seem to shake off my intense attraction to purple in all shades lately. I bought a bunch of purple scrap fabric, and I'm already thinking of a quilt design with a purple/green/turquoise pallette (this is why I'm deliberately trying to work with different colors, even pinks -- if I didn't, I'd be making everything in purples. It was my mother's favorite color, so maybe it's a part of my grief process. Not sure. It doesn't make me sad; I just feel compelled to make things in this band of the spectrum. Do you ever get temporarily obsessed with a color?

One of the quilting newsletters I subscribe to sent this yesterday: That's a beautiful blue. I've heard that Pantone is going with an aqua as their color of the year for 2021, but so far I haven't seen anything official.

As with my writing, I like to prepare everything I need for a quilting project in advance. This allows me to make creative decisions up front and get a mental idea of what I want to do. Here's an example: After I made the patchwork foundation for March's block, I put both copper and gold Holographic Sulky directly on it to see how the thread colors worked with the various silk patches. I assumed I'd go with gold thread for more contrast, but weirdly it looks a bit greenish against the silk colors I've used. So I'm going with the copper. I also tried out the other embellishments I thought I'd use this month in the same fashion: Once I've decided what works for me, I put everything in my little project box: I know I won't use everything I've selected, and I may go and get some additional materials as I work and find I want them. But this preparation stage really helps me stay organized while I stick to my vision.

The second block for my silk crazy quilt is completed: This time I deliberately chose colors I don't usually put together in a piece, in hopes of challenging myself to step outside my comfort zone. The red white and blue theme could have been very Americana, but adding some other colors in the embellishments kept it from going all Uncle Sam on me -- and I think that worked well. I didn't snag any of the silk patches this time, and watched my thread tension to avoid puckering. Using a rayon embroidery thread for the circular stitching helped keep the fabric flat, too -- I discovered rayon slides easily through silk, although the thread itself tends to twist a lot. I like how the Paris patch came out best. I love the effect of scattered seed beads condensing around an embellishment: I didn't let myself look at the January block again until I was finished the February block and then put them side by side for a pic. That was when I noticed that I used the sam...

To help me figure out the colors I want to use for my quilting I often run photos of my fabrics or patchwork through DeGraeve's Color Palette Generator to get ideas. Here's a palette I made from the pic of the scarves I selected for my Feburary SCQ block: The generator chooses the most dominant colors in the photo (and the brown and gray are from my table and cutting mat, so we'll disregard those two.) I was looking for a French feel ala France's flag colors, which I got. When you have an image that you like, but that contains a lot of different colors, the generator helps by separating out the most dominant: Palettes can also help with figuring out which colors to use for quilting or binding. Here's one I made from a pic of the table topper I'm working on: I already had the quilting thread color picked, but based on this palette I chose black for the binding, which I think goes well as a framing touch. To use the generator you do need a URL for...

Rarely do I ever find fabric in my stash that matches as perfectly as this Kona solid with the quilt top I bought at the county quilt show this year: Once I cut the backing out of the Kona fabric I batted, backed and pinned the quilt top: I thought three colors of holographic Sulky would be perfect for the quilting: You are definitely getting this one when it's finished, Theo -- might even match the Two Friends in the Moonlight quilt. :)