Sunday, June 27, 2021

Dresdens & Fish: Spindrift II


Spindrift II

Slowly, but surely--no, that's a lie. I am hammering away at this quilt every chance I get. The 4th is upon us, and we celebrate here with a big party. A rock band at night, this year we have Road Dog, followed by this small town's stunning fireworks. Everyone is welcome here, and we love meeting people who've driven in from several counties away. So there is a lot to do to get ready yet, and I want this done before. 




There are 3 components to this quilt, the large Dresdens, the small Dresdens, and the on-point sashing pieces. Here are the small Dresden blades laid out for chain piecing. I used mainly Moda Grunge with a few odd fabrics that resembled it. These are the closest to a solid in this quilt.



My lighting in summer leaves much to be desired with my design wall, but you get the idea here. The lovely goldfish swim behind, and there is a water-ocean-aquarium theme to this quilt. The small Dresdens actually have a big job to do in tying together the color theme. Too light, and they disappear; too dark, and they distract. We all tend to push away from the darker colors when blending, but they are so, so important at grounding blended colors. Look at nature, and 9:10 times you find brilliant colors floating on a darker background.



My studio is best described as organized chaos. To most people it's visually overwhelming. I know because they just stand there in awe, and keep turning. But I know where things are, and many piles are left out because I'm thinking about them. As I stood there looking at the design wall, my eyes fell on this lone hexie in a pile. 

I could only find this fabric in a fat quarter, and had cut it up to use in a quilt a few years ago. That never materialized, and I wondered if it would be a good focal point here. "Red fish, blue fish," went through my mind, and the fantastical element of a blue goldfish along with the fact that it was cut just slightly as if the fish would swim off the hexie in the next second. All my fish were cut this way so as to get enough pink and orange fish from the one yard of fabric so in that way it worked similarly. Different elements often need something about them that is the same. (Do you play SET? SET is great for learning about coordinating elements, and fun for the creative mind.)



I think I love this, don't you? Never be afraid to push the envelope just a little bit more. It's just fabric, and if it's a hot mess you can pick it out, and replace it. It's not sewn in yet so let's see what happens. In the next post, everything comes together.


The Bunny House

I had to share an ingenious idea I read about online. Unfortunately I cannot find the page to give credit, but it's not my idea. Under this laundry basket is nest of 6 fairly large baby bunnies. The basket handles broke off some time ago, but it still held laundry for us. Minnie, one of our doxies, is a baby bunny killer even with most of her teeth missing now. To find the nest a few feet from my chair where I often stitch was horrifying. Dogs, fireworks, etc., what to do?? This simplified everything. Mama rabbit can come in through the broken handle, but Minnie can't. They will leave the nest soon, I hope, but I'm doing my best since there's nowhere close or safe enough to relocate them. 



The Vegetable Garden

And on the other side of the house, I'm doing my best to keep those bunnies and other critter out of the garden! Electric fence does its job at night, but during the day I have to turn it off. Effy got zapped badly last weekend, and didn't look at me for days. I felt awful as she limped and licked her paw, and this is the lowest voltage fence available. 

I'm battling an onslaught of Japanese beetles right now, but it's been a good year so far. The lettuces were stellar, and shared widely. Peas are producing heavily, early cabbages are nearly ready to harvest, and a new bean crop is popping up. I'm cutting and drying herbs, and calendula flower petals, and saving seeds as things finish. It's a lot of work, but food security is real these days. Knowing where your food comes from, how it's grown, and what else is in it is important. I tell everyone that has a few square feet, plant something!



You'll find me weeding here later, but for now I'm just enjoying the view. I toast you with my cup of coffee, "Have a most wonderful day!"

Come on, Doxie girls.
Let's go sew.


 





2 comments:

Rebecca Grace said...

I am just adoring your Spindrift II progress, Julie. Fabulous mix of colors and prints. Ingenious solution for protecting those bunnies from your dog, too!

Linda Swanekamp said...

Spindrift II is just gorgeous. Right up my mix alley. Great to see your gardens. Mine are postage stamp size compared to yours. Hope your 4th party goes well and people enjoy celebrating together this year.