Thursday, December 12, 2013

Nothing New to Report on the Hot Chocolate.. But a New Race has Begun!

Good afternoon, nothing happening with the Hot Chocolate project since the last post. Well, nothing newsworthy anyway. The next step is to distinguish how I am going to use the stripes and the preprinted panels.

Determining if there is to be any fill in with blocks, strips and such. Then I will have a good idea of how much of the solids to purchase and start cutting.

This week has primarily consisted of re arranging my bedroom. Ever since move in from June, it has been a place to sleep. Sleep has been challenging, as the decor consisted of the unpacked boxes, and miscellaneous items that no longer have a home. Things I want to access and use, but there is just no where to put them.

Then, my sister approached me with the proposition of 'storing' her queen size head and footboard. It is a beautiful iron bed. One that I have always been partial to, it was the bed used for my first Home & Garden show room. They have just gotten a new king size bed, and I have been pining for a headboard, since I relinquished mine from the move last year. (Wow, that was only last year, it seems like it was 3 years ago…)

In the practice of Feng Shui, it is of utmost importance to have a headboard on one's bed. Without one, the experience of no support is rampant. I must say, it is true. Since not having one, it has been challenging to feel supported on so many levels in the past year. There is nothing to ground me in the new location.

My home base has not been established and I am finding it hard to really feel at home here. But now, moving my room around, making room for a headboard and a footboard, it is starting to feel good.

The highlight of the week, being introduced to , Danielle LaPorte on MarieForleo.com.  Danielle has a new book,  the Desire Map…. definitely going to get a copy of that! Both sites are filled with great insights on life, relationships and expression of self, professionally and personally. I am so grateful to have these women show up in my inbox!

Danielle's site and take on goal setting, has breathed new life into my thoughts. This morning, I found myself experiencing

Vitalichi!!! 


I have finally found my way back to the starting line of a whole new endeavor. I know my thing….. I am working on a way to share my 'thing' with the world. I have been doing 'my thing' for …. well…. almost my whole life…. yes, my first memory… I recall experiencing 'my thing'. Here is a hint… The first time I ever recognized being here… I opened my eyes, and saw the beautiful blue of the sky and the lush green leaves of the trees. I felt to myself, I made it, I am here, and went back to sleep. 

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Block Candidates from a Beautiful Quilter's Resource

Peppermint candies? 
The fabrics have been determined, the blocks from the panel cut and the stripes have been sliced into strips. Purchases for the remaining Kona cotton will be later, once I have determined the blocks that will be added or incorporated using the panel. A stash only needs to be as  big as a stash needs to be.  Although, a healthy collection of solids would not be a bad idea. There is just that storage and accessibility issue. 


The go to book for an exhaustive and inspiring collection of quilt blocks is “The Quilters Album of Patchwork Patterns-more than 4050 peiced blocks for quilters” by Jinny Beyers. The blocks are consistently photographed, organized by grid, and beautifully rendered. There is even a grid tool that slips into the back of the book. 
Larger Peppermints, the solid green blocks will be the 4 1/2" printed blocks from the panel

Keeping in mind the sizes I have to work with, I set out just browsing the book of blocks I liked and thought would be fun to do, lending themselves to central blocks and use of borders. 

The block sizes from the panel are as follows. 
  1. Large blocks 10 x 10 finished
  2. Medium sized blocks 7 x 7 finished
  3. Small blocks 4 1/2” x 4 1/2”
  4. Large rectangles
  5. Small rectangles
  6. strips of 2” stripe
  7. strips 2 1/2” stripe
  8. strips of 3” stripe

All strips are 1 3/8” yds long. Pattern repeats are to be determined for matching pattern. 

A swirling cup with red handles, the green will be a border stripe
Some of the blocks are shown incorporating stripes into their composition. I think this makes for and interesting composition because the element of line is strongly introduced into the work. 
A band of mint candies through the espresso and cream

I went through again and looked at grid and finished size. Some blocks and catagories overlapped in my preference, this became my master list. From this list, I narrowed it down to 4 options, per block size, based on similar elements of the blocks.

Swirling Espresso and cream (not sure why the color shifted when I imported, still same espresso 
I think I may explore adding the rectangles or stripes to one side of the blocks and make assymetrical blocks. This could be an interesting challenge in layout. A hot chocolate sampler, without looking like a sampler.... I like that idea. There are so many blocks and so many interpretations of them! And I would not get bored doing the same thing over and over. Although doing multiples of the same thing in a repetitive manner also has its benefits. Such as streamlining production and efficiency and the ability to just slip into auto pilot and meditation, while working with such a sumptuous material. 
Swirling Mocha with a cherry


Also, my preference in design is assymetry rather than symmetry and one doesn’t see a great deal of it in quilting. Being a non-conventional quilter myself, the appreciation of traditional designs, methods and approaches to quilting is highly regarded. We can’t all do the same thing. Each of us have a passion that is poured into the projects and it results in a self expression that is individual for each of us.  






More Peppermint and chocolate

Espresso & Cream swirl