Color challenge

 

I'm a bit out of sorts this morning. I have only one photo to share with you. Well, that's not entirely true - I have two of them (actually, there are four!). Yet, I took a ton of photos yesterday, but it was to share with the Tula Pink 100 Modern Quilt Blocks class last night, and the others were for our Long Time Gone class this morning. 

Oh my -- I'm loving the Tula Pink quilt. I wasn't sure how I would proceed - I knew which quilt I wanted to make, but how to go about it. Follow the book or make it up? I decided to make it up. Why not? Do I want my quilt to be exactly like everyone else who made this quilt? I think not!!

So this is my inspiration for assembling the 100 blocks. That's one of the quilts in the book. 

Inspiration for my quilt

I swear, if you do a Google search on this quilt, you can't help but fall in love with at least one of the versions. And if you want to sign up - there's still time. The blocks don't take long to assemble, so you could catch up, and the book ships quick! Send me an e-mail if you still want to sign up. elainetheriault@gmail.com  

So the question was, do I make each block in the book with the coloring identified in the book, or do I do my own thing? And now I realize that the coloring on the pages does NOT necessarily match this quilt shown in the book. And what am I going to do for the fabric? Leave out all the scrap boxes all year? 

NO!

I started by breaking the blocks down into the monthly assignments. I wonder if people ever wonder how I break the patterns up? I'll never tell, but trust me - in previous classes, people were dying to know what comes next. I mean - really!!! Do they not have enough to do without worrying about finishing the quilt right away??? Oh - how we love to work on the NEW and quickly abandon the old. But that's not going to happen with this quilt. 

I can't wait to see what colors/styles/number of blocks the group picks to work with. It's going to be amazing, and I'm looking at this quilt as an experiment to play with color. The blocks are easy so let's add a twist to it and play with colors. 

Here are my first 10 blocks. There are several ways to tackle the coloring in this quilt, and you have to sign up for the class to know what I told the group. 

My first 10 blocks for the Tula Pink sampler quilt

Wow - who knew that I had so many pinks, and I'm trying to NOT duplicate any fabrics. So if it gets used in one block, that's it! And I mostly pulled from my scrap boxes, although I did need to hit the stash baskets a couple of times. 

Let's just say that I'm excited about this quilt. But it's so easy to make, wouldn't it be "fun" to try another colorway? How about neutral (browns) or black and white?? Or well - there are so many exciting possibilities. This will work if you have scraps left over from a coordinated collection. Oh my - do I even dare think of looking for such a collection in my fabric?? Just say, NO!!!!  But I'm tempted. 

I swear I took a photo of my new set-up for the presentations. Nothing huge, but my new laptop stand is now in place, and the added bonus? I can put a second device under the laptop. This gives me more room on the table, which is important, and the higher laptop stand puts the camera on a different perspective of me, which is good!!!

My new laptop stand

I do need to get down there and fix up those cords and such. Last night - well, the time caught up with me, and I literally just plugged in the equipment, and away I went!!! I have a few things I want to play with to get it more organized. 

Today is all about the Long Time Gone class, and holy - we are a HUGE group. So I expect to see a LOT of finished quilts at the end of June!! They are learning tons, and well - it's a bit more work than Tula Pink, but hey - there's always something new to learn. No pictures today. The group gets first dibs on checking things out. 

I'm running a wee bit behind, and so I'll be putting the presentation together as soon as I'm done with the blog. 

So I'm trying really hard to keep the inbox at 700, and I've been doing great. Last night before I went to bed, I checked and crap - 750. How the heck did that happen? Delete, delete, but some e-mails need some action, so those can't be deleted. And this is how I get into trouble! Maybe later today, I can deal with it. 

There was no word from Cherrywood about the challenges, but I received a message that they will be hosting a talk about the five challenges they've hosted. It's a Facebook Live event - they are NOT recording it, and you have to pay. How does that work on Facebook Live???  I'll try to find more details, but it's scheduled for January 21. 

I'm making excellent progress on the Appalachian Trail Virtual Challenge. I'm almost at 20% (18% to be exact), and I'm the closest I'll be to Blowing Rock, which was one of the stops on one of our road trips. There's a small quilt shop famous for rope bowl making supplies - Mountain Thread Company. You can't see it in the photo, but Blowing Rock is to the right of the screen and Grandfather Mountain, which we visited as well. I'm almost 50 KM ahead of schedule. How did that happen?? Well, when you set a non-aggressive target in one challenge but an aggressive target in another - you get way ahead on one challenge. 

The Appalachian Trail on the Google Maps

Anyway, the weather is so nice these days, and the sidewalks are dry - there's no excuse but to get outside! The fresh air makes me feel so much better! And I used to forgo that afternoon walk if I was too busy. Now it's a priority. I even stayed up late last night, cutting and sewing to compensate! Yikes!

Well, that's it for today - I still have work to do before my presentation this morning, and I had best get myself organized to make that happen. 

How is the decluttering/sorting/organizing going? Are you setting that timer for 10-minutes each day? Make it a priority!! Put on an audiobook (I finished One by One by Ruth Ware this morning). Great book - or should I say great entertainment while I was working. 

Remember when I had my car accident a couple of years ago. And the fiasco with the tow service? I mentioned that you should have the number of your OWN choice (or insurance company's) towing service. A friend of mine was recently involved in an accident, and they had the tow truck number with them. They called, and they were good. They didn't' have to deal with the vultures that exist in that market!!!  They were fine and no word yet about the car. So be prepared!!!

On that note, I'm out of here! The marathon has begun, and well - it's kind of fun to get back in the saddle, but there won't be a lot of "free" time for a while as I get all the clubs and classes started in the next two weeks. Then it's going to be keeping up with everything! But it's doable!!! Thank god for my energy level. I've no idea where it came from, but I'm grateful each and every day for it! 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!