Vote for me!!!! There's fabric involved!!

As if you haven't had enough election coverage already....here's one more decision for you to consider...  Voting for me and my fabric collection!!


 I am COMPLETELY honored and thrilled to have been chosen to participate in March Madness!!  The contest is being generously hosted by a Kansas based fabric company producing cotton under both the Fabri-quilt and Paintbrush Studio names.  They have a blog called Inspired by Fabric.

My palette of colors is called CARNIVAL.  Remember that and that my name is Shelley because I need you to vote for me at Inspired by Fabric by using the fabric palette and my name.  So... Carnival and Shelley.  (It's a well known advertising premise that if you repeat the information three times - folks are more likely to remember so ....Carnival and Shelley..... should be wafting through your subconscious right now.... or just make it easy on yourself and right that down!).  I have some VERY tough competition -this is going to be a fun event so make sure and check them all out.  I know I'm a total push over for staring at fabric so I'm thinking this will be some great eye candy for you and a nice opportunity to drool over some great fabric.

VOTE HERE:                  Inspired by Fabric

So when someone says...you get to choose 8 colors, you think...hey- this will be easy.  HA!!!  

Carnival collection by Shelley 

I needed inspiration and since it's finally warming up where I live - Spring popped in my head.  The usual suspects came to mind:  

1. The chance to wiggle your toes in the sunshine (need pedicure ASAP).  
2. The ability to be outside without multiple layers of clothing (oh dear---where did those extra 5 lbs come from?).  
3. Looking for crocuses to pop their pretty purple heads up or waiting for daffodils to remind me of which varieties my beds are graced (you know, I think dandelions are pretty, too).  
4. And, the fun that the children have when they get to play outside as the days grow longer (hallelujah - send those kids outside for awhile!!).   
5. Growing up near the ocean, the carnivals would reopen and the smell of funnel cakes and cotton candy would be thick in the air.... (hmmm- is that where my addiction to sugar began?)
6. All of my senses were involved in my final selection (and now I'm wishing I had a funnel cake to nibble on while I write this...).

I had to select 8 colors out of a beautiful lineup of possibilities.  Isn't that cruel.  It's like saying you can only have 8 TINY bites of an enormous chocolate cake!  The fabric is luscious and supple and sewing up beautifully.  I'll be working with Carnival to create a beautiful wall hanging size piece to hand in my studio.  I want to remind myself throughout the year of the sweetness of spring.  

My design is inspired by Frank Stella's Protractor Variation series.  With his focus on line, shape, color, and composition...I can't help wondering if he'll ever try his hand at quilting.  His work is so easily translated into quilting - it just seems perfectly aligned.  Here's a photo with Frank and one of the more iconic Protractor designs.

But .....check out the particular design I've chosen....  

Isn't this gorgeous??  I'll be showing my work later today...stay tuned for updates.

AND - DON'T FORGET TO VOTE FOR ME!

(Carnival and Shelley)

(and thank you!!)

I'll be linking up with those great quilting linky parties located on my sidebar.  Please go check them out - they are wonderful sources of HOURS of oogling quilting related things...

And one more thing....social media - use these hashtags if you're inspired to tweet, IG, FB, or Ello about this!!

#pbstudiofabrics    #painterspalettesolids    #madforsolids    #solidsbracket2016

****update - here's the progress on my Frank Stella inspired block with my Carnival palette.  Check back for the process and finish.

And here's my work from last night...aren't these gorgeous!

Tulip Fields and the point of no return...

 And for today's journey we head to Lisse in south Holland to visit the magnificent tulip fields.  Every year from March to May, the bulbs erupt into masses of gorgeous color.  Not only tulips but daffodils, hyacinth, and other colorful bulbs.  I imagine it's a similar breathtaking experience of seeing the Cherry Blossoms on their peak day in our nation's Capitol.

I wanted to make something abstract and modern and found inspiration in this Daily Overview - Tulip fields shot.  

It's stunning.  The author of the IG account says that the fields remind him of one of his favorite artists, Piet Mondrian, a Dutch painter.  You can find his story here  Piet Mondrian.  This particular piece of art must surely have been influenced by the beautiful grid work of those bulbs of spring.

So starting the endeavor was easy.  Grab fabric, start cutting.  I tried mapping this out on my graph paper but it didn't seem to feel right doing it that way this time.  I felt that while this needed some accuracy in lines and grids, it needed a little improv in the mix.

Don't you hate pulling these collections apart...  It's like breaking the seal on a box of chocolates...

I felt like Houdini...I whipped that table cloth right out from under that set of priceless china!

And then there was the cutting and sewing and cutting and sewing....

Lots of tiny scraps after this project.  The straight lines don't create awful waste like fussy cutting shapes.

Of course, no project is complete without some unsewing.  (Please note my luxurious and fabulous seam ripper, again, which makes the unpleasant task a little easier to bear...)

    

 I had to do a lot of referring back to photos.  There are countless examples on Google images or IG (#tulipfields).

I decided making the fields in blocks and then sewing those together made more sense.  It went from here:

Then onto here:

And the point of no return I referenced...It's when you make a huge design decision and you need to make that fateful cut.  That cut ...knowing you have no more of that special Oakshott fabric color left...so once you make that cut...it's a wrap...

To here and here and here:

Too large of a field in the corner

Better...but not quite right yet...

And then finally...I was happy.

Quilting starts in a few days.  I'll probably do another face binding on this so there is no other border to add.  I'm very happy with the end result!

Have you ever been lucky enough to see these in person?  Been the Cherry Festival in Washington, D.C.?  Or the Azalea Festival in Wilmington, NC?  Or the Rose Festival in Tyler, TX?  I'm an East Coast girl...unsure of any flower festivals past TX....  What's out there?

I've got some great linky parties on my sidebar - I'll be linking all week.  I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Finish line on Urban Planning!!! and a Lobstah update...

 And there it is.  Quilted, face binded, and hung up for photos.  I am thrilled with how it has turned out.  Colorful, happy, and very, very textured.

I used Aurifil thread for the most part - 28 weight.  I love the detail that provides.

I got pretty good at the pebbles technique.  I use a Sweet 16 sit down Handiquilter for my quilting but no rulers.  All of my straight lines....are not that straight but I like the organic look.

I used straight lines on the streets, pebbles in the green areas, kind of loopy zigzags on the concrete areas, and straight lines on the buildings.  

My circles (I think they are parks in Ostermalm) weren't perfect....after all the quilting they kind of got a little wonky but still, overall, I am pleased with them.

Feels good to be finished.  Looking forward to my next Virginia Beach Modern Quilt Guild Meeting to get some quilt love on this one!

What have you finished lately?

And a p.s.   The Lobstah is quilting up very nicely....

Tons of matchstick quilting to hold that lobster down...

I'm linking up this week with all the Linky parties listed in my sidebar.  I just found a new one - Stitch ALL the Things...  Check it out!

Urban planning: paving roads and installing landscaping

I'm being featured on Midweek Makers!!  Check Susan's blog out!



It's on the machine... quilting is under way.  I worked two elements so far - the major thoroughfare and the green space in the top quadrant.  I like it so far.

Well, I like except where I quilted the building - that part will get unsewn.   Not loving how that worked out but I have another idea and I'll work on that tonight.  My "unsewing" will be more beautifully worked now.  I have a new tool...

Doesn't this make my hand look luxurious?

I picked this beauty up at the MidAtlantic Quilt Fest in Hampton, Va., this weekend  (on IG look for #MAQF or #midatlanticquiltfest for some GREAT photos).  I LOVE it.  The seam ripper or stiletto pops in and out.  The show was nice - I had two quilts hanging in the Modern Quilt Exhibit:

Facebook pose...

My buddies were taunting me about not touching the quilt.  It's mine... I'll lick if I want...  I was a little afraid one of the white gloved quilt police was going to bum rush me and knock me to the ground...

My dear friend Mary Menzer aka Fairly Merry, also had three quilts hanging on won a ribbon!!

This quilt DOES NOT photograph well...  It's GORGEOUS but the lighting and background washed it out here.  Different Drummer

Forgive this older photo of this quilt....  This is Quilt it Wright.  It won the ribbon - go to her website and read the story about this quilt.  It's incredibly interesting.  And - the quilt has such depth of color - I'm afraid I didn't capture it here either...

Have you been to any good shows lately?

Check out the Linky Parties on my side bar.  There are SO many good quilts in progress out there!  I'm also linking up to :

Free Motion Quilting

This is the kind of spontaneous publicity - your name in print - that makes people.

 I'm quoting Navin Johnson (Steve Martin from the movie The Jerk) upon seeing his name in the phone book for the first time....

"Nothing? Are you kidding? Page 73 - Johnson, Navin R.! I'm somebody now! Millions of people look at this book everyday! This is the kind of spontaneous publicity - your name in print - that makes people. I'm in print! Things are going to start happening to me now."

I'm that kind of excited!!!!  Two of my humble little quilts were accepted in the MQX Quilt Festival in New Hampshire!!!  I am beyond thrilled to have been accepted.  While I don't think I'll make it personally to the show...  If any of you attend - snap a selfie with one of my quilts and share it.  I'd love to see you (and my quilts)!

Quilt Death Star...

Detail shot of  Quilt Death Star

A shot of the sassy binding...

My second quilt is one I finished earlier in 2015.  Our Modern Guild held a challenge to take a traditional block and make it modern.  I chose to alter location of color, use modern color, and lots of negative space quilting.  It's a wall hanging size (26.5" x 26.5")

I just free motioned the corner block quilting.  It's a tad wonky but overall I think it worked with the theme.

Have you ever entered a show?  Here's words of wisdom for you.  You'll never get accepted if you don't enter.  Just try!!  I can't believe I got in- and I'm going to relish it!!!