The next project that got my attention was Bright Baby. I was looking for some mindless sewing. I had all the pieces cut out and all the 4-patch diamonds assembled and just had to put the top together. I'm looking forward to quilting this one.
As a consolation to myself for not being able to attend quilt meetings or the cancelled quilt retreat, I decided to give a try to some on-line classes. I took Beth Helfter's Accordion Sewn Half Square Triangles class. I had never taken any on-line classes before and was a Zoom newbie. The class was live with about 8 students from all over the US. Beth is in my area and I had seen her speak before, so I knew a little about what I was getting. The class was wonderful. Beth was an attentive teacher with clear demonstrations and preparation. The method for sewing the HSTs is fun and quick. Now what to do with this block? I'm going to make 3 more with different solid grey backgrounds and bright colors and assemble it into a lap/baby quilt. Because, you know, I don't have enough projects to keep me busy.
Beth's web site is https://evapaigequilts.com/ where you can find more information about her classes, books and the tools she sells.
A few friends wanted to take a class together one of them suggested Timna Tarr's Stitched Mosaic class. This one was a series of recorded videos that walks you through the steps of creating a stitched mosaic picture based on a photo. The project I did was based on her class example. I blew up the photo to about 20" square because I wanted the finished project to be a largish wall hanging for my sewing room. I like the technique because you only work on one 2" square at a time. I'm getting used to the fractured image and am holding our final judgement until I get it quilted. I was regretting not printing the original photo in color because I think it would have given me better indication of color placement. I think that would be more important of I were using a photo of an animal or multi-colored object. I'm looking forward to quilting this one and will probably start it this week. You can find Timna and information on her classes here: http://www.timnatarr.com/
On an entirely different topic, I finally got an african violet to survive under my care. My daughter bought this for me last spring with the special pot that is designed for violets to give them the right amount of water. It survived the winter but was looking a little grey in some of the leaves. I moved it to another window where it gets bright light but no direct sunlight, and added african violet fertilizer to the water and it's thriving! I've never had one rebloom after buying it and never had one that looked this healthy after a few months. I guess I've learned just how much care and neglect it can take.
You make have noticed a similarity in the last 4 photos. Even though I do not have the creative energy that I thought I might have while mostly staying home, the creativity I do have is being translated into purples and bright colors. It was a surprize to me. I don't often work in bright colors, but I suppose those boost my mood and I'm not fighting it.
Last note - I do not like this new blogger interface. I'm having a lot of trouble getting this formatted the way I want. Right now I'm tired of playing with it and want to get this posted. So, here it is. Done is better than perfect.
