Category Archives: Life

Color Inspiration Thursday {32}

December 19, 2014 kittywilkin Leave a comment

Thursday has come and gone, and here I am without a color inspiration post up yet. I spent the day yesterday sewing up a storm while my mother-in-law played with my son and my daughter was in preschool. After school was full-on family time. It’s the time of year where family and holiday projects and deadlines come first, and I’ve decided I officially will be taking a little break from this blog after today. Between my daughter’s birthday, Christmas, traveling, and other obligations, it’s just the right thing for me to do. I plan to return the week of January 12th, 2015, refreshed, renewed, and with a stockpile of fabulous photographs for posts in the new year. Wild! I still will be posting to Instagram (probably, although with less regularity and probably more random content), so I’d love to see you there. I wish you all a wonderful holiday and happy new year, and look forward to returning to this amazing and supportive blogospheric quilt guild!

With that, here is the color inspiration for the week! Hopefully it will hold you over for the next few weeks. Palettes are made with Play Crafts’ Palette Builder 2.1 and my photographs.

Corresponding Kona cottons from left to right:
Slate, Charcoal, Baby Blue, Stone, White, Parchment or Limestone

This amazingly intricate and fractured ice palace was on top of a mud puddle in our driveway. Yes, a mud puddle! Nature is amazing, and these little pockets of icy beauty are no exception! I began with a plan to post another frosty-filled color palette post, since we have had some wonderful frosty and icy days. But then I decided I really wanted to add in some color. Thinking about where I see the most color these days, I realized the answer was probably my sewing projects! So the next two palettes are pulled straight from some of my sewing sneak peek photographs.

Corresponding Kona cottons from left to right:
Coal, Burgundy, Crimson, Pewter, Wine, Espresso

Corresponding Aurifil thread from left to right:
1158 – Med Grey
1130 – V Dk Bark
2468 – Dk Wine
2562 – Lilac
2355 – Rust
5024 – Dark Brown

This gorgeous palette of reds and pinks and the glisten of the clover clip make me think of Christmas. So pretty!

Corresponding Kona cottons from left to right:
Graphite, Dresden Blue, Titanium, Olive, Ivy, Avocado

Corresponding Aurifil thread from left to right:
1126 – Blue Grey
2815 – Teal
5008 – Sugar Paper
2910 – Med Olive
1318 – Dk Sandstone
4173 – Dk Olive

A bright sweet pea palette ranging through teals and lime greens, a sneak peek at a secret holiday project. Oh, I have so much to show you when I return from my little vacation! Have wonderful holiday and new year!

Life, Quilting, Sewing

Much to Sew, About Nothing (to Blog)

December 15, 2014 kittywilkin 6 Comments

This is a tough time of year for me in terms of blogging. I mostly like to share photographs of my progress and projects, but this time of year I’m spending every free second frantically trying to get projects done (and not very many free seconds blogging). On top of that, I’m currently working on two secret projects and three Christmas gifts, so there’s not a whole lot I can really share in full. I’m considering taking an official “Christmas vacation” from my blog, but also don’t want to miss all of you too much.

For now, I decided to take some crazy close-up photographs of some of my works in progress to share with you in an aura of mystery. Here are some of the things I’ve been working on. Go ahead and guess what they are, if you want! It reminds me of the backs of Ranger Rick magazines I read as a child, where they had a grid of super macro photographs of everyday objects and you had to guess the object. Have fun!

I also have to include this process shot, completely unedited. This was my first time using my new Massdropped pink clover clips, and this one glows in the dying light. I think it’s such a cool photo!

If you’re a quilter-blogger who also has a lot of holiday and family obligations this time of year, what do you do to ease your stress levels? Take a break from blogging? Let go of obligations or personal expectations? I’d love to know!

Design, Life, Quilting

Color Inspiration Thursday {31}

December 11, 2014 kittywilkin 1 Comment

Shortly after the inaugural People Palette post featuring a colorful selfie by Joshua Helms of Molli Sparkles, another Instagrammed quilty selfie caught my eye. It’s high time it take center stage for our second-ever People Palette, a special edition of my weekly Color Inspiration Thursday. Without further ado, here’s the luminous Zoe Ingram, in her gorgeous and bright selfie.

Corresponding Kona cottons from left to right:
Shadow, Coffee, Taupe, Latte, Honey, Peony

Corresponding Aurifil thread from left to right:
2600 – Dove
5034 – Dark Brown
1140 – Bark
2315 – Pale Flesh
2335 – Lt Cinnamon
2410 – Pale Pink

Can you totally see why I had to make this photo into a color palette!? The resulting palette is so smooth, yet bright, and a wonderful combination of taupe and ranges of brown–with delicious Kona cotton names like Coffee, Latte, and Honey–and a splash of Peony pink!

I first became aware of Zoe Ingram when I won a bundle of her gorgeous fabric line Carried Away. I quickly blogged about my fortuitous stash building and not long thereafter, Zoe contacted me asking if she could use my photographs of her fabric on her blog. It was an absolute star-struck moment, and of course I agreed. I love photographing fabric and all things fiber (and all things in general, actually), and would LOVE to expand my repertoire to “fabric photographer” or something along those lines. This was a fun peek into that world.

My photograph of Zoe's fabric on Zoe's website. *starstruck* — My photograph of Zoe’s fabric on Zoe’s website. *starstruck*

Anyway, back to Zoe. Since my first introduction, I’ve been following Zoe’s Daily Journal (visual diary) posts on Instagram, as well as her newest endeavor, Project Adelaide. Project Adelaide is a year long collaboration between Adelaide artists, Kate Mason & Zoe Ingram in which they are capturing hidden gems of beautiful Adelaide, Australia through their drawings. As someone who heavily finds inspiration in visual things, I have loved watching these daily drawings by Kate & Zoe emerge. In addition to designing fabric, Zoe creates gorgeous, fresh works of art and recently has added some of her daily journal works to her shop in the form of prints, bags, note cards, and even pillows.

One of my favorite's: A tote bag featuring Zoe's original artwork, available in her Etsy shop. — One of my favorite’s: A tote bag featuring Zoe’s original artwork, available in her Etsy shop.

I asked Zoe to answer three short questions to help the world get to know the color inspiration star of the week a little more intimately:

Where do you fit into the worldwide family tree of quilting?
I design bolt fabric for the quilting industry with Robert Kaufman Fabrics.

What is the #1 most played song on your iPod?
At the moment it’s Budapest by George Ezra

What is your least favorite mode of transportation?
Bus

If you could choose anyone, who would you choose as your mentor?
Lilla Rogers

You can follow Zoe and see more of her work here:

Her website

Instagram
Etsy shop
Twitter
Facebook
Pinterest

Are you a quilter, fabric designer, or other pillar in the quilting world? Do you like to take colorful selfies? Would you like to be a color inspiration rockstar? If you answered yes to any of these questions, drop me a line or tag me @nightquilter on Instagram with your selfie! People Palettes will pop up every so often in my Color Inspiration posts from now on. Thank you for the inspiration, Zoe!

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All color palettes are created using Play Crafts’ Palette Builder 2.1.

Design, Life

Color Inspiration Thursday {30}

December 4, 2014 kittywilkin 3 Comments

Sometimes, just sometimes, your iPhone photo comes out better than the ones you take with your “real” camera. This week was one of those times. I had a blast outside photographing beauty after an ice storm, and put up a quick Instagram photo just for fun. I came home and uploaded the photos from my camera, and while I got some shots I’m happy with, the particular photo I posted on Instagram wasn’t even close to rivaled. And so, this week, the final photo is indeed an iPhone photo. C’est la vie.

All color palettes are created using Play Crafts’ Palette Builder 2.1 and my photographs.

Corresponding Kona cottons from left to right:
Graphite, Evergreen, Black, Old Green, Dresden Blue, Blue Bell

This palette elicits peace and stillness. Maybe it’s the fact that the fine pine needles are trapped, frozen still in the ice. Maybe it’s the presence of calming light greens and blues. Either way, I could see this palette in a little boy’s baby quilt, or a lap quilt for a rustic living room.

Corresponding Kona cottons from left to right:
Steel, Crimson, Iron, Brick, Cayenne, Sky

Corresponding Aurifil thread from left to right:
2625 – Arctic Ice
2245 – Red Orange
2845 – Lt Juniper
2345 – Raisin
2355 – Rust
2710 – Lt Robins Egg

The botanist/naturalist in me loves this photo, since it is such a classic example of red osier dogwood (Cornus sericea) in winter. The opposite branching and bright red bark are dead giveaways to the species. I also love the shades of red paired with light blue and greys that appear in the resulting color palette.

Corresponding Kona cottons from left to right:
Steel, Charcoal, Coal, Windsor, Amethyst, Shale

This is my favorite from my Canon Rebel XT photos of this particular ice-bejeweled Queen Anne’s Lace (Daucus carota) remnant. I love the movement and the muted, subdued tones. But lo, the photo I took with my iPhone captures the light better and thus shines even brighter:

Corresponding Kona cottons from left to right:
Dresden Blue, Blue, Charcoal, Indigo, Amethyst, Regal

Corresponding Aurifil thread from left to right:
5008 – Sugar Paper
2560 – Iris
2606 – Mist
2785 – V Dk Navy
4140 – Wedgewood
2783 – Med Delft Blue

This photo glistens, doesn’t it? I love the resulting palette, too, although it is no secret that I’m a blue girl. Okay, and a magenta and turquoise girl. So maybe I’m just a color-in-general girl. Either way, I love this palette. I think I may actually use this palette for a future quilt. I need to make a Storm at Sea quilt one day, and these blues and stormy grey might be just the perfect shades.

What color do you find the most in your quilts?

Design, Life

Color Inspiration Thursday {29}

November 28, 2014 kittywilkin 1 Comment

Happy Thanksgiving to those of you in the US (belated, since I spent yesterday with family instead of at the computer)! I have so much to be thankful for this year, and always. Top on my list is always family, immediate and extended, near and far. I am so blessed to be supported and loved by all of my family and wish we all lived closer together. Yesterday I was also particularly grateful for the gorgeous snow AND the fact that we didn’t lose power! Coming into a warm, well-lit house after playing in the snow is so very comforting.

This week’s color inspiration comes from some snowy scenes around our house, since we accumulated a good foot plus of snow overnight.

snow in maine — BEFORE: View down our driveway Wednesday afternoon.

snow maine — AFTER: View down our driveway Thursday morning.

Color palettes are made using Play Crafts’ Palette Builder 2.1 and my photographs.

Corresponding Kona cottons from left to right:
Titanium, Shadow, Mushroom, Mocha, Mahogany, Cinnemon

I love the smooth flow of colors in today’s palettes. Whites and greys fade to the little pops of color that poke through the snow.

Corresponding Kona cottons from left to right:
Slate, Titanium, Cloud, Cadet, Pepper, White

Corresponding Aurifil thread from left to right:
4140 – Wedgewood
5008 – Sugar Paper
2560 – Iris
1248 – Grey Blue
2785 – V Dk Navy
2024 – White

Another smooth flow of color with the gorgeous blues of the sky, both reflected in these dripping icicles and in its own fluffy clouded beauty. I love cold, sunny, snowy days. The sun makes everything glisten and glimmer!

Design, Life

Color Inspiration Thursday {28}

November 20, 2014 kittywilkin Leave a comment

Today I am taking a trip down memory lane for our color inspiration. I admit, I was waiting for the perfect frosty morning to take photos for today’s color inspiration and the day simply did not come; it was cooooold but no gorgeous frost. So, I headed to my photo archives and found a few suitable seasonal nature photos from a family camping trip in November of 2010. My husband and I took our baby Maddie camping in a yurt in Jefferson, Maine, and had a lovely time. Here are some snapshots. Color palettes are made using Play Crafts’ Palette Builder 2.1 and my own photographs, as per usual!

Corresponding Kona cottons from left to right:
O.D. Green, Sky, Iron, Steel, Evergreen, Palm

See the world in a drop of water. I love the smooth grey-green of this palette, and the reflections dancing in the raindrops.

Corresponding Kona cottons from left to right:
Coal, Sable, Black, Medium Grey, O.D. Green, Titanium

Another raindrop photo; can you tell I like to take photographs of water showing off its awesome surface tension tricks? This palette holds all of the muted earthy tones found in mud. Mmmm!

Corresponding Kona cottons from left to right:
Chestnut, Black, Slate, Ochre, Paprika, Mahogany

A warm and cheery scene from inside the yurt. My husband holds my peacefully sleeping daughter during nap time, and our hunter-beware clothing dries above the wood stove. This was a cozy camping trip for sure! I like the range of colors in this palette, and I think they play well together.

Corresponding Kona cottons from left to right:
Moss, Black, Caramel, Spice, Gold, Cinnamon

Corresponding Aurifil thread from left to right:
5013 –Asphalt
2692 – Black
2930 – Toast
2385 – Terracotta
2930 – Toast
4012 – Copper Brown

I love this palette. I don’t think I will tire of the bright pop of fungi growing on a tree. The flow from black-greeny-grey to the range of coppery yellows and reds creates such a smooth aesthetic. This might be my favorite palette from this group.

Just one more photo to complete my trip down memory lane: my husband and daughter enjoying an awed experience with the lantern at night. I can’t believe this baby girl is almost 5 years old! We definitely will need to think about another yurt camping trip, maybe this winter!

Life, Quilting

A Perfect Pair: Wine and Fabric {Tremolo}

November 14, 2014 kittywilkin 6 Comments

It’s been a while since my last wine and fabric pairing post, and there’s a good reason for it: I’m expecting baby #3 and therefore haven’t been drinking any wine! Now that the cat’s out of the bag, you will understand my relative blogging silence the past few months. The first trimester is exhausting, meaning my late night quilting was replaced by sleeping!

This past week, though, my parents came to visit, and when I saw one of the bottles of wine my dad brought along, I immediately was inspired to make a quilt. Or, in this case, a small pincushion for starters.

My first thought when I saw the 2013 Tremolo Malbec from Mendoza, Argentina (other than “Man, I wish I could have some wine”) was how the sound waves would make a cool quilt.

I did a bit of googling to see if I could find any existing sound wave quilts, and then decided to make my own practice version in the form of a pincushion. At first I was going to make it longer with gradating colors from dark to light, but due to time and resulting size I limited myself to just one sound wave.

I used almost entirely scraps, but needed to cut one more 3/4″ strip of Carolyn Friedlander’s beloved botanics fabric for background. I’m mostly happy with how this turned out, but I feel like the strips ~~should~~ could be skinnier. Perhaps on a larger scale (think: pillow or quilt), the strips could be wider and still have the right sound wave generating effect. As it was, 3/4″ strips (finishing at 1/4″) were pretty tiny, and still look too wide for my taste.

I do love the quilting, though!! I jumped right into free motion quilting a sound wave zig-zag right on top. I intentionally bumped out into the background a bit, mimicking the fluctuations of an actual sound wave. I used Aurifil 2810 – Turquoise 50 wt thread, which coordinated with the sound wave, but contrasted enough so that the stitches are very visible (and audible?)

My dad reported that the Tremolo wine is very good, and nice and smooth. The label description says: French-born winemaker Didier DeBono crafted this 100% Malbec from grapes grown on two special, high-elevation vineyard sites in Mendoza. A Tremolo is an aurally pleasing musical effect we were reminded of upon tasting this harmonious, balanced wine. It sounds like my dad agrees, and that the inspiration can be extended visually, to music-inspired quilting!

There you have it: another perfect wine and fabric pairing. Drink Tremolo while you work on your musically-inspired quilt, whether it be a tiny pincushion or a king sized quilt!

The perfect pair:

Fabric
Any music or sound wave-inspired sewing
My mini tremolo pincushion included:

Front (Collection/Designer/Manufacturer):
Scraps of:
* Botanics/Carolyn Friedlander/Robert Kaufman Fabrics – background
* Plum Rose/Blank Quilting – sound wave

Back (Collection/Designer/Manufacturer):
* Tree of Life/Chong-a Hwang/Timeless Treasures Fabrics

Wine
Varietal: Malebec
Producer: Tremolo
Vintage: 2013
Location: Mendoza, Argentina

Tasting notes from website: Rustic, earthy and even a bit restrained at first, after some air this wine will reveal excellent fruit concentration with notes of dark cherry and blackberry, plus a hint of vanilla and a meaty, earthy finish. It finishes dry and will leave you thirsting for more – especially if you’re having it with grilled meat.

Or if you’re in the middle of an aurally and visually pleasing quilting project. A perfect pair, indeed.

Here are two of my favorite sound wave-esque quilts I found during my google search:

Piano Keys quilt by Avis Collins Robinson — Piano Keys by Avis Collins Robinson

This beauty was found on the November 1, 2009 tumblr post on http://allfortheloveofgooddesign.tumblr.com/. It’s a photo taken at the African American Quilts exhibit at the Nelson Gallery, of a quilt called Piano Keys by Avis Collins Robinson.

tuning forks quilt by heather preggers — Tuning Forks #11 by Heather Preggers

I absolutely love this quilt by Heather Preggers. Visit her blog to read more about her thought process and creation of this quilt. She also has many other variations of this tuning forks quilt, since she’s admitted she is somewhat obsessed with them! They are all gorgeous and resonate with sound and movement.

I’m linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts Finish it up Friday, since I finished my pincushion and paired a nice wine!

Design, Life

Color Inspiration Thursday {27}

November 13, 2014 kittywilkin Leave a comment

Flash back to fall! All color palettes are created using Play Crafts’ Palette Builder 2.1 and my photographs.

Corresponding Kona cottons from left to right:
Biscuit, Earth, Forest, Ivy, Spice, Gold

While I’m resigned to the fact that winter is here, I’m still cherishing the little bits of life that still brighten our garden. This little ladybug was relaxing on one of our almost-ripe pumpkins a couple weeks ago. The muted tones of the resulting color palette speak volumes of fall. Many of the corresponding Kona cotton colors also scream fall: ivy, spice, gold… Yum!

Corresponding Kona cottons from left to right:
Evergreen, Gold, Coal, Paprika, Pickle, Ivy

Corresponding Aurifil thread from left to right:
5013 –Asphalt
2330 – Lt Chestnut
1246 – Grey
4012 – Copper Brown
2910 –Med Olive
1318 – Dk Sandstone

While beginning to put my gardens “to bed”, I was overjoyed to see a few last Calendula flowers holding on, with bright sun-ray petals dancing circles around them. Those last flowers in fall make me so happy! There’s something about the intricacy and color play that naturally occurs in flowers that makes me marvel at the ever-present beauty in nature. Color is everywhere!

Design, Free Motion Quilting (FMQ), Life, Quilting

Secret Garden Quilt: Attalie’s June Garden

November 7, 2014 kittywilkin 12 Comments

Finally, here is the reveal of my secret garden quilt: Attalie’s June Garden.

garden quilt finish butterfly flower — Attalie’s June Garden: A finished quilt, without all of the butterfly pins.

Last weekend, I was doing some hurried slow stitching, trying to get the binding sewn down on this quilt before the baby shower at which it was to be gifted. I finished sewing the binding just in time for the shower to be postponed due to the swiftly blowing and accumulating snow, and shortly thereafter we lost power. For over three days. But I finished the quilt!

free motion quilted words garden quilt — “Attalie’s June Garden”, free motion quilted into the bottom of the quilt’s border.

This quilt has a definite story behind it. First, to decipher the name for you. Attalie is the in utero baby for whom I made the quilt. June is the name of my husband’s Grammy, the quilter of the family, and the collector of all of the butterfly pins that live in this garden quilt. Grammy June died less than a year ago. When she died, all of the family had the emotional task of going through her things before the estate sale. In looking at her jewelry, I discovered a large number of butterfly pins. “I didn’t know Grammy collected butterflies!” I said. As it turns out, neither did any one else in the family. Either way, I immediately envisioned them living forever in a quilted garden wall-hanging, so I asked if I could take them. Everyone, of course, said yes.

paper pieced star butterfly quilt garden — One of Grammy June’s butterfly pins, flitting peacefully by the glittering sunburst I paper pieced especially for this quilt.

Flash forward a few months. Our cousin Molly, who was the one who took care of Grammy June during her last days, and who now lives in Grammy June’s old house, announced that she was pregnant. Flash forward a few more months: Molly shared that they were having a girl, naming her Attalie, and that the nursery theme would be “Garden”. The butterfly garden quilt was asking to be created, finally. With a little over two weeks before the baby shower, I got started. I designed, pieced, and free motion quilted the entire quilt, which finishes at 27″ x 20″, and stitched on the binding just in the nick of time. The quilt is mostly comprised of fussy-cut 1- and 2-inch squares (1 1/2″ and 2 1/2″ before sewn together).The process was a lot tougher than I imagined, and there were definitely some face-palm, seam ripping moments (which I will go into in a later post), but I am very happy with how this quilt turned out. Here are some detail photos:

flower free motion quilting — I used a wild, make it up as I go free motion quilting pattern, sometimes mirroring the flowers, and sometimes adding features. I love how this particular FMQ turned out!

butterfly garden quilt — The finished quilt, complete with flitting butterflies. The butterfly pins were all collected by Grammy June, who would have been (and always will be, in heaven) baby Attalie’s Great Grammy.

Here are some detail shots of the beautiful butterfly pins on different parts of the quilt. I tried to balance the overall color flow by putting the blue/green pins on the pink flowers, and the other pins in and around the blue and purple flowers. I think the butterflies look quite happy on this quilt!

butterfly pins on garden quilt — I think this little copper butterfly is my favorite.

flower garden quilt — Even after a blizzard, there were still a few flowers in the garden. This one came out to play with Attalie’s June Garden quilt.

quilt corner label — My first corner label. I will fill in Attalie’s middle & last names once her middle name has been chosen!

Finished quilt stats:

Name: Attalie’s June Garden
Size: 27″ x 20″
Fabric: Assorted flowers from RJR Fabrics, Andover, and Studio E
Quilting: Free motion quilted with mostly Aurifil and some other hand-me-down threads
Finished: November 2014
Related blog posts: A Garden {Quilt} Full of Florals

I’m linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts Finish it up Friday.

Design, Life

Color Inspiration Thursday {26}

November 6, 2014 kittywilkin 1 Comment

It’s too early for these snowy palettes, I know. Tell that to Mother Nature in Maine. Last weekend we got buried by nearly 18″ of wet, heavy snow. Many trees still had their leaves, so the heavy snow put much of the state out of power from fallen trees and downed power lines. We were without power for just over three days, and life kind of had to slow down during that time (obviously!). I certainly didn’t do any blogging, and did just a bit of hand-sewing and knitting between keeping the wood boiler stocked, the generator running smoothly, reading stories by candlelight, and otherwise entertaining the kids. We are the fortunate ones; many homes in my town and the surrounding towns are still without power, five days later.

At our house, snow downed an entire apple tree, a few big branches from another apple tree, and snapped quite a few branches of my favorite magnolia trees in our front garden. Our chicken coop outdoor run was completely smashed, and many other tree limbs are down. I certainly have some yard maintenance damage-control ahead of me, and I think I’ll be wielding a handsaw (or a chainsaw if I’m lucky enough to find a neighbor or friend to lend me one and give me lessons) more than a sewing machine the next few weeks. But still, Color Inspiration Thursday must go on! So here, your unseasonably early, autumn, snowy color palettes for today, created with Play Crafts Palette Builder 2.1 and my photographs.

Corresponding Kona cottons from left to right:
Titanium, Chestnut, Moss, Graphite, Avocado, Bonsai

I really like this gentle, earthy color palette. It’s such a simple photograph: prematurely fallen leaves on a mountain of snow, but the greens make a strong showing, balanced nicely by the greys and dark brown.

Corresponding Kona cottons from left to right:
Pewter, Shadow, Cappuccino, Mahogany, Coal, Paprika

Corresponding Aurifil thread from left to right:
2610 – Lt Blue Grey
2600 – Dove
1285 – Med Bark
2360 – Chocolate
1246 – Grey
2355 – Rust

Even after getting completely pounded by the snow, the leaves dance daintily on the snow. These red and orange leaves are particular favorites of mine, although the palette reads heavily in the greys and browns, with just that splash of Kona Paprika. I love the Aurifil names for these colors, too: Dove, Medium Bark, Chocolate–what’s not to like about chocolate!? I definitely would use this palette for a lap quilt for my living room.

Don’t worry; we did enjoy the snow, too.