Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Feeling Blue

Very much.

My mood matches the buckets of rain that fell here for a good part of the afternoon.  My darling grandson left today; as I type he is starting his downward descent back to his home in Alberta.  :-(

We had a fabulous 8 days, however.  Those memories will become less painful and more heart-warming once the grief of parting eases.

He LOVED his new Christmas quilt. 

 Never mind 'future fighter'; he's a yogi already!

Now it's a cape, Nana!
I asked his mother, my daughter, Brianne, if she would like a new quilt, and if so, what colours.  She replied that she doesn't really like quilts.  Brady said, "I LOOOVE quilts!  How do you make them, Nana?"  See?  Darling.

I sewed a grand total of 10 minutes while they were here, and those 10 minutes were only when I was spending a little time with poor Bella, who was relegated to the basement the entire time due to his severe allergies to cats.  Don't fret; this is her favourite place, so it wasn't too much of a hardship, really.  Her new toy, the prize she won in the Pets on Quilts contest, arrived, so she had fun.  I'd take a pic of her with it, but I cannot find it!  She's batted it somewhere down there, but find it I will for a picture for sure.  She loved it.

Here is how I am constructing the 4-patch border:
Notes the many pink/mauve squares yet to be unpicked...
Since I am putting the 4-patches on point, I drew myself a little diagram so I can mindlessly (ha, story of my life these days) sew the triangles to the 4-patches with the correct orientation.  I'm alternating a pink with a purple square pointing towards the quilt body.  I want the dark purple to form the chain, so it's important to orient these correctly!

These get offset as you see in the picture above, sewn into pairs, the pairs into fours, and so on, to create a border.  I had one border done before they arrived....which brings me to the other meaning of blue in my post title.

I want a little zing of blue, a nod to the blue sky over a flower garden, as well as a little, well, zing, or punch, to the inside of the 4-patches.  I intend this to be a 1/2" frame much like the one setting off the "fleurs" round.  I did try three different fabrics.  I'm thinking the bottom blue in the photo below:

The first is a strip of dark purple, but I'm thinking it blends into the dark greens too closely.  The next blue is a little green in tone, so it doesn't quite do what I want, although I do like the subtlety.  The bottom one is the one I'm leaning towards.  Sadly I do not have enough of the blue I used for the centre of the purple flower in the appliqué.

I'd love to hear what you think!  There is a soft blue in the mottled border, so this picks it up a little.

I'm linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesdays!

4 comments:

  1. Awww, how cute is he??? I hear burying yourself in sewing activities helps dull blue moods ;)

    OK, it's early and I looked back and forth between your four patches with the triangle patches and the border many (too many) times before I figured out what you were doing. . . maybe I need more sleep! It was clear, I obviously am not HA! I really like the blue on the bottom. Gives it just the right amount of additional pop and sets off the border nicely.

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    1. Okay, great, thanks for your input Judy. I might not have explained my question clearly. Have been known to do that once, ahem, in awhile! My sister caught a malapropism too, which I have now fixed: regulated should have been relegated to the basement! God help my vacationing brain cells. Glad you see what I'm thinking about the right amount of pop. Thanks.

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  2. Awwww, Sandra... (((((Hugs)))))) It must be really hard to say goodbye to your little guy. Hope you can see him again before too long.
    Love your 4 patch border! My computer monitor, or maybe the lighting is making it hard for me to tell much about the blues.

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  3. So proud to have that little munchkin as my great-nephew, just had to say so again! <3
    I have no clue what your question even means LOL, being the non-quilter that I am, (not due to your unclear wording) but I know whatever you choose will look just perfect!

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