Coloring Inside the Lines

Several of you left great comments on the post about the crayon quilt. I wanted to respond to those but ole' buddy Blogger is making that very challenging. Let's try again! First off, a couple of disclaimers: I am NOT an artist. I am NOT an expert on crayon quilts. Some of you wanted info on the highlighting and shading. I took a class several years ago from a local artist, Ann Dent, who gave us tips on this. She had us put the highlights in first because it is very difficult to later add light color to darker crayon. I usually use white ,yellowor other soft light color and just try to decide where the natural light would be shining. This is a b-i-g challenge for me so I usually just jump in feet first and start coloring!!! As for the shadowing, she had us use violets or umbers or other dark tones--never black--and spread the shading colors where it should naturally occur--again, big challenge for moi! The rest of the coloring would be a blend of crayons. After each coloring, the piece would be ironed with a clean paper towel on top of it. With each buildup of crayon and follow-up ironing, you begin to see the crayon become one with the fabric. Some of her other tips included peeling the paper completely off the crayons and using the long flat side to color, never the point. Pay attention to color value. Use plastic-tak to remove crayon crumbs as you work. After the final ironing, you can add a sketchy outline with pigma pen or embroider an outline with floss or leave it plain. I like some type of outline as it helps to define. Other embellishments can be added also. It is easy to find patterns--coloring books, redwork books, applique patterns--or be brave and draw your own!

The first photo is of Flags and Flowers that I did in Ann's class. Still need to figure out what to do with them LOL! Second photo is a crayon pillow I did before the class. It is just flat coloring, but I like it because it is very reminiscent of the 30s, a heyday for crayon quilts. I will have to load the finished Bo Peep later as Blogger has had enough for now!!! I hope you'll take a stab at crayon quilting. It will soothe your inner child!

Don't miss Tonya's beautiful post about Egyptian weavers and a most lovely quote on creativity. The quote went immediately into my book of favorite quotes. Go be creative!

What the?????

I have tried several times this morning to load pictures and a post. First I could get the pictures on and wrote a lengthy post responding to comments about the crayon quilt. Tried to publish it and whoosh--off to never never land! And, yup, you guessed it, I had not saved it as a draft. Next time I tried, I did save the post as a draft but it too has disappeared. Now Blogger won't let me upload photos. AAAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH! I thought all this was behind us when we switched to New Blogger. Well, just venting. Will try later today to post.

A Little Diversion

As the quilt guild's annual show inches closer, it is time to set aside those twenty-eleven projects and work on some things for the show. Each year we sell minis and the profits go to a charity that we vote on. We are going to a silent auction format on the minis this year and will also offer baby quilts for show visitors to bid on. I decided to do Bo Peep. She is colored with regular Crayola crayons and heat set. Around the borders are yo-yos. I am still debating if I want to put little vintage buttons inside each one. If I can come up with enough, I will!!! I love to sit and color these little blocks with crayons. Very relaxing and nostalgic!

Forty-Two Years and Counting....

Yesterday my husband and I celebrated our 42nd wedding anniversary. We were 10 when we got married LOL!!! These gorgeous pink roses greeted me at the kitchen table. Pink roses are my favorite!

Thank you for all the suggestions on the colors in Broken Dishes. After taking a peek at the design wall again this morning, I think you all are right. The darker colors add some sparkle. The couple that this baby quilt will be for is adopting a baby and have been waiting for a very long time for a child from China. They will make such wonderful, loving parents that I just hope this happens soon for them.

One Hundred Sixty-Eight HSTs and a Big Parade

Well, no parade but here's what 168 HSTs look like on the design wall. As I kept laying them up there, I noticed that I had used some that were much darker than I originally envisioned. This IS a baby quilt, after all!!! However since the family lives in southwest Colorado, it felt like these colors really represented mountains, sunsets, and all the colors of my favorite state (well, next to Missouri!) I'm going to live with it for a few days before I start stitching blocks together. I always need to do that LOL.

As I was playing with these little HSTs, I thought about how much I enjoy this part of the quilting process, the "puzzle-putting-together" part. You could turn these little quilty pieces several different ways and come up with different patterns. Now if the sewing fairy would just come along and stitch them up....