Test Pattern

This is a test to see if you can tell what has changed since my last post. Yes, there are more spiderweb triangles. And some of them are a bit mangled. I am using a deli wrap paper as the foundation which gives the blocks a feline-friendly crinkle. Buddy has embraced this as his new favorite toy because the blocks are also a bit slippery so it provides a nice sliding action for a pounce. And needless to say, the blocks are no longer neatly laid out.

Cleaning out Spiderwebs

I put away the spiderweb quilt when I'm not working on it because Molly likes to shred paper. No, she isn't helping to take off the foundation papers after I've sewn the blocks...she is shredding the foundations before I sew them.

Then when I get this quilt out, I am surprised at how much fun it is to sew. Molly just surprise attacked Buddy by running through the loud crinkly tunnel...he was not amused.

Spools, layering and Molly

Here is another handful of micro spools. As I cut fabric for the gigantic spools, I also cut the fabric for these micro spools (1 inch) and the midi spools (1.25 inch). Now as I look at these babies on the design wall from across the room, I realize that these smaller spools will benefit from the addition of much brighter fabric.

And yes, I did manage to layer the garden mosaic (free spirit) (AKA Demented) quilt top.

Molly was on hand to help keep the quilt from blowing away.

Molly was gracious enough to pose long enough for a close-up.

And here is another close-up...so close you can read her mind, if you dare.

If you are new to reading the mind of a cat, I suggest you start with this pony. And yes, that is a fur ball toy next to Buddy's head. Sometimes he drops them on my face to wake me up. This morning when I woke up, there were two puff balls next to my head. Apparently, I have adapted and Buddy will have to up his game.

Color Selection Tool

I live in a neighborhood that doesn't have a lot of halloween activity so last night I was able to clear off the sewing table in anticipation of layering a quilt. I'm thinking Demented.

I should have also mentioned this book in yesterday's discussion of Bonnie Hunter's mystery challenge colors.  It makes it very easy to pick alternate colors. And while I typically don't formally invoke a color wheel when making a quilt, a mystery presents unique circumstances. I have no idea what colors are going to be next to each other. Although I might want different colors, to make the design effective, I will need contrast and blending as Bonnie has planned it. So how to read her mind...

Deb Menz provides color combination cutouts and a color wheel. Once I locate Bonnie's colors on the color wheel, I know what harmonious color arrangement Bonnie has chosen. This one is called a rectangular tetrad, but there are also triads and even a square tetrad.

Here are Bonnie's colors using the cutout tool and the colorwheel.

And here is my color choice. How easy was that?

And I'm not ruling this out...

Colors, Spools and Stones

First, let's talk colors for Bonnie Hunter's 2018 Quiltville Mystery.  And yes, maybe you should make sure to read her post on colors...link here...while I wait... then interrupt with caveats...I did not get color chips and all that so my colors are only an approximation etc. etc. etc.

The first row of spools shows my approximation of Bonnie's color selection for this year, and the row below it shows mine. To make sure my color selection should work, I base my selection on the color wheel. This year, Bonnie has a rectangular triad of complementary colors. On the clock, you could think of these as 1:00, 3:00, 7:00 and 9:00 where 1:00 is blue on the color wheel.

My selection keeps the colors equidistant but picks 2:00 (teal), 4:00 (yellow/green), 7:00 (red orange) and 10:00 (fuschia).

Molly is stunned that I can make something so simple, complicated. She also would like me to get rid of all my cotton because she prefers wool.

I have also been making micro spools...these are two inches unfinished. The large spool is 3.5 inches unfinished. And yes, the spools appear to have been infiltrated by bow-ties.

And yes, here is another Stonefields by Susan Smith block. This is the last block I needed to make for Month 3.

Here is the complete collection of Month 3 blocks. However, given the move from Virginia to Oregon last year, Month 3 has taken well over a year. These blocks are about six inches square, but I cut the background much larger to allow for applique shrinkage and miscellaneous folly.

Anticipation

Yesterday I finished this block from the Stonefields quilt by Susan Smith. It is an odd design with the overlap of two circles in the middle. I probably should have used reverse applique for the circle right in the middle of the circle.

Happily, this was mostly circles...including the half circle which I made by making a circle and lopping it in half.

And yes, there was another poltergeist blob sighting...close to one of the crime scenes.

Molly dared me to show you the full crime scene...except that isn't what she calls it. She refers to me as cat toy and thinks this is a bunch of rubbish I like to dig in.

And I'm wondering if you are feeling like this cat in anticipation of tomorrow...yup...our favorite time of year...Bonnie Hunter is releasing the color palette for this year's mystery challenge in tomorrow's blog post at Quiltville. She releases the first instructions for the construction of her mystery challenge quilt on the day after Thanksgiving.

Spools

This may look like a handful of spools to you, but for me, it is the last batch needed to complete my collection of 720 spools. I needed 30 more spools. Then I found a duplicate spool. It was ejected, and then I needed 31. I'm sure there are counting errors, but with an estimate of 721, its time for the spools to form foursomes.

And sewing these together is going to be quite nice. When sewing pairs, the diagonals of the spools nestle together. When sewing the pairs together, the diagonals nestle and the opposing block seams cuddle.

But not all is harmonious. Yesterday, I cleaned up all the cat toys and put them away. This morning, this pile of "strings" was in the middle of the bedroom. (These are the parts of thrift store shirts that Bonnie Hunter would have you throw away, but are often used in the wild to lure free range kittens.)

In the living room, the container of cat toys was knocked over, and the toys were strewn around it. And we're certainly thinking the same thing...POLTERGEIST.

Then as I was posting this photo, I noticed an odd bit of orange in the pile of strings. It's a dental pick brush that I use for cleaning out the sewing machine. Obviously, the poltergeist cannot distinguish tools from cat toys.

And then as I was taking photos of the spools, my camera picked up this vague outline that is very hard to make out given the beige carpet and the pile of neutrals. But yes, the glowing red eyes is the hint that the camera may have captured the poltergeist in repose.