some fun fabrics and an interesting start

No parent visit is complete without a trip down to Pacific Grove/Monterey. We went to the aquarium this time, which has been a long while! It was a really fun day of fins and bubbles, but at the end we squeezed in a trip around the Point to Back Porch Fabrics and Monarch Knitting. Uncharacteristically I did not get anything at the yarn store, but we did find fun things at the fabric store. I was charmed by the cats and bunnies so very much, both Ruby Star Society I think. I was also really pleased to find that echinacea print from Anna Maria Parry. That line has been out for a while and I did not snag the navy/orange/pink when I first saw it, nor did they have it this time, but I do enjoy this colorway quite a lot. And now looking at these stacked, the coordination with the cat print is quite excellent. Perhaps a drawstring bag? The bee print is a lightweight canvas that will probably end up being a sturdy zippy bag. 

Another uncharacteristic thing in my yarny world is that I started a pair of socks. Right? It's been YEARS. I have never truly understood the draw, though I have knit a couple pairs for myself (which turned out too big and I never wore them, they have been donated) and a handful of gifts. I don't mind DPNs but the yarn twists and tangles were not relaxing and unlike many I have not considered socks as "mindless" knitting. That all may be about to change... I have been a) watching an almost unhealthy amount of YouTube including two lovely ladies who knit A LOT of socks and b) trying to knit from my stash and getting stuck on this ball of yarn that has been peeking out at me saying "me next". 

Well, first off look at the super cute kitten stitch markers. Learning about placing markers every 10 rows to help the second sock match without as much counting kind of changed the game for me, as has knitting on small circular needles instead of DPNs. I finished this first sock in two days. TWO DAYS. I can now see how some people might consider doing 52 pairs of socks in a year if you're enthusiastic about knitting only socks at clip of a pair a week. 

I tried really hard to consider other things I could have made with this yarn. But, it's self patterning. That can be a lot of fun things (including some great teddy bears I've made in the past) but I really felt like this was my chance to try socks again. The yarn is an acrylic/rayon/polyester blend so maybe I won't mind it on my feet as much as wool? Not that wool was really the problem with the first pairs, those were just kinda baggy after wearing. I went down to fewer stitches here. It will be interesting to see if I can keep the heel flap and gusset instructions held in my mind for the next sock (a test to see if it can be truly relaxed), and how I feel about knitting the second sock after the excitement of the first has worn off. TBD. So far, so good. 

outta dodge

I took a much needed day trip down to the Monterey Peninsula this weekend. Among the wave watching and pelican photography visits were of course made to my two favorite local establishments, Back Porch Fabric and Monarch Knitting. 

I enjoyed a browse around all of the colorful fabrics in BPF, as always. It was tough to not bring many things home with me, but I stuck to a few larger cuts that I imagine may be made into bags or similar non-quilt projects. I am not usually drawn to oranges and reds, but it was a vibe this time. I am looking forward to using that colorful kaleidoscope print especially.

And I couldn’t not come home with this yarn. It is so very Wicked in its appearance, I splurged. I have often seen but never purchased Spincycle. It’s a bit itchier than I would normally choose, but their colors are quite fantastic though I’ve often wondered if it just turns out looking muddy. There was a hat knit up that looked really striking just in stockinette (with shaping, of course) and it had a different lining yarn that was softer so I am wondering if I could do the same thing, potentially with any leftovers from the sweater I’m working on right now. It would be a green extravaganza. 

Along with that, I kept passing by the display of squishy ikigai yarn. I LOVE the colors and the last few visits I have eyed these skeins. Since I was viewing this as a “Yarn Crawl Addendum” for myself, I did decide to splurge and get some. I think they will end up being a scarf after browsing around a few patterns. Whatever it is, it’s going to be beautiful and so very soft. 

Besides the bright and bold fabrics, I found a cute snail print in the sale corner that will potentially be pajamas, and I impulse bought a set of 8 fat quarters that are all different prints of bright kitties. No idea what they will end up being, but whatever happens it is going to be so fun. 

drop off and pick up

I got my quilt dropped off today! I am very excited and also nervous. It will take about 6 weeks to get it back, so I will have a while to stew and overthink whether I picked the right pattern and thread color. The folks at the shop were very helpful in that, so I’m pretty sure it’s going to be amazing. 

I couldn’t leave without looking around, of course, and I found a really great canvas mushroom print that I would like to use for a large Firefly Tote. The snail print on black is AMAZING and will be one of the coordinating prints for that. This shop also has lots of great Tula Pink in stock and those birds were singing my name. I ended up spending some time this evening cutting out fabrics from my stash for a couple of small Firefly Totes, but I am looking forward to playing with these soon. 

My crafty spidey sense told me that Fillory Yarn was close by - a fact I was not sure of but a quick check of the map on my phone told me I was right. Since I’d made the drive and it was just 3 miles away I figured I would pop in. I had in mind that I wanted one more color of the worsted wool I used for my dad’s sweater to combine with those leftovers and some other stash yarns to make a fair isle cowl. I didn’t find the coral color I was hoping for but got a beautiful neutral instead. Then I found a sample of a cowl that felt incredibly soft and was a really great geometric colorwork pattern. Upon inspection, it used two colors of Malabrigo Mecha, coincidentally the same as a few skeins of yarn I have had lingering in my stash for quite some time without projects in mind. I bought a neutral to mimic the sample cowl (which was neutral and yellow) and will be using a beautiful variegated purple and blue called Lotus. 

I finished the hat I started on New Year’s this afternoon (it’s blocking), so it’s a great time to start a new project. Did I pick anything that’s in my queue? Of course not, the shiny new yarn got wound, along with the much older skein to pair it with. I am looking forward to another quick knit. 

 

stashing and starting

Yesterday in the craft room was all about stashing and starting. First, here's a round up of all the fabric I acquired on the "tour" of local quilt shops with my parents. The top row are from Golden State Quilting up in Campbell. OMG. The Charley Harper horsey print! The mushroom and fabulous hippy horse from Ruby Star Society (Sarah Watts and Melody Miller... two of my faves)! They have also always had Tula Pink fabrics when I've gone in, which I resisted this time but mom did get some very cute bunnies and owls. It's so nice to have a shop nearby that you know will have the latest from your favorite designers. 

The bottom row big three are from Back Porch Fabrics on our trip down to Pacific Grove. I got the Anna Maria Parry zinnias and the somehow irresistible mustard/hot pink blender and mom snuck in that beautiful Charley Harper butterfly fabric for me. I thought she was getting it for herself! Monarchs are "a thing" down there, so it's a fun thing to remember the trip with. 

Last are a few fat quarters from my true LQS in Morgan Hill, Quilts and Things. Somehow this visit my eye was drawn to all the pinks and oranges, which is quite unusual for me! The checkerboard print in the middle is not coming through quite as eyewateringly neon in the photo as it truly is in person. I am 99.9% sure that's a Tula Pink blender. I'm not sure what any of these will be used for, but in laying these out I can see an interesting project potential taking shape in that bottom row.... 

Mom and I also spent a loooong time winding yarn. The two balls on the right were wound for me at the shop where we got them (Fillory) and will turn into a sweater for my dad - along with 10 of their closest friends when they arrive on order. Realizing I was going to start that sweater project made me want to line up a couple of others that have been on my mind since the yarn crawl in spring. The blue and coral on the left are going to be another Hold Sway Sweater, and the brown is going to be some sort of boxy summery top. Not shown are the yarn hanks for my next Shift cowl I have planned, also with yarn from the crawl supplemented by that aqua peeking in the background (from a trip with mom to A Pop of Color in town). They won't get made if the yarn's not wound! So we wound. And wound. And wound. 14 cakes! I did not snap a picture of them, but it was a lot. They are all now nestled in project bags waiting patiently for me to get started. I think my plan is to get them all cast on and started a bit so that I can work on whatever I'm in the mood for without the barrier of "ugh casting on" to deal with. 

Also part of the day was spent with mom choosing a gnome. I showed her my book of Gnomes of Grimblewood that I got at the workshop in February and suggested she pick one for me to make. I already sent her some cute earrings, but I have been thinking of starting another gnome so it would be fun to send it along to her house. ( I haven't made one since April! So much for doing one a month ;) ) We did some stash diving and came up with a rainbow of colors to use on one of the tall stripey guys. I've already cast on and knit a few rows, so more to come. 

It feels good to be organized in the craft room again, to have infused a few new things, and to have some plans! It was also really fun to take a tour around my favorite shops with my parents. I am lucky in how many great places there are pretty close by. May they continue to thrive.

2020 ornament diy

It’s becoming an annual tradition. Last year, we made sparkly unicorns with flower crowns (see that turquoise one in the picture?). This year, Mom found a pattern for these totally cool fabric pinwheel ornaments. We raided my stash of “precut” 5-inch squares for these, and it was a super fun project that came together pretty quick. And a bonus? Cat proof. They won’t break if your enterprising cats decide they must take it off the tree to look closer. 

While the most difficult part was sewing on the points, it was only because pushing a needle through that many layers of fabric quickly became a job for pliers. Once we figured that out, the difficult part was picking buttons and ribbon to finish them off. The pinwheel is made up of prairie points folded from 5-inch squares. So once the ironing is done, everything comes together fast. I liked the fact that we could just sit down with my stack of 5-inch squares that I’d already cut from scraps earlier this year. Big pat on the back to me for spending all the time to do that. It makes me more motivated to do the same to the next bag we’ve accumulated from when we cleaned up post-painting. 

I will admit, I was skeptical at first but they are awesome. And they’re pretty big, too! Each is a bit larger than would fit in the palm of my hand. The possibilities for color play are endless here. I could see a rainbow, a gradient, alternating complementary colors.... so many choices. I’m also curious what would happen if I tried using a gradient of sized squares to get something looking like a nautilus shell. Do that in marine-colored batiks? Could be pretty cool. 

a quilty stand-in

In case I've been giving the illusion that I'm organized, this is basically what my planning process looks like. Actually, it was much more chaotic before I curated down to the fabrics I would actually USE in the quilt. There were fabric squares and yardage all over the place and much hemming and hawing over whether or not I'd chosen a good pattern. Forget the card table, the floor is where it's at. 

And here is the fabric that started it all. While we were out last weekend exploring our newly reopened Joann's in search of quilt backing for the two tops I've got completed, I came across this amazingly cute minion print. My brother is a minion fan - like his car is yellow and named Kevin. He's turning 40 this year and I am incredibly bummed that I won't be traveling home to celebrate in person. I'd been turning over the idea of sending a quilt stand-in instead and seeing this made me decide it was definitely a good idea. These little dudes are going to be the backing fabric. 

I found a neat inspiration pattern online that was very geometric and looked like it was really well suited to solids. I did think about buying all new fabric but challenged myself to search my stash first. It wasn't at all straightforward to find masculine fabrics in my menagerie of flowers and cutesy prints, but I am quite happy with what I came up with. He likes orange so there needed to be some of that, and definitely yellow to minion up the front, then I just sort of played around with options until I decided that the blue ikat print from Amy Butler's Lark collection would be fussy with regards to orientation of the HST blocks but totally worth it to tie everything together. It's got primary colors in it that will make this bright and fun, like Kevin the minion. 

I didn't want to do a white background and that was all I had a lot of in my stash, so back to Joann's to search out a good gray. I bought them out of medium gray Kona (only 4 yards, don't judge) with the expectation that I will find other good uses for the extra yards. I do have a big quilt in the works and another one already planned and on the shelf, but these fabrics were calling to me. It was the work of less than an hour to get them all cut into squares and ready to go. I am feeling so inspired by the bright colors and the geometric design, I can't wait to get started! 

shopping extravaganza part 1: fabric

One of the best things about being together with my mom is going out shopping together! This trip was no exception, and I thought it would be fun to compile our crafty purchases in one place so I can remember when and where we acquired what. Part one, fabric.

I hadn't had much luck of finding a fabric store I really loved out here. I went to an amazing place in Portland that had a lot of modern fabrics that were up my alley, but never found anywhere similar near home. Instead, I've been relying on online purchases (when I make them -- I've been on quite the fabric diet!) which are not nearly as fun. Mom and I went on a quest to sample many of the brick and mortar establishments in the area, and we found a few gems! 

These first fabrics are from a place in Milpitas called The Intrepid Thread. I've purchased quite a few things from them online in the past, and was excited to see that they are making an actual store work. I much prefer to see fabric in person and they have a wonderful selection! Not only are there a great bunch of quilting cotton designers and collections, but it looks like I can go here for some lightweight canvas and knits as well. I would have loved to walk out with one of everything. These are Cotton & Steel; the two feature prints are designs by Sarah Watts. I started out picking up the horses (no surprise there) and picked a few coordinating fabrics with Mom's help. This way I can make a bag or a quilt and look like I planned it all along! Mom got a few yards of fabric, too. 

This next stack of fabrics is slated to be a quilt for my grandfather. I'm hoping to have it done in time to be a Christmas gift. It will happen! These lovely prints were purchased at The Granary in Los Altos. I must admit, I was surprised that I liked this store as much as I did given that their website and front window give the impression of a very traditional shop. But walking in they had one of my favorite quilts - Science Fair by Jaybird Quilts - hanging from the ceiling. How can that be a bad thing?? I found this unusual textured solid that I hope will be a great background fabric, and they have lots of blenders that I will definitely be headed back for in the future, including all the colors of that sketch print fourth from the top in the stack below. I had a hard time finding these because I had a very specific color scheme in mind and was looking for more geometric/masculine prints, but there were many fabrics that I liked that didn't fit my very specific shopping list this time around. On top of that, the women in the shop were very friendly, and it's a short drive to get there. 

And of course, there's my old standby, the Joann's across the Bay. Our local store is somewhat small and doesn't have a great selection of fabrics beyond fleece and flannel, but a jaunt across the Dumbarton gets me to a bigger store with a pretty good selection of quilting cottons. I've gotten Denyse Schmidt prints there before, and this time around I'm pretty sure I saw some Lotta Jansdotter sprinkled on the shelves. I stocked up on my favorite linen and found these two pretty prints. Not sure what I'll use them for but I liked the motifs and colors, especially the gray.

To top it all off, Mom got me a new rotary cutter (after trying to use mine on the hexagon blocks we made), a marking pen (after I used mine up on my Medallion quilt), and a 12.5" square ruler. I'm excited about the ruler especially because I hope this means squaring up blocks won't be as miserable, but the new rotary cutter is going to be amazing, too. Mine doesn't actually keep the blade out anymore unless you keep pressure on the switch. Armed with that and these new fabrics I've got quite a few fun days ahead!

solid as a rock

Well, I finally did it. I bought color cards for solid fabric. I've been frustrated at my lack of solids hanging around my stash, and equally frustrated with the selection of solids at the fabric store I can get to easiest. I'm picky enough about colors that taking a chance on ordering online without knowing the color is not a great idea for me. So with this solution I can buy online with confidence that I'm going to get the shade I'm hoping for and take advantage of the sales and selection.

I got the Kona color card with all 303 colors on it (wow that's a lot of choice!) and the Moda Bella color card with something like 240. I think with a choice of 543 different colors I can make anything work, don't you?

I ended up getting both cards just to get over the free shipping offer limit, which I did by 5 cents. Go me. The reason being 1) I hate paying shipping, I'm happier if it's just factored into an overall higher price and 2) I also bought this:

That lovely stack is a fat quarter bundle of Mustang from Cotton and Steel. I've been holding out getting any new fabric for a looooong time, but this was on super good sale and how can I resist a fabric line with those colors, horses, and bees all in one great place? Exactly. I couldn't. PLUS perfect addition to the color card costs to get free shipping. Serendipity.

I'm looking forward to testing these color cards out on future projects, most notably I want to get some navy fabric for my Lonestar Hexagon quilt. Of course, that means I will have to consider all 20 of my options very carefully….

Eye candy

I've been on a "fabric diet" for some time now. We all know what happens after diets.... in my defense, Dave started it ;o) he wanted a laptop cover and to pick out the fabrics himself. Also, if I'm honest it was a little bit of stress-relief in the midst of interviews. So a-shopping we went. First stop: Stash Modern Fabric

We picked out some yardage for Dave's laptop cover.

Because I love these collections (Lily Belle and Floressence, both Art Gallery) I got the feature florals. They are just fat quarters, so I'll work them in with some other fabrics I have. I keep thinking of making pillowcases. I really just am loving those two Lily Belle florals on the left. What great colors!

These prints came because I wanted to see what I'd get in a Random Fat Quarter pack... and to put myself over the limit for free shipping. This is the peril of online shopping, adding shipping costs. But why not get something for that money spent instead? So I figured random FQs are better than shipping. I really like the orange print, and the text and dots are useful. The jury is out on the floral. But that's what the random was all about, taking my chances. 

Then, of course Hancock's of Paducah had free shipping so I popped over to see what was going on with their sale fabrics just to see. Of course I bought stuff (I'm weak and was on a roll), but on average paid only $6 a yard!

I got some beautiful blues (lots of Amy Butler, yeah!) including navy, which I've been wanting, and a nice true blue print. Despite all the blues I have, navy and actual "blue" were not among them.

These greens make me happy. The bright ones are destined for a baby quilt, and I really just liked the green mum print and the mannequins on aqua. I might even have enough of the mums to make a top for myself, I think it was a 2 yard minimum since it was like $3 a yard. 

I needed 'neutrals', and the cameos were too good to pass up. Considering some of the other fabrics and that black and white one, I feel an ikat project coming on... 

These are some prints just for fun. (The 1st and 3rd prints are actually from the Stash Modern Fabric purchase, not Hancock's) The Paris map print is super cute, and I imagine the ric rac stripes will serve as some cool binding down the road. 

The upshot of all this fabric coming in is that I cleaned up my cabinet! That's it for fabric for a long while unless I need solids to finish something. Nowhere else to put it! I got a bunch of Kona white last weekend at Joann's that should hold me over through the next couple of quilts. I have an idea for a wholecloth quilt, but I'm not buying the fabric for that unless I see solids on great sale or until I finish up the quilt I just pulled fabrics for. Now to get sewing!

Skirt on a whim

When we went to Portland at the end of May, I scored some awesome fabric. One of those finds was the print that turned into this skirt that I promised myself to make because I wanted an excuse to buy some. This is one promise-to-self that I've kept; super proud.

The bolt was in a section of random 72" wide cottons and, considering the colors, had my name written all over it. Half of it was this pretty tribal border print, and the other half was just the smaller print continued to the other selvage. I literally took it off the shelf and started wrapping it around my waist trying to figure out how much I needed for a knee-length skirt. Dave laughed, and so did I. 

All I did for this skirt was sew the length into a tube, put in some pleats and a small waist band, and add a zipper at the seam. It sat for a few days while I considered how best to hem it until the day came when I wanted to wear it. Then I tossed all thoughts of being careful aside and hemmed it by folding up the selvage edge about 3 inches for a wide band on the inside to finish. I was worried about how it would hang after hemming, but it's just fine, no extra stiffness in the hem. I think this is because it's so wide. 

This all sounds very 'simple' until I explain that I had to try it on many times to figure out where to put the pleats and how far down to sew them closed. Also, by pure serendipity, the pleats in the back are not zigzagged as the front ones are (shown above) to help with fit, but this also happens to make the skirt roomy enough back there (ahem) so it hangs evenly front and back when I wear it. In the end I wish I had written down what I did as I went along, but it was one of those things where I was winging it and made and corrected so many mistakes that I probably couldn't repeat it if I tried. Ah well, a one of a kind, then. 

And it fits! (Kind of an odd angle, but it's just below the knee.) This was my first actual clothing finish for myself that has ended up fitting and I've worn. And I love it. The bonus? I didn't need the whole width of the fabric, so I have a nice amount of the cute little print left to play with. Aren't those colors great????

Thinking of Picnics

We have a lot of friends getting married. There are four invitations hanging on our fridge. The last wedding we went to, I made a set of placemats for the couple since we used to go to their place and have the occasional random meal. I enjoyed the project so much that I wanted to make gifts for these weddings as well!

We received many beautiful and thoughtful gifts for our wedding from our family and friends, but one of the more unusual gifts was a set of gift cards and a cute hand drawn map of a particular neighborhood in The City where all of the merchants were (coffee shop, ice cream place, bakery). The intent was to give us a 'date' that would end in a picnic at the park. Very fun! The next two occasions are for couples that are local to the Bay Area, so we think this will be perfect. The crafty addition? A picnic quilt! I'm thinking about 5' x 5' and pretty simple designs that reflect the tastes of the people who will use them.

We hatched this plan while we were away in Portland which was great because it's always fun to bring back a bit of a souvenir from trips. We found a fantastic fabric shop, Cool Cottons, which is basically a quirky craftsman house full of all the fabric I love. I'm sad they don't seem to have an online shop, but I did enjoy an hour or so of ogling fabric and Dave even helped me pick out colors! We found this cute bicycle print and a few fat quarters in the five colors. The bikes are perfect for the recipients, I can't wait to see how it comes together, I've got a few ideas knocking around my head.

Bike It, birch fabrics

For the second quilt, I wanted something more toned down, since we know the groom rather well but not as much his fiance. I recently got an iPad case made with the yellow bird print in the middle, and Dave actually liked it a lot. I took that as a cue that boys can tolerate these colors and this theme, and I figure this is one of the more 'tame' color combinations I like so hopefully she'll like it, too. 

Aviary 2, Joel Dewberry

I am going to make this a simple square patchwork quilt alternating these prints with linen. I received my fabric prints from Hawthorne Threads in the mail Friday (perfect timing since I had also purchased the linen on the way home), and I spent a lovely evening cutting squares. They're all stacked up and ready to sew! This quilt should come together in no time, which is good since this particular wedding is in about a month. 

Artsy lookin' stack o' squares

I'm looking forward to the rest of the weekend!

Feeling Well Stocked

I'm so proud of myself. I resisted the urge to buy fabric! I've mentioned that I signed up for this Handstiched Class... the decision was more than a little motivated by the lovely class quilt Rachel designed for it. One of the three options for each project set will include an installment in the quilt so we can use all of our learned skills to make a large project. What a great idea! At least, I thought so until I thought to myself "there's no way I can find enough solids in my stash to go with ... any of my prints"-- the supply list we got calls for like 8! The horror. 

So, I decided I would just do the other projects and come back to the quilt after the class was over and I had a concrete plan and some time to slowly acquire the fabric. Then somehow, a week later, a color combination just popped into my head. I have these two large cuts of linen in a light linen color and a bright blue -- let's do blues and neutrals! After taking another look at the quilt and a good gaze at the stash, I found 7 (!) solids that I think I'll have enough of to make it work: the two linens, two corduroys, white, turquoise, and green. I've got an open mind about those cords, they should add some interesting texture. 

Solids

Having the black corduroy means I can probably use the array of black and white prints I have, and I have lots of blues. I especially like how a couple of fat quarters from a bundle of muted fabrics I bought a while back have a new, brighter life in this context (3rd and 4th from the right). And just because I wanted some warm contrast to all the blue and green, out came some Summerlove and Heirloom bright oranges which, happily, also have some blue in them. I'm not sure which of those two I'll use for the center medallion, but it will be one of those for sure.

Prints

So now I'm all excited for class to start. Well, I was excited before, but I'm really happy I'll be able to work on this quilt now after all. And I'm pleased to have been able to assemble this lovely stack of fabrics without buying an inch! I'm excited to see how it all will come together, and I have lots of embroidery thread colors to play with, too. Fun!

All stacked up and ready to go!

Curtain Inspiration

When I saw this stack of fabric on one of my favorite blogs (Maureen Cracknell Handmade) a couple weeks back, I immediately coveted them. The bright blues and greens, not to mention the awesome flower print, are just my taste.

So I bought some! I'm very excited now that they have arrived. Inspired by the idea of curtains mentioned on Maureen's blog, I too plan on making curtains with them. I just want an excuse to hang up (and stare at) large pieces of these fabrics. They will hang in our bedroom; I do believe they will fit right in with our quirky sense of style and love of color. 

In my ever so accurate back-of-the-envelope/engineer way when I decided to buy the yardage, I went into the bedroom and stood next to the window thinking to myself "well, I'm just shy of two yards tall, so I guess I need two yards of each". I have not decided on a design yet, but I am thinking of bands of linen (what a shock) and patchwork squares of matching solids along the top. I was at the library the other day looking for another book (for another project soon to come) and happened upon a book about making curtains. I've made curtains before, but this book has given me some good ideas. Ribbon tie top anyone? 

I leave with a gratuitous close up of the beautiful pattern, LouLouThi Coreopsis - my very first Anna Maria Horner purchase. Thank you for the inspiration, Maureen!

Amsterdam Quilt, conceptualizing

About a year ago, Dave and I moved (temporarily) to The Netherlands. We relocated from Palo Alto to Amsterdam for three months to pursue fantastic opportunities to do research at an institute there. We remember our time there very fondly and continually talk about going back. 

FOM Institute AMOLF, our temporary workplace

One of the most distinct things (of many) we remember about living there are colors. First off, AMOLF is housed in quite a new building, so the architecture and design inside is very modern. This includes hallways, walls, and couches in a stunningly bright green. You'd think this would be distracting, but really it was very energizing. It sounds hokey I know, and I would never believe something like that if someone told me. But, having experienced it I can vouch for it --- bright green is a great color for the workplace!

AMOLF wall

Another color that is associated inextricably with the Dutch is orange. Orange is the color of the ruling house, and has become a sort of national color. Did anyone see those amazing football uniforms in the last World Cup? Orange. 

We were fortunate enough to have arrived shortly before a major event in The Netherlands, Queen's Day. We went into the city center to sit at our soon-to-be-favorite cafe on the canals the night before Queen's Day, and the city was awash with orange. Perhaps you can see the orange banners and balloons in the picture below. There were even special little cakes in the Albert Heijn bakeries iced with orange!

Queen's Day celebrations beginning

Queen's Day cake

Since we've recently been 'pining for the fjords (canals)', so to speak, and I've been so inspired by the amazing modern quilting I've seen around the web, I have decided to make a quilt commemorating our time in Amsterdam. Such a clear color inspiration is almost cheating -- bright green and orange.

I have said before, as one does, that I am 'done' purchasing fabric for a while. That is mostly true, until I see great sales. The fabrics in the next photo were all purchased for 40-50% off at various shops because I could not resist a good deal, and they were the right colors for the job. Of course there are also others (to be shared at another time) that have nothing to do with this quilt or those colors but I had to have them anyway. What lack of will power!

I especially like the green fabric with the little white cats; we missed our cat very much while we were away. The green with bike wheels with birds perched on them (which you cannot make out from this photo) is of course highly appropriate as I love birds and of course we rode bikes everywhere in Amsterdam. 

I will also likely use the two beauties below that I bought in Los Gatos, and some more of that great green Ikea duvet cover fabric I recently used in my laundry room project. If anything says 'AMOLF walls', it's that fabric.

Next is the hardest part: choosing a pattern. I've been pondering this for a while, and I have settled on some sort of windmill-like quilt block. I've seen several types around the web, and even a sampler with many flavors of windmill blocks. I do think I want to stick with one block to keep it simple looking since the colors will be kind of crazy. There is a block called the Dutchman's Puzzle which ends up looking like windmill blades in the center if the colors are placed correctly. I'm gravitating towards that one, or there is a simpler block I'm thinking about, too.

Then of course there is the choice of background fabric. Definitely a solid, but what color? White or gray I think. We'll see what I end up choosing when the time rolls around. This quilt is going to rattle around in my head a bit more while I catch up on my Retro Flower quilt and probably make a few more little projects between. For now it is fun to dream up the possibilities!