Wednesday, May 9, 2018

Treasures

"Iowa nice" is really a thing. If you'd like to meet friendly, polite and easygoing people, please come to our state.

....just skip the parking lot at my children's elementary school.

Car line is an adventure. One snowy morning, one of my Iowa nice boys snapped and shouted from the backseat at the long line of brake lights in front of us, "WHY ARE YOU DOUBLE PARKING?!? BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO DROP YOUR PRECIOUS CHILD OFF AT THE FRONT DOOR WE'RE ALL GOING TO BE LATE!!!"  Thankfully, there was plenty of time to unpack that statement and calm down a bit before we got to a safe unloading spot. After I assured the boys that I thought they were both precious *and* capable, they got their hug and started the trudge to class. That morning was the start of a new family joke. I am now rated on how closely I can get them to the front door. Some mornings they call themselves 'precious.' Other mornings they are 'semi-precious.' It's a funny way to start the day with a smile, but it works!

Hearing 'semi-precious' most mornings was the spark for me to make a series of jewel inspired quilts. I always play along with the Pantone color of the year (ultraviolet), so I had the color inspiration to boot. It was a new way of thinking about creating quilts when my mind was completely focused on shape and color. I had so much fun exploring both of them.

The first is "Trillion Cut." This is an 18" square pillow that I made with ultraviolet in an analogous color scheme. This is a miniaturized version of a quilt (Love at First Glow) that I made last year. I constructed it using improvisational piecing on top of paper triangle templates that I made. It is quilted with monofilament thread.


Next is "Twilight Glitter Sparkles." This was named by my preschooler daughter in a combo that I'm pretty sure is a mashup of My Little Pony and Trolls. It is 48" x 69." This is just a quilt top for now. My sewing machine is in the shop and I've been sewing on my mom's old Pfaff for the last couple of months. It's a great little machine, but it just doesn't have the harp space to do a pivoting design on a bigger quilt. I'm still debating about whether I'll quilt it when I have my machine back or pay someone with a long arm to do it. This quilt uses ultraviolet in an analogous color scheme as well. I free pieced the blocks in different sizes for variety.



I challenged myself to come up with different friends for ultraviolet. I read about a square color scheme and decided to give it a try. I used my color wheel to choose 4 main colors evenly spaced around in a square shape. I spent a long time with the color selection, looking carefully in different lights at different times of the day. I am pleased with the result and that it still reads as a purple quilt. This is "Emerald Cut." It is 40" x 60" and is quilted with monofilament thread. The blocks are all free pieced, then squared down to a consistent size.





I had plenty of strips left over after piecing the last quilt. There's no time like the present to deal with coordinating scraps, so I sat down with the bucket and started sewing the strips together. This project used up most of the scraps I had generated in the last three quilts. This is "Pixelated Scraps" and it is 31" x 31." I quilted it in a crosshatch pattern with monofilament thread and finished it with a faced edge.




Last is "Diamond Split." This is a small 24" x 24" quilt that I made with ultraviolet in a split complementary color scheme. The diamonds are improvisationally pieced.  This used Kona bright periwinkle, cerise, wasabi and berry. It is also quilted with monofilament thread.



Since my last post, I have safely delivered a baby girl (the big kids call her "Babyness"). There were some bumps, but it all worked out in the end and we are both healthy and happy. She is the sweetest, most content little girl you could ever imagine and is greatly loved. Her favorite thing to do is play the smiling game. Whenever she initiates the game with her older siblings, they'll bellow "She's passing out smiles like candy!!" and everyone else will come running to smile and coo at her. It warmed my heart to see her start the smiling game with some other children in the pew ahead of us at church. I'm glad that everyone in her little world smiles back. That's exactly how it should be.

These quilts were fun to make and a great creative outlet. But, make no mistake, these smiling kids are my greatest treasure.





If you'd like to take a look at the collection of quilts created with Pantone Ultraviolet, you can find them at No Hats in the House or Bryan House Quilts.

Linking up to Finish it up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts.

29 comments:

  1. Your 'precious' family joke just makes me smile so much. Love when kids are so secure in being loved they can start out the mornings with a little self-deprecating humor.:) Congrats on the new baby girl! Nothing like having a happy baby to make everything feel brighter! LOVE your Emerald Cut quilt especially. Something about the pale tones and the elements that really speak to me. I always thoroughly enjoy seeing the way your work through a color/series or even work up something wonderful with the leftover bits. Thanks for sharing!

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    1. Thanks, Audrey! We are all really great at self-deprecating humor. Life is much easier when you don't take yourself so seriously! And, life is infinitely sweeter with a happy baby.

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  2. Oh, I love all your purpleness and design in these quilted projects. Just wonderful. Dare I say they are precious?

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    1. Thank you, Barb. Yes, you can. I laughed out loud. :-)

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  3. So much love to you and your family on the arrival of long-awaited Babyness! I am in awe of all the beauty you create both with your family and with your quilts! (Where do you find the time??--You need SLEEP!)

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    1. Thanks, Karen. I promise I'm doing okay on sleep! When you consistently sew every day (whether it's in 10 minute bursts or a whole hour at a time), you can get a lot done.

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  4. Smiling here too! As a purple lover, I aahhhed and ooohed over your beautiful purply creations! I especially adore the pillow. I know all about Iowa nice! I'm in Dubuque and we're pretty nice folks here!

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    1. Good grief! I forgot to congratulate you on your new daughter! I hope she grows up to love purple too! Enjoy your sweet blessings.

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    2. Thank you Kathy! Greetings from Iowa City! I think there's a good chance Babyness will also enjoy purple. I looked back at the picture I posted of her on the bed and that's what she's wearing!

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  5. Love your quilts, but yes, your kids are the bestest, most precious!

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  6. I'm so thankful that you and babyness are healthy and well, and I love hearing about the smiling game and how great your older children are with her. So much love there. As always your makes and writing are inspirational. My husband saw your work over my shoulder and was super drawn to it.

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    1. Thank you, Yvonne (and thank you to your husband). Sending lots of smiles to you both. :)

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  7. Aww. I love how you tell your stories. And you gave Ultra Violet a real workout - SO beautiful and thoughtful and impressive.

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    1. Thanks, Debbie. Every year I am so grateful when you find the Kona match for the Pantone color. I was really thinking it was heliotrope from what I could see off of the computer screen, but once I ordered the bright peri I knew you were 100% right. It was such a fun color to work with and I've loved seeing how other people are working with it.

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  8. You are very clever...love your work

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  9. Love all your quilts! I’m so impressed that you did all of these pregnant and/or with a new baby! Beautiful work!! Oh, and your car line sounds just as fun as ours!

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    1. Thanks, Cynthia. I did the pillow and the quilt top when I was pregnant. You should have seen my pillow-padded sewing chair! Even after the delivery I was way more comfortable. Some women are all glowy, sprightly and agile during pregnancy. I'm not. :-)

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  10. Your kids are hilarious! and what a great set of quilts!! so creative you are!!

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    1. Thank you, Alycia. I knew I wanted to marry my husband when he consistently made me laugh so hard. Now we've got some kids that have a great sense of humor. It sure makes life fun. 😀

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  11. I am currently in Omaha, looking to move here from the Pacific NW, for a job in Council Bluffs! I hope people in Iowa are nice! :)

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    1. Wow! I hope you are having a good experience! Council Bluffs is pretty big/busy, but I'm pretty sure "Iowa nice" still works there, too. Good luck in your search!

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  12. Your kids sound like a ton of fun. And your pile of awesome projects is AMAZING!

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    1. Thank you, Sarah! It's easy when you're working with such a beautiful color. I really like the top you entered!

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  13. Some true gems here! Pleasure to see AND read! What precious children too!

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    1. Thanks, Paige! I don't want to be done with gems (either kind). Thanks for reading! 😘

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  14. Delightful post! Very uplifting and so full of inspiring Quilty goodness. I’d have to agree to 'precious, after seeing that last photo, of the kiddos!

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    1. Thank you! It's funny, ever since I published this post, our morning luck has turned. I've gotten the coveted parking spot pretty much every morning. Precious, indeed!

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