Fruit Punch

Hey, look at this, I've actually been doing some sewing. Now if I were Bonnie, this project would be done and bound :) but I'm a bit slower than that.

I've given in - the project has decided that it indeed a bright and cheery Hugs and Kisses. I'm not going to fight it anymore, just go with the flow. I already have the border fabric picked out, a pink, orange, and yellow batik I've loved for years. It's my focus fabric - all the other colors came from it really. I'm calling this quilt Fruit Punch for now since it looks like bright artificial fruit color.

I threw out some of the blocks I'd already made (don't cry for them - they went into the orphan box and will find there way into something someday). The blocks were too contrasty, believe it or not. I didn't want my reds quite that red and my purples that dark. I want BRIGHT. Some of these blocks have low contrast, and that's okay since they're the colors I want.

I don't know if you've ever played around with those value viewers. Thru the red plastic I now see practically nothing - looks like I have no blocks there at all. Thru the green plastic, there's contrast. This is what the top looks like on Picasa in Black and White. See, contrast.

If you haven't heard about it, Picasa is one of the greatest tools ever for playing with digital photos. You can make dramatic improvements in your photos by cropping and adjusting the light. And you can check for things like contrast like I just did. Lots of fun and, very importantly, it's FREE.

One of my dearest, bestest friends in the world now has a blog. Siobhan is a bit of nut with two conflicting quilting personalities. There's repro Siobhan who loves the mourning prints and shirting fabrics and the incredible bright pow Siobhan. Always very entertaining. I'm even using a few scraps she gave me in Fruit Punch. She's the one who gave me the great Santa face jug and I made Home for Christmas for her and her scottish terror, uh, terrier, and two cats.

I have to go and clean up a bit. Julie, who I "met" through this blog, is coming over today to see my quilts and look at my quilt books. I do so love talking about quilts, quilts and quilts. Have to do a bit of clean up first, but not too much. She's coming to see the quilts and maybe me, not the state of the housekeeping.