Storm Update

Today is sunny and cool - a big change from the past few days.  The storm didn't hit my area as hard as expected.  Somehow we escaped both the high winds to the east of us and the blizzard snow 20 miles to the west of us.  Schools have been closed for two days but today things are back to normal.  Son #1 escaped any flooding damage to his basement apartment.  Even though all goverment offices were closed his workload required him to go into work.  Without any mass transit running, that required a long soggy walk in the cold rain.  One sister had to postpone her moving plans for a few days.  New Jersey had restricitions on traffic on the road - hence no moving van and now they have a ban on house closings to allow for damage assessments.  My other sister is not quite accounted for, but we are trusting that "no news is good news".   And.......Lucy still stands although there is not yet any access to the island she is on.  This picture is on her website (link above) and was taken several hours before landfall.  Lucy used to stand where the large building in the upper left of the picture is now.  The aspect of this picture is a bit skewed and makes it look like she is much farther from the water than she is.  It's as though the sides of the picture have been curved around.  In fact, there is a beach access point right at her base.

Storm Preparations

Well, the east coast is getting set for a huge storm.  We are on the edge of the projected area of damage but well within the "get ready" area.  So, the cars are gassed up, the flashlights have new batteries, the cell phones are charged.  There is food in the house - dog and human, books to read (real books, since electronic books eventually run out of power), hand sewing projects and lots of blankets.

I have two sisters right in the path of the storm and son #1 lives in a basement apartment in Washington, DC - also expected to get hit badly.   So, there is concern for all of them as well as my favorite elephant, Lucy.  She stands within sight of the Jersey shore.  I'm hoping Hurricane Sandy is polite when they meet.

She has weathered many storms, but at 131 years old, I'm sure she is getting tired.  Hang on, Lucy!  We need you. You make us smile.

New Fabric Stores Near Me

When I first posted about fabric stores in my area I never exactly mentioned where "my area" was.  So, just to set the facts straight, I'm talking about stores in and around the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.  I have two additions to my list:

Sew Classic Fabrics - They are located inside the Shenandoah Heritage Farmers Market.  They have a Facebook page, but I can't view it since I'm one of last few people who is NOT on Facebook.  They sell both quilting fabric and garment fabric.  I visited before their official grand opening and really liked the variety that they had.  My only problem was that some of the fabrics were shelved too high for me to see.  I'm sure I'll be back to visit.

Walmart - I'm not a big fan of Walmart and I visit very seldom.  We have two Walmarts in this area but only one has a fabric section.  They have a good selection of various stabilizers and muslin and a fair amount of prints.  The quality isn't as good as quilt stores, but the price is great.  They often have a sale area with fabrics for $1.50 and $2.50 a yard.  And, they're always open so if I have need of something basic on a Sunday....it's off to Walmart I go.

Scrap Quilt Top

I've finally finished the top of my "scrap quilt".  This is the quilt I got distracted by while I was organizing my scraps.  I'm not going to quilt it for awhile so I thought I would post the top.  It's made entirely of scraps or leftovers from other quilts.  Some of the border and black sashing was fabric cut for a border on another quilt until I changed my mind....as I often do!

This quilt top was started before I had my revelation about color value.  There are a few pieces that I should have not used.  I think the biggest offender is the light colored print near the top right of the red block.  And that brings me to one of the big lessons that I'm taking away from this project: not all scraps can be used successfully in a scrap quilt!  Again, perhaps it's obvious, but I had to learn it.  The light colored areas are a combination of greys and white fabrics from recent projects.

I wanted this to be made entirely from fabric that I had on hand, but I also wanted to start using soft backings like flannel and fleece for a warm cozy feel.  While shopping recently I found an excellent buy on some wide white fleece, so that will become the back.  I'm thinking about using a rainbow thread to quilt it with a free motion pattern.  Since I only feel confident about two patterns that I know it will either be stippled or looped.

So I still have some fabric to cut up but little by little I'm getting there.  I do some until I'm tired of it and then move on to something else.  I'm not sure how I'll use the scraps, but they're easier to store and should be more useful cut up into predetermined shapes.

Book #6: The Best of Me

Well, with the reading of this book I've reached by goal of reading six books in 2012.  I finished The Best of Me by Nicholas Sparks about a week ago but our beautiful autumn weather has made for busy days.  This was the perfect beach book and I did indeed start it while on vacation.  The plot involves a couple who dated in high school but life took them in separate directions after that.  They reunite years later with the usual life complications that the years tend to bring.  The beginning of the book was a bit slow with the final 100 pages being the most engaging.

So, with my 2012 goal complete, I hope to continue reading.  In fact I have the next two books already picked out.  I'm thinking of setting the same goal for next year and continuing to keep track here just as added motivation.  

Color Value: Maybe I Didn't Want to Know

I sort of jumped into quilting with both feet relying mostly on  garment sewing knowledge from my younger years and a perhaps over zealous feeling that I could pretty much do anything if I just put my mind to it.  During my first quilting experience I discovered the rotary cutter (yup....didn't even know there was such a thing) and the acrylic ruler - which I thought worked like a template.  And with each quilt I learned a bit more.

So, I've been quilting along for just short of two years now and in general have been pleased with the results.  Sure, there were things on most of the quilts that I would have done differently, but overall I was happy.  Whenever I came across something I didn't understand I would look it up online. You Tube became a great source as did Google and Bing.  Now I have a fair knowledge of most of the basics and Ive been studying on the particulars.  My Internet browsing took me to a study of "color value".  Prior to this I would have described color value as the "lightness or darkness" of a fabric.  As I read about how to arrange fabrics with color value in mind and as I looked through a site of quilter self proclaimed "ugly quilts" I began to think through my past creations and found that I was less satisfied.  The good part is that I could now identify why I thought a certain fabric didn't work.  The bad part is that now when I look at some of the quilts all I see is the piece with the "wrong" value.

To be fair, I don't think it's ALL about color value.  But something needs to tie a quilt design together.  Perhaps it's the theme like my pirate or tee shirt quilt or perhaps it's the pattern of the New Wave or Take Five quilts.  Color value does explain why some scrap quilts appeal to me and others seem too busy.  I think even with random pieces there needs to be something that draws the design together or else it just looks way too busy.  So feel free to browse my quilt gallery.  Comments are welcome.  I know that I will be keeping an eye on color value next time I have the opportunity to buy fabric or try to make something out of existing fabric.  I may even treat myself to one of those ruby value finders on one of my next shopping trips.

I guess I'm glad to know about color value.  I honestly don't think I could have absorbed the knowledge much earlier in my quilting journey.  And honestly some quilts like the fractal quilt and New Wave
                                
                                
 I think did well on color value.  But then there's the BACK of the fractal quilt. 
                               
Oh well.  Live and learn.

Scrap Update

Recently, just before my beach trip,  I mentioned that I needed to get a handle on my scraps.  Well, I've been working toward that end, but have got a bit sidelined.  In general, I'm not attracted to totally random quilts.  I like there to be something that ties the elements together - some sort of organization or direction, I guess.  So as I was sorting through my scraps I began to separate them by color and also noticed that many of them were in stripes.  So, I'm trying my hand at a scrap quilt.  I only have the start of a plan and here's what I have so far:

Clearly, blue wins out so far as my most abundant scrap color.  So my thought is to finish my color blocks and then set them in a neutral background with a border made with a few other multicolored scraps.  I'm hoping not to buy any fabric for this project.  We'll see how my creative endeavor turns out.  This is NOT all my scraps mind you.  Some are being cut into blocks as I originally planned.  And from here on out I hope to always cut my scraps into planned sizes to be stored for future projects.  I promise. Honest. I mean it.  Without a doubt!  For real.  No kidding.