Rainbows, flowers and poltergeists

The rainbow strings blocks are done! I think they're wonderful!


I would never have been able to make this from my own fabrics since I don't have much of a stash (yet!), but because this is for Project Linus, I used fabrics donated to the guild for charity quilts. I did raid my own stash a few times, especially for orange and purple. The blocks are so heavy that I had to pin them to my design wall. I think I'll leave them there a few days just to look at them!

My sample origami flower is also done. There are some raw edges from cutting out the back that are a bit troublesome at the petal tips. I hope I can deal with it when I applique the flower. Right now it's just lying on a piece of fabric, and the button is one that -- oops! -- fell off my shirt. I'll find something a little more appropriate for the final project.


And now for something completely different ...

Good photos make good blogs. Well, that's not all there is to it, but some blogs are just gorgeous to look at. Lisa Boyer at That Dorky Homemade Look recently posted a photo tutorial that sounded pretty simple, so I thought I'd give it a try. She calls for two pieces of foam core, but I could only find one stashed behind the recycling in the garage, so I thought for the time being I'd use a white afghan for the backdrop. Bad idea. I chose origami as my subject, since I think my last origami photo (a couple posts ago) may be in contention for the Worst Photo Ever prize. I put a few pieces down and looked through the lens expecting to see this:

Instead I saw this:

The poltergeists that made me cut the rainbow blocks the wrong size and finished the carrots when I wasn't looking must have pushed a button somewhere on my camera. I can't find that button (and I can't find my camera book, which I think they also hid), but I finally was able to locate a reset button and return to the default settings. Actually, I am very glad to discover this feature and once I figure out how to control it, it could be quite useful. By then I'll have bought a second piece of foam core.

And finally, more on the Chicago Quilt Show. Many of you seemed to think the batik blocks in my other post were all I bought. Oh my, thank you for crediting me with such restraint! But do you think I'm nuts? How could I leave my little town and go to the Big Quilt Show in the Big City and not come home with bags of scrumptious fabrics? Here's a fat quarter pack of African fabrics I picked up.

I love African fabrics but I don't know how to use them. One of my first quilts was an African Coins quilt for Jocelyn (my older DD), but I used batiks.

And here's another photo from the show. My poltergeist seems to be working at Blogger for the moment because I cannot get this photo to load right side up, so tilt your head to the left when you look.

This quilt is Floral Fortitude by Pat Doyle Mikrut. It's such a happy quilt!