Tuesday, January 28, 2014

In the deep midwinter

Living in Michigan, that fact that it's cold in January should come as no surprise. In this drafty old barn of a house, wind chill has a whole new meaning. Working in the studio, with windows on all four walls, has been nearly impossible. My little fireplace/furnace has been struggling to bring the temperature over fifty degrees!

Instead, I've been camping out in the living room. It's at the opposite end of the house, on the lee side, making it possible to actually take the chill off. I've filled my days with knitting and spinning, and binges of British TV dramas. I've just finished the last season of Doc Martin and I'd really like to smack Louisa on the back of the head.

It's been gray, heavy skies filled with snow. On the one hand, I've always liked that hunkered down feeling that comes with typical winter weather. On the other hand, I am desperate for color.


And then this fabric showed up in the mail. The print fabric is the focus of this year's Pilgrim & Roy Challenge, a fund raiser for the quilt museum in Paducah, KY. A dozen quilters are invited to work with this crazy fabric, to create a quilt that will be auctioned off during Quilt Week for AQS.

The envelope sat unopened on my cutting table for several days, until my BFF (Karen Boutte), who is also taking part in the challenge, asked me what I thought of this year's fabric. I got the impression that she wasn't keen on what we had to work with.

What spilled out of the envelope was this bright, colorful, joyful fabric! I immediately decided to go whimsical, and pawed through my stash of polka dots. What's happier than polka dots? I'm still kicking around the design, but you know it will include applique. What do you think?

9 comments:

  1. Love, love, love the fabric & with polka dots whatever you do will be so happy and cheerful! Maybe I share your love of this fabric because I'm also a Michigander! Hubby and I retired here (from CA) in August because we have family here. We're sure getting a unique welcome to Michigan this winter!

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  2. Such fun colors and patterns!

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  3. What cheery fabric. Love the polka dots.

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  4. I LOVE those bright, happy colors. I'm so glad you received them to brighten your day/weeks.

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  5. Absolutely LOVE the fabric. It reminds me of my home state of New Mexico. I live in central NY now, so I definitely know what you mean about the cold and the need for color at this time of year.

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  6. Nancy1:22 PM

    I love it, too. I can't wait to see what you come up with.

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  7. Anonymous3:50 PM

    Love the fabric can't wait to see what you do with it! I live in Michigan to and I am getting tried of the cold and snow. Try to keep warm! Lorie

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  8. I love your choice of fabrics, they are so happy and bright. They definitely do cheer up a winter 's day.

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  9. I think Yeowza!! Glorious, beautiful colors!!

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