Thursday Thumb's Up

Finally! Some progress! Lots of new things going on, but old things in the works, too!

I made my Lavender Sunrise gradient five years ago this month, not having any idea what I would do with it. I just loved the Kona solids left over from other projects so much, I thought it would be cool to string a bunch of the best colors together and see what happens.

I also made a gradient wall panel with blue leftovers at about the same time, and I finished quilting it two years later.


I'd thought about doing a desert scene on the purple panel, and I also thought a peacock might be pretty awesome. When I sat down with the chalk earlier this week, the owl is what happened.

I've now sandwiched the layers, and the wall quilt is ready for quilting. I'm probably going to do free-motion quilting. Good thing it's not huge! I'd hoped to do it on the longarm, but Lizard's quilt is still hogging up that space.


I asked Lizard about seven weeks ago what he'd like to quilt on the back-to-back wide backings I'd put together for him years ago when I first started teaching him about quilting. I thought he'd want a lizard or a roadrunner, but he asked for an elephant, perhaps because, at the time, we still thought both of us might be able to do at least a few miles of some of our favorite organized cycling events this year. Typically, our first big event each year, other than a training trip to Moab, would be Elephant Rock. There are no Moab trips on the horizon now, and Roll Massif will announce on May 7 whether the June Elephant Rock weekend will be postponed. Even if it's not, I don't know if either of us would be ready to do even the shortest route.

Lizard's Parkinson's and December knee replacement had pretty much cleared our summer schedule, and the current worldwide situation is putting the final kibosh on everything for all cyclists.

Elephant Rock is kind of the equivalent of the official start to cycling season in Colorado, so a sentimental favorite for all cyclists. I have collected several jerseys and T-shirts I intend to make into a quilt one day. I think Lizard thought he could get in on the Elephant Rock quilting trend, too, when we first put this baby on the longarm. I may help him get started on it this weekend to nudge him along; I think he may be worried his tremors will cause him to ruin any project. I want to try to help him build confidence.




A jar of avocado pit dye and a jar of avocado skin dye sat in my living room window all winter long, baking in the sun. Last week I drained the dyes and stuck a hank of crochet thread in each. I wasn't sure what color I would get, if any, because both jars were third or fourth dip after a summer and autumn of extensive dyeing.


The colors of the two new balls of thread are not dark, but I really like them and how they fit in with the existing avocado hues from last summer.




Of course, finishing up the final avocado dyes made me yearn for more... And it isn't freezing at night anymore. Perfect time for tacos and burritos!!! And more avocado skin and pit dye! Both jars are on the porch, catching the afternoon sun every day. If we do get another cold burst (which typically happens every Mother's Day or later), I'll bring the jars in, then stick them back outside when the danger of freeze is gone. And in another month or so, I will have at least a couple more balls of freshly dyed crochet thread. I'm hoping for a couple of hanks of darker shades for a motif project I've been working on for an upcoming Snowflake Monday for about three months now.


It's not fiber, but it's just a little like quilting. I have a very hard time throwing out glass bottles that would look great as vases. Before Shelter in Place had begun, I had ordered a few mosaic tiles to see if I could do something fancy with some of the bottles. I've now finished my first two vases, and I think I've developed a whole new addiction.






Linking up with Alycia Quilts and Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

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