Tiny Sunset quilt

Last summer my daughter sent me this picture of a sunset on Martha's Vineyard:

I've been thinking of ways to use some of my shibori fabric (and tons of other fabric that I have dyed) and came up with this little picture (about 10" x 15").  It doesn't quite look like the photograph, however...

I got a thread-painting lesson over the weekend (thanks, Jenny!) and added a bit of it to this picture.  She showed me how to use 2 layers of a water-soluble solvy material, with tulle in the middle, and build up lots of layers.   

So, while it really doesn't look anything like the original picture, it was fun, fast, and easy (except for the thread sketching, which took a while to do).   Lots of people make smaller sample pieces before committing to a larger piece, and I think I'll start doing that, too. 

Another topic--totally different.  Jane Sassaman has a new book out, Patchwork Sassman Style, and there have been about 100 giveaways this month on blogs, but I gave up trying to win and actually bought the book last week.  For the past 2 years or so, I've been buying her fabric on clearance on-line and in stores, wherever I saw it.  

Her fabric is kind of unusual, and I think it doesn't appeal to everyone.  Large prints are kind of hard to work with sometimes, so her book is full of patterns and suggestions for using these prints--one is by finding other patterns using the two-mirror technique, as shown in the next two pictures.

Another with the fabric alone:

 And with the mirrors:

I'm not sure I'm up to this, as it looks pretty complicated.  According to Jane, it really isn't, so maybe I'll give it a shot.  I'll just have to decide on one of the patterns in the book and try it out.

Hot pink for hot days

Thank goodness I had something to work on inside this weekend.  Another day in a seemingly endless string of 100+ degree F days.  I've been wanting to make a Ricky Tims convergence quilt for a while now, and found a great piece of rainbow colored hand dyed fabric in my studio (garage) that was just waiting to be sliced up.

This technique is really simple, and goes together quickly.  It's a little busier than I would have liked, but acceptable for my first try.  Without the border, it measures around 27 x 27 inches.

For my next convergence quilt, I think I'll use a hand-dyed piece with fewer colors and see how it turns out.

Anyways, I quilted this on Sunday for the SewCalGal free motion quilting project of the month.  For July, Angela Walters had a tiled method of free motion quilting, where you divide the piece into separate "tiles" or areas and quilt each section, then move on to the next.

This was almost too easy after the last few challenges!

The thread I used was a Madeira Neon Pink in a 50 weight.  The spool was just a tiny bit too big for my machine to fit comfortably in either the vertical or horizontal position, but I finally hit on a combination that worked.  Lots of broken threads to bury.  I have to get better at burying them as I go, instead of waiting until the end.

The only picture I took of the whole piece was out of focus--that's what happens when you try to rush things at 6:00 a.m. while rushing around getting ready for work.

It's actually supposed to cool down into the 90s today and tomorrow, and maybe be in the 80s later in the week.  What a relief!