Finishing Frenzy??

I wonder if I am setting up for a finishing frenzy? I got all the charm squares sewed into rows all ready to cut into  wedges. Not exactly a finish but it could be by this time next week. I bought the thread to quilt the background of the zentangle bird; that should be finished this week.  

I stitched these circles on the background today and then layered it up and I have half of the quilting finished. I plan on finishing the edges of the circles with satin stitching after all the quilting is done. I am trying to remember if I have ever done it that way. I had a reason for doing it but now I am wondering it it is a good idea. I guess it is too late now to worry about it.

I got the idea for the circles from Amy Smart at Diary of  a Quilter; she called her quilt Peppermint Pinwheels and used the Easy Dresden ruler.  I thought it was a very clever use of the stripes; when  I found some similar striped fabric my mind was made up as to what my red, white and blue quilt would be.  I want this to be a summer wall hanging in patriotic colors and I am thinking of mine as fireworks. I wanted some smaller circles and I cut my wedges for them by centering the ruler lengthwise on the light stripes. I should finish this tomorrow. Maybe I will  finish my "Rosie" it is all layered and ready to quilt. 

We'll see how long this frenzy will last.

Another background audition

I thought I would get something darker like dark blue/navy batik with some hint of green and/or purple. The more I looked at the dark blue that I have in my stash and the dark, almost black, mottled green the more I leaned toward  my original choice but I wasn't convinced that was right either. I really want lighter hues lately.

I decided that a trip to the quilt shop would help. This is what I came home with.

Big surprise, I like it. the yellow brings out the yellow in the small patches and the batik in the large wedges. It creates a glow, kind of like a fiery sunset. I am going to hang it on my design wall and leave it there for a while as I turn my mind to other things. I am going to clean up my room and make my Friendship blocks for this month and start putting the sections of the T shirt quilt together. That should give me enough time to look at it and decide if it really is what I want. I haven't changed my mind about fabric choices so many times since I was zoned in on color wash.

I am sitting here looking out my window as the sky turns pink and gold and it dawned on me that I have been watching the sunsets from my window lately and I really do believe we are influenced by what we consistently see around us.

The Basement Divas

We met yesterday to play with the circle theme. There were 12 of us there and as usual we had a good time and a great lunch. We have been talking for a while of setting up a blog as a means to stay in touch between meetings and when we miss meeting. Yesterday we finally all sat down in one place after lunch and talked it. We are very loosely organized, more like not organized and we are usually all  talking about different things. But Lori got us all together and we decided to go ahead and do it.We tossed around some ideas and  decided on a name, Basement Divas. We chose that because the basement part was obvious as we have always met in a basement and Divas because that was a challenge we had using Lorelei Sewing Diva fabric. We identified with those ladies. So far we have just set up the blog and only one post, mine; hopefully there will be a lot to see soon. Look for us here to see what we are up to.

I took my Rosie circle along yesterday and got some input about the background and the general  opinion was that none of my backgrounds were right. Here it is pinned up on two pieces of fabric that are the colors we all thought looked better than what I had. I can't decide but I do see that I have once again slipped into the color wash mode and  there is not enough contrast between my yellow orange and the pink. It all mooshes together.  I will probably shop tomorrow for either a dark blue or a dark green batik with a little  subtle color to bring out the yellow.

Rosie

I have a Rosie and much to my amazement it lays nice and flat. I have only finished the construction of the circle and I have to decide what to do with it. Do I want only one or do I want to make more and have a collage?

I am not sure about the background.Here it is laying on two background that were what I had started with.

The 2 photos side by side below are better views of the two backgrounds.

I think this bottom one is the background I am going to use. I have a large piece of this and a large piece of the one in the photo above right so either on would give me more options. The Rosie turned out to be about 20 inches in diameter so I would have to do some creative piecing to use the other greenish print.

I will be working on this tomorrow when our group meets. I have been known to get all excited about something and show up with a finished piece and nothing to work on. I am mending my ways. I will  also ask for opinions about the background.