~ The Color Wheel is Alive & Well ~

My current project is just a joy to work on.  You see I have chosen turquoise, orange and hot pink as my palette and there is a reason those colors make me happy.

Remember back in Art Class in Junior High and how we were all taught that complementary colors provide the ultimate in contrast?

Well ... that's a good thing!

Even my cutting mat wants to get in on the act.

You can correctly assume that DOTS will be involved.

And Joy.

These colors bring me JOY.

How about you? What's your favorite color combo?

~ Seascape II: Now in the 21st Century ~

I apologize most profusely for my lack of attention here.  I just want it on the record that 

It's not entirely my fault.

My computer ... officially older than dirt ... gave me so many Blue Screens that I was actually beginning to lose my fondness for the color Blue.  Until a new computer was purchased and installed, I was forced to avoid any action involving pictures which seemed to upset the old gal.

To add to the fun, when I was finally up and running again, Blogger and Picasa got into some sort of a fight and would not play well together,

Has anyone else had this problem?

In the meantime, I spent a great deal of time sewing on my latest project, this fun little Seascape, complete with a lush green beach and some happy little star fish -- both on the sand and under water.

When it came time to machine quilt the sand, I decided to give myself a challenge: Pebble Stitching. In the end, we are talking about 6 hours of pebble stitching.

I can officially say that I have improved my skills at pebble stitching.

Oh it feels good to be back in the cyberspace saddle.

I am really enjoying the 21st Century!

And loving the color Blue once again.

~ Supplies ~ Shopping ~

So ... I was gone last week on a quick jaunt over to (my former home of) 

the great state of Arizona.

The purpose of my trip was to see friends ... which I did with abandon ... but also to stock up on a few needed supplies.  Along with shopping at my former place of employment, Bernina Connection, I also happened upon the happy accident that was the AQS Show where I spent one day and a whole lot of moola.

One of the "needs" on my list were some fabrics with sparkle.  Let's face it, the ocean is sparkly. Imagine my delight when I came across a table chock full of sparkly fat quarters at The Fat Quarter Queen.

The greatest thing that I came away from the AQS Show with was pure, unadulterated inspiration from the multitude of talent that was there for the viewing. And inhaling. But ... not touching.

Thank you Arizona. Thank you AQS.  

Thank you LifeLong Friends!

~ There is More on Instagram! ~

If you have noticed a decided decrease in posts here ... there is a reason.

Although I have NO intention of turning my back on my blog, I am putting pictures much more frequently on my Sea Quilts Instagram account.

@seaquilts

Please follow me there for more of a daily (eh, 3-5 times weekly) report on my quilting pursuits.

And please ... don't forget to check back here.

P.S. The quilt pictured above is an enlargement (24" x 24") of the mini piece (10" x 10") that was featured in the October issue of Quilting Arts Magazine.

~ Coastal Sunglass Cases ~

So ... I have been busy.  Busy picking a new set of fabrics every 30 minutes which pretty much put me in a heavenly state.  The picking of fabrics is my favorite part of this process, although all the others fall closely behind.

I have been busy making eyeglass/sunglass cases that are now for sale on my Etsy Shop.

First: Octopi, as seen above.

Next: Sea Horses.

And last but not least: Surfboards.

And just in case you were wondering ... the tornado that attacked my fabric shelves during this process ... was tamed.  

It was a very good week.

~ A Happy Mess ~

A work in progress.

Surrounded by mess.

Note to self:  Clean Studio.

Later.

~ Just Nesting ~

Happy New Year!

It was an absolutely magical Christmas for me this year, both in my own home and in my 10 days of travel.

When I first put up my decorations, I felt a panic about the shorter season and told myself that when I returned (on January 1st) I would give myself permission to leave the tree and the decor and the lights up for longer if I wanted to.

Yeah ... I took them all down within 24 hours of my arrival home.

I'm like that.

Well, I hope you revelled in a wonderful season yourself.  I also hope that if you want to leave your decorations up that you will indeed.  And if you want them down, I wish that process to go speedily.

Don't you love my nesting dolls?!? I have collected them for years, but these are very special ones.  They were personally hand picked (duh ... look at the colors) for me by my son and his wife ... on a trip to Russia this fall.

So curl up or clean up.  Just look ... up ... in 2014!