PQ 16.2 - Ombre

I was thrilled when I saw the subject of this week's challenge!  I was introduced to the concept of ombre (though it wasn't specifically called that) when I took a class taught by Karen Combs.  The class was about Optical Illusion quilts and it employed shades of colors to simulate light and shadow. I made a few blocks, but had never actually finished a quilt with the technique. 

But the class opened my eyes to the power of using shades and gradients of colors in quilting.   A few years after the class, I was a member of the Quiltmaker Magazine's initial "Scrap Addicts".  That group was charged with making scrap quilts based on Bonnie Hunter's column in that publication.  One of the quilts that I made was a queen sized log cabin made from 7 1/2 inch log cabin blocks from 1 1/2 inch strips from my stash.  I used purple blocks as an off-center focal point, then used blue, green, yellow, etc.  blocks shaded  to pinks in the corners.   It actually won a ribbon for Best Use of Color at my guild's quilt show that year.

I made Pat Sloan's Rainbow quilt during the pandemic, which also used the technique of color gradients.

So while I knew that I 'could' make another rainbow quilt for this challenge because a rainbow is after all, a gradient, I ultimately decided to go in a different direction.  Combining black and white with a 1/2 yard of teal ombre fabric that I found in my stash, I decided to make attic window blocks and set them light to dark from top to bottom and right to left. Using white on the bottom of each block and black on the sides gives the illusion of depth.

When I took a picture, I was surprised to see that another optical illusion showed up.  The teal blocks are all 2 1/2 inches finished, but they look shorter toward the bottom than they do at the top. I'm sure that there is a scientific explanation for this, but I'm running out of time to get the picture linked to the PQ 16.2 blog page, so it will have to wait!

Attic Windows
36 inches square

Project Quilting 16.1 - Mythical Creatures

True to form, I am back to blogging only because it is Project Quilting time! That means that I need to remember how to do all the settings to make the formatting on this post consistent with the way it's been since I started about 10 years ago. Ten years? Really? Wow.  I'll think about that later.  In the meantime...

Project Quilting has changed a bit this year. There are still bi-weekly challenges, but no prizes. I'm ambivalent about that. I really don't need anymore 'stuff'. But the fact that you had to finish on time in order to qualify for a prize gave me the extra incentive to actually finish on time! Which I didn't this for this challenge.  In a way, I like it - no sleepless nights with ideas rolling through my brain, so much less stress!

The first challenge of PQ 16.1 is Mythical Creatures. I remembered an applique that was created by Karen Montgomery which is either a gnome or a leprechaun, depending on which hat and beard you use. I had used a variation of that applique when I made my 'gnome' take on Any Which Way, which itself was a take on the Wicked movie poster. (P Q 12.4  - https://myquiltymusings.blogspot.com/2021/02/project-quilting-124-snails-trail.html)

I've decided that I am going to have seasonal wall hangings in my sewing room this year. I don't have one for March, so I decided to make the Leprechaun for this challenge.   It's so rare that I actually finish a seasonal project before the season!  I'm happy that I finished in time for St. Patrick's Day even if I didn't  finish this project in time for the challenge. 

I decided to name him Cornelius, after my Irish great grandfather.  Cornelius the Leprechaun looked a little lonely sitting there with his feet dangling over the bottom border, so I gave him a giant shamrock to keep him company.  I cut some hearts out of the border fabric, and put four of them together to make the shamrock. I had a few left, so they became the leaves. I used a straight stitch on my sewing machine to make a gentle curved stem and just went up and down the original stitching to make it thicker.  

I thought about trying to free motion quilt shamrocks all over the border and background, but chickened out and just did loop-de-loops. 

Cornelius the Leprechaun
13.5 x 17.5 

Now I just have to wait until after Valentine's Day so that I can put up  my new St. Patrick's Day wallhanging!