Colorways By Vicki Welsh
  • Welcome
  • Shop
    • Hand Dyed Fabric
    • Glass
    • Just Plain Soap
  • Blog
  • Galleries
    • Customer Gallery >
      • Project Submission Form
    • Quilt Gallery >
      • 2021
      • 2020 >
        • Jackies Choice Quilt
        • Penguins on Ice Quilt
        • Corona Cats Quilt
        • Kim's Garden
      • 2019 >
        • Indonesian Batik Quilt
        • Lost My Marbles
        • Remaking Flora's quilt
        • I'm Not a Snowflake Quilt
        • Where In The World Is My Cat Quilt
        • Fireworks
        • The Groovy Quilts
        • The Puppy Quilt
      • 2018 >
        • The Maine Quilt
        • Stars At Sea
        • Antelope Canyon Quilt
      • 2017 >
        • The Wedding Quilt Quilt
        • Rainbow's End Quilt
      • 2016 >
        • CSQ Challenge Quilt
        • Wholecloth Quilt of Valor
        • Luras Choice Quilt
        • Black Swan Quilt
        • 2016 Quilt of Valor Quilt
        • Non Unus Pluma Quilt
      • 2015 >
        • Snaps Quilt
        • Batik Crossroads Quilt
        • Wild Goose Chase Quilt
        • Fractured Fragments Quilt
        • Tell It To the Stars Quilt
        • Cathedral Window Quilt
        • Time In Place Quilt
        • Shaken Not Stirred Quilt
        • Pleiades Quilt
      • 2014 >
        • Spinning Stars Quilt
        • Fractured Spiral Quilt
        • Autumn Leaves Quilt
        • Sea Dreams Quilt
        • Woodland Star Quilt
        • Zombie Ball Quilt
        • Innova Angles Quilt
      • 2013 >
        • Murder For a Jar of Red Rum Quilt
        • Patroitic Quilts
        • Red Sunset Bedding Quilt
        • The Infamous Fish Quilt
        • Gratitudes Quilt
      • 2012 >
        • Illuminated Blocks Quilt
        • Kims Wedding Quilt
        • Crossing The South Anna Quilt
        • Coming Home Quilt
        • See Reverse Quilt
        • Overboard Quilt
        • Floras Fans and Modern Crumbs Quilt
        • The Patriot Quilt
        • On Point Quilt
        • Grinch Quilts
      • 2011 >
        • Star Struck Quilt
        • On A Whim Quilt
        • Catena Quilt
        • Zig Zag Scraps Quilt
        • Purple Keepsakes Quilt
        • Fiberactions Challenge Quilts
        • Journal Quilts 2011
      • 2010 >
        • Maggie the Messmaker Cross Stitch
        • Fiberactions Challenge Quilts
        • Wootten Memory Quilts
        • Teal Tomorrow Quilt
      • 2009 >
        • Shereen's Peaceful Garden
        • TShirt Quilt Commission
        • Three Generation Quilt
      • 2008 >
        • Flora's Quilts
        • Monkey Baby Quilts
        • Citrus Quilt
      • 2007 >
        • Snails Trail Quilts
        • Quilts of Valor
        • Other Quilts
      • 2006 and older >
        • Scrap Bin Quilt
        • Flora's Dutchman's Breeches
        • The Gift Quilts
        • Reversible Quilts
        • Spectacular Scraps Quilts
        • Foundation Pieced Quilts
        • Art Quilts
        • Kathy's Memorial Quilt
    • Symmetry Quilt Gallery
    • Dyeing Gallery >
      • Tie Dye Gallery
      • Shibori Gallery
    • Postcard Gallery
    • Fused Glass Gallery
    • Mosaic Gallery
    • Zentangle and Spirograph
  • Tutorials
    • Save My Bleeding Quilt
    • Postcard Tutorials >
      • Silver Christmas Tree Postcard
      • Easy Framed Motif Postcard
      • Trash to treasure postcards
      • Holiday Ornament Postcard
      • Postcard as a Door Hanger
      • Plaid Tree Postcard Tutorial
      • Button Tree Postcard
      • Fireworks Postcard Tutorial
    • Quilting Tutorials >
      • The Gift Quilt Pattern
      • Keepsakes Quilt Pattern
      • Blocking a Quilt
      • Facing A Quilt Tutorial
      • Veterans Quilt Tutorials >
        • Allegiance Quilt Pattern
        • Gratitudes Quilt Pattern
        • Strength Quilt Pattern
        • Blockade Quilt Pattern
        • Redoubt Quilt Pattern
        • Regiment Quilt Pattern
        • Bars and Stripes Quilt Pattern
      • Rainbow Quilt Free Pattern
      • Binding a Quilt
    • Surface Design Tutorials >
      • Snow Dyeing basics tutorial
      • Snow Dyeing Mandala
      • Sun Printing Tutorial
      • Lamp Printing Tutorial
      • Dyeing extra large fabrics
      • Hold the Retayne
      • Painted Shower Curtain Tutorial
      • Metallic Paint Effects on Fabric
      • Curing Metallic Fabric Paints
      • Zentange Pens
      • Leaf Printing Tutorial
      • Printing On Fabric
      • Life of MX Dye Concentrates
      • Testing Soda Ash in fabric dyeing
    • Color Theory
    • Placemat Tutorials >
      • Rise and Shine Placemat Tutorial
      • Coming Home Placemat Tutorial
      • Mineral Pool Placemat Tutorial
      • Sugar Maple Placemats
      • Fat Quarter Placemat Tutorial
      • Merry Mats Placemat Tutorial
    • Basic Tutorials >
      • Custom Sewing Table
      • Liquid Spray Starch Recipe
    • Crafts and Small Projects >
      • Large Tote Tutorial
      • Big Fabric Flower Tutorial
      • The best potholders pattern
      • Notebook Cover Tutorial
      • Pillowcase tutorial
      • Wide Brim Sun Visor
      • Trash To Treasure Holiday Ornaments
      • Pet Bed From Scraps Tutorial
      • Framed Metal Quilt
      • Shooting Shirt Tutorial
      • Making Paper
      • Making Soap
      • Favorite Soap Reicpes
      • Lotion Making
      • Bowl hot pad pattern
    • Longarm Quilting Tutorials >
      • The longarm machine does matter
      • Double Wavy Crosshatch
      • Wavy Crosshatch Longarm
      • Quilting Letters on a Quilt
      • Centering a Quilt back on a longarm
      • Quilting Snowball Blocks
      • Easy Longarm Piano Keys
      • Using Channel Locks
      • Sewing/Serging quilt backing to zippers
      • Adding backing on the longarm
  • Contact
  • Newsletter
  • Privacy Policy

July Audiobooks

7/31/2019

 
You can tell that it's mold season in Virginia and I'm spending most of my time indoors. I listened to a possible record 14 books this month! There's a lot of love and hate in the list this month. My favorite fiction books were Ask Again, Yes and Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. My favorite non-fiction books were Midnight in Chernobyl and The emperor of All Maladies. The Chernobyl book is so good that it reads like a novel. 

There are a few books on the list this month that I flat out hated. That's not a big surprise because I take more risks now that I get free books from the library. If I had to pay for it, for example, I would have never bought In Pieces and probably also Where The Crawdad Sings. I've got some pretty mean reviews this month. Please don't take offense if you disagree. We all have opinions and I'm no book editor. I just know what I like. You are very welcome to offer your different view in the comments! I'm also always happy to get your recommendations.
Picture
The Splendor Before the Dark
By Ruth Downie, Narrated By Steve West, Katherine McEwan and Susan Denaker

July started off much better than June ended with this novel.

Margaret George writes incredibly well researched historical fiction. This one is the second in her Nero series. I read the first, Confession of a Young Nero, a year ago. This one picks up 10 years into his reign with the great fire of Rome and follows through the end of his life. Most of the written history about Nero was written 100 years or more after his death. George has included more modern research and findings into this possible history of the last of the Caesars. 

Picture
In Pieces
By Sally Field

This book is a heavy read. It's not the typical celebrity lighthearted book about what it was like to work on certain films or to work with certain people. This book is Sally Field's personal therapy session rehashing all the troubled times in her life - and she had plenty of them. For me it was way too much information and I didn't particularly enjoy it. 

Picture
Ask Again, Yes
By Mary Beth Keane, Narrated By Molly Pope

This book was a lovely surprise. I didn't expect to like it and instead I couldn't put it down.

It's about 2 families (the Stanhopes and Gleesons) living next door to each other. The men were rookie cops together in NYC. Their children, Kate Gleeson and Peter Stanhope were best friends from a young age and fell in love as teens. Then tragedy struck that tore both families apart. The story is about Kate and Peter's love story and the complexities brought into it from the past. 

But it's more than a love story. It's about how we change, how we deal with tragedy, how we forgive and what happens if we don't forgive, don't accept and don't move forward.

Picture
 Midnight in Chernobyl
By Adam Higginbotham, Narrated By Jacques Roy

This book has gotten a lot of press lately so if you follow book reviews you have probably heard about it already. I generally am wary of effusive reviews but, in this case, all of the positive reviews are well deserved.

I can't imagine the hours and hours of time that Higgnebotham invested over the 10 years that he spent researching this book but it's clear that this was his personal life's work for that time. I can't imagine any aspect of the Chernobyl disaster that he did not investigate and follow.

The book is not at all political or putting forth an opinion about nuclear energy. It's simply an honest look at what happened, how it happened, how it was handled and the long term impacts. But you can't help but draw from it an observation about the inherent risks when the state controls both the production and regulation of industry.

​I couldn't put it down. If you watched the HBO special on Chernobyl you should really read this book. That "documentary" had a lot of false information for the sake of ratings and viewership. It's a very unfair and inaccurate representation of the events and consequences of the Chernobyl disaster.

Picture
Hotel at the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
By Jamie Ford, Narrated by Feodor Chin

This book was first published 10 years ago but it's only been lately that I've heard about it. Several people recommended it to me and I'm so glad that they did. It's a lovely book.

The story starts in 1986 and Henry Lee is standing outside the abandoned Panama Hotel that marked the entrance to Seattle's Japantown. The hotel is being remodeled and the owner has found boxes of property belonging to Japanese residents who were sent to internment camps in WWII. Henry ( of Chinese descent) met Keiko Okabe (of Japanese descent) in the 1940's when they both attended a white school as scholarship children. They bonded over Jazz music.

Henry's father objected to Henry having any relationship with Keiko. The story flips back and forth between the 40's and 80's and reveals the sacrifices that Henry has made for his family throughout his life. It's a really lovely story about friendships, family and life choices. I can't wait to listen to another of Jamie Ford's books. The narration was perfect.

Picture
City of Girls
By Elizabeth Gilbert, Narrated by Blair Brown

Did you read and enjoy The Boston Girl by Anita Diamant?  If so then this book is for you!

Eighty-nine year old, Vivian received a letter from Angela. Angela knows that Vivian and her father had a relationship and now that both of her parents are dead she is ready to ask Vivian to tell her about the relationship with her father. That's the frame for the telling of Vivian's life story. That part of the story felt really contrived and forced element to the story because what followed was every single detail of Vivian's life. That doesn't mean it's a bad book but it's an awkward frame.

Vivian's tale starts in the 1040's when she's kicked out of Vassar and is sent to NYC to live with her Aunt Peg and Peg's girlfriend, Olive. Peg runs the small neighborhood theater, Lily Playhouse, and Vivian, with her exceptional sewing skills, becomes the costume designer. Vivian also leaps into a free-wheeling city party scene. One of the funniest scenes in the book is when Vivian loses her virginity. Vivian soon discovers that she loves living a promiscuous life. But that promiscuity catches up with her with a mistake that ruins her life in the city. She returns home to her WASP parent's home and tries to forge a more "expected" life.

The start of WWII give her an opportunity to live the life she wants to live. She makes a very happy life unapologetic life in NYC until someone from her past reappears. Olive helps guide her through the anger and hurt with my second favorite passage that I'm calling the "Field of Honor speech". A whole lot of people need these days need a dose of the Field of Honor speech.

Blair Brown did an excellent job narrating this book but if I ever asked someone a question and received 15 detail of that person's life I would not be so pleased. The story was well told and I consider this a great beach read but aside from her sewing career, I wouldn't consider Vivian a particularly interesting person to hang out with. ​I'd be more interested in knowing her to learn her costuming skills.

Picture
Lost Empire
By Clive Cussler, Narrated by Scott Brick

I read the fist book in the Sam and Remi Fargo series last month and you might remember my lukewarm review. Now that I get books from the library (free) I'm more willing to take risks and try books out. The library had this book, the second in the series, so I put it on hold. I got it faster than I expected and finished it as quickly as I could.

I knew from the beginning that I wasn't going to lover it and that the criticisms that I had from the first one were legitimate. This one is the EXACT same plot as the first one. Sam and Remi are on a trip and happen upon some relic that and evil rich person has been trying to find for years. I would swear that some of the dialogue is truly identical in the 2 books. The characters are all very cliche, the conversations between Sam and Remi are all to clever, especially when they are in one of the many near-death situations.

Biggest eye-roll moment came when they arrive in Atlanta on one of their MANY carbon spewing trips all over the world  Sam rents an SUV. Remy is about to scold him when he reveals that it's a hybrid. Oh well, then, we're all OK and can continue our daily plan rides while we illegally dig up artifacts. But it's all in the name of saving history. 

It's the romance novel of the suspense genre and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. Sometimes you just need an easy read that doesn't require too much analysis. On those days Cussler is your author.

Picture
The Emperor of All Maladies
By Siddhartha Mukerjee, Narrated By Stephen Hoye

So far this month all of my books have come from the library and I read them in the order that I receive them. I rarely find a book that doesn't already have a wait list. This book was published in 2010 and I had to wait several weeks to get my copy. That's about all you need to know to assess whether it's a good book.

The Emperor of all maladies is cancer and this book is a very thorough and understandable of our research and treatment of cancer. I think reading this book will give you a deep appreciation of the complexities of the disease, empathy for the doctors and researchers who dedicate their lives to the disease and an understanding of the limitations of treatment.

Two years ago I read The Gene by this same author and it's still one of my all-time favorite books. This book was written first and, now that I've read this one, I can see why he needed to write The Gene after he finished this. Gene research and therapy is really the future of all medicine. The last few chapters of this book are all about the advances in cancer gene research and therapy so The Gene was a perfect follow up.

This book will give you a great perspective on the history of cancer and The Gene will take you into the future but with history of gene research. Thanks to Kristen (I think) for recommending this one to me.



Picture
Dark Tide Rising
By Anne Perry, Narrated By David Colachi

This is the 24th book in the William Monk series. These books are set in Victorian England and Monk is Commander of the Thames River Police. This one opens with Monk being asked to accompany someone to pay a ransom. Of course it ends in murder and sets Monk off on a new investigation.

After I finished this book I started thinking about the difference between Anne Perry, John Sandford and Vince Flynn novels (that I like) and the Clive Cussler series that I wrote about above. I think it all comes down to character development. Throughout the 24 books in the Monk series the characters grow and develop. We know their weaknesses and their strengths. They gain and lose friends and family. Life moves forward. In the Cussler books Remy and Sam are not very deep characters. Every sticky situation draws on some nearly-magical skill from some past experience. Bad (or illegal) actions don't have consequences because it's all for a "greater good".  In each book they escape dozens of life-threatening events and it all wraps up in a nice little vignette back at home. There's no depth and no change for the characters.

In the Monk novels I look forward to seeing what Hester and Scuff are up to and if Monk might remember something from his past. Every character changes and grows throughout the series. I think it's more difficult to write like that but it makes all the difference in the quality of the book.

Picture
Food: A Cultural Culinary History
The Great Courses
By Ken Albala

This is a mostly interesting and in-depth of food development and consumption from the ancient times to current days. It started off great and I enjoyed all of the early lectures that covered the Stone Age through the Middle Ages. But once he got into the Colombian Exchange, the Industrial Revolution and modern tastes he climbed higher and higher on his soapbox. He had an agenda and he didn't deviate. His lecture on GMO food was full of factual errors. He rails against "so called labor saving devices" of the post-war era like canned and frozen food. His vision for the future of food is laughable. It's clear that he has a dream of going back to the "good ole days" of subsistence farming and living off a few basic food items.

It wasn't my favorite of The Great Course. That still remains The Addictive Brain.

Picture
Keep Her Safe
By K. A. Tucker, multiple narrators

I'm guessing that I picked this one us as one of the Audible Deal of the Day books. 

Noah Marshall is the son of the Chief of Police of Austin, TX and one night while Noah is taking a shower she kills herself. Two days later his mother's attorney gives Noah a letter with instructions to deliver something to her former partner's daughter, Gracie Richards. Gracie's father was killed in an apparent drug bust gone bad.

Now Noah and Gracie are determined to figure out the truth.

The plot of this is actually very interesting and could have been developed into a pretty solid mystery but apparently Tucker writes romance/suspense so it's a little of both genres and probably not enough of either.  

There were 4 narrators for the 4 main characters and I didn't think that worked so well. The narrator for Gracie was the least effective. She pronounced words like and English professor not in a conversational way that people really talk.

Picture
American Wolf
By Nate Blakeslee, Narrated By Mark Bramhall

This is the story of the reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone. The author tries to present a balanced narrative of pro- and anti-wolf points of view but the book is completely pro-wolf. After reading this book you would believe that the reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone (and therefore the entire Northwest) has been nothing but beneficial for the area. There absolutely are many benefits but I don't think he fairly presents the effect on the landowners and ranchers outside of the park and is certainly doesn't even whisper a mention of what a devastation it has been on the moose population (down from 1000 to 200). In fact, Yellowstone uses the current politically correct position that the moose population decline is due to climate change, which is completely ridiculous. Just a minimal amount of research on the web will produce a number of charts showing that where moose and wolves co-exist moose population suffer as wolf populations grow. The same has happened with the elk population. Maybe that's a good thing, maybe not. You aren't going to find out with this book.

Where this book succeeds is by anthropomorphizing specific wolves in the Yellowstone population so that when one of the "celebrities" is legally killed outside the Park, it becomes an international incident. The people profiled in this book are obsessed in the level of Jane Goodall and, honestly, I think they all should take a break every now and then and see how the real world operates. They are in such an echo chamber of information that they inevitably make the entire situation with the wolves polarizing. 

I don't know enough about the whole situation to have a strong opinion and I didn't feel like the information that I got in this book was balanced enough for me to make a truly educated judgement. This book is all about protecting the wolves at all costs, including reneging on agreements made to the surrounding states to get them to allow the reintroduction of the wolf in the first place. It cleverly uses emotional attachment to specific wolves to get the reader emotionally attached to the cause. As for books on animal behavior, I liked How To Tame A Fox (and Make A Dog) much better.

Picture
The Deep, Deep Snow
By Brian Freeman, Narrated by January Lavoy

This book is on my reading list because it was an Audible Daily Deal. It is apparently an "Audible original" so this is the only place you can get it.

The publisher's summary opens with this:
“The first thing you should know about me is that I believe in signs. Omens. Premonitions. I grew up believing that things happen for a reason. That’s the only way to explain why I’m alive.”

The truth is that Deputy Shelby Lake (and the FBI) seem to wait for omens and clues to jump right in front of them. Nothing else would explain the slog you are taken through a maudlin and cliche-filled story. The "omens" add up to periodic sightings of snowy owls. Oh look, there's a snowy owl, time to have an epiphany! Oh look, a snowy owl, time to find a clue! The story moves ahead on jumps of time from months to years as if every so often they open a file drawer and think "maybe we should look at the case again". Deputy Lake is one of the most lethargic and emotionless main characters that I've seen in a long time. She certainly doesn't have a reputation for ambition or ability to solve crimes but once in the 10 years span she has a major epiphany and every mystery for the past 10 years is solved.

I'm kind of annoyed at myself that I bothered finishing it. Had I actually looked at my book rating spreadsheet I would have seen that I read another book by this author 2 years ago and hated it and I could have saved myself the bother!


Just as I was typing this I got notice that Where the Crawdad Sings has become available on Libbie so I'm hoping for better reading ahead!

Picture
Where The Crawdad Sings
By Delia Owens, Narrated By Cassandra Campbell

​Well, ignore the last sentence of the previous review. I know this book has a HUGE fan base and I do understand why but I despised this book.

There's some lovely poetic writing and the premise of the book is interesting so I can see the general interest in the book. But I have no patience for poor research and gross stereotyping even in fiction and I am fed up with stupid hick stereotypes of Southern people. Let me give you some examples.

First, this book is set in the 1950's and 1960's but if there wasn't a date mentioned at the beginning of each chapter you would swear that it's post-depression era. Apparently Southern folks don't change their dress, behaviors, music or fashion with the times. But they name their children with names that weren't in use until the late '70's at the earliest. No one named their sons Chase and Tate in the late 40's and early 50's. You can find charts online to prove that and a decent editor would have caught it.

The author has apparently never visited North Carolina or even looked at a map of that wonderful state. She's from Georgia and lives in Idaho. The fictional town has to be located on the coast between Myrtle Beach and Wilmington. Now if you lived there and was sent to buy inventory supplies for your Dad's business where would you go? Maybe Fayetteville, Charlotte, Raleigh or even Charleston but you would NOT travel to Asheville!  Asheville has never been a commerce center. It is, and always has been, a vacation and artisan center. Did this book even have an editor?

The main characters are in their late teens and early 20's in the 1960's, a time of a complete renaissance in music and yet Chase plays old gospel type music for Kya. Chase was the most popular boy in town (the quarterback) and was a great womanizer. That type of boy doesn't chase a swamp recluse and serenade her with old time music. He would have been listening to Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis and Roy Orbison.

Actually, the whole premise is complete fantasy. A 6 year old girl winds up abandoned and  raises herself selling mussels to a local marina operator/fish monger/store operator. EVERYONE in town knows that she's on her own and they do absolutely nothing about it. There isn't a 6 year old that could survive this. If nothing else she would be severely malnourished and not grow up to be the mystical beauty that she became.  The school truant officer makes a few attempts to get her but eventually gives up. The marina operator, a kind black man, and his wife help her out by buying her mussels and with free clothes and other things but at some point did these people once consider taking this child in? NO. The reader is left with the impression that she lives in such a remote place that it's impossible to find her. The only way to visit her is by boat and that's how she gets around. Miraculously the other popular boy in school befriends her and teaches her to read and write. Surprise, she's a brilliant science researcher, artist and writer! Around this time we discover that her home is actually right off a road and she even has a mailbox. Suddenly people can easily visit by car. Then miraculously, one of her siblings shows up when she's in her 20's to check on her. Where was he when he was 18 and she was still only 13? Maybe some of these things would have happened in the 20's or 30's, but NOT in the 60's! I grew up in the 60's in the South and the premise of this book offends me.

Add to all that the narration that is so stereotyped that you leave the book thinking that ever Southern person, including the sheriff, lawyers, store owners is a backwoods idiot. Kya sounds mentally challenged, not like some sort of scientific genius. 

I could go on for 10 more paragraph talking about the problems that I have with this book. I hope I don't offend the many people who loved this book. You loved it for different reasons than I hated it. It certainly dishes out a giant dose of hope and that's always good. If you loved this, that's great. I'm sure you have hated books that I love. That's the beauty of opinions, we all have them and they are all different! In this case I accept that I'm in the minority on this book.

New Reflections and Crystals on sale!

7/30/2019

 

Fabric of the Week - Crystals!

Picture
All Crystals are 25% off through Sunday!
That's right, ALL of the Crystal fabrics are the featured fabric this week. Every Crystal is 25% off using code CRYSTALS25 at checkout. They have never been on sale for this big discount before so get your favorite before it's gone!

Need some inspiration? Here are some ways that customers have used them.

New Reflections!

Picture
I love making Reflections fabrics and the orange sky one that I made last time sold out fast! So I got back in the dye studio to make more.
Picture
Raushan
Picture
Azura
There are two pale blues for your mid-day sky. Raushan has a little purple that might make a nice dusk sky.
Picture
Kaloni
Picture
Jarita
The two pinks are perfect for sunrise and sunsets. I made one with a gold base and the other with an orange base. Hopefully you can find one that's perfect for your next landscape project.
shop now

The puppy pound is filling up

7/29/2019

 
hand dyed fabric
Every new puppy block has it's own personality. I'm particularly fond of this one.
hand dyed fabric
This one looks like he could get into some mischief.
hand dyed fabric
But this one is just crazy.
hand dyed fabric
Here's the puppy pound so far. I only have 3 more to make and I can sew the center together and get moving on the borders. 

I actually spent most of the weekend working in EQ to plan a sample quilt for Paula Nadelstern's new fabric line. I wasn't able to make a quilt for her last year and I really missed doing it. I love that the sample quilts are only 36" square. You can see others that I've made here. I ended up with 4 possible designs and I expect that I'll make 2 of them.
symmetry quilt
Then I worked on the puppy quilt to finish off these blocks and that got me thinking about the cat blocks + symmetry fabric. Chris thinks this is really cool so this might be a future quilt!

Customer Gems - Sue Kelly

7/27/2019

 
hand dyed fabric
Look Out by Sue Kelly
Today's inspiration comes from Sue Kelly. As I've said many times, to be featured in the gallery you only have to use some hand dyed fabric in your piece and Sue used a perfect piece for her art quilt. Here's what she said about it:

"Here is an abstract quilt inspired by my own photo looking out of Golden Canyon in Death Valley, towards the western sky. The name of this quilt is “Look Out”. The edgy, predominant fabrics are by Marcia Derse. The hand dye represents a  refreshing airy place beyond the rather ominous walls of this narrow canyon.  It also provides an interesting color contrast, and textural variation. In fact it creates a focal point as important as its surroundings! This was one of the “waste” fabrics I won in a drawing a few years ago. Not a waste at all!

As an art quilter, I enjoy working with the huge range of fabrics that are available to us, and I appreciate how your work is often just the touch I need in combination with others, to convey a vision."

Keep you eyes on the blog in August because there's going to be another opportunity to win some of these waste fabrics in a few weeks!

For sharing, Sue received a 20% coupon for the shop that's good for 3 months! If you have made anything with my hand dyed fabric I hope you will consider sharing it in the Customer Gallery.  The only rule is that projects have to be complete. It doesn't have to be made totally from hand dyed fabric, just include a recognizable amount.

There's actually a mosaic update!

7/26/2019

 
mosaic
It's been over a month since I worked on this mosaic. You might remember that I got this far and realized that I was going to run out of blue glass penny tile. It took a lot of driving around town, but I finally found it and was able to order an extra sheet. It was NOT cheap but at this point I didn't care. Nothing else was going to work. I finally got back to it this week.
mosaic
It really didn't take that long to finish the blue penny tile. Just a couple of hours and it was done.
mosaic
I originally planned to tile over this block of wood (that I can't remove because it holds up the sewer pipe). But one day I decided that panting it would be so much easier and It worked out just fine.
mosaic
Then I was able to get my wet saw out and cut some time for the frame edge. I'm pretty darned pleased with my mitered corners.
mosaic
Here it is! Ready for grouting. I had hoped to do that soon but because the grout has VOCs I have to heave the windows open so that will wait until mid to late September when I can have the windows open for a few days. Compared to that bog wall, grouting this will be a piece of cake.

August Shibori Seas Postcards

7/25/2019

 
fabric postcard
Yet another set of shibori sunrise postcards! I'm calling these August to represent the oppressive heat of this month around here. August actually looks a lot more pleasant in these cards than in the reality of July and August in Virginia. I have two different shibori patterns to go with my orange sky bits. So, you're wondering what determines the orientation. That's all about the size of the sky bit that I have. I had some that were 4" wide and some that were 6" wide. These cards always start with the sky and then I dig around for a shibori fabric to pair with. So the sky piece determines the orientation and the depth of the ocean.
Picture
Picture
I'm trying to do a little something different for the sky in each of these Shibori sea postcards. For these I found the sparkly sheer fabric that's probably used in things like dance costumes. I fused some Mistyfuse on the back and then cut out some clouds to fuse to the cards.
fabric postcards
A little metallic thread was perfect to stitch down the clouds. There are a total of 6 cards in this set. I only have one more set to make (as of today) but they are so much fun with them that you shouldn't be surprised if you see even more of them.

More puppies in the pound!

7/24/2019

 
hand dyed fabric
I love making these dog blocks! The color part of the faces are from my hoarded stack of "waste fabrics" and it's fun picking which ones I want to use for each block.
hand dyed fabric
This one is the waste fabric from the Georgia Peach Gradient.
hand dyed fabric
This one is from the Southwest Gradient. After I posted took photos I saw my error on this one. Don't worry, it's fixed now!
hand dyed fabric
Here are all the puppies so far. If you need to make one the pattern is from Sew Fresh Quilts. You can find them on Etsy.

Featuring Gradients!

7/23/2019

 

Fabric of the Week

hand dyed fabric
Take A Hike is 20% off through Sunday
This week's fabric news is all about gradients and we're starting with the fabric if the week. Take A Hike was inspired by the colors we saw on a recent hiking trip on the Blue Ridge Parkway. This week it's on sale 20% off.
​

New Gradient

hand dyed fabric
New Gradient - Envy!
I've been wanting to make an all-green gradient but there are a lot of greens to choose from! I wanted something bright but not too close to crayon green. All the other greens are envious that I chose this colorway. It's exactly the look I  was going for! Envy would be great as a meadow component of an art quilt and would provide a wonderful range of greens for applique leaves. 
​

Helios is back in stock!

hand dyed fabric
Helios Gradient
Finally the ever-popular Helios Gradient is back! This is most often used as sunrise/sunset background for art quilts.
shop now

Mom's birthday card

7/22/2019

 
I had a great weekend. There wasn't much making going on (actually none) but there was celebrating happening. Today is Mom's (insert big number)th birthday and the whole family gathered at my house to celebrate. It was almost 100 outside but the AC kept us cool and happy inside. She should receive her card in the mail today.
fabric postcards
If I don't have a fixed idea for a new card I'll often start here in the Drawer of Magical Things. The DOMT is full of random trim and other ephemera that I've collected over the years. Some people would call it trash but we know better.
Here are just a few of the cards that come out of the DOMT. So that's where I started for Mom's card.
fabric postcards
It took some determined digging but I eventually unearthed the fusible daisy ribbon. I then found a postcard base that was already fused with a beautiful hand dyed velvet. All I needed to make the card was some green thread.
Picture
For each of the stems I stitched with a very narrow zig zag and I stitched out and back for extra dimension. Because the background is velvet the stems needed that extra stitching to show. 
I fused every one of those daisies on this card and I love how it turned out.

​It's just this kind of "win"that makes me buy more stuff for the DOMT. You can bet that the next time I'm in a trimmings store I'll probably buy more of something like this and it will sit in the DOMT until inspiration hits again.

Customer Gems - Patricia Caldwell

7/20/2019

 
hand dyed fabric
Lava Flow by Patricia Caldwell, 18" x 29"
This week's featured project is Lava Flow by Patricia Caldwell. She made this with only one fabric, the Sassafras gradient! She added lots of detail quilting and White Jade and Sunstone gemstones.

​​For sharing, Patricia received a 20% coupon for the shop that's good for 3 months! If you have made anything with my hand dyed fabric I hope you will consider sharing it in the Customer Gallery.  The only rule is that projects have to be complete. It doesn't have to be made totally from hand dyed fabric, just include a recognizable amount.
Picture
Sassafras Gradient
<<Previous

    Feeds

    RSS Feed

    To subscribe click the RSS Feed button and copy the URL of that page into your blog reader.

    ​In Bloglovin you need to search "Colorways By Vicki Welsh" to find the blog.

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

    About Vicki

    I'm Vicki Welsh and I've been making things as long as I can remember. I used to be a garment maker but transitioned to quilts about 20 years ago. Currently I'm into fabric dyeing, quilting, Zentangle, fabric postcards, fused glass and mosaic. I document my adventures here.

    Privacy Policy

    Categories

    All
    4th Of July Quilt
    Applique
    Art
    Audiobooks
    Bird Watching
    Classes
    Community Service
    Contests
    Country School Quitlers
    Crafts
    Crochet
    Customer Gallery
    Electric Quilt
    Fabric Dyeing
    Fabric Painting
    Fabric Postcards
    Family
    Flora's Quilt
    Garment Sewing
    Gifted Quilts
    Glass
    Kaleidoscope Quilts
    Longarm Quilting
    Longarm Quilting Easy
    Loony Moony
    Lost My Marbles
    Mosaic
    Nature
    Organizing/Destashing
    Other People's Quilts
    Other Sewing
    Pleiades II
    Projects Finished 2016
    Projects Finished 2017
    Projects Finished 2018
    Projects Finished 2019
    Projects Finished 2020
    Quilting
    Quilt Labels
    Quilt-patterns
    Rainbow Scrap Challenge
    Randomness
    Shibori
    Shop News
    Spirograph Quilting
    Studio
    Summer Sunset Quilt
    Sun Printing
    Tie Dyeing
    Travel
    Tutorials
    UFO Busting
    Using Scraps
    Wild Gears
    Zentangle

    Archives

    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016

Contact
Thank you for visiting Colorways by Vicki Welsh.
Copyright © 2021 by Vicki Welsh. All rights reserved. Content from this site may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of Vicki Welsh. You are welcome to link and share links to any page on the site.
  • Welcome
  • Shop
    • Hand Dyed Fabric
    • Glass
    • Just Plain Soap
  • Blog
  • Galleries
    • Customer Gallery >
      • Project Submission Form
    • Quilt Gallery >
      • 2021
      • 2020 >
        • Jackies Choice Quilt
        • Penguins on Ice Quilt
        • Corona Cats Quilt
        • Kim's Garden
      • 2019 >
        • Indonesian Batik Quilt
        • Lost My Marbles
        • Remaking Flora's quilt
        • I'm Not a Snowflake Quilt
        • Where In The World Is My Cat Quilt
        • Fireworks
        • The Groovy Quilts
        • The Puppy Quilt
      • 2018 >
        • The Maine Quilt
        • Stars At Sea
        • Antelope Canyon Quilt
      • 2017 >
        • The Wedding Quilt Quilt
        • Rainbow's End Quilt
      • 2016 >
        • CSQ Challenge Quilt
        • Wholecloth Quilt of Valor
        • Luras Choice Quilt
        • Black Swan Quilt
        • 2016 Quilt of Valor Quilt
        • Non Unus Pluma Quilt
      • 2015 >
        • Snaps Quilt
        • Batik Crossroads Quilt
        • Wild Goose Chase Quilt
        • Fractured Fragments Quilt
        • Tell It To the Stars Quilt
        • Cathedral Window Quilt
        • Time In Place Quilt
        • Shaken Not Stirred Quilt
        • Pleiades Quilt
      • 2014 >
        • Spinning Stars Quilt
        • Fractured Spiral Quilt
        • Autumn Leaves Quilt
        • Sea Dreams Quilt
        • Woodland Star Quilt
        • Zombie Ball Quilt
        • Innova Angles Quilt
      • 2013 >
        • Murder For a Jar of Red Rum Quilt
        • Patroitic Quilts
        • Red Sunset Bedding Quilt
        • The Infamous Fish Quilt
        • Gratitudes Quilt
      • 2012 >
        • Illuminated Blocks Quilt
        • Kims Wedding Quilt
        • Crossing The South Anna Quilt
        • Coming Home Quilt
        • See Reverse Quilt
        • Overboard Quilt
        • Floras Fans and Modern Crumbs Quilt
        • The Patriot Quilt
        • On Point Quilt
        • Grinch Quilts
      • 2011 >
        • Star Struck Quilt
        • On A Whim Quilt
        • Catena Quilt
        • Zig Zag Scraps Quilt
        • Purple Keepsakes Quilt
        • Fiberactions Challenge Quilts
        • Journal Quilts 2011
      • 2010 >
        • Maggie the Messmaker Cross Stitch
        • Fiberactions Challenge Quilts
        • Wootten Memory Quilts
        • Teal Tomorrow Quilt
      • 2009 >
        • Shereen's Peaceful Garden
        • TShirt Quilt Commission
        • Three Generation Quilt
      • 2008 >
        • Flora's Quilts
        • Monkey Baby Quilts
        • Citrus Quilt
      • 2007 >
        • Snails Trail Quilts
        • Quilts of Valor
        • Other Quilts
      • 2006 and older >
        • Scrap Bin Quilt
        • Flora's Dutchman's Breeches
        • The Gift Quilts
        • Reversible Quilts
        • Spectacular Scraps Quilts
        • Foundation Pieced Quilts
        • Art Quilts
        • Kathy's Memorial Quilt
    • Symmetry Quilt Gallery
    • Dyeing Gallery >
      • Tie Dye Gallery
      • Shibori Gallery
    • Postcard Gallery
    • Fused Glass Gallery
    • Mosaic Gallery
    • Zentangle and Spirograph
  • Tutorials
    • Save My Bleeding Quilt
    • Postcard Tutorials >
      • Silver Christmas Tree Postcard
      • Easy Framed Motif Postcard
      • Trash to treasure postcards
      • Holiday Ornament Postcard
      • Postcard as a Door Hanger
      • Plaid Tree Postcard Tutorial
      • Button Tree Postcard
      • Fireworks Postcard Tutorial
    • Quilting Tutorials >
      • The Gift Quilt Pattern
      • Keepsakes Quilt Pattern
      • Blocking a Quilt
      • Facing A Quilt Tutorial
      • Veterans Quilt Tutorials >
        • Allegiance Quilt Pattern
        • Gratitudes Quilt Pattern
        • Strength Quilt Pattern
        • Blockade Quilt Pattern
        • Redoubt Quilt Pattern
        • Regiment Quilt Pattern
        • Bars and Stripes Quilt Pattern
      • Rainbow Quilt Free Pattern
      • Binding a Quilt
    • Surface Design Tutorials >
      • Snow Dyeing basics tutorial
      • Snow Dyeing Mandala
      • Sun Printing Tutorial
      • Lamp Printing Tutorial
      • Dyeing extra large fabrics
      • Hold the Retayne
      • Painted Shower Curtain Tutorial
      • Metallic Paint Effects on Fabric
      • Curing Metallic Fabric Paints
      • Zentange Pens
      • Leaf Printing Tutorial
      • Printing On Fabric
      • Life of MX Dye Concentrates
      • Testing Soda Ash in fabric dyeing
    • Color Theory
    • Placemat Tutorials >
      • Rise and Shine Placemat Tutorial
      • Coming Home Placemat Tutorial
      • Mineral Pool Placemat Tutorial
      • Sugar Maple Placemats
      • Fat Quarter Placemat Tutorial
      • Merry Mats Placemat Tutorial
    • Basic Tutorials >
      • Custom Sewing Table
      • Liquid Spray Starch Recipe
    • Crafts and Small Projects >
      • Large Tote Tutorial
      • Big Fabric Flower Tutorial
      • The best potholders pattern
      • Notebook Cover Tutorial
      • Pillowcase tutorial
      • Wide Brim Sun Visor
      • Trash To Treasure Holiday Ornaments
      • Pet Bed From Scraps Tutorial
      • Framed Metal Quilt
      • Shooting Shirt Tutorial
      • Making Paper
      • Making Soap
      • Favorite Soap Reicpes
      • Lotion Making
      • Bowl hot pad pattern
    • Longarm Quilting Tutorials >
      • The longarm machine does matter
      • Double Wavy Crosshatch
      • Wavy Crosshatch Longarm
      • Quilting Letters on a Quilt
      • Centering a Quilt back on a longarm
      • Quilting Snowball Blocks
      • Easy Longarm Piano Keys
      • Using Channel Locks
      • Sewing/Serging quilt backing to zippers
      • Adding backing on the longarm
  • Contact
  • Newsletter
  • Privacy Policy