The last Colour Inspiration Tuesday of 2017, and the first of our 2018 Monthly Colour Inspiration series
In 2018 it is my intention to set aside the last Colour Inspiration Tuesday of each month to look forward to the incoming “Colour of the Month”. The Colour of the Month is the colour that we will focus on each month in Jen Shaffer’s Monthly Color Challenge and blog hop.
The Colour of the Month for January 2018 is Red. And today, being the last Tuesday before January, I am painting the town!
January is Red. Where can red take us…..?
Red is strong, red is loud and attention seeking. Red is demanding, warning, luring. Red is the colour of danger, the colour of speed and adventure, and the colour of rescue. Red declares the most passionate of loves!
Red is delicious ……. or poisonous. One thing is certain, red is never boring! Red stimulates appetite, causes tension, and generates excitement. Red is the colour of opportunity, wealth and prosperity. Red is glorious.
Red deepens to purple……
….. and lightens to orange.
A little red can go a long way. It loves to accent white, grey and black colour schemes. Red is very powerful.
It looks great with its complement, green. But blue and red runs deepest in many a people groups’ veins.
Will you be seeing red in January?
Are you joining the 2018 Monthly Color Challenge? If so, where will the colour red take you? A red block for a rainbow quilt? Like Jen’s red block or my red appliqué bear?
Or are you a true lover of red? Whether it is a red block, a red pin cushion, a red pillow or an entire really red quilt. I can’t wait to see what everyone shares!
Join my Beary Colourful BOM in January for the first block… the Red Bear of New Beginnings
Today, red is already in the air at my house. I have been making binding for the Vanuatu Turtle Quilt.
Not long to go now….. 2018 is less than a week away. I have a great feeling that it is going to be a marvellous quilty year! Have you had a think about your goals for 2018 (if you are a goal setting type)? My main quilting goal is to end 2018 with less UFOs than I started with!!!
P.S. All of the red photos featured today are the work of the generous photographers who use the Unsplash distribution platform. If you would like to use any of these photos (they are all free and without strings attached), or find the talented photographers who took them, head over to my Red Collection here.
Would you like to keep in touch with Clever Chameleon and the fun quilty ideas I design as well as find all over the internet? You can follow directly for email updates, or through Bloglovin’, Pinterest or FB. All your follow options can be found here. Thanks for your support!
Welcome to the last Colour Inspiration Tuesday before Christmas! Only one more and that’s it for the year!
Yesterday I hinted that I had recently found out about an Australian flower that is even more strange than my Hoya wax flower!
The astonishing little plant in question is Caleana major, commonly called the Flying Duck Orchid.
The Flying Duck Orchid
Have a look at it. What else could it possibly be called?!? I have never seen one of these in the flesh, even though they are reportedly endemic to the areas where I spent my youth. Apparently they tend to go unnoticed due to their small size. And they are not particularly common, being one of about 20 Australian native orchids now being seed banked by the South Australian Botanic Gardens to ensure their future.
But if its shape isn’t enough for you, its behaviour is fascinating too. Apparently the flower is vibration sensitive and the duck head part moves to trap insects inside the flower for a short period. This is to ensure the insects collect and transfer pollen before they leave. But those poor panicked insects were lured there under false pretences in the first place…. this sort of attention seeking in the plant world is known as being “sexually deceptive”. Oh, the secret sordid lives of sawflies and flying ducks!
Closed Flying Duck Orchid. Photo by Peter Woodard
Where will the Flying Duck Orchid lead?
I love the sunset colours that I have pulled out of one of Peter Woodard’s Flying Duck Orchid pictures that he has kindly placed into the public domain. At their brightest, Flying Duck Orchids exhibit these rich purple, red brown and peach tones. Of course, there are also the bright greens and yellows in this picture that I could play with.
Another of Peter’s pictures has more muted colours, colours that I also adore.
I think you might understand when I say that I have my plate full at the moment. We all do, this time of year! But I definitely have to bookmark this idea, as I’d love to make an appliqué version of the Flying Duck Orchid sometime later. A cushion project perhaps.
Or perhaps I could use these colours to make something like this fabulous Migrating Geese quilt by Sandra of Musings of a Menopausal Melon- mmm! quilts. That seems appropriate! Sandra has done a fabulous job of her latest flimsy. Go see!
Before you go….
Just to quell any lingering doubts about whether the Hoya from 2 weeks ago is real……. the flowers do perish eventually. ….
And there are fresh buds coming. I like these nearly as much as the flowers themselves!
Wishing you many blessings in the lead up to Christmas and New Year.
Welcome to a short and sweet episode of Colour Inspiration Tuesday
I have been on this blog a lot the last week, so I’ll keep this brief. I was blog binge-reading on Saturday when I came across something I didn’t know, that I wish I had known a long time ago. So I am sharing it with you, on the off chance that you don’t know it either.
Colour Inspiration Tuesday: Blacklight Blue
One of the quilting blogs I love to keep an eye on is Tamarack Shack. Kathy Schwartz is a longarm quilter way out of my league, and I love the eye-candy that she shares from her professional quilting business. And this week I got an extra helping of happiness from Kathy’s blog…… Kathy shared a quilt marking tip that she had recently realised not everyone knew. Wait for it…….You can see quilters’ chalk on light fabrics under blacklight! Ummmmm, I’m sure you’re excited, right?!
Well, I was excited. I had to know right then, if it was true! I got up off my bottom at once, found my son’s blacklight torch (one of those that comes with invisible ink spy sets for kids) and my chalk wheel. I drew several chalk lines on my Vanuatu Turtle Quilt (because that was what was at hand with white fabric).
Quilters’ chalk on light fabric
And turned on the torch.
Quilters’ chalk on same fabric under blacklight torch
Now, I think I have mentioned that I don’t really trust marking pens, and avoid using them as much as possible. Now I have a new weapon in my arsenal that gives me an option I do trust.
Guess what I am asking for for Christmas….. a blacklight of my own….. I have to put this torch back before I get accused by DS, fairly or otherwise, of making it go flat!
If you want to follow this up, the specific post where Kathy shares this tip can be found here. She uses the blacklight on her longarm to see pounce chalk. She also shares about her new design wall – another thing I need to get on top of one day.
Another Colour Inspiration Tuesday – and finally, that ornament tutorial…..!
Well, thanks to you guys, I have learned another new thing this week! As you are probably aware by now, I have been working on writing up a tutorial on the Christmas Bells ornament I created for last week’s Colour Inspiration Tuesday. But I still wanted to give you a mood board this week, and somehow link it all together.
So, this week, when I noticed that my Hoya plant is in flower, all my bloggy wishes came true…… I got a photo for a mood board and another idea for an ornament using the same technique as for my bell. For my Hoya carnosa has star shaped flowers, and stars are definitely relevant to Christmas. I stole the shapes and colours of my Hoya’s flowers and plagiarised them into this:
And in the process of working through this week’s Christmas Stars idea, I found out something. Did you know that Hoya carnosa (also known, among other names, as the common Wax Flower) is an Australian native? I didn’t. I had always assumed all Hoyas were exotics. It turns out that there are at least seven Australian Hoyas, and Hoya carnosa is native to Queensland (Australia) and several other locations in Asia. I love learning new things, especially happy things.
Wax Flowers with nectar
Perhaps you like learning new things too. Then you might like to try making your own Christmas ornaments like those I have been making this week….. Christmas Bells, Christmas Stars and Christmas Trees. Oh yes, I made a Christmas Tree version as well…… if an idea is fun, you should flog it til it’s dead, right?! Of course! hahahaha 🙂
How to make “String Art style” Christmas Ornaments
The inspiration to make Christmas decorations in a string art-like style came to me from a fusion of ideas that started many many moons ago. The first seed was planted when I discovered Deb Layt, an Australian quilter who at the time was embellishing her quilts with a netting made from pearl cotton couched onto soluble stabiliser. She calls this netting geoweb. If you have ever made freestanding lace on soluble stabiliser with an embroidery machine, it is essentially a cruder, hand-directed version of this. I have dabbled with this technique over time, making the occasional bookmark and adding highlights to art quilts such as the hot air balloons on the quilt I entered into this year’s local state guild show.
Now, I have many times eyed off string art pieces as pre-cursor ideas for thread painting or quilting designs, but to date, I have never acted on these ideas. But in seeing Emily’s ornament, I was reminded – hmmmmm, I could make “string art” tree ornaments with that geoweb technique…….
And then the idea sat there in the gloomy depths of unresolved creative thoughts until last week. When I suddenly fused it with the ideas that I have already laid out for you in the Christmas Bells Colour Inspiration Tuesday post. Here is how I did it (and how you can do it too).
You will need:
A sewing machine set up for zigzag/satin stitch
A thick thread for the backbone of your ornament. I suggest starting with a size 3 pearl cotton, but I have also successfully used thinner (size 8) pearl cotton, as well as thicker cotton twine from the hardware store.
Sewing machine thread – rasant, poly-cotton or 100% cotton will do. Put the same thread in the bobbin as you have running through your needle. This is a good opportunity to use some of those old or cheap threads you have somehow accumulated that will (should) never end up on a quilt – you will have the most success if you match the colours of your thread to your pearl cotton and don’t use fancy threads (rayon, metallic etc) until you are comfortable with the basic technique.
water soluble stabiliser (sorry, I don’t know the brand of mine, I purchased it as yardage off a roll and have had it a long time). The stabiliser I am using was originally purchased to facilitate machine embroidery on towels. It is 100% soluble and clear, it is not the disintegrating fibre, opaque type sometimes used for appliqué.
a biro, and a paper template if you do not wish to draw your own design freehand. I have supplied you a downloadable sheet of Christmas templates for the 3 shapes I used. Update: there are now also instructions for a Christmas Bauble shape option in a guest post on Days Filled with Joy.
beads and ribbon for decoration and hanging.
What to do:
Step 1
Trace the outline of your shape onto the water soluble stabiliser. Biro works well for this and doesn’t leave traces after washing out the stabiliser. I have tried using permanent markers and found they partly transfer from the stabiliser to the couched threads.
You do need to know that your finished ornament will end up slightly smaller than your original design. How much smaller will depend on the thread you are couching onto the stabiliser, the brand stabiliser you are using, the tension settings on your machine and how tightly you can keep the stabiliser stretched while you are sewing.
My original template vs the final ornament
Trim the stabiliser around your traced shape, leaving sufficient margin that you can comfortably sew around the edge of the design while not sewing your fingers! Cut out a second piece of stabiliser the same size as the first and lay it on top of the first. Secure the two layers together temporarily using pins.
Step 2
Set your machine to a very small zigzag stitch. I set mine on the lowest width and stitch length possible when I am couching pearl cotton. I used the decorative foot, which has a wide groove underneath so that it runs over raised surface stitching more easily. While using a foot that has the centre line marked is very helpful to see where your pearl cotton should lay, a special couching foot is totally unnecessary for this project.
Lay the pearl cotton on the outline of your design, starting in a position where you will not be required to immediately turn any corners. Leaving a tail, sew enough stitches along the length of the pearl cotton to secure it to the design. Snip off the pearl cotton and thread tails.
Start the couching somewhere sensibleMake it easy on yourself – leave thread tails as you startTrim the thread tails when convenient
Continue couching the pearl cotton around the main shape until you reach the beginning again, overlapping the start point slightly to secure the beginnings of all threads. Ignore the hanging loop and any projecting shape outlines (like the bell ringer) for the moment. We’ll come back to them.
Main outline completed
Once you have stitched all the way around the main shape you can remove the pins, as your stabiliser layers are now fixed itogether by stitching.
Step 3
With the needle in the down position, turn your work so that you will next sew across the design. It is easiest to make couching turns if the needle is down on the inside of the corner.
Sew across the design to the opposite edge. Make sure you catch the edge couching with a few stitches, then turn again and sew across the design in another direction. Repeat until you have filled the design. Make sure you catch the edge each time you finish crossing the design.
As you travel around the design you will eventually end up near a feature that needs adding….. take the opportunities to do this as they arise.
When you reach a loop or protruding shape such as the bell ringer, fill it in.Continue filing in the design until you are happy with the density.
Step 4
Once your couching is dense enough to look great, secure the end with a few backstitches and trim off the threads.
Finished couching still on stabiliser
Thoroughly wash your piece to dissolve the stabiliser. If you have stitched correctly, the couched shape will be quite stiff, self-supporting and require no further treatment. Dry your piece and decorate as desired.
Decorate as desired……
To the bell ornament I added a green bell off an old cat collar plus a remnant of purple ribbon. I think the ribbon was about 30cm long…. I am not going to remove it now to measure it. You know how long it takes to make bows look good!
To the top of the Christmas Tree ornament I added a cherub button left over from an Advent quilt I made many years ago. I would have preferred a star, but I am trying to be good and use what I have. I also added beads from my collection and three rings as “ornaments”. Do you know what the rings are? Eyelets! I stitched the decorations on, but you could use glue.
Adding a hanging ribbon to these ornaments is easy…. Just thread it through one of the holes at the top!
Tips for making the “Christmas Stars” ornament
For the ornament to match the Christmas Stars mood board, I decided to see how far I could push the boundaries of this technique. So I used cotton twine for the backbone, with rayon thread for the white and yellow sections, metallic thread for the maroon centre and also a pink rasant thread for the detailing. The rasant is stitched over the finished ornament – I did not couch any thread under this stitching. The pearl beads and bead cap in the centre were inherited from a friend’s mother.
Using the twine and fancy threads was more difficult than pearl cotton and standard sewing thread. My tips? For twine use a wider zigzag. For fancy threads make sure you drop the upper thread tension on your machine. And sew slower.
When I wanted to change thread colours I did not cut the cotton twine, I just anchored the couching thread, swapped the top thread and started again where I left off. For the star I used white sewing thread in the bobbin regardless of which thread I had on top.
And there you have it!
I hope these instructions make sense….. if not, please ask questions. Because if you are wondering something, it is likely that others are also wondering the same thing.
Enjoy your creative time leading up to the holidays. If you make a string art-style ornament I would love to know….. there are so many shapes you could try…. what about a dove, a snowman, baubles, a stocking, a snowflake…..? You are really only limited by your imagination, (and time of course). And just so you know, shapes with corners are easier than those with curves.
Wouldn’t these make fabulous decorations to finish off a special gift?! Speaking of gifts, I am off to Days Filled with Joy to see what else Joy has put on her 12 Days of Last Minute Homemade Gift ideas list. Don’t forget to keep an eye on this too.
P.S. If Suffolk Puffs (Yo-Yos) and hand sewing are more your thing, why not give my friend Evija’s Christmas Ornament tutorial a try? Evija was my partner in the 2017 Ornament Exchange, and she sent me these two beauties that are now on my tree. Enjoy! 🙂
Colour Inspiration Tuesday: Celebrating the Holidays with Inspiration from Real Life
Here in Australia, sometimes it can be hard to reconcile the major seasonal holidays with the weather. Spring is now in full swing and summer is doing its best to come early this year. So here I am, merrily decorating our Christmas tree in ornaments which, on the whole, celebrate winter….. while quietly pondering whether I should just abandon ship and head to the pool instead…..
But, not everyone here is as confused as I am. There is at least one local that does our summer Christmas wholeheartedly, with absolutely no inhibitions. It is not a person though, it is a street tree. For the rest of the year, this tree is actually a bit on the plain side, possibly verging on ugly. A funny, almost stunted looking tree, unassuming, lacking in any apparent vigour and vitality. But come November and December, it does this!
This tree is a hybrid from the Brachychiton family. Two Australian natives – the Kurrajong tree (white bell flowers with pink/red insides) and the Flame Tree (scarlet red bell flowers) – can be crossed to get hybrids like this one that produce masses of pink bells.
To add to the fun, because the tree is so unworthy the rest of the time, I forget how amazing it is for the few weeks that it flowers. So, every year the kids and I get a nice moment of sudden realisation that the “Christmas Bells” are back, heralding the end of school and promising Christmas.
How to respond to such extravagant Christmas Spirit?
Well, the obvious answer is to produce something Christmas flavoured in dusky pinks and green. A “Christmas Bells” quilting motif or quilt design perhaps? Well, these bell flowers actually put me in mind and mood of a small Christmas project I have been musing over for a couple of weeks, ever since the Ornament Exchange Tour. And I would have made it in pink but I couldn’t lay my hands on my pink pearl cotton yesterday. So purple had to do. Since I still have purple and green on the brain from the last few weeks, and our purple Bougainvillea is still out in full flower, I admit that wasn’t a hard compromise to make.
This is what I created in response to my thoughts around Christmas Bells.
How to make my Christmas Bells Ornament?
Would you be interested in a short tutorial on how to make this ornament? I wanted to do the tutorial for you today, but there are just too many other things that need attention before the end of the week. I am hoping I might be able to write it up for you next week though. How does that sound?
Sorry for the tease (or maybe it is just a sneak preview?), but it seemed silly not to show you what I made in a rare quiet moment in response to my musings around today’s Colour Inspiration Tuesday. November is simply a crazy month for our family! It’s the same every year. Update: the tutorial is done – you can find it here!
So on that note, I must be getting on with those other things, but I wish you a lovely and productive week and hope to catch you back here on Thursday with my One Monthly Goal. Yup, last minute, as usual! Did you really expect anything else? 🙂
P.S. BREAKING NEWS!! Last night Clever Chameleon arrived on Facebook….. I know, not exactly earth shattering, but another step forward for my baby blog. 🙂 If you’d like to follow via Facebook, I’d be very glad of your company! Thanks a million!!
If you wish to explore the world of red quilty projects, here are a few to get you started:
I love the sunset colours that I have pulled out of one of
Well, thanks to you guys, I have learned another new thing this week! As you are probably aware by now, I have been working on writing up a tutorial on the Christmas Bells ornament I created for 
The inspiration to make Christmas decorations in a string art-like style came to me from a fusion of ideas that started many many moons ago. The first seed was planted when I discovered 
To the top of the Christmas Tree ornament I added a cherub button left over from an Advent quilt I made many years ago. I would have preferred a star, but I am trying to be good and use what I have. I also added beads from my collection and three rings as “ornaments”. Do you know what the rings are? Eyelets! I stitched the decorations on, but you could use glue.
