Artsy Fartsy: Colour & Inspiration Tuesday

Artsy Fartsy Christmas color scheme at Clever Chameleon

Making a Start on my July project for Island Batik

Artsy Fartsy Challenge

This one’s a tough one. We’ve been asked to “use any fabric art/non-traditional quilting/sewing/thread painting technique using 3 Aurifil thread weights” for our July Island Batik Ambassador project. Any size, any technique, as long as the result is Artsy Fartsy. And I am just not feeling it like I usually do. Which is odd, because I have created plenty of non-traditional artsy fartsy quilt pieces in the past. And I am a big, big, big thread connoisseur. I love them all – rayons and metallics and 12wt Lana, and even bobbin work with embroidery floss. And I get the same thrill from a rack of thread colours as I do from a new box of paints or crayons….

But not today.
demolished house
Goodbye neighbour’s house. The view this evening from my sewing room. I truly hope they finish tomorrow.

Maybe it is because my collection of Aurifil is a bit limited in colour and thread variety. Maybe it’s because it’s cold and grey outside and I have endured days of incessant noise in stereo from 8am every day because one neighbour is remodelling the back half of their house and the other is completely demolishing. Gack! Or it could simply be that I have just finished preparing four quilts for our annual State Guild show and now have a big dose of anticlimax after dropping them off this morning. Whatever the reason, the Chameleon is off colour and I feel like a Grinch at Christmas because the whole Island Batik Ambassador family is doing this thing and insisting it is going to be fun and I can’t get enthused….

Hmmmm….. Christmas. In July. Now, there’s a thought.

By the way, have you ever tried to fussy cut a batik?

Continue reading “Artsy Fartsy: Colour & Inspiration Tuesday”

The Colour of Music: Colour & Inspiration Tuesday

Colour of music colour scheme at Clever Chameleon

Today I finished my Island Batik Ambassador project for June 🙂

In the works here for a while now, has been a new book bag for my daughter to take to music lessons. And today it’s done. It features a paper-piecing technique that is new-to-me, Island Batik fabrics, HOBBS Thermore batting and six music motif block patterns by Juliet of Tartankiwi.

Read on to see my new, and very simple, drawstring bag. And to see how the Chameleon got himself into a little strife after our latest Colour & Inspiration party. Happy Tuesday!

Continue reading “The Colour of Music: Colour & Inspiration Tuesday”

Sew Melodic: Colour & Inspiration Tuesday

Sew Melodic colour scheme from Clever Chameleon
Try it button

June is “Try It” month for the Island Batik Ambassadors, where we get free rein to choose a technique that we haven’t done before and give it a whirl on any project. New technique, Island Batik fabrics; that’s it for the rules.

So, I thought – “It is about time I tried the traditional method of paper-piecing”….. you know the one….. the method with the actual foundation paper. 😀 I have done freezer paper paper-piecing before, when I first started patchwork and quilting, but I’ve never done a project using a paper foundation that you stitch through.

It’s going quite well, I think. Wanna know what I am making?

Continue reading “Sew Melodic: Colour & Inspiration Tuesday”

Tic Tac Toad – Colour & Inspiration Tuesday

Tic Tac Toad color scheme from CLever Chameleon

An Island Batik Ambassador Quilt Finish

May is drawing to a close – it’s starting to feel more wintery here, and it’s time to show you my finished Island Batik Ambassador quilt for this month. My checkers quilt, Hop to be Square is my Island Batik project for May. I hope you saw last week’s post explaining how the flimsy of Hop to be Square came about…. It was nearly as much of a surprise to me as anyone – it was certainly not the quilt I sat down to make!

Back side of Hop to be Square quilt at Clever Chameleon

Today I get to show you what I put on the back side of Hop to be Square. Just like the quilt top, the back took itself off plan as soon as it was in progress! To begin with, I thought I was the one being clever….. I had three checkered batik fabrics from Island Batik. And since the quilt front is a board for playing Checkers, they seemed like the simple and perfect fit for the backing……

But then the fabrics played me!

Continue reading “Tic Tac Toad – Colour & Inspiration Tuesday”

Hop to be Square: Colour & Inspiration Tuesday

Croc colours

Eye’ve got a confession to make

I changed my mind (shock). Several times. (More shock….. you are shocked…… right?!). When I got out of bed on Sunday I was all set to use my sewing time to make a modern quilt for Island Batik and HOBBS. I was going to make a large colourful graphic improv block…. maybe a wonky log cabin or a star. And float it in a big black background.

It was going to be Modern As. After all, this month’s Island Batik Ambassador challenge is “Make it Modern with HOBBS”.

Instead this happened…..

Hop to be Square quilt top with HOBBS batting

“Hop to be square”. Modern, yes. Improv, no. Bright and colourful, no. Floating block, still no. Not my fault though. I am just the medium the quilts use to get here….. 😀

Continue reading “Hop to be Square: Colour & Inspiration Tuesday”