Everyone’s a Chameleon!: Colour & Inspiration Tuesday

Is it a plane? Is it a chameleon? No, it’s a Superb Katydid!

Confession time. Staying at home absolutely all the time messes with my head a little. Paul and I are, (in theory at least), two grown adults with: lots of hobbies, study and work to do; a couple of kids to nurture; and plenty of internet friends in different circles. But things are degenerating here regardless. Bug Spotters Anonymous is likely launching its inaugural Chapter in our lounge room….. read on for reasons if you dare!

In my saner moments though, I have been doing some more work on my Lunarcy quilt…. I know…… quilting two weeks running?! Yes indeedy! I’ve been working on my lantern and flower appliqués to go with the Zodiac animals. There was a slight complication with the lanterns however. Let me explain….

The Lunarcy continues

Last week made some significant progress on my Lunar New Year quilt design. I got the animals and the light-coloured regions of my lanterns fused into place, like so.

Disclaimer: Island Batik supplied these fabrics to me free of charge to create the prototype Lunarcy BOM available here soon at Clever Chameleon for the remainder of 2020.

But then I discovered that the red fabric I was going to use for the other pieces of the lanterns did not show very well against the pink background. This is what happens when you design from swatches on the internet rather than with fabrics in hand. In this particular case, it is a result of the glorious pink Watermelon Cat Scratch fabric being more glorious than I anticipated. A good problem to have, really.

Faced with choices…. Should I switch out the red for something darker? Yes, I think so. I still wanted to use a batik though, and since Island Batik had been so generous, preferably one of theirs. But I had nothing suitable in stock. After several days of pondering, I remembered I brought my Inktense Blocks set with me when we moved.

I have darkened a piece of red Island Batik fabric with Inktense, and set the dye with water and then ironing. It is duller than a normal batik, which is a downside of Inktense Blocks, As they are a bit chalky. But my Procion dyes are packed in storage, and beggars can’t really be choosers, especially in lockdown.

Now I think the colour will be fine, It is going to have red and gold threads on top of it in the end anyway.

Next, I cut a heap of blossoms from pink and purple Island Batik fabrics.

Now I am working through the process of getting them laid out. As you can see, I am toying with the idea of adding blossoms to the borders. A lot more work up front, but I think it might be worth it in the final finish.

I’m hoping by next week to have the flowers all cut and fused.

And now, back to the Bug Wars!

Did you see that crazy critter in this week’s colour board !?! I found a Katydid that looks like it thinks it’s a chameleon!

Actually, hubby Paul found it, which irks me a little. You know you’ve been in isolation too long when the spotting of rare bugs becomes a competitive sport….. and you’re getting miffed because you are L.Ooooo.S.I.N.G! hahaha

Take a look at this though. Seriously, who designs these things?! It has a crest on the back of its head, like some sort of throwback to the dinosaurs.

Anyway, according to the internet, the Superb Katydid is a widespread but reasonably uncommon desert species. No one knows what the crest is for, and there are no other species in its immediate genetic family. That crest is hollow, by the way… again, your guess why is as good as mine. But I think if a bug was trying to be a chameleon, this is a very respectable start. Or perhaps it is just a common katydid dressed up for a night out? Halloween, anyone?

Anyway, here’s the recent tally in the bug wars.

Paul’s scores: the Superb Katydid, and another really horrible and terrifying carnivorous katydid-like thing that devoured a large moth right in front of us. And I mean Devoured! Moth crumbs going everywhere. And a very cool, large shield beetle. Extra points for unusualness and disgusting factors all round.

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My scores: two large pest moth species (both with orange under wings), a tiny but bright green moth, a huge beetle, our largest antlion adults so far, and a female katydid of the predominant species around here (the males are a dime a dozen, but we have only seen a few of the more spectacular females so far).

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And we both found rainmoths here for the first time last night, after a few spots of precipitation. I get an extra point on my tally for knowing what they were.

When I was growing up, these moths would accumulate around our primary school lights overnight, and in the mornings us students would collect and wear them. Or if they were females in the process of laying eggs – add them to someone else’s jumper (or hair…. yuck, honestly, kids!) Paul gets an extra point too for humouring me and wearing a rainmoth. I remember them being bigger when I was a kid….

Now Paul is all dressed up with nowhere to go. 😀

As you can see, it is likely that we need an intervention. Or in the very least, a support group.

But speaking of dressing up for a night out….

The Chameleon loves a good dress-up party…. so he’s dressing up as a crested Superb Katydid with help from Wendy of Pieceful Thoughts. Wendy coincidentally nailed this weeks colours with her improv piece, Hosanna. You can read all about how this piece evolved in Wendy’s post.

The Chameleon’s favourite bright finish this week was Sew Yummy’s scrappy star quilt. Yvonne actually has two bright flimsy finishes in her post, you’ll have to head over to see the other one, called Scrappy Trips.

The Chameleon is also recommending Nancy’s latest finish at Grace and Peace Quilting. Pieced by Paula and expertly finished by Nancy, I found this quilt to have a wonderful balance of colour and calm and texture. I predict I will be revisiting this project for colour inspiration in the future.

If it’s a break from quilting that you need, then I recommend Gretchen’s cheery little post at Gretchen’s Little Corner, about letting the milking cows out for Spring. Here’s what Paul and I would probably look like if we were cows….. banging heads over who is the best bug spotter!

Paul would be minus the udder of course…. just so we’re clear about that.

Time to get your glad rags on and join the party!

Tell us – what are you working on, or have recently finished in your sewing room? We want to know so we can visit and be inspired. Link up a blog post, an IG post or simply a photo from your computer.  See if you can get the Chameleon to turn quilted with happiness. We’d love to see your quilting colours!

• Link up your latest or recent quilt/sewing excitement. All quilt construction stages welcome – finished quilts, quilt blocks – even fabric pulls! Or inspiration sources!
• You have 50 characters in the link description…. tell us who you are and what your fantastic project is.
• URL links are not necessary to link up…. non-bloggers 100% welcome! If you don’t have a URL, you can link up with just a photo.
• Take a moment to visit some friends who came to the party – leave a little love and make their day. And a link back to Clever Chameleon is always appreciated.
• Do it now……. before you forget!

Canada, and especially Nova Scotia, thinking of you this week.

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The Chameleon turns rainbow with pleasure when he hears from you. I am more reserved, so I will respond in gratitude by email instead. Now that it’s your turn…. Scroll right to the end, leave me a comment and tell me, what do you think? Thanks for connecting!

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, IG or FB. All your follow options can be found here. Don’t forget to link up all your current quilting projects on Tuesdays at our Colour & Inspiration Linky parties!