nature

4 blocks............... from Exuberant Color

I haven't sewn the 9 pieces for the blocks together yet. I'm trying to decide if I want positive/negative blocks or all alike in value placement. I'll sew more of the 4 triangle squares together so I can play with more blocks on the design wall.

All 4 of the buds are open now on the red Amaryllis.

This one is such a pretty shade of red too.

The orange blooms are so pretty too. A few more buds should be open today or tomorrow.

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 1 day, 3 hours ago. under kaffe fabric , nature , quilts made with triangles , triangles

Last block in place............ from Exuberant Color

I had one more block that was too small so I added strips until I could trim it to 10.5" and now all of the blocks are made. I can't see that this one would become any better by adding a lot more blocks. It is only 30" x 40" so it will get a border of some kind. After I decide whether I want to rearrange the column on the right I just need to sew this together and then it will move over to the side of the design wall for awhile.

The Amaryllis was so ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 4 days, 3 hours ago. under batiks , crazy piecing , nature

Analyzing an older project............ from Exuberant Color

This project has been living in a box for over a year. Since my design wall was empty yesterday was a good day to get it all out and see what I had. The large blocks are 10" finished and the small ones 5" finished.

I wondered if it needed more black so I pulled several pieces that I had stored in the same box. I think that might give it a little more life. Now I have to decide if I want to make more than the one crazy pieced block and make it larger.

The second stalk of ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 5 days, 3 hours ago. under batiks , crazy piecing , nature

A couple stars......... from Exuberant Color

I love the Lemoyne Star cutting die but I never remember which color has to be face up and which face down to continue making stars like the ones on the left. I finally wrote it on the die.

Here is a close up of one of the stars on the left and then the 3 on the right that are reversed in coloration. Those 3 will go to the Kaffe orphan block box and I can finally continue on with all of the blocks being alike.

I have more blooms on the orange cactus. Several buds are almost ready ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 6 days, 3 hours ago. under kaffe fabric , nature , star quilts

Top 9 on Instagram.....new quilt.....nature... from Exuberant Color

On Instagram you can have an app select the 9 posts that got the most likes. These are in order from left to right, row to row from the most likes in the top left position. That happens to be one of my most favorite too. If you notice there are 2 pink quilts, which leads me to believe we need more pink in the world. In the second place is what is called a reel, a continuous playing post going through all of the photos and then starting over again. My account is @exuberantcolor if you want to check ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 2 weeks, 6 days ago. under flannel quilts , nature

The first snowfall..........and a little quillting........ from Exuberant Color

We were 40 days past our average first snow in this area and 287 days since our last snow. I wonder what the rest of our winter will be like. The snowflakes were huge when I took this photo.

I took this photo before lunch and it snowed for a couple more hours after that. By evening we were up to 34 degrees and some of the snow was melting already.

I loaded this quilt on the longarm about a week ago and finally I quilted it.

The top thread is Superior Rainbows in a pale variegated color. Since the ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 3 weeks, 3 days ago. under machine quilting , nature , one color quilt

Using some old blocks........... from Exuberant Color

I have played with these blocks several times and always ended up putting them back in the box of Kaffe fabric pieces and parts. About 6 weeks ago I did a layout with them on one of my design walls in the basement and I decided yesterday it was time to sew them together.

I was watching a movie that didn't end until 11 p.m. so I kept sewing and got the top all together. Since it is small it will probably get a border added.

I'm glad I had a couple cactus blooms on Christmas day ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 3 weeks, 6 days ago. under kaffe fabric , nature

Last package ready........ from Exuberant Color

We had another beautiful sunset last night, much more vivid than my photo. It is going to get warmer each day to mid 50s on Christmas eve. The latest date we have had snow is Dec. 20th which was in 2012. We will most likely break that record this year, 279 days since we have had snow. Our whole year has been very similar to 2012, a year I remember very well for all of the things that happened that year. That summer was hotter than this year but had the same near drought conditions.

This is the first bloom ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 1 month ago. under nature

A little sewing............ from Exuberant Color

I made it into the studio yesterday afternoon and put borders on one of the star blocks. Then I went to the basement and found the remaining 2" strips that were cut years ago and pulled out 4 choices that might work on the last 2 blocks.

I have 2 champagne color cacti blooming. This photo was taken a couple days ago with the sun coming through the blinds.

This is on the other plant, photo taken yesterday. I have one bud on a pink one and one bud on the orange one.

I made 3 more batches of Chex ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 1 month ago. under kaffe fabric , nature

Sewing and Sunset............. from Exuberant Color

I added the vertical column of squares and 4 patches first and then added the row of 16 patches at the bottom. Amazingly they both fit without any spacers. Now I need to make some decisions about the next vertical group of blocks. I can go ahead and sew the Flying Geese and see how many more I will need.

There was an intense colorful sunset last night even deeper toned than it looks here. I just happened to be looking west at the right time to grab my camera.

All 4 buds have opened now on the hardware store ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 1 month, 1 week ago. under kaffe fabric , nature

Mindless sewing............ from Exuberant Color

In my attempt to clean up after making the Gridlock quilt I am making strips sets to use for table mats with a modified Gridlock pattern. I have already made green, brown and purple. I'm using firm thick interfacing and fusible batting as my 2 layers of padding so they are firmer and flatter than a mug rug.

My birthday Amaryllis is blooming already. Usually they get really tall and threaten to tip over but this one couldn't wait. It has a second bud peeking out that hasn't grown at all in 3 weeks but I think ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 1 month, 2 weeks ago. under marcia derse fabric , nature

Enjoying the only warm day.......... from Exuberant Color

A day without a coat in December is a good day. I got all but one of my pots emptied and then I opened the last bag of leaf mulch and put some around all of the plants in my front flower beds. I hope that will keep them from frost heaving. The Coral Bells don't really die for the winter. Some leaves will be dead in the spring.

I'm standing between the house and the flower beds for these photos. I wasn't sure if I needed to put the leaf much around the mini Sedum plants ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 1 month, 2 weeks ago. under nature

Monthly recap for November 2021.......... from Exuberant Color

Down to the wire I finished a second quilt for November. The one on the left is a Moda pattern called Simply Woven and I made it with all batiks. It is 39.5" x 59". On the right is a batik colorwash 39" square.

The quilt top that I worked on all month is 68" x 92". The inspiration quilt is in the Kaffe book "Glorious Patchwork" which was published in 1997. I made mine with all Marcia Derse fabrics and it is one row longer than the one in the book.

Yesterday I decided I could finish one ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 1 month, 3 weeks ago. under binding , machine quilting , monthly recap , nature

Still reorganizing............ from Exuberant Color

You know what it is like, you move one thing and then you have to move a bunch of other things. I'm almost done...one more day.

I'm taking leftover strips from the Gridlock quilt to make some small table protectors. The finished size will be 8.5" x 11". I haven't decided if the center should be a square or a rectangle in a rectangular shape.

I brought the last of the tomatoes in from the garage. I picked all of the larger size green ones on Oct. 30th before the freeze. I read somewhere that ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 1 month, 3 weeks ago. under marcia derse fabric , nature

Portrait time........... from Exuberant Color

The seams are all sewn, the pressing is done, time for a portrait.

I posted this on my Instagram feed too and it looks a lot brighter there, the difference between a real camera and a phone camera. I think the colors are truer in this photo. This one ended up 68" x 92". It will shrink up a little with quilting.

(Reminder: this quilt was inspired by the Gridlock quilt in Kaffe Fassett's book Glorious Patchwork and again in the book Kaffe Quilts Again. Both of them in the books were made by Liza Prior Lucy).

I had ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 1 month, 3 weeks ago. under crazy piecing , marcia derse fabric , nature

Border audition.............. from Exuberant Color

The original Gridlock quilt had a one row border of squares all around it. I thought maybe a 2 row border would work and would increase the quilt to twin size. I don't have all of the different colors cut yet for the border but wanted to see whether one row or 2 looks best. I think maybe the one row is better. I need to plan this border before I start sewing the quilt top together because 3 border squares are the size of one Gridlock block so they will be sewn in groups of 3 and added ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 2 months ago. under marcia derse fabric , nature

Planning ahead.............. from Exuberant Color

My son bought me a red Amaryllis at the hardware store on his way to my house last week. I opened it last night and found it already growing, tipped to one side to fit in the box.

It even has a second bud starting. It is awfully pale from being hidden from the light and it will green up quickly now that it is out and planted.

My Amaryllis bulb from last year is in its time out (resting) period now under a box for darkness. I think I will need to leave it there until the second week ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 2 months ago. under nature

Nature.............. from Exuberant Color

When I went out to disconnect my hose and bring in the hose and cart I noticed how pretty the hardy Geranium is in my new front gardens.

I'm hoping my new compact Burning Buses will turn color completely before they lose their leaves. They are just starting to turn. It was about 32 degrees yesterday and very windy so the oak tree in the backyard has lost most of its leaves now.

I filled my birdfeeders and was watching all of the birds coming to eat and then all of a sudden they were gone. Look what landed ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 2 months ago. under nature

3 blocks to go............ from Exuberant Color

I sewed 2 more 36 patch blocks and the green block in the top left corner. Then I added a strip into the bottom right block. I moved a couple blocks to new positions. After I finish all of the blocks I will take the remainder of the 4.5" strips and cut the 4.5" squares that go around the perimeter. I just have to decide if it will be one row or 2 rows so I know how many to cut.

My backyard is a beautiful gold. The maple tree has lost about half of its leaves so ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 2 months ago. under marcia derse fabric , nature

Gridlock blocks 27 and 28.............. from Exuberant Color

Gridlock block number 27. It took me awhile to find a center square for this block.

Gridlock block 28. I really intended to make the last three blocks in lighter colors so I hope I will be able to do a good layout with the blocks I have made. I have one more block like this to make so it will be lighter colors.

Here are the 28 out of 35 blocks needed for the quilt. There are 3 new 36 patch blocks here too so I sewed 5 blocks yesterday. The final layout will be determined when I get ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 2 months, 1 week ago. under marcia derse fabric , nature

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