Looking forward to a great studio day!

Yesterday was cool and wet. In fact, all night, it was raining and blowing outside while I lay alone in the guest room enjoying the sound and smell of the rain. Funny how these things make us relax and feel a part of nature. I love the sound and feel of wind.

I worked on a quilt made from a panel of hot air balloons most of the day. The quilter used the attic windows design to showcase the subject. The backing was a beautiful ombre of rainbow colors, and I decided to echo this with the thread selections. Yes, more than one color of thread...in fact, six colors! When the sky and balloons changed colors, so did the thread. It was fun to pick the colors and see what happened.

Here is the overall shot of the quilt. I think she has done a great job making us believe we are looking out the window at a balloon rally!

The panto is Oriental clouds.

Parts of the quilt had a whole spectrum of colors, and I chose a thread with those colors, too. I changed the bobbin threads along with the top threads to match the ombre on the backing.

Here is the back. There was a lot of fabric shatter in the dark blue part. That's when the needle punches through the fabric and the white of the base fabric shows as a dot. I thought it was bearding at first, but needle change and tension adjustments didn't change the outcome...white dots. Perhaps it is because the dark colors had to have a lot more dye to achieve the correct saturation of color. I spritzed the blue bit with water and let it air dry, thinking that may close the holes a bit, but no dice.

The other colors did fine, and look really cool with the cloud pattern.

These are the threads I used . Left to right, the darkest one at the top of the quilt, and moving down from there. They are all Superior King Tut variegated threads.

I sporadically worked on my dots quilt, making the borders with the leftover bits. Today, I have to do a few adjustments to make them fit. I'm pretty happy with how it looks! I have a wonderful Tula Pink backing to use. I got it at the big sale for $6 a yard!! I know!! I couldn't believe it, either.

Ooh la la! Isn't this perky!

Of course, I left the machine with one row to go on the next quilt...after all, it was 6:00!

Even in the rain, the view from the sewing machine is wonderful!

Exactly!