February Color Challenge

It's the second month of the color challenge and I'm blogging again. Yay!

Wasn't it fun to see all those blocks last month?

For this month's pattern and instructions,

go to Jen's Blog - Patterns by Jen

This month's bird and color are the Indigo Bunting - Teal

This is a beautiful bird and color!

Like so many birds, it is the male that has such a bright and wonderful color. The Indigo Bunting male is a small, sparrow-sized stocky bird with a short tail and conical bill. The males are a bright blue overall with a slightly richer blue on the head. 

Click HERE to listen to it's beautiful song. 

These wonderful birds sing from treetops, shrubs, and telephone lines all summer long. They are commonly found in weedy and brushy areas; and they really like hedgerows, overgrown patches, and brushy roadsides. They eat insects and berries, and can be attracted to backyards with thistle or nyjer seeds. 

Teal is one of those colors that has different "interpretations" for different people. I generally think that teal has more green to it, but when I look at the pictures of the Indigo Bunting, I see more blue. I generally think as that as more turquoise than teal. Nevertheless, I really like this color! While checking out my quilt pictures, I realize that I haven't used it very much and I think I need to change that. Here are a couple of projects in which I have used teal.

I wanted to try a cathedral window, but knew that I did NOT want to make a full quilt. This pillow was perfect.  

This quilt was made for a black and white plus one challenge. The pattern is Madd Hatter by Elaine Wick Poplin

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Let's take a look at this month's color challenge block. 

Go to Jen's blog for the instructions. 

Here are my fabrics. 

(Remember that I am making two blocks - 

one with a black background and one with a white background; and I am using batiks for my colored prints.)

I really like the texture on this fabric I bought at Once Upon a Quilt in Ft. Lauderdale.  

I love their logo; and check out the colors!

The pieces are ready to be sewn together!

Time to use the rotary cutter.

I have no idea why this picture is so bad.  :-(

Just like that, all the pieces are ready to be sewn to make the block!

I like these fabrics and I really like HST units, so I played around a bit before making the block. What do you think of these block layouts?

I like this rectangular block!

Enough playing around. Here are my February blocks...

I like the teal diamond that is formed when I put these two blocks next to each other.  Hmmmm, I may have to play around with a new quilt option. :-)

 As a word of warning, be careful when sewing the HST units together. Be sure to have them in the correct orientation or you'll have to rip some seams like I did.  Yikes!  Can see see how perfect my point would have been? 😊

Check out the other bloggers who are making this block. I just love how the change of fabric makes that blocks look totally different. 

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Patterns by Jen

Penny for My Thoughts

Create with Claudia

Sweet Boater Chick

So This is Kentucky

Don't forget to join the link up party to be entered into 

First Quarter Prize Drawing. 

 Oh, how we all love prizes!

Thanks to our sponsors!

January Monthly Color Challenge

Happy New Year!

It's the new year and the first month of the 

2020 Monthly Color Challenge!

For this month's pattern and instructions, 

go to Jen's Blog - Patterns by Jen

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January - Finch (Yellow)

This is such a pretty bird! 

The Goldfinch is the state bird of New Jersey, Iowa, and Washington, and it is common at feeders that offer sunflower and nyjer seeds. It is the Spring male (the Breeding Male Goldfinch) that is such a brilliant yellow with shiny black and bits of white. The females are a bit more dull yellow and actually look olive in color. It too is a beautiful bird!

Goldfinches are usually easy to find around much of North America, and it's their "po-ta-to-chip" flight call draws attention to them in open areas. 

Click HERE to listen to the beautiful sounds of these birds.

If you want to attract Goldfinches, plant native thistles and milkweed, as well as other composite plants. These beautiful birds are attracted to almost any kind of feeders, including hoppers, platforms, and hangers. They are also happy to feed off of the ground, so sprinkling seeds is just as good for them.

There are many thoughts regarding the symbolism of Goldfinches. 

They are considered to be a sign of exuberance, liveliness, and enthusiasm; and their arrival is meant to remind us to enjoy life and savor every moment and not waste time or energy on negative thoughts. What a beautiful idea! 

Speaking of beautiful, yellow is a wonderful color to use in quilts. I used to be afraid to use yellow because I was afraid that too much of it would be distracting, and too little would look out of place. 

I don't feel that way any more and enjoy adding pops of yellow to a number of my projects. I think it works perfectly in these quilts.

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So let's take a look at this month's color challenge block. 

Here are my fabrics. 

(Remember that I am making two blocks - 

one with a black background and one with a white background; and I am using batiks for my colored prints.)

Isn't this yellow wonderful? I purchased it, along with all my batiks at Once Upon a Quilt Shop in Ft. Lauderdale when I was there back in December. 

FYI 

Once Upon A Quilt opened in 1998 and features the full line of Bernina machines, a 1500 square foot Event Center, a machine service center, longarm quilting services, and 2500+ bolts of the finest 100% cotton fabric - just like the batiks I bought for this project. :-)

The steps to making this block are very simple and straightforward. 

Go to Jen's Blog for cut sizes and the instructions.

Be sure to press well, so as to avoid any misshaped strips.

I chose to match up the strips before cutting them so they would be ready to sew in the next step.

And they are ready to sew!

Nice looking four patches!

I did the "twist and spin" thing for pressing to help my blocks lay nice and flat.

I love these blocks! The batik yellow looks like it is a solid, but it's really not.  

Check out the other bloggers who are making this block. I just love how the change of fabric makes that blocks look totally different. 

Patterns By Jen

Kathy's Kwilts and More

Penny for My Thoughts

The Quilted Diary

Bear Paw Stitch & Design

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Don't forget to join the link up party to be entered into 

First Quarter Prize Drawing. 

 Oh, how we all love prizes!

Thanks to our sponsors!

2020 Color Challenge - There will be Prizes!

I'm participating in the 2020 Color Challenge and am excited!

I had a lot of fun this year and know that next year is going to be even more fun. HERE is more information from our hostess Jen of Patterns by Jen. 

Just like last year, I've jumped right in and signed up for months early in the year. I will be blogging about the challenge in January, February, and June. Of course I plan to blog about it every month, but those are the months for which I've committed.  :-) 

Like I did for 2019, I've signed up to complete the quilt and blog about that too. And just because I can, I am making two blocks per month and plan to make two quilts. 

So what does this all mean?

Each month, Jen will pick a color and a block and she will provide instructions on how to make that block. There are actually three options of colors this year - 

Original Version - two different shades of the same color

Black Background - two colors, but the background will be black

White Background - I'm guessing you can figure this out, right? 

Last year, I used fabrics from my stash, but I decided to mix it up a bit this year and only my background fabrics are from my stash. I also decided that all of the colors would be batiks and that all of those would be purchased from the same shop. I knew that I would be traveling to Once Upon a Quilt in Ft. Lauderdale in early December, so I decided to purchase all the batiks there and use the resulting quilts as a way to remember my trip. 

I had a blast during my workshop there, and met some wonderful people, especially Lisa, the owner. I'll share more about my trip and the shop each month, which will help keep me motivated and focused all year long. 

Besides me, am awesome group of bloggers have agreed to write up blog posts about the blocks and colors each month. This will allow you to see the block made up in all the same colors, but from different fabrics. I can't wait to see that! 

Jen is very clever and the 2020 colors have been assigned a bird to represent it. I think this is a great way to figure out what the color actually looks like. I just did a search of the birds and had a great visual for the color I'm trying to match. 

Like 2019, I'll provide some basic information about the bird including its habitat, sounds, and symbolism. If you've been reading my blog for any length of time, you know that my grandchildren LOVE to feed the birds and to watch them from our back room. I'm excited to be able to learn a lot about a lot of birds while making a beautiful quilt.  

Here are the 2020 Colors

2020 Monthly Colors

January - Finch (yellow)
February - Indigo Bunting (teal)
March - Oriole (orange)
April - Honey Creeper (purple)
May - Budgerigar (green)
June - Blue Bird (blue)
July -American Robin (rust)
August - Flamingo (pink)
September - Cinnamon Teal (cinnamon)
October - Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Olive)
November - Buff-breasted Sandpiper (buff)
December - Cardinal (red)

Here are Jen's Fabrics

(She has two for each month because she's doing the original version.)

Here are my fabrics

(Oops! I have a couple of fabrics out of place.) 

I am using a black batik for one background (top of picture) and a white on white print that I had in my stash for the other set of blocks. It's hard to see, but I decided to use the wrong side of the white fabric because I like it better. :-)

I know that you've been reading a lot and are wondering about the prizes that I mentioned earlier. There will be quarterly prizes this year, and all you have to do to be entered is join the link ups during the months within that quarters. (One link up enter per quilter each month, please.)

There are lots of sponsors, which means lots of prizes! 

Check out Jen's Blog for a list of sponsors. :-) 

So, are you going to join the fun and put lots of Color into 2020?