DWM: quilt in progress

As I wrote last Sunday, this week was very busy indeed.  I had a Woman's Club committee dinner Monday, P.E.O. birthday potluck Tuesday, quilt guild Wednesday evening, our Rotary Club's 15th anniversary breakfast Thursday (at the library, which meant I needed to be there at 6:15 a.m. to let the caterer in), and a book talk Thursday (see previous post). The library's annual in-service day was Friday. The Zion-Benton Leadership Summit breakfast was Saturday morning, followed by the library's first BAM! celebration (that's Books, Authors, and More).

The quilt guild program on Wednesday was given by Patricia Simmons and her father from Quilter's Rule in Watertown  Waterford, Wisconsin. http://quiltersrule.com/  They make molded rulers, acrylic templates, and silk-screened cutting mats. They also silk-screen acrylic rulers for other designers.  Patricia showed photos from the factory: the molds, the styrene pellets, the screens, and the finishing.  It was very interesting!  She also showed how to use the templates to create quilting designs.

In and around all of these activities I made time to sew. (I am listening to Americanah, a novel by Chiminanda Ngozi Adichie, to review for Library Journal. It is long but very interesting.)

When I posted the initial photo of my version of Summers at the Lake I wrote that I was combing my batik stash for medium-to-dark blues for the 5" squares that separate the 9-patch blocks.  I didn't have much.  My self-imposed limit is that I am not going to buy any fabric during Lent. Well, I got all the 9-patch blocks made.  I tried a few 5" blue squares. They were awfully dark.  Then I tried another color entirely.  I didn't have quite enough of the twisty flying geese batik print, but I thad another in very similar colors.  The setting triangles are another fabric.  (I think I'll have to give it a different name, though....Summers  at the Volcano? ) 

dark blue pulls it down

as pictured in the book

I am grateful to Wanda Hansen for the inspiration.  You can see her beautiful quilts, many made from batiks, at her blog, Exuberant Color .

I'm linking up with other quiltmakers at Judy's Patchwork Times.