Saturday, February 22, 2014

Caribbean Blue

Here
Sometimes, when the sun hits the lake at the right angle on a day like today, it almost looks like a Caribbean blue. Almost? Well...

There
...you decide. This is Willemstad, Curaçao, and the photo is courtesy of this website. Willemstad is the inspiration for a new project that has totally jumped the queue despite my best efforts to suppress it. This pile of fabric has been sitting on the corner of my sewing table for over a week now:


It is clear that I won't get anything else done until I deal with it. Although it was published in 2005, I just bought Home Sweet Home by Barb Adams and Alma Allen a couple weeks ago after I saw a finished version of the quilt over on the Den Haan & Wagenmaker's blog here. So I have some "Double Dutch" inspiration to blame! Did the Dutch blog give rise to the Willemstad connection? Maybe. All I know for sure is that I really wanted to use a supersaturated blue background, and some bright Caribbean colours:




The weather forecast for Toronto is well below freezing all next week, but I'm hoping these colours will keep me warm! Now that I've bowed to the inevitable, I'm hoping to get the houses blocked in quickly. I needed a real applique project, after all. Wasn't it one of my New Year's resolutions? ;)

11 comments:

  1. Wow, that blue is beautiful! But will it run? I find those color catchers to be a huge help.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Cynthia! I did use a Color Catcher when I pre-washed the fabric, but I was surprised to find that not much of the dye came off. The fabric is Kona cotton, so I guess they make them pretty colourfast.

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  2. this sounds like an interesting project and yes the sea is a beautiful shade of blue,

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  3. I love that you are bringing in Carribean colour into your wintery days! What a fun project!! How pretty is Willemstad! Have you been there?

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    1. Thanks Rachael! I've been to several of the other islands, but not Curaçao. The hot colours are nice to contemplate, though!

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  4. I love the line of the moorings in the front of the photo. I wonder if it will make it into your quilt. Great to see the inspiration. A girl's got to do what a girl's got to do!

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    1. Thanks, Jillian! The pattern is actually from the book, Home Sweet Home, not a reproduction of the photo. I don't think I'm up to that yet!

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    2. Sorry to have been so obtuse, Monica. Of course. Only half my brain was in gear!

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  5. Your picture of Willemstad, Curaçao, reminds me very much of the small fishing village of "Grau de Roi" on the Mediterranean. I guess a vibrant, rich blue sky is beautiful and appreciated everywhere in the world, especially after a long dark winter! Starting with that supersaturated blue fabric, your stash of brights will keep your eyes and spirits happy until the return of warmer and brighter days to the northern hemisphere. Have fun with it!

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I'm told Blogger has been bouncing some comments, so if it happens to you I'm sorry! But the settings look right so I can't explain it. In any case, thanks for reading!

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