CONTRAST...

I think contrast is a good thing. I love white-chocolate covered pretzels- the salty contrasting with the sweet. Things would get pretty boring without contrast. Of course, there is contrast and there is contrast. A little bit is good, maybe too much can be jarring. Here are 2 of this week's projects. (No, I didn't limit myself to only 2 projects- there are several more in the works, but they are gifts and, as such, have to be kept under wraps.) These 2 quilts are what I would consider high contrast. Too much of a good thing? Oh, I don't know.

The top picture is my Thimbleberry Village which I am putting together for my Mom. I have another "block" finished so that leaves 4 more to go. I am thoroughly enjoying this quilt. I love making samplers- while they take a little bit longer to make, it's a lot of fun to see how each block is going to turn out and how they will all come together. And did anyone else notice that my geese are doing a nose dive? I didn't like the way the red in the log cabins blended into the house block- not enough contrast. But I am not sure which is the lesser of 2 evils... nose-diving geese or blurry log cabins... You decide for me, will ya? These blocks came pre-cut and that alone has been a real treat. I am averaging about a block a day- like I have nothing more pressing to do. But I have been rewarding myself with sew time after each pass on the quilting machine. It seems to be a pretty good combination. I get contrast and my shoulder doesn't get "stove up."

The bottom picture is a "Minkee Blankee" that I made as a house warming gift for a young friend who just bought his first house. It has a fire place and he was joking about how good a bearskin rug would look in front of it... so I threw together this cheetah backed blanket. Not exactly the same effect, but I've had rave reviews from it. It is soooooo soft. He said that was it's only flaw- it's so soft he finds it hard to stop petting it! His arms and legs keep flapping around at night! He is 6'5" so I made it extra long. And doesn't that blue look just like a pool of water? His dad liked it so much that now we need to make another.

So how's that for contrast. One is very traditional and one is quite modern for a quilt. One has lots of little pieces and one has no piecing. But both are quite tasty. Now where can I get some of those pretzels....