what the barn was missing

 this pile of fabric has been sitting on the end of my bawthroom sewing table since december 2013. that's over a year now. it was a pull for sarah schraw's barn door quilt along. it's a different color palette than i normally work in: brown, apple green, buttery yellow. the green and yellow aren't so different for me, so i guess it's mainly the brown that's a branch out. there are some dark espresso browns and some softer chocolate ones, too. i liked the idea, but the pull kept feeling a little muted somehow and i was worried it was going to be rather boring. if and when i ever worked it up.

 i did not start the quilt along when sarah got it going and it just fell to the bottom of the "wannabe wip" pile. but it was sitting there in my bawthroom, in plain view all this time.

a few months ago, at the end of last year, i was sitting at the bathtub, bathing a baby, but also thinking about the fabric pile when what was missing finally hit me. it needed just one little punch of something to liven it up and save it from boredom. the color intensive class and my personal experience with the penny patch quilt along i did with rachel hauser last year both really helped me develop my color sense a bit more. so as i was studying the pile of fabric, i saw the missing pop - teal!

three of the fabrics already had just the tiniest bit of a teal blue in them: the deep brown floral that is outlined in teal, the ditsy art gallery print, and the green and teal piece on top. i scoured my stash and found one teal polka dot fabric that is perfect. i like how it brightens up the mix without overpowering anything. it's still a calm palette, but now it's a little more awake.

now that i unlocked the secret to this pull, i'm fully motivated to get cutting on this quilt. but first there are a few things i need to move forward.  i haven't done a wip wednesday report for a long time, so here goes.

my current state of the union for the past week:

finished

bandwidth - complete but not photographed

auntie charming - see friday's post

in progress

indian summer blanket - four rows down, more to go

s1's wonky stacked coins quilt - 9 blocks complete; completely redesigned this week

valentine's pinwheel quilt - 4 blocks complete

easy dreaming - 40+ blocks complete, needs less than 20 more

penny patch 2.0 - still in corner of shame needing to be enlarged

bloom where you are planted - needs basting

sugar block club - still lost in feb 2014

hst diamond quilt - untouched

gypsy wife - um, in progress

epp - 21 wheels complete

trips to the store

none

internet activity

purchased half yards of "folk song" and several moda bella solids charm packs

linking up with lee's wip wednesday at freshly pieced

color me happy

 the littler girls and i have been working on assembling my manipulative color card before color intensive course begins next week. when signing up for the course, i got a free (shipping only) kona 2012 color card that rachel has showed us how to turn into a card with detachable swatches.

i'll admit i loved this idea, but also thought it was going to be pretty tedious to cut up all those swatches and the velcro. however, with my little helper at my side, it turned into a fun mommy-daughter project that even allowed me to sneak in some homeschool lessons on counting/number sense and letter recognition for a little girl that is coming to these skills rather slowly.

 we've had some very lively conversations about color comparisons, favorites or preferences, and name choices. when looking at the swatch called "banana" we thought it was too soft, not bright enough, so we got out a banana to check.  surprisingly, it did match a paler section of the banana near the stem! i think "lemon" and "school bus" need some checking, too, but maybe i'm the one who'll be surprised.

in general, it's just been a lovely introductory activity to the color theory class. spending time handling and considering each individual swatch and thinking about the differences and placement has been quite pleasurable and instructive already.

this is probably my favorite section of the card: all those pinks, lighter blues, and fresh, new greens. colors to please the eye and gladden the heart of this girl.

if you haven't yet signed up for the course, there's still time and a few cards left.  class starts feb 3. join me?