He's not really in a quilt, he just looks like he is. I found this, and the next photo, on Weird Friends. I often wonder who takes these photos. Why do they hold onto them? And why do they post them?  Maybe this fellow is famous. Maybe he painted these things. It looks like it could be an art installation.

What I like about this photo is the very organic man inserted into the graphic, quilt-like scene. 

And then there is this. I think it's a weaving. The people blend into, and seem to be part of, what surrounds them.

The two images, seen together, suggest interesting ways to put people into your quilts.

We're working on a new book and I took a couple of photos last week to illustrate color, pattern, value, and contrast. I thought I'd share this with you.

When choosing fabric for a quilt, it's important to remember that it is a difference in value that makes one fabric stand apart from another. Imagine that you are making green 4-patches. If you made them from the four fabrics below, you would be wasting your time.

Why would it be a waste of your time to make 4-patches from the fabrics above? Because, while each green is a different shade and each pattern is different, these fabrics are essentially the same value. They run together.

If you want to make 4-patches with these fabrics you either need to add lighter fabrics, add darker fabrics, or add both to the original 4 fabrics.

Color is what pulls you into a quilt, but value and how you use it is what makes your design visible.

And and note… I'm not really home. I'm on vacation with my
daughter-in-law, Lorna, my granddaughter, Elanor, and her bff, Lola.
We are at Disney World and I expect that I am going to be too busy to
blog. I'll let you know more about the trip when I get back!

As I posted yesterday, the kids have been in the pool. I did manage to take a movie of Jack, whose hand is being firmly held by his mom, Lorna.

If you can stand it, watch it to the end to hear Jack say water. Jack mostly speaks Klingon. It's not baby talk – he's speaks consistently in distinguishable words – just not words any of us know. Water is something like 'blalalala'. Always. Thankfully, he has started saying some words in English. It'll be nice when we can have a conversation!

It's been in the 60s here for the last few days and the pool has been looking especially pretty. The kids found it irresistible – although not for long. The water is still really cold.

Steve is on Spring Break this week so we took the weekend to work around the pool. Jeff had started the stone work at the north end of the pool at Christmas. These stones are laid using a dry-pack method. You dig out underneath the area where the stones will go. Mix sand and cement in even amounts and make a bed of it underneath where the stones will go. Then you place the stones. That part is the hard part. Everything has to be level and the stones need to end up at the correct height.

We were hot at the end of the day yesterday and we both jumped into the pool. I was in and out in 15 seconds!

There is metal edging between the stones and the flower bed. We added new dirt and good mulch. I've just started planting. The purple phlox is a low growing, sun-loving ground cover that should cover the mulch and keep the ground moist. The little bush with the yellow flowers is broom. Lowe's had them. They are supposed to grow to 6' and be evergreen. I want something big here to keep the kids from taking a running jump at the pool. Maybe this will work.

This is where we had to stop. It may be a couple of weeks before we get back to it. You can see the pea gravel between the stones. We are not using concrete with these stones because our electric cable runs underneath here. If we ever have to dig it up, this will be easier to move.

FYI – that bush with the yellow-tinged leaves is an elaeagnes. They grow tall and are evergreen. It is my hope that the pool equipment will be out of site by the end of the summer.

Last summer we gave the Napa Valley Quilters Guild in Napa California permission to use our Everyday Best pattern from Quilts with a Spin as the basis for their Opportunity Quilt. Here is the final product. Twenty-three women worked on the quilt. Barbara, who sent us this photo said that many expanded their skills as the guild offered classes in paper piecing and hand appliqué.

Here is the final quilt. Barbara says that everyone in the guild loves the quilt! Of course they do – this is a really pretty quilt and we hope they raise lots of money with it.

I embrace technology. I love my Kindle and look forward to falling deeply in love with an iPad (in a year or so when version 2 or 3 comes out). However, I freely admit that there are some truly lovely books. whit that thought in mind, here is a site that you might be interested in…

BibliOdyssey is Paul Peacay's blog. He lives in Sydney and posts beautiful, book-related images. For example, I love this chicken from his post of Dutch picture books.

There is a big button on the upper right side of his blog that takes you to 'The Annotated Archives of BibliOdyssey'. This is an easy way to find Mr. Peacay's older posts. They are worth looking at.