Give Me Some Color!

With all of that black and extreme quilting detail going on in "Little Lanterns of Tokyo", I had to take a break and get my color fix with "Vivid Imagination". Some of you might recognize this one as my cranky quilt that wasn't cooperating with the quilting process a while back. With a few adjustments, we are off and running again.

Many, many years ago, one of my college professors had advised me that it was advisable for detail artists to have a fun project they could use as a release. He told me about a scientific illustrator who threw bright paints at a large canvas at the end of each work day. Apparently, he also yelled and bellowed as he let loose.

So even if we are being creative...

 

 we might need to switch up every now and then.

 

 

Batik Shower Curtain

Sometimes necessity demands that I stop quilting for a bit and do some regular sewing. In this case, it had to do with a shower curtain that somebody had used as a swinging vine earlier in his kittenhood. Yes, that would be Nico.

I had heard stories about white swimming cats that sported a spot of color on their heads and a color coordinated tail. Hmmmmm.....had to be exaggerated. NOPE! If Nico is any indication of the nature of Turkish Van Cats, I would have say the stories are true.

Nico does not have access to Lake Van in Turkey where his ancestors swam, but he does have a shower Central California. And with all the spraying water--not to mention the excitement--the shower curtain didn't stand a chance.

Nico also plays in the bathroom sink and drinks out of the faucet. He washes his front paws in his water dish and goes nuts when he hears ice cubes being twisted from their plastic trays. After all, he's gotta have ice for his water bowl--more so for playing than for drinking. The really cool water is pretty good on hot summer days, though.

Back to the shower curtain. I thought I would make the new one out of batik since I had received so many compliments about the bathroom window curtain that I had previously sewn from a fish batik. The fabric had blended with the shower curtain, bit it wasn't a perfect match. Not to worry. The window curtain had seen better days, too.

Nico could not be blamed for that. The sun had taken it's toll on the window curtain. Talk about faded! Even shredded. Needed to do something about that before the new neighbor decided to take a peek.

I found a couple matching lengths of Indian batik on the bargain table at Beverly's Fabrics. Five dollars per yard.

This is the result:

 

Nico really likes his new shower curtain. He doesn't hang from it like Tarzan, but perches on the side of the tub between the batik curtain and the white waterproof liner. And there he stays, listening to the water while I take my shower.

This snapshot shows how bright the sun is behind the curtain in the window. It provides a beautiful blue green light, but it is hard on the fabric. You can see just a tiny sliver of the shower curtain to the left. It is the very same fabric as the window curtain--without backlighting.

 

Here is Nico enjoying the window. He is normally not allowed up there, but he seized a rare opportunity to stretch out on the sill when he noticed the open window. Gotta love that clown!