My Spiel for Teal ~ Mosaic Contest

While shopping at Bobbie Lou's Fabric Factory for the perfect nine fabric swatches to enter into Rachel's (Stitched In Color) Toasty Teal mosaic contest, I came across a print, C'est La Vie in Winter, and and knew I must include it in my mosaic.

Maybe I'm drawn to the chartreuse/aqua/teal combination.  It's part of the beautiful collection, Joie de Vivre by Bari J for Art Gallery. 

Instead of a long-drawn-out story about how I crafted my Toasty Teal mosaic, I'll let the fabrics speak for themselves.

Thank you Rachel for hosting another fabric mosaic contest and Bobbie Lou's for sponsoring.  Now head on over see all of the Toasty Teal mosaics and be sure return when Rachel opens up voting on Monday, December 11th, so you can vote on your favorite Toasty Teal mosaic.

Summer Crush Mosaic Contest

Did you see that Rachel at Stitched in Color is hosting another mosaic contest?  The theme is Summer Crush.  Here in South Carolina we have one more month of summer and as usual it is HOT and humid!

To participate, you need to create your own summer mosaic of nine fabrics by shopping at Quilt Sandwich Fabrics and upload your mosaic by the deadline of August 20th at midnight.  Here's my Summer Crush mosaic.

While shopping at Quilt Sandwich Fabrics, I found a Kaffe Fassett print, Oriental Trees, which reminded me of the Crepe Myrtle trees which are blooming here in the south.  While the ones in my yard are hot pink, there are plenty of purple ones blooming like the one here.

I've said it before, here and here, but Rachel has such a way with words and always finds the perfect photos to represent the chosen theme.

At first glance, I didn't notice a lot of purple in the collages Rachel created, but take a second look.

Include in these Pinterest links, there's purple in the sky here, the surfboard here, the pastel quilt here, and Rossie Hutchinson's Arne quilt here and here on the MQG website.

And a few more purple inspiration photos I've taken...

This is a Columbine taken at the Kilgore-Lewis House home of the Greenville Council of Garden Clubs in Greenville, SC.

Purple Verbena taken at the same time.

And I'm not sure what this one is.

And a bachelor button taken in my yard.

Thank you Rachel for hosting another fabric mosaic contest and Quilt Sandwich Fabrics for sponsoring.  Now head on over see all the mosaics and be sure return when Rachel opens up voting on the 21st so you can vote on your favorite Summer Crush mosaic. 

Soft Botanical Mosaic Contest

Did you see that Rachel at Stitched in Color is hosting another mosaic contest, Soft Botanical?  Her beautiful photograph collages never disappoint and she always has such a way with words to describe them, they almost transport you there.

All you need to do is create a 9-fabric mosaic by shopping at Gotham Quilts and add your link(s) to the Soft Botanical collection. (You may need to refresh the webpage for the mosaic entries to display.)

I was inspired by the all the greens of cacti in this artwork found on pinterest. I'm calling this mosic, Calming Cacti.

Calming Cacti

Voting will begin May 1st with winners announced on May 3th.  Two winners will recieve fat quarter from the fabrics in their mosaic.  I think this would be an awesome bundle!

Evening Stroll Mosaics

Did you see that Rachel at Stitched in Color is hosting another mosaic contest, Dreaming at Dusk?  Her beautiful photograph collages never disappoint and she always has such a way with words to describe them, they almost transport you there.

All you need to do is create a 9-fabric mosaic by shopping at Lark Cottons and add your link(s) to the Dreaming at Dusk collection.

In the two mosaics I created, I thought about the colors found on an evening stroll around the yard.  You would think with fall already here, it would be a little cooler, but not the case.  It's still hot and very dry in South Carolina.

Evening Stroll Mosaic #1

Evening Stroll Mosaic #2

And here are the colors found on my evening stroll...

Hearts a' Bustin' (Euonymus americanus)

Jerusalem Artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus)

Crepe Myrtle, newly transplanted and originally from my grandmother

Fading Phlox

Tall Phlox

Hydrangea also transplanted from my grandmother's

Our pecan tree is finally starting to bear

Leaves of the Sourwood  are starting to turn

I hope you enjoyed the evening stroll around the yard.  My mosaics along with those by others can be seen at Stitched in Color.  You have until Oct 2nd to enter a Dreaming at Dusk mosaic of your own and then voting will commence shortly after.

And since I do have some photographs to share, I'm linking to to the first time to Wandering Camera with Soma at Whims and Fancies.  I was experimenting with a new 50mm lens which I got for a steal in an open box special.

Happy Fall,

Melon Basket Mosaic

I always enjoy looking through and voting on the mosaics when Rachel at Stitched in Color issues a challenge to create a nine-fabric mosaic based on the chosen theme.  With summer coming on, what could be more refreshing than Cool Melons.  She always includes beautiful photograph collages and has such a way with words to describe them.

When I think of melons, watermelons in particular, I can't help but laugh and will tell you a little story at the end.  But first, let me share the mosaic I created from shopping though all the beautiful fabrics at Gotham Quilts.  I chose fabrics to represent cantaloupes, honeydews and watermelons at their ripest.

Melon Basket Mosaic by Paige Alexander

The fabrics include:

Row 1

• Mercury in Green from Sun Prints by Alison Glass
• Medium Dots Tone on Tone in Orange from Riley Blake
• Spark Coral Double Gauze from Bespoke by Cotton and Steel

Row 2

• Confetti Dots in Coral by Dear Stella
• Butterflies in Green from Tiger Lily by Heather Ross
• Emes in Tangerine from Lucky by Lotta Jansdotter

Row 3

• Doe Eyed in Tangerine from Moonshine by Tula Pink
• Newsprint in Coral from Paint from Carrie Bloomston
• Etapp in Green Olive from Lucky by Lotta Jansdotter

When I created the first mosaic, I used this lighter green, Vintage Dot in Lime by Denyse Schmidt for the center, but after seeing the butterflies from Tiger Lily I thought it best represented watermelon rind and pulled all the other fabrics together so well.

Now, on to the reason for my laughing when I think of watermelons.

My husband's family has always been game players, both card games and board games.  One evening we were playing Taboo with my brother-in-law and his wife.  The guys were on one team and girls on the other.

For those of you not familiar with Taboo, Wikipedia describes it is a word, guessing game and the objective of the game is for a player to have their partner(s) guess the word on the player's card without using the word itself or the 5 additional words listed on the card.

It was my turn to give clues and the card I drew was Watermelon.  Therefore, I could not say the word watermelon or the other words on the card.

Watermelon card and timer from Taboo on Kona Mango

When playing the game you can use words or sentences to describe the taboo word that you cannot say aloud.  My first thought and the clue I gave was,

"You can make a basket from it."

And without me saying another word, her immediate response was,

"WATERMELON"

The men couldn't believe it and just rolled their eyes.  I guess we have attended to one too many bridal or baby showers where we have seen watermelons carved into a basket and filled with melon balls and other fruit.

I found this pretty watermelon basket by Wardah at Best of Wardah.  She even has a step by step to make your own.

Watermelon basket by Best of Wardah used with permission

Now you know why I can't help but smile and sometimes chuckle when I see watermelons and melon balls!

Curating this Melon Basket mosaic was fun!  Rachel is accepting entries until midnight on May 8th, so you have plenty of time to create your own cool melon mosaic.  I think you will enjoy looking at the other cool melon entries at Stitched in Color so head on over to her blog.