ice storms and improv

In honor of Valentine's Day and my current obsession with warm, girly colors...

improv blocks for Love circle of do. Good Stitches!  This February, Natalie's asked for monochromatic improv blocks, with dark value centers, finishing at any size.  Her strongest criteria?  Small pieces.  Mmmmm....  My witty bitty scraps thank you!

I made this biggie block last night.  When I finished I wasn't sure I liked how much white I had used around the outside.  It has great contrast and feels SO Valentine, but looking back at Natalie's examples, I thought less contrast would be nicer.

Fresh and early today I started new purple and pink blocks.  Would you like to come along?

First, I sorted my scraps into several piles, light to dark values.

These blocks are made improv log cabin style.  To get things started I sewed together dark value pieces, pressed them, trimmed them and studied to see how they might fit together to make a center.

Once centers are formed, I square the edges and grab some more scraps.  I almost always sew scraps and then trim them up, squaring the edges to match the straight seam lines.  Sew first, cut later, live on the edge (wink). 

Pretty soon the composition starts looking nicely complicated.

Ooooh, and I make a mini mountain of pretty trimmings!

And then when I'm coming in for the last round of low value pieces....

Pause!

  Because you can't sew without power.  Darn.  And you can't iron.  And you can't blog.  And you can't even check emails.  (But you can do yoga on audio with the last bit of laptop battery power).

Yes, there is a little (lot) of this going on out there, and I know it's not just South Carolina.  Snow and cold abound, they do!

The morning after an ice storm, the trees are sparkling pure gorgeousness!

But the beauty does have a cost.  Last night I counted the sound of 10 branches falling as I tried desperately to go to sleep while ideas for my next class went gallivanting through my brain.  Fortunately, this is the biggest branch we found down in the morning.

Did I mention that I'm snowed in with my husband, but no kids?  Yes, the kids are at grandma's.  And I know, it's ok to hate me some.  Happy Valentine's Day though!

Just a bit ago the power came back on.  I wizzed through these blocks and over here to share them with you.  What do you think?  Do you like the lower contrast pink/purple versions or the higher contrast red?

Turns out, I like the red.  Haha!  Figures.