Bramble Blooms II QAL - The Centerpiece

Bramble Blooms II Centerpiece

32 x 40

Audrey (Quilty Folk blog) has posted the first prompt for the second quilt in the Bramble Bloom improv quilt along.  We are to piece a center with a solid connection to our first quilt in the series. 

This is my Bramble Blooms I top.   See those 8 inch Quarter Square Triangle (QST) cornerstones in the last border? 

That is my "solid connection" to Bramble Blooms I.   I made 8 inch QSTs in lime green and orange for my Bramble Blooms II centerpiece.   

I'll use lime green and orange as the base colors in all three series of Bramble Blooms quilts. And actually, my anvil quilt blocks in orange and lime green started my own personal series of quilts made with orange and lime green - two colors I'm not particularly fond of. 

A few years ago I assembled a small stack of oranges and lime greens in response to an AdHoc Improv Challenge to pick a color palette.    I challenged myself to use a color palette of colors I don't really like (orange and lime green) and to see if I could make a quilt I do like.   I did end up making 80 eight inch Anvil blocks in lime green and orange but still have not assembled them into a quilt top so I'm not sure yet if I met the challenge - a quilt I like in colors I don't really like. 

So I'm using a lot of leftovers from my Anvil Quilt in the Bramble Blooms quilts. In fact, all of the QSTs in the centerpiece were 4.5 inch Anvil Quilt scraps. I used the Easy Angle Companion ruler to cut pieces for the QSTs from those 4.5 inch strips that were long enough.  

And sew on...

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CELEBRATE! (my word of the year)

May 25 - Met up with a very short visit with a fellow Stashbuster who was in the area. She gave me some scraps and flannel pieces and a big hug. 

May 26 - It rained most of the morning. The sun came out in the afternoon and dried up all the rain so the itsy bitsy spider could get up his spout again. Well, actually, none of that was cause for celebration but I did get a visit from a hummingbird in the afternoon. I have a lot of pots of flowers on the deck (most not in bloom yet). I can see the deck from my spot on the couch in the living room through the double glass doors. A hummingbird evidently saw its reflection in the door and admired itself for a bit. It sure seemed like it was trying to tell me something.   Over the years we have frequently seen hummingbirds admiring themselves in the deck doors. That made me do a little research on hummingbirds to see if it could be the same one returning every year to see us.  😀 Yes, they do return to the same area to nest every year and they live on average 5 years but can live up to 10. Supposedly there are credible tales of hummingbirds recognizing and befriending people. To some, sighting a hummingbird signals that challenging times are over and healing can begin. To others, these tiny fliers are an inspiring sign of hope and good luck. Hummingbirds also can have a spiritual significance and mean the spirit of a loved one is near. A flock of hummingbirds can be referred to as a charm, a bouquet, a glittering, a hover, a shimmer, or a tune.