Design Wall/Orca Bay Monday

On my design wall today are a few of the string blocks (step 2) and a sampling of the HST (step 3) of Bonnie Hunter’s Orca Bay Mystery  that I am participating in.

I have all of the step 2 string blocks completed, and I love them. They are so neat and look good-and they are purple.

I am about two-thirds of the way finished with step 3. I took advantage of the Inklingo special sale for Orca Bay participants and have used Inklingo to make these blocks. I have looked into Inklingo before, but never got into it. I have to say that I am really enjoying making the HST this way-and enjoying HSTs is not something I ever expected to do! Since I haven’t even started step 1 yet, (hey, why start at the beginning?) I think I will probably go back to Inklingo and get the collection for quarter square triangles.

Bonnie selected her colors using a photograph from her Alaska trip. I found a few photos I really liked, but the colors were too similar. Then, while still debating if I even would participate, I saw a photo on someone’s computer that blew my mind. Initially, I couldn’t even tell what the photo was, all I saw was the color! It turns out that the photo was of an ant, under extreme magnification. The ant was electrically vibrant shades of oranges and yellows. The background changed from deep purples (in areas that would have been ‘sky’ in a landscape) to dark teal (in what would have been the ground). Such an incredible photo, I don’t think I have the link to it, if I find one I will post. The subject certainly wasn’t ‘pretty’, but it was so vivid and colorful, it had to be my inspiration.  Hmm, maybe this quilt won’t be Orca Bay, but Electric Ant for me…… I’m not sure how the quilt will turn out with these colors in it, but that is part of the risk in doing a mystery quilt, and Bonnie’s are always amazing.

All of this was done as I listened to an audio version of one of Louise Penny’s Inspector Gamache mysteries. This is the second I have listened to, and I intend to listen to the rest, I enjoy them so much. At first, it seems wordy, but if you listen instead of wish she’d just get on with the story, you will find the descriptions and insights amazing in themselves. These books aren’t  action packed, shoot ‘em ups, but more in line with P.D. James thoughtful detective Adam Dalgliesh. Penny’s work reminds me to enjoy the journey to the conclusion, not just the conclusion itself, to savor each morsel instead of gorging and swallowing  the whole thing.

Go on over to Judy’s Patchwork Times to check out what other quilters are up to, you will see some great work. While you are at it, go over to Bonnie’s to see the progress other Orca Bay mystery quilters are making, it will be amazing to see how differently these quilts turn out, even though they are all using the same pattern.