While August can be a very hot and humid month where we live, I find it to be a very relaxing month now that my children are all grown. I’m not busy canning and freezing all the produce from our garden nor am I getting prepared for the school year. I have begun to think more seriously about Christmas presents but there’s no rush. I have time to wander around my flower gardens admiring the blooms and pulling any weeds I see. I enjoy watching the birds and butterflies delighting in my flowers as much as I do. Last year I bought four cone flowers but they aren’t purple. These are orange and I can’t wait for them to bloom!
While I admit I love all colors, there are some that I find myself drawn to more often than the others. For example, I love orange flowers. I have about three dozen day lilies in my garden, but my favorite, which is usually the last to bloom, is a tall beauty called Orange Velvet. I think it is beautiful! My lilies are usually about done by August but they make a show when they are all in bloom.
But, back to the cone flowers…I chose to add a purple cone flower to the mini quit for August. I really do enjoy coloring my images. I don’t remember coloring a ton as a child, but I could pull out my pencils on a regular basis these days! I didn’t use very many pencils, just two for the petals and one each for the leaves and flower center. I would love to color, shade, blend and tweak but I limit the number of pencils I use to make it more reasonable for someone recreating my pieces. The embroidery adds more definition so keeping the palette limited works.
Aren’t half-square triangles great? They are such a simple block but there are so many possibilities! I think they make a great frame for the purple cone flower in this little quilt. I chose a lovely shade of yellow-green that I think compliments the purple very nicely.
I include tips in my patterns for using colored pencils. If you haven’t tried this technique yet I hope you give it a try. If you think about it, it’s just a little fabric and some pencils. If you don’t like it you haven’t invested very much. But, you never know….you may rediscover a childhood favorite as I did!
The pattern is available now in my shop. You can find it here.
Thanks for stopping by today. I hope you make time to wander in your own garden (or maybe you can enjoy the gardens of your neighbors) and to do some coloring and stitching. See you again soon!
Blessings to you,
Michelle
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