New Year - New Quilt (In progress) and New Book

My latest quilt - the flowers are on!

 I haven't blogged in a couple of weeks, and I'm still zonked out from the holidays!  I did get some quilty work done though; I added flowers to the foreground. 

Wild Rhododendron in the foreground - the peachy pink picks up the color in the sunset doesn't it?

 And of course, Ellie Cat needs to photo bomb. 

"This new rug feels a lot like the last one", Ellie says.
"How about that?!" I respond.

 I'm working on the crepuscular rays now.  (Your science word for the day).  These are freezer paper and pressed to the quilt top so I can mark where to put the real rays which will be tulle.  Normally I wouldn't bother with making templates for the rays, but in the case of this quilt, the rays are anywhere from 16 to 27 inches long and they need to be straight, very straight.

Lay out of the rays, they will be different widths, lengths and a mix of yellow and white tulle

 Once in a while, everyone should google their own name. You might be surprised what is out there and it is a good reminder that once it is put out there on the internet, it can never be taken back... but I digress.  

I put in my name, yes I admit it - I was looking for comments about my book. Writing a book is kind of like giving birth; you bring it forth after much intense labor and then suddenly it is there in your hands and you don't quite know what to do with it, lol.

Is it pretty? Do people like it? What do they think? 

Everyone needs affirmation. 

So what pops up in google? This photo is from Debbie's blog called 'stitchintherapy'.  Isn't it pretty?  She wrote such nice things about my book too. You can read what she wrote, Here. (You might have to scroll down a bit.. and you might like her blog so much that you add it to your "follow" lists.) 

My book with some pretty landscape quilting prints. Thanks Debbie!

It makes me so happy when people find my book useful.  Here is another use for it - making fish mops!  Lol, you might be asking 'Whaaaat???'

Lovely Landscape Quilts and Fish Mops

One of the things I like doing is raising baby fish. In the beginning they are so small and it is always a challenge to find food small enough to feed them... and to keep their water clean.  So, I'm in the mood for babies and I made these mops.

 They get boiled for a while to remove excess dye. Then they get hung in an aquarium with males and females of the same species.  When conditions are right - those are challenging to create too - they will spawn and attach the eggs to the mops.

When I see them spawn, or see eggs, I remove the mop to a separate aquarium and wait for the eggs to hatch. 

 Someday I should show you how I got into this hobby - it is kind of funny. 

Thank you to everyone posing on my facebook wall and sending me messages about my book. I really appreciate it!  Comments are welcome!