On Wednesday Kathleen McMusing declared that round two of this year’s Stay at Home Round Robin quilt challenge will be doubled. This very clever and open invitation sent me back to my Costa Rica photographs to consider how I might interpret the challenge within my theme. It was quite pleasant looking at photos of a tropical paradise while huddling inside away from the cold and snow. I remembered several animals that demonstrated the theme of doubles, starting with the Scarlet McCaw. This bird mates for life. In Costa Rica they are seen in pairs: flying, roosting, grooming – everywhere.
We saw other animal pairs frequently
While I would love to paint these creatures, in the interest of meeting my deadline, I went back to Kathleen’s post for more guidance. She had suggested a dozen blocks to choose from that included two of a kind. I liked the double tulip block. It reminded me of tropical flowers, and that I had this fabric:
Hibiscus print, with flowers that flow in an ombre effect. It was in my mother’s stash, and she let me have it a few years ago.
I quickly worked out the piecing needed, then cut and assembled my first tulip (hibiscus)
After making one other like this one……..
….. I cut and assembled two more blocks with a leaf background instead of a sky background. I also used the solids that appear in my center block.
Now I have four blocks, but no idea about where to put them. They may become the corner blocks of the quilt. Laying them aside, I got busy with idea no. 2.
We were fortunate to stay in a beautiful villa high up on a hill in the Osa Peninsula.
One feature of the décor was the generous use of tiles. They were everywhere, on walls and floors, the pool, deck and walkway. I was inspired to make a double border in the form of tiles. While I didn’t get any photographs of the tilework, I think I can come up with something close. On pale blue fabric, I used fabric paint to approximate a fancy glaze. Here are my swatches.
I cut this and some compatible blue-green fabric into 3 and 1/2 inch squares. To imitate grout, I cut cream colored solid fabric into 1 inch strips.
And here is my Costa Rica quilt at the conclusion of Round 2.
I’m quite pleased.
If you enjoyed reading this post, please consider visiting Kathleen’s post where the InLinkz party is happening right now.
Remember each week, the host listed is the one that has a link up for you to post your progress. The others will also be showing their interpretation, so you get the added benefit of seeing 6 different approaches to the same prompt!
- ✓ January 14: Each of the hosts will be sharing their center blocks
- ✓ January 21: 1st Round: Brenda @ Songbird Designs
- January 28: 2nd Round: Kathleen @ Kathleen McMusing <——-This Week
- February 4: 3rd Round: Emily @ The Darling Dogwood
- February 11: 4th Round: Wendy @ Pieceful Thoughts
- February 18: 5th Round: Gail @ Quilting Gail
- February 25: 6th Round: Anja @ Anja Quilts
- March 25: Parade: Your Finished SAHRRs!
By the way, my quilt is now 31 inch wide by 18 inch tall.
Daily Fiber 