textures

prickly leaves

velvety moss

crisscrossing bark

tickling sand

feathery fern

clusters of fruit

foaming waves

cat's whiskers

sun baked earth

melody of an evening

Kalyan took these pictures in Hawaii. I am taking advantage of his busy work schedule and imposing my voice on his vision. I hope he doesn't mind ;-) 

We went to a botanical garden near Hilo which is a must see for plant lovers. It resembled a rain forest with lush tropical trees, all kinds of mosses and exotic flowers.. in every direction we looked we were treated to a kaleidoscope of textures. It was overwhelmingly hard to commit even a drop of what we saw into memory as it kept getting overwritten by the next scene and the next sound. We felt very grateful for a chance to visit the garden and this magical Island. 

Thank you so much for indulging me with your visit. If I am not boring you, I would love to share one more post of pictures :) 

Have a Happy Halloween!  ( * W * )

Hawaii

We went on a much needed holiday to Hawaii earlier this month and just returned home feeling refreshed, already missing the scents of this beautiful island.

a glimpse into our days during this trip..

walking on lava rocks

sandy shores

surprising showers 

but mostly sunny skies

  dusty hikes and shaved ice cones

tropical flowers and friendly people at every turn..

Our old camera is reaching its retirement, so Kalyan took pictures on his iPhone.. more to share and write about our time on Big Island. Nice to be home before these autumn colors faded, hope you are enjoying pumpkin treats and snuggling warmly under cosy quilts ( ' v ' )

mystery quilt 2

It has been somewhat daunting to tackle a mountain of scraps, I felt like an ant dragging a crumb many times its size. After all the sorting and cutting though, I feel like I have my sugary treats in the form of usable sizes. 

I needed pieces ranging from 5 1/4" to 2 1/2" for the mystery quilt. Anything smaller than that, I cut them into 2" squares adding to a box of 2 inch squares left over from my ' Trip around the world quilt '. Any thin strings that seemed to be more suited for paper-piecing are also separated into another bag.

I realized I could easily avoid this situation in future by cutting the scraps and organizing them as they come, at the end of each project. 

I have 112 of these 4-patches pieced with the white fabric and prints. I am using a vintage sheet that I got at an antique market two years ago for the background along with Kona cotton. And there is another set of 25 four patches that are completely pieced with prints. I am eager to see how they come together in the quilt. 

With this I am done with the first step and have another week of free time before the next instructions are given. It feels good to have a clean sewing room once again and scraps are neatly contained in one place. 

Thank you for stopping by to see what this scraggily ant is up to! 

Have a warm and golden October!  (^ u ^)