Thanks Nancy. How's the snow up your way?

Hey Lotti, how's the head? Are you feeling better?

love those swirls rita, arn't they fun to make. as mine are being done by hand (and only when i'm on the go, in a train, or on a plane) i'm not nearly as quick as you - but will try to get what i've done so far up on my design wall sometime this week to take new pictures.

Rita -

I love the way the swirls are turning out! I really loved Lotti's version, too, and will try those myself someday....

Nancy

Yes, I like that too. You know it's easier to see the pattern in a photo than it is to see it on my design wall. I have to keep squinting to see the contrasts clearly Probably need stronger glasses!

Nope - plain and simple Windows XP 2003, Paint is what I have to play with. I also have an Art Weaver programme, but I cannot find out how to do some of the simple copy, paste & rotate as well as simple resizing with it so I head on back to paint regularly. Wish I had the Windows 7 version of Paint, because there you could zoom in & out on the picture without resizing it

What I did was right click on the picture & saved it to my 'patchwork & quilting' folder (so I could find it again). Then troll through My Documents to the right folder, double click on the picture, then from the list of icons along the bottom, choose the one on the right hand end that 'Closes programme & open for editing', this opens the picture up in Paint, where you can play to your heart's content. Just remember to 'Save As' and re-name it if you want to save the original as well as the played with versions!

Rita, you could also try making some that spin the other away around as well if you like - again taking a cue from the RaNae Merrill show, time to get the mirrors out, or do the above and try flipping the squares in the picture.

Thanks for that Rosemary - I keep forgetting about paste and rotate. They look good and I am pleased with my accident now. I think I will keep going with it. These pineapple blocks are very addictive. Even as I am working on this one I am imagining the possibililties of the same swirls with a reduced pallet in shades of dark and light. Actually, come to think of it Lotti posted a black and white version back a few pages ago. Or one could do rainbow colours with a black or white background. Oooh, the possibilities are fascinating!

Lois, I think it's just a regular word document that you copy the photo to; reduce the size and then rotate the images for different effects. Cheryl Lynch shows how to do it in show 811.

Rita & Rosemary, I love what you are doing first with light& dark and then with overall design. I loved using this technique to purposefully play with colour texture and value. I was free to try anything and it would be fine because the overall goal was scrappiness. Each block was a little experiement and I learned so much. Next I want to play using similar lights as the unifying factor. Rosemary, what program did you use to copy and play with Rita's blocks? I want to be able to do that. Lois

You guys knock me out !! I'm trying to catch up a little before I give in and start
that pineapple ! Everyones' scraps are SO pretty ! The swirls are great...love happy accidents !

Rita, I actually like the swirls and the way they are turning out. What a great "mistake!" Also, thanks for the info on the alternative to the T to T ruler. I think I am ready for either a pineapple or a swirl! I have the scraps and two square rulers... no excuse for me anymore. Appreciate your sharing lessons learned from your experience. Renata

First off, they reminded me of the spirels from the current show. So I had a quick rotate & paste with what you have done so far - I like the look of the trails joining up and the secondary pattern which is emerging of the dark & light diamonds.

Any good for you?

I am working on another pineapple quilt but I made the stupid mistake of trying to chain piece them. Did my first round and then noticed that I had done them all with dark, light, dark light around the centre square. I then realized that that was not what I had intended so I had to rethink the idea. I am now doing swirls and it is very interesting the way value works when you are using left-over scraps. Sometimes a colour that seems like a light acts like a dark when you put it up against white - like the strong yellow for instance. I have done 6 blocks so far and just took a photo to see if it is working for me or whether I need to start again. I think it's working but it doesn't look like pineapples, but that's okay too! Here's a very blurred photo:

Reetzbobeetz wrote:
Go for it Rosemary. You will love it. They are so easy to do once you get the hang of it. You don't have to have the T to T ruler a regular square one will work too. I use a 6 1/2" square up ruler and then move to a bigger square ruler to cut the finished block.[/quote]
I'm holding back, because I have finally got quilting on my first full size quilt (the previous 2 were quilt as you go), and after I have practised on this one, I need to get on with quilting my Sottt quilt, which isn't quite finished yetand I want to get into the book. And I don't actually have a large box of scraps (of quilting cottons) to delve into.

However I have just had a thought about how I could use some pineapples, it'll need some measuring and cogitating about first - I'll be back!

Lois, I know what you mean by wanting to finish something. I have one queen sized ( Block of the Month 3 years ago) that just needs the outer border quilted, the pineapple quilt to be sandwiched, a redwork needing sandwiching, and last year's block of the month quilt which needs to be sandwiched. I have yet to get the backing in order so I can continue with the sandwiching. I want to use fabric from my stash so I will have to piece all three. I just don't know how I want to do it. Both Blocks of the Month are from The Quilt Show. If they had deadlines that would help. Other things keep getting in the way.
Your quilt will look so good on your bed. Please share when you make that final decision.