Gray Days and Twisted Nuts

It's been gray, gray, gray, here in western Washington

 ... the same gray as in this piece of cloth that I embellished with Shiva Paintstiks (oil paint in a thick crayon form) by rubbing over some labyrinth rubbing plates in my stash. The gray background is from a big piece dyed years ago by an art teacher friend as an experiment that didn't work for her. But we art quilters know that even the worst fabric can be saved with paint, dye, ripping, stitching, weaving. If all else fails, you can use it for the back of the quilt.

I did a long strip and haven't decided yet if I want to actually quilt it, stick it in a frame, hang it like a banner ... any suggestions?

This is the sky today, the same gray as the fabric.

On a cheerier note, here are the fabrics exchanged last weekend by

The Twisted Nut Stitchers.

We're each going to do an 8-inch quilt block for each of the other Nuts, using the focal fabric that we've each provided. Linda P. provided the black-and-white polka dot fabric, with instructions to combine it with something bright and cheerful. I provided the cherries. I'd say we all had red on our minds, probably as a way to offset the gray around us.

Have a colorful day!