Andrea knows I’m into “faces”. She’s always on the lookout for new ones. Yesterday I got this note with a photo: “My morning latte – had to send it along to start your day! lol“
Says it all! Have a good day! Makes me smile.
Andrea’s Morning Latte
Faces
More Than A “Face”…
My friend Andrea has a sharp eye! She sent me this photo this morning. She’s getting better at this than I am. I’m still seeing faces in my bathroom floor, in the granite wall beside the elevators, in my kitchen tools – all things I’ve taken photos of before. I haven’t been as vigilant as I ought to have been, obviously. Andrea is outdoing me!
A Wonderful “Face”
Ice Cave: “Near Coppermine Point, a face appeared along the rocky shore. CreditSebastian Modak/The New York Times”
This image arrived this morning from my sister: “I knew you liked faces in strange places.”
She came across it in a New York Times article about the beauty nature sculpts from the ice and cold.
It’s an amazing face complete with icicle eyelashes! I had to share it.
The Big Yawn
The Big Yawn
Purple Passion
I described the start of this quilt ten days ago. Here’s the quilt top completed.
Purple Passion, Top
Turned out to be a real challenge to distribute the colour when I tried laying out the blocks! Because I had decided to use three different fabrics in each block, that meant I was continually running up against the same fabrics when I juxtaposed blocks in a row and across rows. I did a ton of swapping around to little avail because I would find that same fabric in an adjacent block. Also I wanted to alternate the diagonal blocks with fat pointed ends coming together in sets of four at the same time I was trying to distribute the solid blocks. In the end, I just started adding the contrasting turquoise sashing and stitching the blocks together in rows! That’s what you get when you’re not working from a pattern or a set of instructions but trying to improvise as you go along. The result is OK but not spectacular – I’ve ended up with clumps of colour rather than it being distributed more evenly. The problem would have been less severe had I elected to use fewer fabrics – twelve turned out to be too many.
Now on to the back. I picked up more purple grunge fabric yesterday. I will need to create some kind of insert to widen the length of backing. I will have to look through my Pinterest collection of quilt back photos for ideas.
I came across another face the other day:
“Face”
It was sitting on a friend’s kitchen table. A rather scary face – mask-like – with big eyes and a grimacing mouth. I also saw an ad recently (can’t remember what it was for) that subtly used sink faucets as faces in the background. I’ll have to keep an eye open for it – not great advertising if I can’t remember who was doing the advertising!
Blushing Peonies II – Finally Finished
Finally finished, binding and label. I’m much happier with the quilt now that it’s finished. The quilting using a darkish bendable thread tied the Kona cotton elements to the rest of the quilt quite well and I have to admit I did one other thing – I toned them down using a fabric pastel crayon which darkened them a bit and hints at texture in much the same way some of the other fabrics do. Once pressed with a steam iron, the pastel dyes the fabric and will withstand washing.
It has the impact of a modern quilt.
Blushing Peonies II – A Modern Quilt – Top
I used flying geese to make a strip to widen the back – they don’t look like flying geese because there isn’t a consistent “background” to highlight the “geese” – however, the pattern created by the large and small triangles showcases the fabrics. The sashing elements I decided to make asymmetrical and I like how they offset the strip and tone down the red backing.
Blushing Peonies II – quilt Back With Flying Geese
After the showing in Parrsboro, my sister Donna expressed interest in the Bordered Diamonds quilt. I gave it to her. She has it hanging in in this bright green room. I love how the green makes the batik fabrics pop and how the colour flow in the quilt ties in with the navy sofa.
Bordered Diamonds – 2012
The other day I was at the physiotherapist – I was at one end of the room and this photo at the other end caught my eye – at the distance a face popped out – two eyes, the left cheekbone, mouth, the suggestion of a blue hat. It’s actually a photo of a waterfall but for me – it’s a face!
Couldn’t Resist These Faces
A friend just sent me this photo. She also finds faces (pareidolia) everywhere as I do! I loved this one!
Suspicious Pants
This one is pretty good, too. I bet if I look at the banana sitting on my kitchen counter I will find an unhappy face (it’s been sitting out too long – gotta eat it today or else).
Unhappy Face
Find out if you’re prone to seeing faces.
“Women seem to be more prone to seeing faces where there are none. This may be linked to the fact that they have a better ability to recognise emotions through deciphering facial expressions.”
“Whoever you are, whatever you’re doing, you can experience pareidolia. Don’t let it shock you, it’s just your ancient survival instincts kicking in.”
Once faces are drawn to your attention you may find yourself starting to see them, too. So keep your eyes open.
Do You See It?
The Honda Accord “Bear” Face
I was watching TV last evening while knitting socks – I caught this image of the interior of a Honda Accord as it flashed by. The “face” of a “bear” (or some other animal) was so strong I actually paused the program, rewound it until I was able to see the image clearly. I captured it with my phone.
Think about it – how many people were involved in the interior design of this vehicle – a lot, I’d say. I can’t believe nobody picked up on this “face”. It’s so strong – I’d never be able to sit behind this steering wheel without feeling uncomfortable.
What about you? Do you see it? The phenomenon is called pareidolia. I have a strong propensity to see faces in inanimate objects – I’ve mentioned it before. But I have to say, this is one of the strongest “faces” I’ve come across and I find it uncomfortable.
A friend of mine also sees “faces” – here’s a photo she sent me last week:
Bathroom “Face”
Here’s what she had to say about it: “A little unnerving having this guy staring up next to me in the hotel bathroom in Montreal today!
A bidet with a personality!”
I bet she was aware of that face every time she used that bathroom.
Two New Faces
It’s those faces again – my friend Andrea has sent me two new ones – one yesterday and another today: a small seashell with a perfect face –
Sea Shell Face
And an upside down face on a log –
Face On Its Head
I haven’t been looking so closely myself – although I always see lots of different faces in my bathroom floor tiles and in the granite slabs on the wall at the elevators – all kinds of animal faces and some “human” ones, too.
I’m sure I’ve mentioned seeing faces is called pareidolia. It’s quite a common phenomenon and gets easier when you actually start looking. If you have any you want to share, send them along!
Charm Pack Quilt – 1
A couple of weeks ago my physiotherapist handed me a Northcott charm pack with blue/turquoise fabrics – forty-two 5″ squares in 10 different coordinating colours. Not enough to make a quilt on it’s own. I went through my stash pulling out blues and turquoise fat quarters, half-yards, and scraps to cut another forty 5″ squares which would get me closer to what I’d need for a good-sized lap quilt. This quilt isn’t for me – she wants it to use in her new house.
Charm Pack with Quilt Backing Fabric
I thought about a lot of possibilities – finally decided to do a disappearing 9-patch. I didn’t want to invest a huge amount of time executing fine detail – setting up a 9-patch didn’t take long, cutting the blocks into quarters went quickly, arranging the resulting blocks is now my challenge. Because I didn’t think the blues/turquoises had enough life, I decided to use a golden yellow (with hints of blue) as an accent colour. I placed the yellow blocks at the centre of the 9-patch so they were all cut into quarters when I spliced the 9-patch blocks. Here is my current layout:
Disappearing 9-Patch using Charm Pack
Not big enough for a good size lap quilt – so far just a 5×7 array. The question I’m deliberating right now is whether to extend the quilt with a narrow border in light blue along with a wide dark border (I actually bought a second charm pack, in case I didn’t have enough for the quilt center – I could use the charm pack squares to piece an intermediate 2.5″ border then finish with a wider dark border). Or, I could add sashing between blocks/rows and space out these elements – but what colour to use for sashing?
I have to keep thinking about this – not sure what to do, yet.
Oh, and I came across some appropriate backing fabric for half-price so I picked it up.
As I was leaving the physiotherapist’s office Tuesday, I noticed the additions to the tree in her yard. I think there’s a pottery studio in the garage – used by the previous owner – these faces bits of the potter’s work (top face missing it’s left eye).
Faces
Amaryllis 2 2018
I got a second amaryllis for Christmas – so far the first stalk has completely bloomed. There’s a second stalk well on the way and I think I’m seeing a possible third stalk peeking out….
Amaryllis 2 2018
Crazy weather – it snowed last night, then turned to rain, then the temperature dropped well below freezing leaving black ice patches. I haven’t been out yet today, but just about to venture forth.
jmn 