Finding my rainbow

For the past week I have been participating in a rainbow color challenge on Instagram issued by the fun and fabulous Paul and Lianne at Swirly Designs.  The challenge was to put together a photo showing the tools and supplies you use in your crafting, based on a color of the day.

The challenge color for Day 1 was "red".   My first thought was that the only supply I needed as a quilter was fabric.  On a whim, I took out the stack of red fabrics from the stash, snapped a quick pic and posted it.

I did not expect to participate any more than that, but as I looked around my sewing room, my orange Fiskars scissor handles, and the spools of Aurifil thread were just asking to become part of a photo for the next day's "orange" challenge.  I threw in a few colored pencils, some fabric of course, and the manual for Electric Quilt and took this photo:

Tape measures and Olfa rotary cutting tools were just begging to become the stars of the next day's "yellow" challenge.  I also included some flathead pins, a magnetic clip, an Omnigrip ruler and my favorite sunflower pin cushion  that was made by my daughter when she was a Girl Scout.

Next, it was day 4 of the challenge and the color was "green".  I could not ignore my huge green cutting mat, and the can of Magic Spray sizing.  I poked around in my knitting supplies and came up with the giant pair of size 17 knitting needles, as well as a smaller pair and a crochet hook.  Green fabrics and threads, along with buttons and a few spearmint hard candies also made the shot.

By the time"blue" challenge came around, it dawned on me that a quilt block would have to be included, so I started my color collection with a blue and white LeMoyne Star block.  I added some batik strips, blue painter's tape, a mini iron, and some marking tools.  I also included my seam rippers and wondered how I ended up with 4 of them.

For the "purple" challenge, I included 3 pairs of scissors, my MP3 player, my stapler, and the first doily I ever crocheted.

While hunting for colored items through the week, I kept coming across things that I could have used for  the first day's photo for "red".  I decided to have a do-over and take another shot at it.  I included bias tape, the traditional tomato pin cushion, embroidery floss, a stitch counter,  a bunch of buttons and the most common item in any quilting room:  a pile of scraps.

The official challenge came to an end, but I had one more color I wanted to create with, and that was "pink". I couldn't decide between a Ballerina pink or a Magenta pink so I combined them both.  I didn't even remember I had a pink tomato pin cushion until I was looking around for the other colors and there it was.  The "pink" photo also included some beads, embroidery floss,  a pair of pink clothespins and, naturally, a pink eraser.

At the start, I did not expect to be a daily participant in the challenge, but I found it was really a lot of fun. Throughout the day I became more color aware of everything around me from my toothbrush, to the dishwashing liquid to the lid on a jar of pickles.  I also got a lot of enjoyment composing the chosen elements into a pleasing photo.

Looking at the photos posted by the other crafters, it was interesting to see what crossover items we had in common even though our respective crafts varied from sewing, to clay artists, to jewelry makers and scrapbookers. Just about everyone included at least one photo with a Sharpie pen.   If you want to see the colorful photos that Paul and Lianne came up with, you can find them at their blog .

Now, about that first photo at the top of this post.  My son made me this wooden sign when he was in about 3rd grade.  Even as a kid, he knew that a quilter's world is filled with color.