Surrounded by gorgeous hot pink and orange blossomed fabrics, I hung my  grayed teals/blues/purple pieces at a recent Kaffe Fassett workshop in Intercourse, Pennsylvania at the Old Country Store. I’d recently finished a queen size quilt using these brilliant colors and wanted to work in the more subdued shades reflecting my memories of a visit to the Forbidden Palace in Beijing, China. Kaffe and his associate, Brandon, were wonderful about helping us all but especially teaching me to work with the gray values in my piece. It wasn’t easy keeping it mysterious and still colorful but I love the results! It  needs to be quilted and embellished with some serious beadwork reminiscent of the beautiful jeweled necklaces and headpieces of the old Empress’s  but I wanted to share it on the blogsite. With an upcoming move to the Midwest, it may need to be packed temporarily but is first on the line for completion. Note the imagery of the dragon wall and summer palace, the organic rocks and the shapes tucked into the piece. Surrounded by the unexpected pop of polka dots made me smile thinking about the laughter of the little Chinese children dressing up like Emperors and courtiers. Ghosts of the past certainly filtered through this amazing palace with it’s hidden rooms. It took me back hundreds of years and truly left a mark on my memories of China.