Monday, July 31, 2006

Goals for Week of July 31st

Although I got a lot accomplished last week, I'm keeping my goals for this week modest. I anticipate that a couple of outings during the week will slow me down a bit.

1. Grid 2: cut, arrange & satin stitch squares to background.
2. Finish piecing the mariner's compass block started as demo for workshop.
3. Quilt on Lone Star.

Grid 2 is what I was getting all excited about on Saturday, but limited myself to picking out a couple of candidates for the squares. It will be the same basic set-up as "Easter in America." I want to actually work through a series for a change, instead of just talking about it. When sketching out layouts for Easter in America, I came up with lots of ideas for interpreting this simple 3 x 3 grid design that would allow me to explore some basic principles in a way I have not allowed myself. I see it giving me a format for working with couched threads and possibly decorative stitching. I'm hoping the exercise will help me get over my knee jerk fear of specialty threads and perhaps out of a rut in terms of palette.

The mariner's compass block is a bit of a backslide, but if I finish it up, that's one more stack of fabric I can put away. I wasn't as enthused about completing it out as I would have been even a year ago, but as I've said before, these unfinished projects drive me a bit batty and tie up fabric that might be used in more current work. Still, it's been hard to motivate myself to sew on it because I didn't want to make yet another wall hanging, nor did I want to make additional blocks for a bigger quilt. Then it occurred to me that the colors work well with my livingroom decor and I could finish it out as an alternate cover for one of my throw pillows. I wouldn't even have to quilt it! Now with an actual outcome in mind, I'm a bit more enthused.

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