New Work

I don't want you to think I'm not working on anything (other than shoveling snow...) just because I haven't posted. I declared the holidays over and told myself it was high time to get back to work. I recognized my reluctance to do so was partly due to the logjam in my studio. Since New Year's I've been sorting and tossing and organizing everywhere but in the studio. Yesterday was the studio's turn. I had some pictures to print and documentation to take care of from the last few projects. I had a lot of stuff taking up space on my table again, waiting for me to do a little prep on something I don't intend to work on for a few months, but needed doing before putting it away. Once I did that, a bin disappeared followed by a box of odd yarns, and suddenly, half of my table reappeared. It's amazing to me how the condition of my workspace can so effect how I feel when I'm in there. I didn't really need that table space to proceed with the next quilt, but darned if my mood didn't improve with the cleared space.

The picture above shows a piece of fabric I folded and applied paint to some time last year. I don't remember many of the details, but I do know I expected more of the paint to show in the folds to create more of a grid effect. I pondered what I might do with it for quite a while. I was particularly bothered by the two corners that picked up so much color, but on opposite sides of the fabric. I kept flipping down one corner to compare, and that's when I hit upon the idea of leaving that flap down and creating a piece call "Off the Grid." I finally solved the technical problem of that flap yesterday, having cut a triangle to fill the corner, its raw edge tucked under the fabric fold. I fused this to Decor Bond to keep it nice and straight when I quilt undulating lines across its diagonal as in some of the blocks in the pink quilt.

I'm not moving quickly on this because there are so many decisions. The yarn is there because I've decided to couch some kind of yarn around the outside and also along the flap edge. But I'm still wondering if I want to quilt those undulating lines or just stitch them before adding batting. There are a few spots where I intend to quilt along the straight lines. Maybe they should be the stitched ones, not quilted. I'm also considering that the couched yarn edge finish may not be enough and it may need to be "mounted" to a background that would act like a border or mat. There's a certain sequence depending on which way I decided to treat the various steps. Not a straightforward project for sure, but one I am pretty excited about, so I am willing to take my time working through these questions.