February Wrap

This won't take long. February is a short month to begin with, but my quilting really took it on the nose since so much of the month was devoted to all things sinus related. When I made out my list of things I might work on, I transferred the few things I didn't get to from the January list and added quite a bit more - very optimist. As I look at the list now, I see I only managed to cross off one thing, finishing the quilting and binding on the half-square triangle quilt. All else remained thoughts and dreams in my head - not totally bad. The art journaling is not part of the list since it is a weekly routine, & I did managed to stay faithful to it. I also don't note sketching activities like the Zentangles, although maybe I should. They were a good substitute in those weeks after the surgery when working in the studio simply was not an option. The snow-dyeing was an impulsive spur of the moment thing - I allow for that, and I must say it felt very good to be doing something - anything - with fabric again.

I want March to be different, of course. I'm planning on applying for ArtWalk again, so need to finish a piece or two for the application form due mid-April. Those pieces were on February's list, so they will top March's list. I have the makings of another padfolio ready to go (and a taker for it), so it too is on the list. In fact, I can pretty much scratch out "February" and write in "March" and be ready to go. Now, if the body will just match the willingness of the spirit!

March Goals

Oh yeah, it's March already, isn't it? Just a month until my first exhibit deadlines and I have much to do still. However, I got some news about ArtWalk that may just give me a bit of a reprieve. I may only need one piece, and if that's true, I don't have to hold back a couple of pieces for ArtWalk as I had planned but instead can use them for these April exhibits. So now things seem a bit more manageable, although I still sense a bit of panic lurking on the fringes.

I've spent a few days reassessing things, and my path for March is pretty straight-forward: I need to finish three pieces and I know exactly which ones. I don't foresee any problem getting them done (although having said that will probably jinx me). First up will be to finish the shadow grass piece. Time to clear off the big printer which is too conveniently located next to my computer desk and thus ends up being a catch-all for all sorts of things I don't want to deal with or have too far away. I will be using it to print the photos of the shadows onto fabric which will then be arranged on my strip-pieced background. The stitching shouldn't take long, but I have yet to purchase the canvas that I'll be wrapping it over. Or maybe I'll just finish it out normally?

The Palouse piece was one I'd planned to hold for ArtWalk, but now I think I will use it in one of the April Exhibits. Quilt 2 will be its companion piece - a spring version. A few decisions yet to be made about base fabric and thread vs paint, but I anticipate it will go quickly as well.

And for the 3rd piece, I am determined to finally stitch out my purple seedhead idea. I've cut the background and fused Decor Bond to the back in preparation for the thread painting. I also finally got around to pulling some photos up on the computer to sketch from. I soon discovered why I was having so much trouble just sketching without a reference. There are things you see while sketching that you just don't notice otherwise. I had a totally different concept of how the seeds themselves were formed - I soon realized the actually stitching would take a much different form than I'd thought. Now I feel I can dive in with a bit more confidence.

Wish me luck - making these quilts isn't the only thing on my agenda this month. I'm really going to have to focus on that balance and harmony thing.

February Goals - More of the Same

It didn't take me long to set out my goals for February (which left me plenty of time to play with paper hearts this afternoon). Much of what was on tap for January still needs tending to, but that is not to say I didn't reach my goals, they merely took a different track than expected. I was only to make a start on the found pin piece and the Palouse Hills piece. Instead, they got finished rather than the two on the list that I thought I would finish. An equitable trade in my estimation. As for those things remaining, I actually feel I made some progress on them, though most of that was pondering solutions that I have yet to act upon. Ideas are coming together on the abstract willow design and clarity dawned on how to proceed with the 3 x 3 discharge piece. Again, I think at least partial goals met and I feel ready to dive into those projects with confidence.

1. Finish 3 x 3 discharge: additional quilting, cut-out and suspension of metal plate, embellish with wire.
2. Threadpaint purple seedhead grasses, mount and frame.
3. Print samples of grass shadows manipulations and develop design, possibly piece background.
4. Continue development of abstract willow design: sketch formats and possibly make sample block(s)
5. Baste for quilting 2 African batiks (may be companion pieces for "Masks")
6. Continue hand quilting on "Masks"
   

A side note: in reviewing my brainstormed list of potential quilt designs for the upcoming exhibits, to see what I could check off, I noticed the Palouse quilt referred to as something different from what I ended up calling it in the last post. I definitely was drawing a blank on what I thought I'd call it, but didn't realize I had the name written down anywhere. I'd planned to call it "Fall Furrows" and make a companion piece called "Spring Greens." What do you think? It's not too late to change the name as I've not labeled the quilt yet.

Brainstorming for 2012

I have not been able to coalesce my thoughts as to where I want to go with my art this year and other aspects of my life. Instead, I've been leaving bits and pieces of ideas and perhaps longings all around the internet on other sites. My focus for months has been these up-coming exhibits and it's difficult to think beyond that. As day 3 of the new year arrived, and I continued to run across my favorite bloggers lining out their goals for the year, I knew I needed to sit quietly in the studio, sketchbooks and notebook at hand, and organize my thoughts a bit better, scoping out not only "the plan" for this month, but the peripherals that also must be addressed in the next three months.

Earlier in the day, I'd checked out the sale on aswexpress.com and discovered they had some of the floater frames I fell in love with on deep reduction. I was sitting at the library using its high speed connection so couldn't do my usual check and ponder here at home. I decided to make a few quick decisions, casting about in my memory to recall what designs I have pending that would look good in these frames, and then what sizes I might need. It forced me into decisions I otherwise might have put off until too late to take advantage of these prices, but it did something else too that surprised me. It made me pick a size for a quilt idea barely fleshed out, and by doing so, I suddenly felt I could confidently move forward with the idea. That's pretty much backwards to how I usually work but by doing so I felt it propel the idea forward. That's when I knew it was time to gather my thoughts, brainstorm a bit and clarify my direction.

What I found was that each of the exhibits are so different that the quilts for them are scattering my focus. No wonder I feel like I'm jumping from one thing to another, no continuity in what I'm doing. I don't think that is totally bad, but it is, I realized, keeping me from pursuing several ideas that exploded in my head as options for a series. I'm not sure I can do anything about that at this point, but it is a reminder how quickly I can become distracted from exploring an idea and really developing it.

I became the most concerned about my ArtWalk exhibit. I only need two pieces done and photographed by April to submit with the application, but need additional pieces to display by the opening at the end of June. I'm planning on Masks to be the centerpiece of my exhibit and suddenly questioned whether the quilts I'd jotted down as possible ArtWalk ones, especially the ones for the application, work with that quilt. During my time exhibiting with POAC, I've learned the value of a cohesive grouping, works that follow a theme however loosely. I need to give this more thought in order to set my priorities over the next few months.

So instead of getting any actual sewing done yesterday as I had planned, I worked on a plan, keeping in mind my resolution phrase of balance and harmony. I'll be needing both as I work towards these exhibits and keep on top of the rest of the daily activities. I did better than I thought I would addressing the goals on my December list. It has given me courage to come up with a list for January equally as ambitious:

1. Finish quilting the 3 x 3 discharge piece. Resolve cutout/suspension detail.
2. Quilt background for found jewelry piece (as tryout for motif to complete above quilting.
3. Stitch/threadpaint purple seedheads.
4. Consider companion pieces for Masks.
5. Sketch and/or mark quilting pattern for Palouse on silk over felt.
6. Continue developing abstract willow. Test runs on pieced background?
7. Continue hand quilting on Masks.
   

December Goals

I get a big kick out of Austin Kleon's newspaper blackout horoscopes. Above is mine for December - something to think about and it makes me smile. You can see all of December's horoscopes here. As for what I think I'll really do in terms of "The Plan", looks like December will be more of the same in terms of goals - having to move a lot of November forward. Actually, I know that setting these goals won't necessarily result in everything on the list each month getting done. Life happens, priorities change, and one must always be open to following the muse who does not always like what's on the list. However, it is very helpful to me to have a basic framework, something I can go to on those days when I can't think what to do. And past experience tells me that by setting frequent goals, I'll be less likely to look back with regret and more likely to be able to work at a sane pace to complete work for events I want to be a part of. It's part organizer, part motivator. So at the risk of sounding redundant plus overly ambitious, here's what I hope to work on this month:

1. Quilt and bind Poppies & Peonies for December exhibit
2. Quilt 3x3 discharge piece. Possibly experiment with cutout and suspending plate
3. Sketch full-size patterns for shadow grass & fall furrows
4. Play with mountain ash berries idea (in postcard format)
5. Work up abstract willow idea
   
6. Work up free-motion stitched seed head idea
7. Continue hand quilting on Masks
   

November Wrap-up

November went more quickly than I expected, and I am still waiting for the part for my sewing machine. Thus, I have a somewhat legitimate excuse for not completing the average two-a-month quilts as set forth in The Plan. The back-ordered part is on its way now, I'm assured, so maybe by the weekend, I'll be quilting away on Poppies & Peonies, and then tackling the 3 x 3 discharge piece. As for the other items on my to-do list for November, there's really no excuse for not getting some of my new ideas sketched out. Guilt sent me to the computer yesterday to pull up some reference photos to get started on that. But instead, I got sucked in by my photo manipulation program. Not an altogether bad thing, as it turned out. What happened there got my mind thinking in a different direction, a bit "aha" in nature, and my simple idea for grass silhouettes could turn into a series.





Variations include negative images as well as reducing to 2 colors and kicking in a diffusion filter.


I also finally made some headway in manipulating photos of eyes into black and white images for use on Masks - these are my mother's eyes when she was in her 20's. Masks, but the way, has been the real winner in this saga of "life interrupted" by the machine waiting for a part. No way would I have put this much time into the hand quilting of it this far in advance of needing it done. Whereas I was a bit tentative in where to begin the stitching, I have finally gained some confidence in the "let it happen" nature of picking out the design left by the resist painting method.

I did get the sleeve on "Falling Leaves" and the rest of the inking done so it is ready for exhibit. But I don't really count that as a quilt done for November, as it was primarily finished in October and counts towards that month. I did not work up a quick version of "Southwest Fantasy" since the machine was down (lame excuse since I could have pulled fabric, cut shapes and generally gotten to a point of needing that machine), but I did do a color sketch of an idea rising out of the mountain ash berries topped with snow. Right now I'm just thinking fabric postcards to try out the idea - maybe it will go on the December list...after the November items left undone.


Ah December - I really don't have much hope for stellar productivity, although maybe I'll surprise myself. The holidays always bring major distractions, but perhaps I can stay ahead of it this year. Then again, I couldn't keep myself from starting this knitting project on Thanksgiving Day. I have fond memories of knitting during the holidays - something I could do when my presence was required in the family room. So naturally, Thanksgiving and Christmas brings the urge to the fore. In this case, I've wanted to start these fingerless gloves for months, and now's the time to be wearing them. I'm using a free pattern rated easy, but that I am finding a bit confusing. I was totally unaware of knitting in the round on anything but circular needles or a set of 4 double pointed needle. But this pattern calls for tiny #2's in a set of 5. I feel like I'm knitting on skewers. Oh wait - I essentially am! The yarn is a merino wool spun by internet friend Connie Rose and as you can see, it is a winner!

The Plan for November

I've been busy raking and bagging leaves from my two huge maple trees, so no progress to show since the last post. But I did take a quick look at my timeline page and think about what I should do in November. I suspected I might be moving items from October's list to November's, and sure enough, even with my rather general goals, there are some loose ends that didn't quite get wrapped up and one glaring item not done at all. I planned to sketch out formats and/or full size designs for three new ideas. Instead of working on any of those three, I took off in a different direction by sketching and creating full-size patterns using that metal plate. I'm glad I allowed myself the flexibility to work on an idea that held more immediate interest, and there's always this month for those other three. I have a better idea of what I should try to accomplish this month than I did last month, so maybe there will be less of the inability to settle, more ability to focus on seeing things through to completion. So in no particular order, here's what you can expect to see me working on over the next 30 days:

1. Falling Leaves: purchase pen and finish inking in background, sew on sleeve, label and photograph
2. Poppies & Peonies: finish quilt and photograph (for December Cabin Fever exhibit)
3. Masks: start hand quilting
4. 3x3 discharge cloth: layer & quilt, resolve technical issues re: suspending plate in cutout and edge finish/framing
5. Sketch out new ideas: working format for abstract willow; full-size pattern for fall furrows; design for seed heads
6. Southwest Fantasy: journal quilt-size quick rendition of simple drawing from October
   

That last one has a question mark after it in my mind. It might be something that would work for the Cabin Fever exhibit and is my response to a friend's description of a southwest palette. I have specific colors in mind but not sure I have those in fabric. It's low on the priority list so we'll see if I find time to check my stash and give it a go. Looking at the list, it impresses me as a lot to get done, but some of it will probably go faster than I think. I sure hope so.

In Need of a Plan

Indeed I am as I consider the exhibits coming up and the new work they will require. Could not get myself out of vacation mode all September and would prefer to whine a bit more about how I want to do nothing. But a friend refuses to listen to my "oh my God I have so much work to do in the next 6 months" routine while making excuses for not darkening the studio door. "Start a list!" he intones. "Figure out how many new pieces you need and start doodling your designs," he insists. "Make a plan and get to work!" he nags. Gee, why does he have to be so practical? It's MUCH easier to sit around complaining...

So thank you dear friend for scaring me into action. For making me estimate how many pieces I'll need, dividing the number by how many months until they are due and announcing I need to complete two pieces a month. Yikes! Can I actually work on a schedule like that? Well I can try. But first, I needed to make that list, formulate a plan, actually look up the due dates on the exhibits, jot down potential quilt ideas, get everything out of my head and down on paper (see progress above). For the most part, it's all happening next April and there's some comfort in that. However, my usual MO would be to put off until January to panic and start work in earnest, just wing it until then. Fortunately, I now have a nagger who will keep prodding me to make progress NOW. How practical. How reasonable. And why didn't I just figure that out myself? Oh yeah, because THAT'S what friends are for. Thanks!

Intention

The above is my response to an on-line challenge to create a small quilt that reflects my intention for the new year. It is called "Unfinished Business" and is made up of bits and pieces scattered about my work table. I have a lot of unfinished business, and as far as my art goes, I've been working since the middle of last year to clear my work table and design walls of all those half-done projects, leftovers that sparked new ideas and fabric pairings that intrigued that I've left out so they would not become more "out of sight, out of mind" ideas never seeing the light of day again.

My intention for 2009 is to continue to work through all this until the table and walls are clear again. No more unfinished business (ha!). There are so many good ideas languishing there, things I'm itching to try and finish and resolve. This isn't stuff I'm thinking I should finish just to be finishing. This really is stuff important to me. And this is the only way I could figure out to actually make decent headway on it.

Of course, with each thing finished, there's often more leftovers sparking even more ideas, but my plan is to work on those too in a much more timely manner than I usually do. I'm excited about working this way, and the bits of freedom gained as work finishes and bare table emerges exhilarate and propel me forward.


As for what's in this piece, it started with the stripset, one of a half a dozen or so I started randomly sewing together from a scrap drawer. I wasn't happy with the way it was going, but several pieces were ok. I just didn't know what to do with them, how to move them beyond ok and didn't want to toss them either. I'd salvaged the piece of batting from a quilting sample and laid the stripset on it. I couldn't bring myself to square up the piece, to get rid of those uneven edges top and bottom, found myself oddly intrigued by the seam allowances showing, the loose threads. I attached it to the batting by zigzagging around the edges with clear monofilament thread. But it needed more. I spotted some yarn ends trimmed from a project early last year and couched them on top through the stripset and batting. Then amongst the rubble I found the brown strip that had been trimmed from yet another quilt of last year. It had Decor Bond fused to it which is why it was still out on the table. Knew it would be good for something but hadn't decided what. I liked how the square of "quilt" looked on it. Then I found the narrow strip of batik and fused it to the brown strip leaving edges raw and extending it into a hanging loop at the top. I used glue to attach the quilt to this backing strip and called it done. While it is "finished" it is not "finished" in the way I would normally complete a quilt - there's no backing, no finished edges. It speaks to the impatience I'm feeling right now to get things done. The main part is 7" by 8" and the strip it is attached to makes it about 14" in overall length.

This is the second piece I've done where I've just sewn piecing to batting and left all raw edges exposed, including the excess batting. (See "Change" here.) I'm a little appalled at myself that this is becoming an appealing way to work since I've looked askance at other artists working this way. ;-) But in both cases, the work was reflecting emotion, emotion that did not want to be reined in by neat and clean finishes.

This will hang in my studio as an in my face reminder to get to work and deal with all that unfinished business.

Goals for the Week of December 3rd

Final tally at the end of yesterday was a whopping 16 inches of snow. (see this post) That's my car pretty much buried. Of course, shortly after the snow stopped, the rain started, quite heavy at times, and is still at it. This means the snow pack is compressing and when I started shoveling out around the car this morning, I hit 3 or 4 inches of water underneath. Yes it is a mess, and I don't get plowed out until tomorrow. Good thing I work at home...

When I was still a long ways from having the baby quilt finished at the end of last week, I decided it was time to resurrect the weekly goals. I've assessed how much I think I can do per day to have it complete by Friday, and hope I can also do the last bits and pieces on the journal quilt. Then next week my priority will be to finish out the redwork cross. If I don't complete what I have lined out for this week, that cross will never be done in time for the auction. Here's what I came up with:

1. Finish baby quilt:

• Monday - finish cutting, sewing and topstitching binding to blocks (completed)


• Tuesday - Square up blocks & finalize arrangement. Start cutting binding for joining blocks into rows (99% sure I like the arrangement I ended up with today)


• Wednesday & Thursday - Sew binding to blocks, zigzag blocks together and topstitch binding down


• Friday - Bind outside edge, ink quilt info directly on back of quilt and take pictures.

2. Wrap up journal quilt:

• Compose and print backing label


• Fuse backing label to quilt and secure binding to back


• Make written entry describing process in journal quilt journal

Chestnuts

Chestnuts have always fascinated me. With their rich color sporting what looks all in the world like wood grain and that smooth polished surface, these could be tiny wood sculptures. They are raining down in earnest at the moment, their less interesting green husks bursting to reveal the treasure within. For a truly beautiful artistic take on the humble chestnut, see what June Underwood has created with silk and thread here.

Today was a day for puttering. Although I didn't share them, I'd set some rather modest goals for the week which were not getting done (with the exception of the journal quilt). The studio was a bit of a mess, so some of the puttering involved straightening up, putting away, clearing a space on the table to have room to work on a couple of those goals. Then I could lay out and steam the angel quilt in preparation for binding it. Then I could cut and sew a sleeve for Willow II and hand-sew it on. Perhaps tomorrow I'll get the label printed and attached, the angel quilt trimmed up and binding considered. Regardless, it just felt good being in the studio, doing anything in there. It was feeling a bit like home instead like a strange place.

I also took a few minutes to sketch an idea that came to me while writing my morning pages yesterday. Upon seeing September's journal quilt, but before seeing the picture that was its inspiration, a close friend commented that it surely represented one hell of a crossroads I've arrived at. Mmmm. Perhaps my subconscious was working overtime, but the idea of this being anything but a rendition of the front of a chest of drawers had not entered into my thinking while making it. I pressed her for more information, and she said she could see fields with roads running in between, representing crossroads. I chuckled to myself. Well, if they're crossroads, they aren't lining up, so no wonder I'm so confused!

Still, it made me think. Sometimes outside observers have a better take on where you are than you do. This was the second time in just a few months that a close friend had commented that I was at a crossroads in my life. Both times I objected and said that I did not feel that I was. I knew where I wanted to go but wasn't sure how to make it happen. In my mind, that's not a crossroads. The crossroads had been whether to seriously pursue art quilting or lapse back into the comfort of traditional quilting. The crossroads had been whether to stay in Wisconsin or move, and then move where. Am I up against another crossroad and just haven't been aware of it yet? I found myself writing, "All I see is a rut - a rutted path disappearing into an unfathomable distance. No signposts. No indication of where it is leading. No place to get off."

Then an image of a woman kneeling by a dirt road popped into my head. She held her face in her hands. She was surrounded by a dense forest. Was she me? I don't know, but I had to try to sketch it. Bear in mind, drawing is not my forte, human figures even less so. But I like this idea and hope someday I can translate this into fabric.

Goals for the Week of May 14

I found myself writing at the top of my weekly goals list, "GET ORGANIZED," and so that is what I did today. After a busy weekend, I felt particularly unfocused this morning, and the state of my studio coupled with a feeling of chagrin as I saw what didn't get done last week inspired me to go beyond my usual 15 minutes of ritual preparation.

First I decided it was time to clear the work table of fabrics I definitely will NOT be using in the angel quilt. I've gotten so many wonderful responses to my request for opinions regarding background fabrics, and also some thoughts on bordering strategies (see this post). Besides polling my blog readers, I also asked, via e-mail, 6 of my Wisconsin quilt friends )who used to be close enough to come right over to give me advice), and, of course, members of my church during coffee hour. This last group's reactions were particularly interesting since none of them are quilters or even artists. But as I've noted before, they are certainly art savvy. The women seemed more drawn to color & mood than the men. It was highly amusing to watch husbands correcting wives' choices by pointing out lack of contrast between the angel's gown and some of the backgrounds. I'd say overall, the first two backgrounds got about equal number of votes, with a handful going to number 4, that lovely mosaic which in fact was my secret favorite. Number 3 was a clear loser. (But it might make a nice backing...)

Of course, all of this discussion also brought up additional possibilities, so while I put fabric away, I also pulled out a few additional ones. I'll write more about this in a separate post. For now, suffice it to say that auditioning has moved from the table to the design wall, and I spent some time staring, considering and pondering. I haven't finalized a thing, but I'm less confused than I was and excited by some new options.

Next I completed the documentation files for the last two quilts I completed. I'd printed off pictures, so those were attached to my form, along with swatches of fabric and stitching samples. The little bits of information filled the appropriate blanks and I could at last file these forms in their notebook. A goodly portion of my table top was now visible for the first time in weeks. Unneeded scraps found the wastebasket, rulers made their way to their holder and scissors, rotary cutter, pens and pencils slipped into their basket. Ahhhh....semi-order at last!

I was about to take a break, but I was feeling too energized not to do one more thing. I'm hoping to find time this week to make a small bag from a pattern I recently purchased. It requires fusing the outer fabric and lining together before any sewing proceeds. I'd left the Wonder Under from the angel out so I could do this, and this was my first chance. I fused the pocket piece which is using one of my leaf print trials - see picture below. It felt like a good start to insure that I follow through on making it before the end of the week.

There are small scraps of Wonder Under in a pile on the table, also left over from working on the angel. I saved them with the idea I could put some paint on them and use them in my next journal quilt. I think that will get done this week too.

I've probably put too much on my list, but I was feeling ambitious today, or at least tired of not getting more done. Here's the complete list - wish me luck:

1. GET ORGANIZED! (Working on it...)
2. Catch up documentation files. (Done!)
3. Rough out border design for Angel quilt and finalize fabric choices. (Made a few sketches today and getting closer on the fabrics.)
4. Paint interfacing for journal quilt.
5. Sew organizer bag using leaf print.

Soliciting Opinions

Last week was a bit weird. My mother used to say: "The hurrier I go, the behinder I get." That's how I felt most of the week. I never got around to posting goals for the week, but that doesn't mean I didn't have any. In spite of it all, I did get most of the things on my list done.

Which brings me to my need for an opinion or two. I've started work on the quilt I plan to donate to my church. My original design is based on this angel from the chapel at Christ Church Cathedral in Eau Claire, WI.

Here is a very poor picture (pre-digital camera) of the quilt I made for the Cathedral's fundraiser about 5 years ago. The winner of the auction donated it back to the church to be hung there for all to enjoy. The sanctuary where it is displayed is a bit Gothic in nature and the angel rather glows in this dark space, much to my delight. Go here to read more about the history of the church. Scroll to the bottom of the page for specific information on the chapel and the angels.

So it seemed a simple thing, since I still had my patterns and most of the material on hand, to recreate this quilt with modifications for my new church, St. Agnes Episcopal Church. We are moving into a former Jehovah's Witnesses Kingdom Hall, more meeting hall than traditional church, and as we remodel and redecorate for our own use, some mention has been made of playing on the nature theme - trees and lakes and rivers being all around us. This angel on a black background just won't do, even if I was compelled to make a duplicate.

I'm hoping to have this done by June first, so I wanted to get the angel together and audition backgrounds by week's end, which I did. I'm fusing the applique, using Wonder Under. On the larger pieces, I trimmed away most of the fusible to avoid a totally stiff center. I learned about this the hard way. These fused areas do not draw up when quilted, so if the majority of the completed top is not fused, everything but the fused areas will draw up nicely with wonderful texture. The fused part just sits there flat, or worse, bulging.

The neat thing about fused applique is that you can construct it totally off the background if you use a Teflon applique sheet. Here you can see how I've placed the translucent sheet over my master pattern. Then I just positioned the pattern pieces on it, guided by the pattern showing through underneath, and lightly tack them together with a hot iron where they overlap. Now I can gently peel the applique off the Teflon sheet and place it on each background I wish to audition. I've turned back part of the angel so you can see the narrow bit of fusible on the larger pieces.

I had two fabrics I thought would work well as backgrounds, but in the meantime, I stumbled upon two more options. And thus the dilemma began. I can't tell what's swaying my opinion as I consider the merits of each. My "gut" feeling has led me astray before, as has thinking too hard about who will receive it or where it will be hanging. I need a second, or third or fourth opinion here. Please "vote" for the one you think most effective, and feel free to add why you think your choice is the one. Also feel free to suggest something different. I'm totally open at this point. Oh, and the strips of fabric along the sides of some of the pictures are ones I'm considering for the border.

Background 1:

Background 2:

Background 3:

Background 4:

All pictures appear to have their links intact, so you should be able to click on any of them for a larger view.

Goals for the Week of April 23rd

As usual, today I was doing a bit of catch-up from last week's list of goals. I did well, actually, except that I always forget just how long it takes to hand stitch binding, which I ended up doing on Grid 3. I think I thought I'd be doing it all by machine, but once again, I failed to cut the single fold binding generously enough, so hand stitching to secure it to the back was my only option. That meant that the sleeve didn't get sewn on until today. I also failed to catch up my documentation, so it too got done today. Everything else on the list got done.

This week will be a lot of this and that as I try to get several projects close to completion. Plus it will be time for another journal quilt come Saturday. So here's what I hope to get done this week:

1. Apply paint "sun beams" to Chinese poem challenge.
2. Paint charcoal batik with white acrylic to mimic fog bank.
3. Layer Willow Leaves 2 for quilting.
4. Quilt piece made from curved piecing experiment.
5. Make journal quilt

Goals for the Week of April 16th

I've been flying without a net for way too long - um, longer than I thought. According to my notebook, my last goal setting was done 5 weeks ago. Three items on that list, one of which I just did last week and one of which is still waiting. Now that Easter is over, the taxes are in the mail and yard care arranged, I suddenly have renewed drive and a clear idea of what I want to get accomplished over the next three weeks.

It's a sequential thing again. I need to get going on a piece for the church which ideally should be finished by June 1st. Tick, tock. I recently purchased fabric which may be perfect for the background, but it needs to be washed. I've been putting off washing it because the load will have several 2-plus yard lengths that I'll want to lay out on my work table when ironed. The work table still has bins sitting on it from my search for fabric to make crows feet blocks. I have two more blocks to cut out but didn't want to choose their fabric until I had the other blocks sewn and up on the design wall. Ergo, sewing the remaining 4 crows feet blocks moved to the top of the list today. Now that they are intermingled with the rest, I can see that I need more yellow, not more purple as I had guessed, so I am glad I waited. Tomorrow, I'll cut out the remaining two blocks, sew them and clear off the work table. The next step on that quilt can then be postponed.

Theoretically, I can finish off the week by binding Grid 3, and maybe even getting its sleeve sewn on. I'd love to get it up on the wall next to Grid 1 & 2 so I can better contemplate what I want to try next in this series. Finishing it would also mean I can clear more work table space and get some documentation done as well. Feels like a full, productive week ahead for a change.

So here it is in list form:

1. Cut & sew rest of crows feet blocks.
2. Process new fabric (wash, iron & store about 12 yds)
3. Bind Grid 3 - apply sleeve if time.
4. Update documentation files - SP Challenge and Grid 3

Goals for the Week of March 5

As my American readers know, the income tax deadline is looming and I haven't started on mine yet. If not for the open house, I would have started last month. But I didn't, so now I have to get serious about them. I anticipate that working on them will take up a lot of prime time this week, just because my anxiety level will be unbearable if I don't. Never mind that I still have a month and a half before they have to be submitted. It's not something I'm comfortable leaving to the last minute (unlike completing quilts for contests!).

Still, I'm sure I'll need a break from entering data and staring worriedly at the computer screen. I should be able to get a few things done in the studio. Today I printed the label backing for my journal quilt so I can fuse that in place and turn the edges to the back to complete it. I should fill out a documentation file on my challenge quilt now that the dust has settled. Maybe I can get Grid 3 quilted, something that should be a fairly mindless and relaxing task. Beyond that, I can't think. Well, actually I can. I'm anxious to get the paints out to work on a couple of ideas, but realistically, I don't think I'll have the time or concentration for it. So let's keep it simple, and if I end up doing more, no harm done:

1. Print journal quilt label, fuse in place and secure edges to back .
2. Complete documentation file for challenge quilt.
3. Continue quilting on Grid 3

February Journal Quilt

You may have noticed I didn't post goals last week. It felt like one long catch-up session all week, and carrying forward of most goals from the week before. Among other things, I found I needed to complete some paperwork for the business, so creativity got totally sidetracked.

Since my journal buddy & I were frantically trying to complete our challenge quilts last Saturday, which was our scheduled day for journal quilting, we moved February's journal day to yesterday. I was looking forward to it much more than the first round, and it went more smoothly too. It was a genuine happy play day, enhanced by the strains of Barenaked Ladies on the stereo.

February's calendar theme was "simplicity" and the quotation was from Plato: "Beauty of style and harmony and grace and good rhythm depend on simplicity." Oh great, no pressure here. So for my interpretation, I decided to focus on the simplicity part and hope that the style and harmony, etc., etc., would naturally evolve. I'm pretty pleased with the result.

I considered several ideas from my sketchbook, but settled on the idea of a simple gentle curve creating two sides to my piece. I used a technique I've been skeptical about for a long time, but when an idea of a variation on the theme presented itself, I found myself less skeptical. Here was my chance to try it out. The technique is a way to cut and sew gentle curves without using templates, registration marks or pins. For someone like me who has a hard time loosening up and has spent years perfecting curved design and piecing the old-fashioned way, it was easy to believe it wouldn't work, or at least not give the level of results I'd require.

What changed my mind was the idea of inserting a bias strip between the free-cut curved pieces. I had a bunch of 3/4" bias strips left over from a Celtic applique project. All I needed to do was choose two fabrics to go with the strips and I was off and running.

Begin by stacking two fabrics right side up and cutting a gentle curve free-hand with a rotary cutter. Well, THAT got me hyperventilating. I so badly wanted to chalk the line first so I could tweak it and then cut it accurately. But that would defeat the purpose of this technique. So after a few trial passes in the air over the fabric, I cut...and got a nice gentle curve. Whew! This technique gives you two sets to work with as you can see from this picture. Top left half pairs with bottom right half and vise versa.

Sewing the bias strip to the left side posed no problems, but I soon realized I'd best trim back that seam a bit since it would be pressed toward the insert and run into the stitching line for the other side. Perhaps next time I'll just sew with a narrower seam allowance.

Sewing the other half on was a bit trickier because now I was getting the effect of sewing a concave section to a convex section. I kept the bias insert on top, and by sewing slowly and using my seam ripper as a guide, I succeeded in piecing a curved seam sans pinning that produced a flat unit when pressed. Yes, I didn't think it possible, but it worked.

I considered several quilting options, but decided to continue with the "keep it simple, stupid" approach. Using the width of my walking foot as a guide, I quilted lines that followed the curve of the insert - a gold & purple variegated King Tut cotton on one side and an off-white/muted yellow & green Oliver Twist cotton on the other. It was tempting to quilt around the motifs in the print and transfer some of them in quilting on the other side, but since I have another pair of these two fabrics to play with, I resisted the urge.

I finished it off by fusing a border of hand-dyed fabric that picked up on several of the colors in the print. Mission accomplished.

I think this technique has merit, and as you can see from the sketchbook page, there's more to explore here. Perhaps I'll even find time this week to play with it some more.

Challenge Quilt Done!

Remember my primary goal for last week? Familiar with Murphy's Law? All I really needed to do was finish a small quilt in time to mail it on Friday, but as Gilda Radner's character, Rosanna Rosanna Dana would say, "It's always somethin'." Wednesday night, the dog had a close encounter with a skunk, and Friday night she managed to hurt her front leg or shoulder enough that I thought she was having a seizure or stroke the way she was whining and staggering. Up a lot of the night with her, running her to the vet on Friday to make sure nothing radical was wrong, and coddling her way too much. Pretty soon I realized that yes, she hurt, but maybe not as much as she was letting on. Yup, she was playing me a bit once she figured out which behaviors brought out the worried mom in me. Needless to say, it was hard to concentrate on finishing up the quilt, but finish I did, and off it went yesterday, 3rd day UPS.

So back to the quilt. As you may recall, this is what I started with: A piece of my hand painted & sunprinted fabric & three commercial challenge fabrics. Go here for my first thoughts of how I might incorporate them into my design.

This is my view that became the design inspiration. It is looking more or less east towards the "long bridge" that crosses the lake to Sandpoint.

And here is the finished project, called "Far From the Midwest Prairie."

I fused the bridge, leaves and orange/yellow cloud-sun using Lite Steam-a-Seam 2. It's not as stiff as regular Steam-a-Seam and the edges of the fabric do not have to be stitched to prevent raveling or pulling up from the fabric. It doesn't gum up the needle either so I had no problem running quilting stitches through it. I also stitched around the sunprinted leaf shapes. I used a variety of threads in the quilting, including Oliver Twist Hand-dyed cotton thread, Sulky variegated rayon thread, Sulky twist rayon thread and Madiera solid rayon thread.

As for the large tree, it was helping to extend the width of the piece to comply with the contest minimum measurement; I didn't want to fuse it because not all of the trunk would be on top of another fabric. I ended up, like I so often do, combining two different methods to come up with my own hybrid version.

I started with Sharon Malec's method of cutting the shape from freezer paper and ironing it to the right side of the fabric. Then I trimmed leaving about 1/4" seam allowance. At this point, Sharon would have you apply glue stick to the wrong side of the seam allowance and roll it to the back, using the edge of the freezer paper as a guide. If there were overlapping parts to the pattern, you'd continue to prepare each piece, gluing in place until you had a complete free-standing applique. The final step is to remove the freezer paper and stitch over all the turned edges with invisible thread.

I'd watched a friend use this method of building up applique, and although it has its merits, working with that glue is a messy proposition. So I wondered if I could just iron the seam allowance to the back like Karen Eckmeier does with her Accidental Landscapes method. I'd tried this in a journal quilt and was surprised at how well it worked with gentle curves. Add the freezer paper pattern on top as a guide for a less accidental tree shape, and I should have the best of both worlds. And it worked! I only had to clip in a few places to get a good turn. Removed freezer paper, pinned to background fabric (or I could have used dots of Roxanne Glue-Baste-It) and zigzagged in place with the monofilament thread.

Goals for Week of February 18

Oh, yes, it's time to get back to weekly goals as life returns to something resembling normal. I spent the first real studio time in several weeks today and it felt wonderful! Remember that Challenge quilt that was supposed to be ready for quilting before the open house? Yeah, right - I was too preoccupied to concentrate on it and now I have until Friday to finish it up and get it in the mail. So that is my top priority for the week, followed by updating the blog with details about the open house. Pretty simple, pretty straight forward. And I found time to work towards both goals today.

Oh, I guess there's one other thing I should add to the list. I've been looking at software for artists - the kind of thing that would help me organize not just the info about my quilts, but pictures of them, their location, sales records and mailing lists. Since I sold two pieces this weekend, it seemed like a good time to make a decision and get going on a better system. Time to complete my research and act.