Waves of angst flowed over me last night into this morning, and so I spent time at my altar this morning listening to my own distress as well as for the answer. What came to me as I sat in front of my fireplace where I had also lit a candle is that there are numerous WIP's going on and nothing had been finished for awhile.
My Feb. blocks had gone out to Rex for our Calendar block exchange, and to Cathy for the Christmas Quilt Block Swap. I am choosing not post pics of them until they are received.
AND I am actively working on six of the WIP's (works in progress), as well as two Comfort Quilts. Logical, reasonable, understandable. Just not something I can see as complete.
I pulled out the container for another BOM I am doing with a local quilter, cut both the January and February blocks and set about finishing the January block. Done.
How simple to have peace of mind return.
I pieced more to the back for Nick's quilt, and am letting it stay where it is to get a fresh look at it each time I go into the room. I also cut and pieced more one of the comfort quilts. Its easier now to keep going with what is next on the WIP's. If I learned anything about myself, its to do something simple that can be done in an hour. Finishing something is more important than I realized. I want to make that the first thing I do on Friday's...that is if I can. No pressure. Just fun and healing of self.
Sometimes I wonder what I get myself into.
Using my floor, I marked four corners of where Nick's quilt would lay with some tape, so I could lay out pieces of fabric and know what the size would be for the back. Its a design mat of sorts. Fabrics need to be pressed and I will do that as soon as I finish this post. It might help the visioning of it all. Binding will be the same green print as the last border on the front. I had a lot of leftover burgundy prints of various intensities and values. And the scraps were sewn together as a way to separate and join things.
By filling up the marked floor space with leftover fabric pieces, I can play with them like one of those shuffle puzzles. I wanted to keep larger pieces in it just for stability. I can see by the pic above that they need to be shifted around.
I never liked shuffle puzzles as a kid, and so might have to leave this one lay on my floor for awhile. At least with the puzzle, I could see what it was supposed to look like.
I've put the top away for now and am moving onto the next of my WIP's. Knowing myself, its good to have it there where I can walk past it several times a day until the arrangements satisfies me. When there is a final for this back, I will be sure to post my success with it.
The other day, I watched a video about creative quilt backs using all the scrap pieces and leftover pieces from the front. Its a You Tube video you can find called Pieced Quilt Backs
I loved the concept! From what the quiltmaker in the video was saying, anything goes on the back of a quilt. What makes it work is that the same colors are on the front. She said to start with the smallest pieces and sew them together. Cut them to square them up and keep adding or sewing. Nothing matters. Only that you do it.
Its another challenge for me to push my comfort level to do something that literally makes no sense and can be contrary to what structure is needed for the front.
After getting home from basting Baylee's Garden Path quilt, I spent the rest of the day trying to make sense of the leftover pieces from Nick's quilt. I am not sure, at all, what I am doing.
I thought about how people see the fronts of each other when they meet, as they communicate, and how they evaluate what they see and hear and feel.
I thought about how the front chakras or power centers are the ones most people know and how the back chakras or power centers are almost dismissed in working with various health issues.
Backs of anything are what we lean on, find support from. Quilt backs are actually what is closest to our bodies when we cover up with them.
Can I be artistic when it comes to making a back like this that uses up everything from the mini scraps to the larger chunks? Being artistic is like playing, and playing never came easy to me. Ever.
This is like building a whole new quilt, & I have pieced backs before, so why its become such a big deal probably means there is some personal growth going on for me.
This one in the picture here is a perfect example. It was the back made for a Halloween Rail Fence. The purple was long enough for the quilt but not wide enough, so I used scraps and some panels to make the middle strip. Its pretty structured, unlike the one I am trying to build for Nick's quilt.
I'll get back to it in the morning. I might take out the frosty blue after seeing how it looks in the picture. Scrap quilting is not easy nor is it fast. It is good for the environment to use up all the parts of a yard of fabric that I can, and its also good for my bank account!
After seeing a recent pic of my Great-Nephew, I asked how tall he was. At 16, he is already 6'3.5". I am speechless because the quilt I am making for him is going to need some adjustments on the final border.
I converted this pattern to include a golfer panel in the center. The blocks themselves took a lot of time to piece. The foundation fabric is a frosty blue with good size snow flakes on it.
I'm really just learning how to do all those triangles so end up shaving uneven edges, which knocks down the overall size.
I had just enough of it to add a first border and bring it back to the original pattern measurement. Remembering that this is a scrap quilt, so I had gathered coordinating fabrics to make it and needed to work with what was there.
With Nick's height, it should have started out as a twin size quilt. However, the last time I saw him out here on Venice Beach, California, he was NOT that tall! His Father is tall, so what was I thinking???
There is a pretty good chunk of the green planned for the third border, and perhaps I can make the top/bottom parts an inch and a half each wider than the two sides. Its not much, and I do not want to throw off the balance the entire quilt has right now. Yet, I wonder how many times we miss the subtitles in quilting or in life about what we see because someone knew how to create a good illusion.
I can always trim off the extra if it doesn't work.
One of the quilting students I've met lost her husband last week so I attended his funeral this morning. It moved me to see so many photos of them together and made me realize that you can never take enough photos or say "I love you" enough.
She is a brilliant quilter and very quiet in the classes. When she speaks it is to give outstanding quilting tips. I am sad for her. The church was filled with people from his work, our community here in town, the Marines (one of whom played taps on a horn in church-chilling always), and a few other quilters.
I came home to finish the block for my swap partner who lives in Australia. I signed up later in January so missed the partnering process. Cathy was sweet enough to include me for February, and offered to swap with me. While I mentioned this group before, it is something so great I want to give another shout out to her and how she facilitates the group. You can select her hot pink name just above and it will take you to the page with all the information on it.
The block is finished and actually wrapped for shipping when I go out on Wednesday again. Cathy & I have shared a few emails about how the group runs. Because its my first time swapping with them, she was kind enough to give me pointers.
I plan to use the blocks that come my way to make a quilt for my younger Grandson Jake. I write to him regularly, and just the other day was wondering what I was going to write about that was more grown up in both language and concept. When last we spoke, he told me he was in an after-school "Adventure Club." This is perfect! Each month I get a new swap partner from somewhere around the world, either another country, another state or even another city, I will write about that location from what I can learn.
As soon as Cathy gets her block, I'll post a pic of it on my 2014 finishes link, and also include a pic of what the one she sends me looks like.
This is the way we learn from each other. Small pieces, small ways. Its all about learning and loving.
I've been wanting to move my workspace around for some time and finally got to it this morning. Every time I change things in my life, there is something that must be given up for something in return.
This move was no exception. (please look at these pics with a soft eye because things are moved, not yet organized.) I have more space in the room to walk about. My ironing board has room to the side of the tables rather than to sit out in the traffic path. The printer, bill keeper, office supplies, and paper shredder are on a small table next to the door and are much easier to access now. I still can lift the sewing machine onto the table, have quite a decent work space and have it down when I want to work on the computer. Its going to be a good work station. (Yes, the waste basket goes under the table.)
The other side of the room holds a love seat, along with lamps for evening hand work. Light comes in from the west and bounces off the mirrors. That also seems like it will provide more natural light all year round.
And of course, I am not kidding myself about what I have to give up with this move. On a shelf over the loveseat is a 4-candle holder that I light almost every night to honor my Grandparents. Not safe to use here when the loveseat kicks back.
And then there are the windows. Really difficult to give up the constant view of mountains to the west, trees, the pond, the stones, and flowers on the wall. Here is a Cooper's Hawk who visited yesterday. She found a live and easy to catch food source at my bird feeder to the south and comes here regularly.
I used to look up from my work whenever I saw a shadow fly by. Usually, in that tree during most warmer months, there is a pair of Hummingbirds who rest a minute several times a day before going onto the flowers or into the pond spray. Flocks of birds drop down to the pond, and often the neighbor cat makes her rounds. Not seeing those events might be hard, and maybe the furniture will move again come Spring and Summer.
For now, its lovely and spacious in here.
My second attempt at creating a Spring Mug Rug failed after showing what I made to my partner, she couldn't figure out what it was!
I am keeping it because-well, just because I like it and can see what I made. Its part of the house-kick I am on right now. Several learning experiences came from this mug rug. First, small quilts are small, not easy. Second, if I am going to make this size which is the 6.5 x 10" or thereabouts, horizontal is better than vertical. I see a house with a roof, door and window, and use my mug rug in this direction. Also, if part of it is wonky, all of it need to be wonky.
While there were a lot of finishes for the month, I was still disappointed in not completing all I wanted done for January. Those 4 quilt top/back WIPs moved to a February completion.
The missing 2" cornerstone to Nick's quilt turned up last night, tucked between cushions on the love seat. Whew. While the dark blue fabric substitute would have worked on the outer four corners, having them all match makes it really work for me as quilt-maker.
This month, as everyone knows, only has 28 days or 4 weeks in it. Its going to be a short month. Quilts will not be finished until the binding goes on, so there will be fewer to show for awhile. This month finishes will include the two BOM squares and the holiday block swap.
I remember hearing a chant that went: I am abundant, filled up and over flowing, I am plenty. And so it is.
