Wrapping Up 2019 So We Can All Move On

I always think this end of the year retrospective should be a quick post, but somehow

it never quite works out quite that way. Oh well. Time for a glimpse of whatever finishes 

managed to come to fruition during the past year! It always surprises me how it stacks

up. Never quite what I imagined somehow!

2019 Finishes (1)

It's been a surprisingly productive year. So many times it felt like I was just sort of spinning my wheels, or at times, chasing after ever single squirrel that popped around the corner. Some of the oldest quilt tops did get checked off the list, but it felt arduous at times. 'I don't wanna' was not an uncommon feeling at the start of some of these quilting/stitching finish-it-up endeavors.

2019 Finishes (2)

A surprising amount of larger quilts were completely hand quilted. Well, maybe not so surprising.as it was a terribly stressful year here on the home front. So happy to see 2020 roll around with the all the possibilities of a fresh new year! When life's troubles start to get extra heavy, I tend to have a habit of ending every evening nose deep in the quilting hoop. Well, right after finishing off the popcorn and catching up on Blogger and Instagram.*wink  Helps me sleep ever so much better, that hand work. Seriously therapeutic. If I didn't have so many hot flashes, I'd probably pile on about six quilts every night when I go to bed. Just bury myself in them. You know, for the good vibes?

2019 Finishes (3)

Lots of baby quilts were made and finished up, plus quite a few little bitty ones. Very fun, fast quilting sessions which felt kind of rewarding. I don't think that would be good for me full time though. The feeling lasts only a little while and then it's gone. Poof! Almost like it never happened.

2019 Finishes (4)

So now it's time for the stats. 23 Total Quilt Completions last year! Woohoo! {If you count the Barbie quilts.} But lets not. Leaving off those smaller, quickie quilting projects, it's really more like 18 for the true total. Not too shabby. And because I like to break things down even further....

• 9 Bed sized quilts finished up
• 5 Lap quilts
• 4 Baby quilts
• 5 Doll, Table Runner or Barbie quilts
• 9 of these quilts were completely hand quilted
• 8 quilts were completely machine quilted
• 5 quilts were a combination of both machine and hand quilting
• 1 quilt was a combination of machine quilting and hand tying

It was a good year. Also a good year for giving quilts away! 20 different quilts, including the 5 mini quilts, but not limited to completed-in-2019-quilts, were gifted to a hopefully happy recipient.Two or three other quilts should have been given as well, but I'm sort of dragging my heels about those. Not quite ready to give them up just yet. Still having pangs about a couple of the quilts I gave to my daughters!

Some thoughts about looking ahead:

I'm still very invested in keeping lists as per usual. The most important one is for the quilt projects that have been started, but are still in the works. These are ongoing, in many different phases, but most importantly, they have fabric cut out though not yet a completed quilt top. Its not just a fabric stack of dreamy potential! I'm committed, hopefully engaged and generally always pushing forward toward a conclusion. 

There is also a list for the finished quilt tops that are not as yet quilted. Totally separate lists for different categories of UFO's. That's because the 'in progress' quilt project list fluctuates all year long. What I've finally found to be an optimal balance {for the way that I work} is somewhere between 6 to 10 projects. Anything over that and it inevitably starts stressing me out. Anything under that and I start feeling incredibly bored. Good incentive to cross projects off the list and then promptly dive right into the new!

The 'finished quilt top' list has been slowly shrinking from a high of 28 several years ago, to this past year where I seem to have regressed. These tops are listed in order of when they were completed with a vague idea toward quilting the oldest one firsts. Ha. For now I'm going to ignore the fact that quilt tops are multiplying like rabbits and just keep on doing my thing. I really don't know what else to do.I tried severely limiting quilt starts, but that was stifling. There's only so much a person can do to put the breaks on creativity/new starts/inspiration before all momentum comes screeching to a halt. Some day maybe I'll be able to afford having a few tops long armed again, but what probably needs to happen is for me to work a little harder at {being open to} combining machine and hand quilting. That's where I seem to gain the most ground.

Last year saw me taking an even more intentional look at the fabric stash. Many of you know that I truly love digging deep and coming up with interesting or unexpected combinations of fabrics and colors. I'm super pleased to have a 20-30 plus year range of quilting fabric colors/prints, but to be frank, some of those fabrics are stale dated now. Over time there are fabrics which have somehow become bland or completely and totally uninspiring. It's kind of sad, but mostly it irritates me because every single time I've tried to earnestly address these dated 'colors', the ideas crash and burn. The quilting plan seems lackluster and pointless so I give up.

On a whim late last year, I tore through the green fabric totes and pulled out most of the worst offenders. Some of them really aren't that bad. Truly. They're just dated. They've sort of gotten lost in the trends of colors changing. Marketing.That sort of thing. When digging through for fabric choices, they are easily pushed aside and ignored because they don't always play nice with the new additions and then, of course, the situation compounds itself through time. Take a look at the Sherwin-Williams 'Color Through the Decades' to see what I mean. I'm totally stuck in the 70's, 80's, 90's and 2000's in regards to over half of the fabric stash! What to do?

At somewhat of a loss, I took these annoying {green} fabrics and put them in largish clear plastic bags and purposefully left it all out where I couldn't fail to look. See. Be reminded and think about solutions. Eventually I came up with a personal challenge that involves using these 'So Tired' fabrics. The first phase of that saw me making a really weird {okay, it's ugly}, purple and green comfort sort of quilt top, and since then, I've incorporated quite a few of these less-loved fabrics into the Christmas quilts. Other than the first quilt {totally an experiment}, I don't really intend to waste a lot of time making ugly quilts though. Finding a good place for them is the ultimate goal. That and using them up so they aren't in the way anymore!

The most awful of all these fabrics have already been sewn into a large quilt backing for one of the recent Christmas quilts. Extra time, but hey, the fabrics were put to good use and I save money on a backing. One way or another, I totally intend to sneak these troublesome colors/fabrics into quilts and find a way to love them again. Maximize their potential. Then I'm going to move on to a different color and start all over again. Yes! Loving this challenge so much. Look for the 'So-Tired' label at the bottom of  posts moving forward. This challenge could last for a long time.

If somehow the hours can be found, {crossing my fingers}, I plan to put together a 'Hand Quilting with Perle Cotton' tutorial this year. Yikes. So intimidating. Several people have inquired and seem to want to know how to get the 'Quilty Folk' look and feel to their quilts. Deep thoughts here. Please don't get in a rush expecting anything. My life is full of crazy ups and downs and I often barely have time to proofread current posts for misspelling, much less organize an intelligible tutorial.

Yay. This is also the year when I will be turning 50 years young. See how excited I am? Just loving the gaining-weight-at-warp speed and experiencing my lack of mind/mouth coherence due primarily to hormones. How is it that I'm thinking a specific name in my mind, but what comes out is totally different and sometimes I don't even realize?*sigh  My kids think this is hysterical and I just feel stupid. This has turned my thoughts to perhaps making a celebratory quilt such as Lori and Barb both did in years past? Why not make turning 50 into a good thing? I want to walk more and take better care of myself for sure. Will keeping thinking about Jubilee quilt ideas though. It's not a terrible idea.

And last but not least, I plan to keeping on making interpretations of antique, utility style quilts and also, continue to follow along with the AHIQ prompts. Both of these challenges, while difficult at times, seem to feed my creativity in a way that helps me to flourish as a quilter. As a maker. Very important during this particular phase of our life! Thanks so much for following along with me along the way. It wouldn't be nearly as much fun without you....

Folksy Flower Medallion Quilt is a True Blue Finish

This quilt has been finished up for several days now. First it needed to be soaked. Gotta make sure all that red dye doesn't ruin the light colored tulips! Then to find time for pictures. Right on time there was that couple days with the Internet down {how does the equipment degrade that much in five years?}, and then finally...

Folksy Flower Medallion

I paid attention to that niggling little voice inside my head that insisted each of the black petals needed more hand quilting. So that took several long, long hours of filling in. {Ignore the crease in the center of the quilt.  Apparently didn't leave it to dry flat on the floor for quite long enough, and folding it up gave it an attitude.}

Trying to get a decent picture

No hoop because I was worried about popping the previous stitches. Ugghh...  The center of a largish quilt is so very much fun to have to go back and add in stitches. NOT! I'm not sure it made a huge difference in the look of the quilt, but I do feel better about it. Now that it's done and all the grumbling is behind me. Or will be as soon as I quit writing this post....

So happy with the blue triangles poking out into the black border

The only picture which shows the extra stitching on the petals is the very first picture. At that point I was headed into a busy weekend and just wanted to move on dot com. Big plans to post pictures about this brand new finish on Saturday morning before the day started going crazy on me. Alas, our whole town lost power for about half or more of the day. By the time it came on, I was knee deep in a book, and of course that put me way behind schedule for all my other plans. You know the ones. They're obviously way more important than blathering on and on about a wonderful new quilt finish. Well, to the rest of the fam bam maybe. I'm perfectly fine with blathering on about quilts any 'ol day of the week as most of you are so very familiar with...

Still so happy with the center of this quilt.

Then there was today. One of those days where I didn't want to get out of bed. There was one too many phone calls. Lunch seemed like more trouble than it was worth and then.... my husband needed me to run some errands for him. Immediately if that was at all possible? Oh, and bills needed to be paid. Yay. One more reminder that I can't really afford to buy the new roll of batting that I'm sneakily trying to convince my family I would adore getting for mothers day. Okay. Maybe not so sneakily. They've started rolling their eyes at me lately.

My one and only medallion quilt turned 'on point'

Uhuh. Just post a magnet over my head with an arrow for negativity. That is me about right now for sure, but you can be glad I'm leaving out other essential parts of the story line. I'll simply imagine that you're patting me on the back and saying 'there, there' and it'll all be good.

Loving getting this quilt finished up. Truly. It's a real sweatheart of a quilt. But now that the initial euphoria is over, wondering how insane I would be to hang it in the regional quilt show later in the summer? Hmm... It's not exactly square since I cheated at most border ends and wound up with a little wonk. Yeah. Probably be better off as one of those quilts that need to shine brightest from a crumpled ball at the end of a bed, right?

Out With the Old, In With the New

This quilt was a great choice for putting in the hoop this time of year. I don't even remember the last time I had this much cabin fever! It's not that we've been housebound or been without electric etc., it must just be the long, never-ending winter getting to me. I'd obviously never survive living in Alaska like some of you hardy souls who seem to do just fine up north!

Improv. Postage Stamp Basket quilt is a finish!

Improv. Postage Stamp Baskets quilt has been like a breath of fresh air. The word I keep coming back to when thinking about this quilt is 'restful'. So very relaxing to stitch on this quilt. It's been much needed! I can't wait to throw this one one the bed and see how serene it makes our bedroom feel.

A little bit of basket handle stitching in the setting triangles

 As usual, the decision about what to stitch in the sashing part of the quilt was quite painful. I feel incredibly un-creative about sashings and one-fabric borders and just generally sort of panic at the thought. This time I went with my gut {although when do I ever really not do that?} and did what seemed easiest. It definitely helped when I saw that Lucy had made the same choice in her most recent finish. Her work is always so beautiful that no-one could possibly ever complain that she was taking the easy way out!

An odd color palette for me, but I'm loving it!

Though some say that these postage stamp baskets don't immediately show as baskets, I kinda like the subtle impact of the design. They were made in the improv. style which means they are not perfect at all. All the strings are varied in size which makes me like them all the more.

There's just something about hand quilting....

Originally I thought to mix up the baskets so that each block had baskets with all vertical strings or all horizontal strings. That just created a very confusing medley of conflicting blues and greens and so it seemed safer to keep all stringy baskets the same per block. In the end I found that I rather liked the way those aligning strings met up at the cornerstones, creating an indirect, secondary design. Not hugely impactful, but still, very noticeable when examining close up, such as when it might be lying across someones lap.

It acts like it needs a snuggle....

The only thing that I'm not sure that I like love, is the half cornerstone blocks on the outside of the quilt. They were deliberately chosen to sort of fade away, in direct contrast to the darker fussy-cut flower ones. There's just a question niggling at me, because it almost seems to leave the edges of the quilt looking undone. Or does it? I do love questions and mysteries in a quilt! Oh well! Keeping that in mind, I just doubled down on that particular thought and made sure the binding was extremely soft looking and wouldn't detract in any way from those busy, bossy looking baskets. Overall this quilt would readily go right into the success column, if I had any such thing. Not exactly what I started out thinking it would end up looking like, but now? I just want to cuddle up and take a nap with it. That's a very good vibe in my humble opinion...

Folksy Flower Medallion next up in the hoop!

Next up in the hoop is the Folksy Flower medallion quilt. It was started sometime in 2015 and was in the works for about two years before reaching quilt top completion. The original inspiration was lost to me for the entire time that I was working on the quilt. It was terribly frustrating when starting this quilt as I wanted to reference the picture my brain was trying to re-imagine. Though I searched and searched, I could not find this stupid picture that I KNEW had been saved somewhere in my Pinterest boards! It wasn't until the other day that I finally stumbled upon the picture, way down in the bottom of one of my boards! So crazy to see the similarities between the inspiration and my ultimate interpretation. And I wonder, what would have been different if I could have been viewing the picture all along?

Looking at the center

I do think it very important to give credit to whatever and wherever our original inspiration comes from. If we can. Sometimes we really don't have a clear answer for that and that's probably okay as long as we aren't trying to gain profit from a potential 'copy cat' design. Maybe our idea is even a conglomeration of lots of stimuli. Being awash in social media influence definitely exposes up to lots and lots of different ideas, designs and approaches. Perhaps the seed of an idea is buried so far in our subconscious we begin to think the idea is completely unique to us! You know that could happen to any one of us!  Regardless, I find it fascinating to see how far inspiration can take us into our own spin on things, then turn around and view the two results side by side. 

Getting started with the stitching!

I wondered if this quilt was a little bit too fall-ish to be working on this time of year, but no. We're doing just fine. So far there's very little precision involved in the stitching and that always makes me feel happier to dive into the hand quilting towards the end of the day. Did you notice that one of my clamps on the hoop is cracked? I'm treating it very gently and hoping it holds up for a very long time. Interestingly enough, that's the best side to slide over the bulk of the applique work. Less stress on those stitches when it's not as tight!

Folksy Flower Fun

From the start to completed quilt top, this one has already been in the works for 2 yrs! So glad I put it on the 17ufosin2017 list as that really pushed me to make some real progress. This one was easy to procrastinate on as I was always having the jitters over whether my off-point borders would have too much bias and ruin the entire outcome.

Folksy Flower Medallion is a finished quilt top!

They almost did! Using this sturdy black fabric on the outside border is going to be a lifesaver, I can already tell as it helps keep all the inside stretching issues fairly contained. As mentioned in my last post, there was a question over whether or not to continue on to another border. The more I looked at this quilt, the more it was prodding me to end in a grand finale of sorts. I played and played with the the lighter colors from the centerpiece plus other colors in the quilt and finally sat back and thought, 'Maybe if I just take off the black border, add on a wider one for better balance and perhaps add a bit of applique?'

Well, that led to me deciding that I definitely didn't like how the blue and black border looked fading into the black outside border, especially if it was to be wider and have more detail involved. So in my auditioning with fabric phase, I cut a couple small blue triangles and laid them on top of the corner black triangles, hoping to see what it would look like if I took that border apart and finished the repeat properly.

Looking at the borders before the blue triangles...

In trying to get them properly positioned, I sort of dropped them and they turned the wrong direction. Before picking them up, I realized it looked like they were poking out of that little border like little arrows, which instantly made me excited. Yes! Love how that makes the corner series of borders just a little more interesting, adding an extra sizzle of energy! From idea to actual implementation, the size of those triangles went up two or three seam sizes until finally I was happy with the way they presented. As you know, I'm a big fan of making quilty things larger.*wink

A simple addition

Just adding the triangles onto the inside border completely changed how I was viewing the outside border. Ditch the outside border applique idea! From those little blue triangles, it was a simple jump to deciding to sew together a filmstrip style border {loosely interpreted as such}, which would help pull those little black square elements from the center clear out to the outer border. I do so love finding interesting ways to repeat elements in a quilt.

Sewing on a skinny little border

From there it was a very tedious effort of measure, measure, measure, cut, sew, cut, pin, pin, pin, pin and sew some more. In order to make the filmstrip wrap around the corner, I had to sew on every length of the border individually rather than sew the three parts together and sew all-as-one {like I normally would for efficiency's sake!}. Ugghh... Bear in mind that the inside measurements of this quilt are not exactly in lock-step with the outside measurements. Yeah. Lets just say that this was equal parts creative math and keeping my fingers crossed it wouldn't end up in a giant, stretchy border mess!

Trying to make sure the squares wrap around the quilt
properly, adding a bit more of the lighter fabric on the corner...

Sigh.... Like I said earlier, the sturdy black cotton worked very well in keeping the outside border straight and true. Those little light colored strips were only 1" before seams so I'm not sure any of this would have been possible without the good quality of that particular piece of fabric! And so you can see, Folksy Flower was able to get a simple, but snazzy, outside border which better pulls the entire look of the quilt together. I adore how it pulls the eye right back to the center of the quilt {my very favorite part!} and also repeats the little squares element. While I do like the corner borders a lot, they were never supposed to be The. Focal. Point.

And it's a finally a finish!

As I've often said, there's really no 'right' way to design a quilt, no matter what people might unintentionally imply at times--there are simply preferences! Putting our in-the-works design efforts out on a blog {or in a group setting etc.} for input and comments can make us feel terribly insecure about moving ahead the way we want. But only if we let it! People are simply reacting to what they can see in our pictures and/or completed efforts, often trying to offer up a helpful viewpoint or idea, but too, they are only reacting based on their own experiences and preferences in mind. They can't process the instinctual feelings we're dealing with in the same way and more importantly, they aren't as invested in the outcome, which is always, at root, a very personal thing! Is this going to be a nice quilt--so lovely--or is it going to feel like a 'me' quilt?  You decide which ideas to take and incorporate or which to leave behind and that's that. At the end of the day, we have to be big enough to enjoy the conversation without feeling pressure to conform or perhaps we'll need to skip the agony of indecision posts and just post the final pictures. There! That's what I did, like it or lump it! Anyway, enough with the creative cheer-leading. I'm sure many of you get tired of my rants!

I almost forgot with all my focused border work the past few days, but it's time to link up to July 17ufosin2017 over at Pomegranate and Chintz! {Meredithe always has such good eye candy} and this linkup has been an excellent push for me to work through some stalled UFO's. Along with checking Folksy Flower off the list, I also made good progress with Vintage Coxcombs and also my Peachy Cameo Medallion. These three were just supposed to reach quilt top stage so not quite as much time involved a complete finish. Tho there was a true-blue-all-the-way-completed quilt in the month of July too!  Learning Curves finally bit the dust and is now crossed off the list as well. Yay for progress!

Also linking up with Linda and Julie for sew, stitch, snap, share #9! Do make time to check out Linda's beautiful quilt for some good summertime inspiration!

Folksy Flower Coming Into Its Own

Finally, all the diagonal borders are attached to Folksy Flowers! It's been a a long, drawn out process as I started this quilt way back in 2015. Some quilts just take longer than others to come about. The full idea of this quilt apparently needed to marinate and simmer, slowly growing into its own. Either that or I was just practicing avoidance. Sometimes I honestly can't quite tell the difference!

Adding on another border....

At the beginning, there was a stack of fabrics that I kept pulling from. Occasionally I had to dig into the stash in search of another fabric, but mostly that initial fabric pull stayed true. The large flower with smaller flowers scattered across the middle was initially inspired by a piece of embroidery? I saw on a random blog one day while blog-hopping. I was never able to properly back-trace my steps {although I tried valiantly}, and there it was, stuck in my head, eventually sparking this entire quilt idea.

Finally getting to see it with all the diagonal borders...

I've been wanting to play with this sort of medallion for years, but was a little bit nervy about the idea. You know, because of possible bias stretch issues? And yep, it definitely happened with this quilt. The outcome is not completely horrid. I'm giving it the Pollyanna talk for now, assuring it that 'lots of hand quilting should help tremendously'. And really, I'm okay with that. It is a 'folksy' quilt after all.

Never know where a seed of an idea can take us!

At this point I'm considering whether or not there will be one more border to finish the quilt off. I briefly toyed with the idea of a one-fabric border in perhaps a lighter color, even dug into the stash for possibilities. Finally, I had to throw up my hands in defeat. There isn't anything lurking around in these stash totes that will do the trick and frankly, I'm not convinced it will settle for a wimpy simple, one-fabric border. After all the other border-work, why not finish with something a little more interesting? So I'm thinking hard about this one. Sometimes 'simple' really is the best option.

Working On a Few of My 17UFOSin 2017

This time of month always gets to me. I look at the 17ufosin2017 list and think, 'Oh no!, another month gone! Did I get anything done at all?" And then it's time to settle down and think things through logically.

Vintage Coxcombs

Vintage Coxcombs, above, now has all the applique blocks done--20 of them! And they were stinkers too. I haven't had that much trouble with applique for a very, long time. I think it was a matter of over thinking things, trying to correctly center the applique and yet not lose touch with the whimsical placement I was striving for. Who knew that imperfect stitching could be so difficult to achieve! I guess I just thought it happened by breathing. After all, it's easy enough to get the look when we don't want to. The best part was working with these fabrics and colors. It's hard to get a good picture of these muddy looking blocks, but they are so soft and mellow looking. LOVE that!

It's been a different kind of month. My nicely stitched borders for Folksy Flowers didn't work out as planned either. I've had to use the seam ripper and take some stitches out. Going to have to extend those scallops and hope that effort will do the trick. Otherwise, I'll have to dream up something else for this border.

Folksy Flower borders

 As I mentioned in a previous post, the prep work is all but finished for the solids challenge blocks. I know if I just pick up one block and get it stitched, the others will follow quickly. For now, they're just sitting in a bag, waiting in my quilt basket over in the corner of the bedroom. Taunting me. Or rather, haunting me?

Solids Challenge

Learning Curves is hanging out over there in that corner too. It's all ready for the hand work phase of the binding. The quilting is very simple on this quilt and I'm not 100% sure it's enough. Oh it'll hold together just fine--it's got machine stitching in-the-ditch around every block as well as the echo quilting around the curves. I'm just a little dissatisfied with the overall look. But not really wanting to invest more in this quilt either? It's a conundrum....

Learning Curves

Then there's the Eagle quilt which was slated to be in the hoop by Independence Day weekend of this year. Yep. That's not happening! I could never find a cheap backing fabric {I refuse to pay full price for backings} and wasn't feeling particularly pressed to get to the stitching. Other quilts seemed more demanding than this one. Then, just the other day, I found some backing fabric at a Quilt Guild yard-sale. Fabric by the pound! The blue fabric is slightly over a yard of 110" wide fabric too, which just makes me smile. Score one for the patient quilter.*wink

Eagle quilt

So no matter what my sad sack expectations tells me, I did just fine in June. Progress is definitely being made, even if it's a slow pace, and at this halfway point in the year, there are already 9 out of 17 items checked off the list! Yay for me!

Of the three remaining projects on the list, one is at my friends for longarm quilting attention. It's not looking real good for a fast finish, but maybe by the end of the year? Nothing I can do here about that. Another item is a love/hate project and I waffle back and forth between ditching it completely or being tenacious and diving in regardless of my trepidation about liking it in the long term. The final item on the list that needs to be addressed is going to require some intensive applique border work. I have the ideas roughed out on paper and a tentative fabric selection in the works. Other than that, I'm practicing extreme avoidance. I don't wanna. At least not right now! But I will eventually 'cuz it's a lovely quilt and no matter how I whine and snivel, quilts rarely get neglected here forever....

Okay! That's the June 17ufosin2017 wrap-up. I feel so much better now getting it all in proper perspective! Thanks to Meredithe for the monthly prodding to be accountable!

Applique Prep

Time to pull out the Solids Challenge project and get back to work! There hasn't been any progress on this quilt for over a year now. Oops! How does that happen?

Solids Challenge applique prep

I spent a couple hours {yes hours!} this week cutting and auditioning different colors for the remaining five blocks, trying to ensure a wee bit of balance. A little bit of fabric was wasted, but not much. At first I was only trying to get a single block ready for stitching and then realized how difficult this was going to be if the color balance wasn't addressed right now. The prep work is totally done now, and unless I get a driving urge to change something up, it's all ready for motivation to come calling.

This solid fabric thing is definitely not my forte. At least twice I plopped a piece of printed fabric down onto a block and considered booting the entire challenge. Oh well, it is my challenge after all. But no...  I'm not a quitter.  After the blocks are stitched {on printed background fabric, did you even notice?}, the using-only-solids-plan is going to go bye bye. Maybe someday I'll upgrade to an all-solids quilt, but for now, it kinda makes my eye twitch. Or something.

A Folksy Flower border

I have a feeling that stitching on the solids isn't gonna happen real soon. Too many irons in the fire around here. You see, I also found time to prep for my next border on the Folksy Flower. It's been a slow-go project too, but I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. This particular border is going to be very quick stitching so yep, that means it's probably up next. I just can't help myself. A speedy little finish is actually great motivation to move on to the next project.

There is also some improv. basket handles I'm sneaking in here and there and don't forget about the Blue Plumes quilt. It's quietly waiting in the hand work bag too. Oh man, do I love applique. You have no idea how many applique ideas are simmering in the back of my head. Just this morning when my husband left for work {way too early for normal people to be awake} my mind jumped onto the perfect solution for a quilt project I'd drawn up months ago. Ideas for the fuzzy bits have been dancing in and out of my brain forever and all of the sudden I went from sleepy to 'where is my notebook and ink pen? Quick! Write this idea down before it gets lost in the ether!' It really pays to be ready when everything clicks into place. We always think we'll remember the details next time we get in the quilt room, but no. Those ideas, they slip, slip, slip away all too easy.....

Making Progress on 17 UFO's

Knowing May would be a busy month, I worked hard on my 17 ufos in 2017 list early on in the month. It felt good to knock two quilt tops right off the list: Rising Sun and the Improv. Woven Basket. 

Two more finished quilt tops!

And all through the month I made myself keep plodding away at the Vintage Coxcomb blocks too. The star pieces took a surprising amount of time and it took forever to figure out the most efficient way to get them into place. Finally after sewing {and then seam ripping} the fifth block, I got smart and marked the circle shape onto each block. It's not a perfect solution, but it really helped with placement of the star tips, of which I did not want to be same-o, same-o from block to block. There seems to be enough variation to satisfy my imperfect soul and now I'm just looking at sewing the circle shape onto the remaining 10 blocks. This part is easy and by the end of the month I should definitely be playing with layout!

Vintage Coxcomb blocks

Learning Curves is in the hoop and making very slow forward progress as well. There have been a lot of interruptions the last couple weeks and also, I've been focusing a lot on the applique projects. All my hand work time seems to be in the late evening and there often is a choice that has to be made, applique or hand quilting? Occasionally, the applique wins out, especially if I'm really pushing a project completion such as with my Vintage Coxcombs blocks above.

Learning Curves in the hoop

This latest border on Folksy Flowers was a mixed applique/pieced border and so of course it had to be slipped into the queue too. I tell myself, 'Oh it's just a little bit of hand work' and then three days later I finally finish up.*groan   There will be two more rows added onto each corner of the quilt and then there will probably be one large row to enclose the entire quilt. I've been trying to make sure the corners of each of the latest rows are not cut out on the bias, but there definitely is a bit of wonkiness with this quilt. Hopefully not enough to ruin the quilt! Crossing my fingers with this one.....

Folksy Flowers border

So that's that. Two more items marked off the list and forward progress on three others. Not bad for a crazy, busy month!

Marking things off the list!

Time to link up with Meredithe and other fellow quilters over at Pomegranate and Chintz!

17 in 2017 and Other Misc. Stuff That I like to Chatter About

Don't forget to check in with my Quilty 365 Linkup and Giveaway. Lots of great variations and creativity on display! Also, I have EQ7 software for Windows that I've decided to sell. Shoot me an email if you're interested and we can discuss the details! So... there's been a little progress on Meredithe's 17ufosin2017 challenge. I'm lagging a bit behind for linking up, but wanted to record my forward motion.

Another border for Folksy Flowers

Folksy Flowers {above} has the next border all planned and prepped. What you're looking at will have to be appliqued as I don't like to sew fiddly little blocks together. Much easier to hand stitch! It looks so simple, but actually represents at least an hour or two of contemplation and fabric play to come to a final decision.

All of my alternate Rising Sun blocks are now appliqued and ready for the next phase. There are 12 in all as I quickly determined that the 9 initial blocks were not enough. Sometimes I have to laugh as my quilts always seem to grow and expand at rapid rates, quite beyond my control it seems! Bed size {or close to those measurements} just make me happier than most little lap quilts that won't even properly cover our toes.*wink

Looking at the alternate blocks for Rising Sun quilt

And yes, you've seen this border work already for the Improv. Woven Basket quilt. I haven't progressed much past this yet, but honestly, this is the project that I'm dying to work on. Every single time I get to work on these leaves, it just makes me smile. But... there are other things in the queue and these borders are {so far} working as a great carrot and stick approach!

The border work for Improv. Woven Basket quilt

Then, there's a totally completed, get-to-cross-it-off-the-list quilt finish! Woohoo! My Big Broken Dish quilt, otherwise known as 'The Creative Process' is DONE. After a conversation with my husband, I ended up gifting it to a longtime friend. It just seemed like a good fit. Hard to ignore those urgings!

So, at the beginning of May, I have managed to cross 7 out of 17 items off my list. Not all were actual completions, but the ones that weren't, were brought to the 'quilt top' stage which was the goal for about half of my projects on the list. Real progress. And what's funny is that it's not a whole lot different that what I've been doing for the last couple years. The thing is, I'm a lot more aware of the projects that seem to be languishing. Ahem. Could it be because I'm going to totally ditch them in the near future? lol  So very tempting!

The Creative Process quilt is finished!

And in other news, the city museum peoples approached me about putting my Fire Quilt in the museum for an extended period of time. There had been talk last year, but this time they wanted it asap as the 'firestorm' exhibit was finally coming together and there was a tour planned for the County Historical Society. The museum {which is in the converted old firehouse} only had a small room for the new exhibit and the quilt rods available were too short. Thinking outside the box, my husband and one of the museum volunteers suggested hanging a new rod directly onto the wall in the meeting area, immediately to the right of the exhibit. It ended up being a wonderful place to showcase the quilt as people come around the corner before they 'see' it and so the impact is magnified. Plus it brightens up that drab corner considerably!

I had lots of pains of anxiety, but weathered through it while frantically trying to find a good hanging sleeve tutorial. Both of these tutorials were of great help to me and to my relief, the quilt hung very well from the pole--no pooching out at the rod or having the quilt sleeve poke up over the top sort of issues!*sigh   {A big thanks to my husband for reminding me make two sleeves with a gap in the middle for the bracket hardware!} One long sleeve would have been such a disaster! Oh, and they wanted me to type up a legend for the quilt. Yeah. Uh huh. It ended up being a two page, abbreviated story instead and I was a wilted, wet tissue afterwords.

Things Will Never Be The Same on display at the local museum now!

But it's done now. Another chapter in the life of my crazy story quilt! I heard it was very well received by the Historical Society so that's something. It's just all so interesting as I really am generally very low key about my quilting adventures to the people I live around {immediate family and Internet blog posts aside}!

Growing Pains

I'm going to blather on today about a quilting issue I've been having for quite awhile. Last year I veered off into a very different {for me} way of working called Adhoc Improv. While I feel that it's been an important shift as far the style and originality I'm always looking for, it's quite thoroughly changed and interrupted the normal way I go about making a quilt.

One step at a time for Folksy Flowers

Maybe not obvious to you, but I've noticed something different. Digging a little deeper into my reflections of the past year, I sort of woke up to the reality of having growing pains. How I was working the past several years produced some wonderful quilts for me. It was a comfortable, pleasant, sometimes invigorating, place to be. So why change things up? Especially as the previous stage of quilting was so hard won in and of itself. I didn't just drop into that place without some very hard work! I guess the best answer is that I've felt a nagging desire to be challenged again and the thing that kept drawing me in was Improv., something very much out of my comfort zone.

And honestly, some of my quilts seemed to be missing just a little something beyond my grasp or understanding. This happened very gradually and mostly I thought the Adhoc. Improv. would just be something for fun and play. But then I realized that I was growing increasingly frustrated with some of my earlier quilting choices, even projects 'in-the-works'. It has increasingly seemed to me that I was betwixt and between.

Take the quilt below. I specifically remember wanting to work with these specific colors, experimenting with a challenging block and feeling pleased about adding the surprising twist of a tumbler block border to the quilt top. But as I was quilting it this week, it felt boring and much too predictable. Too formulaic and well, completely unoriginal. In my disdain for the quilt, {yes, I was essentially 'sneering' at it}, I basically placed zero importance in binding choices and simply raided the leftover binding tote until I had the proper lengths--something 'close' to the quilt colors. I didn't even check, okay? That's how uncaring I was. Then.... something very odd happened. After the initial phase of sewing the binding onto the quilt {it's still not hand sewn to the back}, my heart melted just a little and I started to feel that all-so-important connection again. All because of some unexpected color choices {pretty clashy in a couple cases if you want to know the truth of it} and a scrappy, make-do attitude. And I fell in love all over again.

Saint Paul quilt: Still learning even after the project is basically finished....

How obstinate is that? And then, the project below. Started from a Material Obsession book, I really thought it had the power to keep me interested clear through to a finish. But nope. Time and time again, I've recommitted myself only to procrastinate, be sloppy in my work, practice avoidance, blinker off into fun new projects, and always, always feel like I've been pulled back by the skin of my teeth. Is it ugly? NO. Are the fabrics impossible? NO. I just haven't felt any real connection. Which still leaves me three blocks left to applique.*grr...

The funny thing is, now that I've finally determined to cut up seven out of 12 blocks {terrible stitching issues} and just make do, I've actually started to relax. And enjoy. Hey? Is this quilt really salvageable? Be still my heart!

Rising Sun blocks to undergo some surgery...

And so I've decided to make use of those strange lighter, green fabrics left out of the original blocks {a decision that has always bothered me}, scribbled up some ideas for simple applique and well, yeah, I am back to being fascinated and intrigued by my quilting adventure. The methods that used to give me the basic framework for what my quilt might look like at a finish, are simply not working anymore. Occasionally yes. But not often enough to be reliable. Even though every phase of my previous quilts wasn't set in stone, I still had the comfort of knowing a basic outline. hahahahahaha

It's all been completely upended and I'm still not sure when {exactly} it happened. Not a comfortable feeling, that I can tell you. It's like feeling lost in the wilderness of too many choices at times, which is something I've always tried to celebrate and embrace. I can't even explain.....

A total restart

So I deliberately pulled out an old quilt top that I've been putting off the quilting forever. It's a clunky looking thing and almost no one likes it. That's okay. It served a purpose while I was making it, talking about 'The Creative Process so simplistically, and is serving a purpose for me now. So ironic how the old and the new always end up meeting up again and again! Reminding us that all the steps of the process are important. Just because I am learning to go with the flow, allow myself to cut into fabric without any definite, concrete plan, pushing myself to being 'free' and unfettered in every way possible with design, I cannot forgo the very important step of 'Incubation' and just try to make things happen!

Finishing up with machine quilting for The Creative Process
quilt---next step will be some hand quilting....

With this particular quilt, I admit to being cheap, settling on dull fabrics for the 'Incubation' and Implementation' lettering part of the quilt as that's what I had on hand. Now it seems laughably prescient. I rushed the process. Part of Incubation is having the patience to wait on the right idea, making sure all the pieces are in place, recognizing those important connections, and never losing track of elements that work to make our quilting unique. Incubation takes time. There is no formula. It can be hours, days or weeks before things click, especially if you're already working outside of your comfort zone! Because of my experience, there are things I can do to make a quilt progress and probably look okay. For it to satisfy myself creative self, there needs to be specific elements {relating to personal connection} incorporated or really, I'm just phoning it in. Lets just call these practice quilts, because we all have a few.*wink

Part of 'Implementation' is giving respect to the quilt when it indicates something is missing. Paying attention every step of the way to making sure the very best color, fabric, and/or element we have available in our current repertoire is being used correctly. Being decisive and adamant about making the best interpretation of what we're 'seeing' inside our incredibly rich imaginations. Incubation brings all the separate ideas together, Illumination sets the scene, and Implementation is where the details come into play. The ones that can take our quilt from 'nice job' to 'Wowsers! How did that happen?'

It's quite clear to me that {thankfully}, I don't have to empty out my leftover binding tote for every quilt finished. One thing for sure though, as my blue and gold quilt so succinctly pointed out to me: 70 plus fabrics in a quilt doesn't guarantee a quilt will look scrappy enough--for me. Some unexpected color blends and possibly a make-do element will probably do the trick. If my stitching turns up wonky, intentionally or not,, then well, it probably needs to have some control elsewhere, perhaps in a repeated applique or block design. Those sort of things simply ground me and provide a personal connection. Your criteria will no doubt be an entirely different list.

I just can't, in any form or fashion, make color-in-the-number sort of quilts and feel good about them. Which sort of makes the old way that I was quilting feel stale and formulaic. Now. It didn't use to feel that way at all. Aghhh!! Okay. What I'm saying is this. It's not going to be all Improv. all the time, but that method is definitely something I can use to do the sorts of things my quilts are starting to demand. By embracing the new in the parts and pieces that make sense to me, I'm not leaving anything important behind. In fact, it's a way of ensuring that my creativity won't shrivel up and die.

An important thing to remember...

I'm slowly finding my way forward, blending the old method of working with my new found joy in Improv. Finding a style that more completely embraces all the elements I love, not just stumbling onto them willy nilly and hopefully pulling off a hat trick. You might think I love being a reactionary quilter, but really, it only goes so far. And right now? I'm very busy slowing things down until there's a new comfort zone. Because it will happen. The transition is usually the most difficult part of the process!

Trying not to lose the spirit of the quilt....

In closing of this impossibly long post: What matters to me these days is making sure to work 'intentionally', something that has always seemed to be at odds with Improv. I'm finding that it doesn't have to be that way.

I want to work 'purposefully', no matter how simplistic my ideas come off to you or anyone else. If that involves ditching a complex quilting plan and starting from the ground up {all in order to make a very basic foundation of a quilt}, then that's the way it has to be. 

There apparently has to be an element of the 'unexpected' in order for me to feel true connection to my quilting. How incredible {and ironic} to finally understand that it can come in the most basic of forms such as a binding. You just can't make this stuff up.

Growing pains are hard. Stretching ourselves to learn new things, learning how to incorporate those new elements and finding our way forward takes a real, concerted effort. And all without losing the best parts of what we've discovered before! I can see why some people shut down after years of feeling passionate about what they do. It's the path of least resistance. When their projects start feeling boring or they lose the personal connection, then the way forward can feel much too difficult to navigate. How do we know what specific part of our previous comfort zone needs to be shed? How do we grow without damaging our confidence and that very important, trusting-in-our-instincts progress we worked so hard to accomplish? Our originality and growth as a maker depend upon us finding some answers. I'm happy to finally be finding some of my own. Ought to be an interesting year!