Time to See All Those 2018 Finishes Together in One Post

Some years there are more finishes than others. The last two years have been especially good ones for bumping the oldest quilts off the list . It's often difficult to want to work on the oldy moldy quilt projects, but they never get any easier to work on by just ignoring them!

2018 Finishes

It's always great fun to slip a baby quilt or two into the mix and have a fast finish. And this year I even made an oversize doll quilt {hmm... is that actually a baby quilt too?}

2018 Finishes

As usual, I kept my hand quilting hoop busy all throughout the year {both of them, if you want to know the truth of it!}. It's become an oh-so-important part of my quilting journey and I can't even imagine life without that little bit of stitching time late in the evenings. Those peaceful, meditative hand quilting minutes have become something I unabashedly crave at times. It positively grounds me in the best way possible and dare I say, nourishes me as well.

2018 Finishes

The program used to group my picture collages didn't have a good 4-picture setting, so I put my Quilty 365 in two different groupings. It's been on our bed for quite awhile now. I adore waking up to it and then later in the day, snuggling back into bed with it once again. Move over husband dear, I got a good quilt now. lol  Sometimes I think that all my quilting years have led up to this one quilt, in terms of making a quilt that resonates on almost every single level.

2018 Finishes

Overall, I'm not sure how much these quilts represent 'me' as a whole--the way I've mixed up the old quilting projects with the new. It's something that I always find very interesting though, these end of the year quilt reviews. You pop over to someones page and in one click, get to see an entire lineup of the years finishes! What fascinates me the most, is the quilting voice that is always so immediately apparent! There's rarely any doubt whose quilt page you're viewing and that's the very best thing about this time of year. I bet most of us could look at any of these picture groupings and immediately tell what quilter made each of those quilts. Love that!

So now with the details: 2018 found me ending the year with 19 finishes again! That kind of suprised me as it didn't feel like so many. Yep, I was on a finishing mission once again. Trying to get some of those very old, not-as-interesting quilt tops out of my hair.*whew! It was very, extremely, tedious at times, I kid you not. Crossing my fingers things won't get quite that bogged down ever again! Want some year end statistics? I do like to keep track just for curiosities sake.

• 1 Doll quilt
• 2 Baby quilts
• 1 Comfort quilt
• 7 Lap quilts
• 8 Bed-sized quilts
• 6 quilts were completely hand quilted
• 9 quilts were a mix of machine and hand quilting
• 4 quilts were completely machine quilted

By the end of the year I had also given away 17 quilts, a mixture of new and old quilts. That was a little nerve-wracking at times. My family lives in dread that they'll wake up one morning and all our quilts will have been given away! hehe  One was given for a church raffle, for helping to make money to buy their building. Still waiting to see who winds up with that one as I do like to keep track of where my quilts end up!

Lots of ideas for the next year. Stacks of fabric that have been simmering on the counters for months and months and need a little bit of attention. Mostly I just intend to quilt the things that I find interesting without getting too far into the weeds with those pesky squirrels! There are 5 or 6 open-ended quilt projects that will hopefully get wrapped up and around and around we go. I loved diving into the orphan blocks totes and intend to try that some more of that. Adhoc. Improv. is definitely still a happening thing and umm..., there is a scrap bin monster that just has to be addressed soon. No ifs ands or buts about it! Taking up way too much room over there in the corner of my quilt room.*sigh Oh, and don't forget about those oh-so-tempting QAL's popping up all over blogland. Probably gonna join in on with the Unconventional & Unexpected one and also, Lori's String Quiltalong. Sounds like a good start to me!

The Finished Sunburst Pictures and Another Improv. Quilt Top Joins the Quilting Queue

So I'm diving back into blogging after a short, two week hiatus. It feels a little awkward and ungainly after removing oneself from the rhythm of it all but I really find myself {unexpectedly} missing the musings about the journey. Quilting, stitching, posting, reading and/or commenting--it's all part and parcel.

Sunburst is finished!

Sunburst is the quilt that was finished up in time for the last quilt show. It's been the forever project for longer than I like to admit to. There was never the right time to post proper finish-it-up pictures, but overall, I am extremely happy with the results.

After a bit of agonizing, I ended up stitching a free-style Baptist Fan pattern over the entire quilt. This was one where I never got comfortable to 'just go for it', but continued free-hand marking throughout the entirety of the stitching. If you were to get very picky and critical, you would find areas with 5 arcs instead of 4 and in at least one spot, there is only 3. Love, truly, truly love how that ends up happening with this sort of stitching. Kind of ironic because the continued marking instead of 'eyeballing' only highlights my ongoing insecurity with complete and total abandon to freestyle!

Looking at Sunburst

Generally I would be feeling contented with the look of stitching by one completed row, two at the most, but this quilt left me second guessing until almost half of the stitching was completed. It left me feeling a little frustrated and antsy. Not that I could imagine anything that might look better, but I had this fear that using a Baptist fan pattern was not good enough, perhaps I was cheating the quilt. I know, so irrational! But you know how protective we feel about our babies.

Really love those trees

It was wonderful to pull the quilt out one evening and just smile at the relaxed and almost joyful look to the stitched arcs. Oh yes! That's what I was hoping to see! And then it was all totally fine. The perfectly spaced arcs of traditional fans look marvelous, but I'm a huge 'fan' of the human touch, and slightly-off perfect is what usually gets my motor running these days.

Looking perfectly snuggable!

And I also wanted to show a picture of one of the Adhoc Improv. quilts that I've been working on. It's the Score #5 from 'The Improv. Handbook for Modern Quilters' by Sherri Lynn Wood. I'm very happy to report that the quilt top is now finished! If you want more details on the progress of this particular quilt, you can check out my latest post over here.

Score #5

Now I just need to find time to work on that other Adhoc. Improv. project I started a couple months ago. So many things have been taking up our time lately and quilting happens in odd moments and random bits of free time. Honestly, it's been wonderful to feel and see the season start to change. Fall usually ends up being a more peaceful time for our family and believe me, I'm more than ready for the return to the slightly more normal around here...

Just Thinking Out Loud

I can't believe I'm staying up late to write this post, but here they are. All five of the quilts that I ended up putting in the NCW Quilt Show. I'll post later next week with pics of other quilts that caught my eye.

Scrappy Tulips

First of all, I went with a quiet but clearer mind this year. No 'comparison is the thief of joy' type of thoughts, 'not gonna nitpick the details', just a solid determination to enjoy. I'm a confident but filled with insecurities sort of gal and quilt shows can be difficult. The reason to do this is because nothing beats going to a quilt show and being inspired. By little ideas or big ones. Wonderful color and out of the box thinking. A saturation of the senses that is almost impossible to get strictly from pictures on the Net {especially when you're dealing with a camera-handicapped person like me!}.

Vintage Red

No ribbons this year which inexplicably made it all so much better. Wacko that I am, it was refreshing to know that none of my quilts stood out over any of the other ones I brought.*sigh  It's hard when people play favorites with our quilts! Scrappy Tulips {the first pic} almost didn't make the cut. The colors don't play nice in some lighting and it worried me. Turns out it was the one that absolutely shown under the lights at the quilt show. Totally melted my heart and I went back and stared at it several times. It looked sort of old timey, but sweet. Really, really sweet and dreamy. Why weren't more people staring at this quilt? lol

Vintage Red was one that I emphatically was not going to enter. Turns out I just couldn't resist seeing how it would look hanging up where I could see it full on. Oh my, did I love turning the corner and seeing that one. Totally vintage vibe going on which just made me smile so big. I totally nailed this idea! And well, I went ahead and looked at some of the other sewing details in others quilts. Uh huh. Maybe my mistakes aren't quite as horrible and blatantly obvious as I thought. Might have to rethink that one.

Quilty 365

I got a little jolt seeing Quilty 365 hanging up for the first time. That quiet looking stitching around every other block is a secret weapon. Can't see it in this pic at all, but all my concern over there not being enough stitching in this quilt were totally put to rest. I really, really loved seeing this one hanging out for others to peruse. I wished so hard it would have been where I could have stood back a long ways and looked at it from different distances. The colors/values do the dance thing. They really do. It wasn't just my imagination or wishful thinking.

Sunburst

I think Sunburst was in the poorest lighting overall. Yes, it's the brand new finish and looks so much better in proper lighting. I'll give it a post all its own next week so you can see how good the Baptist Fan stitching looks and sigh with me over the sweet look to it. Am I on a sweet kick? It seems to be so. There are lurking questions about this quilt, things I might have done different, but overall, it was a good one to umm, not compare to others. Not quite as complex as it appeared all the while I was hand sewing it. Funny how time and 'distance' change our perspectives.

Hills and Valleys

And Hills and Valleys was the other one that I wiffle, waffled about entering into the show. Turns out the lighting was fine for it, just not for me, the picture taker. Mostly I just wanted to look at the texture of this quilt in a hanging up presentation. Great idea as I just stood in front and sort of soaked it all in. Honestly, I'm super happy with this quilt, and yes, it looks tremendously better in person. It's kind of crazy that this quilt was made by me. 5 years ago, this wasn't in my wheelhouse at all--something to feel very good about today as I considered my growth as a quilter.

Don't worry if you're scratching your head over my enthusiasm, I can't see you and won't get my feelings hurt a bit. The thing I learned today is that I am completely, unabashedly making the sort of quilts that make my heart go pitter patter. Sometimes I worry at some of the squirrels that crop up, but a lot of these tangents lead to wonderful surprises and fabulous interpretations--things we might never have explored if we stick to the plan.  Every single time I turned the corner and saw one of my quilts, it was like 'Well, hello old friend'. Makes the effort and anxiety totally worthwhile. It's so good to get validation once in awhile that we do have a style, a look, or even a muse that is personal and custom fitted to us. And you know what?

This year being in the minority with that sort of thing didn't even bother me one little bit. So my quilts are softer, more simplistic, scrappy and naive looking. So what! I enjoyed the entire quilt show! All those sharp looking, fancy machine quilted quilts just got a different part of my attention. Maybe I'm finally reaching adulthood in my quilting journey? Please don't answer that. Thanks to NCW Quilty Guild for being so welcoming! I'll probably be back next year with another stack....

Slow, Plodding Progress on the 6in6 in 2018

I only have one applique project on the go at the moment and for some reason I am very resistant to working on it. This past weekend I finally got it out and stitched five more petals. Since there are 80 in all, this didn't even make a dent. But it did serve to remind me of why I started it in the first place--the colors are just yummy...

Melon Patch quilt

You can see that I tend to grab whatever thread that will best match the fabric, regardless of brand. While there are most definitely superior threads that glide through fabric 'like silk', matching color is important too. {For those that want to know, DMC machine embroidery thread is still my absolute fave for hand work. The problem is, local supply is extremely limited!}

Another project which continually gets shoved off at the least provocation is my Solids Color Challenge quilt. As my measurements were way off for the last border addition, I thought to add an in-between border solution. Do you remember the HaHa quilt over at nifty quilts? Such a fabulous quilt. I'm using that as the inspiration to create one row of HaHa blocks. While the original quilt had more somber beginnings, my blocks are a good poke at my seeming inability to get math right lately. I'm hoping the gray background fabrics will serve as a good transition between the center and more colorful triangle border that comes after. Trust me to be the one to work completely backwards!

Another border for the Solids Challenge quilt

This overlarge basket was the third in a series of what was vaguely intended to be four large basket quilts. The first one was Gather Ye Rosebuds and the second one was Woven Basket. This one ended up being just a little larger than I expected it to be. And the chances of there being a fourth largish basket? Probably not happening anymore as I am getting increasingly tired of this series, but we'll see. Stranger things have happened around here!

Auditioning a border for Another Big Basket

 All the border ideas I came up with ended up with a potential freakishly large quilt. You know--in order for everything to be 'in proportion'.  I briefly toyed with the idea of not adding anything to it and finishing it as a wall hanging for my bedroom. Hmm... Not exactly the colors I want to hang on my bedroom wall for the next 20 years. So finally, I did some creative brainstorming with that process that most of us call throwing fabric on the floor next to the quilt. It's a very simplistic way of attacking the problem, but sometimes has surprisingly good results. When you've drawn up a hundred ideas and thrown them all away because they don't 'look right', it often helps to engage a different part of the brain.

A finished quilt top!

Once I got the basic idea/look solidified for the border piecing, then I spent an hour and a half trying to figure out how to add more applique. Of course I did. {Because I can never seem to leave well enough alone.} Eventually I reached the point of complete exasperation and realized that it was all just a little too much. Off came all the applique parts and pieces and when the border was finally sewn on, it proved out to be the very best solution of all. Yes! Simple and sweet was exactly what was needed for my ginormous tipsy basket with the odd side handles. Sometimes we just don't know when to quit until we hit our head against the brick wall enough times to finally wake up.

Sunburst finally moving forward again!

And yes, here's the next quilt to go into the hoop. I have a couple bindings needing attention on others, but can't leave that hoop empty for long! Sunburst was started back in 2014 but didn't reach finished quilt top status until spring of 2016. It was the first quilt that I had ever done with such a large centerpiece sewn completely of applique parts and pieces.

Sunburst in the hoop

As per usual, that much applique earnestly compels me to take the extra time to hand stitch the quilt top. To honor and respect the effort, hehe.... So in the hoop it went, finally reaching the top of the queue. After thinking through many stitching options, I am once again going with a freehand style of Baptist Fan quilting--trying to keep the curves approx. an inch or slightly more apart. I want it to have a 'background' look and feel {thus the black perle cotton}, but also an airiness to it when all the stitching is completed on the quilt {why I'm keeping the curves spread farther apart than usual}.

At this point I am almost finished stitching two rows across the bottom of the quilt, but my oh my, has it been a panicky, nerve-wracking start. Working freehand always feels hairy-scary starting out and I second, third and fourth guessed myself. Now, here at the end of the second row, it's starting to feel like it might, just might be the look that I intended in the first place. 

Of course I'm still drawing the lines prior to stitching {all in a freehand, eyeball-it sort of manner}, but once I get more comfortable and into a good rhythm, then I won't need to mark quite as much. Freehand stitching is not for everyone, but all the quirkiness that results from this sort of quilting still totally melts my heart and makes me feel true sisterhood to quilters from long years ago. Linking up with 6and6in2018. It has been slow, plodding progress, but I've made things happen on three different projects and even crossed of them right off the list! Woohoo!

The Last of the Sunburst Battles

*Still time to comment for the Giveaway! Well, it's been coming for a very long time. Sunburst is conclusively a finished quilt top! No more borders for this project. You can read about how it all began in May of 2014 and a little bit about where I parted ways with the gorgeous inspiration quilt.

The last border....

For some reason I thought this quilt had been in the works for about four years, but you know how it is when every step of the way is a question and/or a struggle. It starts feeling like a battle. Every change brought about more changes and while I was okay with that in theory, I couldn't ever 'see' my way forward with any real clarity. The reality was that this particular quilt required a lot of time to simmer, lots of scribbled ideas and wadded up pieces of paper. There could have been some hair pulling and time spent in our separate corners--I just can't remember. It always seemed like there were about a dozen different ways I could go forward and it was just up to me to determine the 'best' ones for the fabric on hand. Uh, hello? Do I look like a magician?

Trying to get a picture of the whole quilt isn't easy

I even struggled right at the end when I was getting ready to applique the corner pieces. Seriously? All of a sudden my corner pieces were just wrong and the colors of the outside border started grating on my nerves. So matchy, matchy and perhaps even dulling the quilt down? I've been trying to quit blocking {all} the corners of my borders in--take the extra effort to miter them or allow the motifs to carry around the corner. When it looks seems the appropriate choice or it starts looking like ahem! I'm just being lazy.

It should have worked. I had so carefully counted the repeats, checked and re-checked the colors of my last border applique pieces. And then one evening after some creeping depression with the fate of my last border, I had this other idea. Hmm.. What if I could find some more of that center fabric where I had fussy cut the white/black circle? Then it would {maybe, cross my fingers} tie back into the center of the quilt, bring in some of those lighter colors, and maybe even salvage the borders which were, quite frankly, starting to look kinda unnecessary.

Loving the applique center

And thankfully, after dumping out two full totes of my lighter colored stash fabric, it was there. {What are the odds?}. I only needed four fussy cut circles and wowsers, there was actually enough for five! Which pretty much made the fabric into Swiss cheese, but that's totally beside the point too. I could not believe how much it made a difference to have that little bit of 'tie-in' at the corners of the outside border. It just made everything sort of solidify and look like it actually belonged together! Not like I was trying to force another border just because I don't know how to quit. It was a very good moment, especially as I really wanted that last border to be on this quilt!

Ah.. I think it works!

So my quilt top ended up looking totally different than the inspiration quilt, although there are similarities in certain elements. Not the first time that has happened around here and it probably won't be the last. But we're okay with that, the quilt and I. Completely on speaking terms once again. Do I regret not making the inspiration quilt? Not really. While it would have been an incredible quilt to 'have', I think this one was much more interesting and stimulating to 'make'. For me. I can't be speaking for you and your process. Around here, it's all about the making, all the time....

Are you ready for April's Quilty 365 yet? I have a little stack of blocks yet to stitch, but I'm getting there!

A Little Bit of Border Progress

Progress is being made on the Sunburst borders. I only have one more motif to sew on the second border and then I'm half done. 

Working on the borders

Repeats are always a good thing to be sewing on when there are distractions. After the second or third motif, they almost sew themselves.*wink  Just kidding. Actually, I discovered {or rather remembered} that the curved edges did not get clipped on the second border. Ahh... What a time to remember. For some reason, it totally spaced my mind before starting to stitch down the edges of my applique pieces!

Progress on Sunburst

However, when I lay the borders side by side or even in the proper arrangement with the rest of the quilt, I see no difference at all. How crazy is that? I'm sure it means that I'm a sloppy appliquer or something less than flattering, but I'm going with the 'how wonderful is that' attitude. Now I can skip that tedious little step {completely guilt free} for the 3rd and 4th borders as well. Thank goodness for that folksy applique look I love to appreciate!

Sunburst Getting Another Border

So I dragged out the Sunburst quilt and gave it another whirl. What to do, what to do. It just doesn't look finished to me, something is lacking and I just can't give it up.

Sunburst center before

The middle has always kind of bothered me. A little too stark for the rest of the quilt maybe. So I played with a couple of small additions and finally settled on adding the pink centers to the blue.

Sunburst center after

It makes more sense when you see what I've decided to do with the next {and hopefully last} border. I finally got it all prepped and waiting in my handwork bag for that magic intersection of time and inclination. If you only knew how many times I've played with this border, contemplating, scribbling ideas down and basically beating my head against the wall. So I'm still not 100% sure, but this time I actually cut out the pieces--that's major progress. I feel like there's a hundred different ideas that would work with for this border and how egotistical of me to think I could possible land on the very best one.

Border prep

I stitched the January block for my personal solids challenge just to relax and unwind. I'm absolutely, 100% sure about that at least! Next up, getting the February block prepped and ready to go.

January Block

It's good to have hand work. Honestly, it's a challenge not to have ten projects going all the time.*wink

Moving On With Sunburst

I think the time helping out with my {husbands} aunt is finally going to start winding down. It's been a long month already but it's wonderful to see her improve so quickly! Although my time in the quilting room has been spotty, I did move ahead with my Sunburst quilt.

Working on the borders

I made some decisions about the next border and then realized it needed a coping border if I wanted everything to fit nicely. I agonized about what color to use for that, but then settled with a lighter black print that is similar in color to the sunburst in the middle. I didn't want it to compete with my dark red trees and all the lighter colors I tried just turned the quilt into mush. Or made it look like a pastelly baby quilt so sweet it could make your teeth ache.*ughh...

Sunburst progress

I really thought this next border would have applique and so I played with that idea off and on for several days. I auditioned fabrics and cut little pieces out of my scrap bin, playing with every idea I could thing of. Nope, not happening. Everything just looked busy and cluttered, so finally I said phooey with that! and just added a simple squares-on-point border. The slightly darker pink/reds squares seemed like a good idea when I was auditioning the border squares, but then the sequence of squares got messed up while I was sewing. Wouldn't you know it? And then I was too tired to get out the seam ripper and do a fix-it. It's not that bad, so I think the quilt and I will just have to learn to live with each others imperfections.*wink

Not sure if this quilt is done now or not. I am still pondering an applique border {just because I am applique mad} but then, you and I both know that surely, everything could use a little more applique? Eventually the quilt will fill in me in on the next phase. They always do!

Sunburst May Just Be the Forever Project I Didn't Know I Had

I've been working on this quilt for a long time. Mostly because I didn't know quite how to get my ideas transferred through the fabric and into a cohesive whole. Making an 'all applique' quilt is something very new to me and doesn't seem to come naturally. Evidently though, I must really want to make this quilt, as I keep coming back again and again to see if it can be figured out to my satisfaction.

Prep for my Sunburst quilt

I've had the fabrics gathered up for a very long time, the initial inspiration quilt posted to my wall and even the centerpiece stitched and ready for additions. The major roadblock seems to be upstairs in my mind. I do tend to second guess myself before attempting laborious efforts with uncertain outcomes! Well, that, and the fabrics I chose were getting brighter and happier with every single playtime. Did you know that leaves can look like Easter eggs? I know, shocking...

Getting the applique layout all figured out

So yes, I've played with the leaves and flowers on this quilt more than I'm prepared to admit to. {Call me fussy or call me a perfectionist, it needed to be right.} And then I added a little bird. {Call me insane.}

Proof that I'm probably certifiable...

The little birdy ended up with a piggy-like beak because the piece was so very small. No worries though, as there will be three more to practice on.*sigh  I have been doing this like I do all my applique work, just 'eye-balling' the placement. I prefer the casual, slightly off kilter look to the whole as I believe it gives my applique a much more 'folky' look than the very precise, more formal placement would. Plus, I don't have the patience to get that part just right.*wink  We all have our weaknesses preferences don't we?

Interested in an ongoing discussion about our diverse motivations to make? Check out this very interesting post. I follow most of these quilters thru Bloglovin', but Cauchy puts it together very well.

Sunburst Quilt Progress

A little bit of work on my Sunburst quilt, but not much else quilty-wise. Too much cooking, cleaning, list-making and then, the subsequent Black Friday shopping.*sigh  Someday they will push it too far even for people like me and then I'll be done with it.

My Sunburst quilt

So glad to have a quiet, peaceful Thanksgiving Day though. Wish our oldest son could have made it home, but it's hard to compete with a family gathering at the Oregon coast. Now there's not much else to do except wash up the leftover containers as they get emptied out one by one. Why do we always cook enough for an army? lol

Hopefully the trees on this quilt will look more like (funky) trees when the leaves are added on. Right now it's looking a bit odd, even to me....

Around the World Blog Hop

Welcome to my little corner of the blogging world! Nina, a wonderfully, talented Norwegian quilter tagged me to answer some questions for you. They go along with this 'creative' blog hop currently making the rounds around the globe. This was after Debra (she of the gorgeous pictures blog) tagged me back in July and well, you know how my July and August went. 

1.What Quilting thing am I working on?

Wowsers, do I have a lot going on around here! Never content with project monogamy, I tend to bury myself in enough projects to induce eye twitches in the more practical minded. I believe every project deserves the very best from me and that often takes time. Time to simmer. Time to breathe. Time to talk. And really, the best use of my time during the 'down time' is for me to work on something else entirely. Which often gives me an answer to a /question/dilemma/problem on yet another quilt--and around and around we go.... 

This is my Pickle Dish/Wedding ring quilt, started approximately two years ago. I just recently pulled it out again to start sewing the background fabric onto the melons. Apparently it involves ironing with starch, pulling the foundation paper off the melons and carefully lining up and pinning all the bits. It's gonna take awhile 'cuz I'm definitely not a fan of tearing off foundation papers.

Pickle Dish/Wedding Ring

This next quilt (Geese Tracks) is actually almost finished. A little more applique work on the border and wallah! I will be back here exclaiming over a finished quilt top. I am so very glad I forced myself through the I-really-don't-have-a-clue-what-I'm-trying-to-do-here pains that I kept experiencing with this project. It's starting to feel very exciting in terms of being better than I ever planned or dreamed. Always a good feeling.

Geese Tracks

The lovely little blocks below are a result of following along with Wendy's Basket Galore BOM. After I persevered through some terribly complicated piecing efforts, I wanted to make sure this quilt had a little distraction from my ahem.. (minor!) mistakes. And also that it reflected how special I really think the baskets are. There are still four flower blocks I need to get figured out and sewn together before things can move along toward a completed quilt top.

Red/Green flower blocks and Basket Galore BOM blocks

This orange and blue quilt is made from partial St. Paul blocks. I liked the simplicity of leaving out the added piecing and was really looking for an excuse to use up some of these fabrics. I loved seeing them all stacked together but didn't know quite what to do with them as a whole. It still needs a border added, but so far the quilt is not being very communicative. Talks will resume later.

My St. Paul quilt

I started making these cactus basket blocks after completely blowing the piecing on one of the Basket Galore blocks. I could not believe how badly I had bungled that little 8" block! Being the stubborn sort that I am, I immediately started making plans to 'better learn' a proper technique (in this case, hand piecing). Somehow it morphed into making 13 of these blocks, making other blocks to play along, and now I'm waiting on a pattern from Karen before I move on. I'm seeing applique added onto the quilt top and other fun stuff in this quilts future.

Cactus Basket quilt

Okay, this quilt is still obviously in its infancy but I have most definitely committed to making it. Check out our blog over at Quilt Like an Eagle if you want to play along. By July of next year, each of us on the list intend to proudly display a completed eagle quilt! You are going to be so jealous....

My Eagle quilt

My Sunburst quilt is very much a long term project. The main part of the quilt is going to be entirely appliqued and each step is, quite frankly, a bit mind boggling in our present state of controlled chaos. Mostly because I over-think everything I'm sure. It's a blessing and curse.

The Sunburst quilt

I almost didn't include this UFQ because it's been so very long since I've done anything with it. The thing is, I rarely truly abandon any project and I don't intend to leave this one behind either. The rare times that I actually take the time to reacquaint myself with this project, I always melt at the colors and style. It could be a really great quilt right? That's why I keep it on my UFQ list. It helps keep me accountable.

Random Sampler quilt

2.  How does my work differ from others in its genre?

I'm reminded of the comic where there are hundreds of penguins and the one is dressed sort of clownish--definitely standing out from the crowd--saying 'I just wanna be me'. Everyone of us out here in the big bad quilting world is doing our level best to make quilts that appeal to ME. When other people like them too, that's just bonus! I used to make quilts in a kind of whimsical fashion, making quilts for gifting, from patterns that caught my attention and for other various reasons such as including myself in a group challenge with friends. At some point I realized that I had gotten very far from my original intention--which was to make quilts that were deeply satisfying to ME. Through a lot of trial and error, I have slowly, slowly learned how to include the important elements that make me fall in love with my quilts{often many times over} throughout the process of making. Are they different from other peoples quilts? Sometimes I think yes. Other times, eh.. not so much! And yes, I still include myself in challenges etc. but only when it also coincides with something I'm currently trying to learn/make or do.

3.  Why do I write/create what I do?

I write because I wanted to have a journal of what was being made and the journey it takes to get there. So many of my quilts have an 'emotional' start or maybe an unexpected detour. Then there are the oh-my-goodness-I've-ruined-this-quilt! type of hurdles to get through. After awhile the details start to blur together and I didn't want to forget about those important moments. So mind boggling during the making, but really kind of funny later.

I create what I do because it's important. To my sanity. And to the well being of my immediate family! I'm a much nicer person when I'm involving myself in creating and I'm not the least bit ashamed to say so. I can't even fully explain what it does to soothe the ragged edges of what life does to us just by being a full participant. Playing with fabric and color is incredibly rewarding don't you think? And how wonderful to pour ourselves into something beautiful, then fold it up and give it to a special someone.

4.  How does my writing/creating process work?

I write when I have something to take a picture of. If I can take a picture (of whatever progress I've made) and not feel like I'm 'reaching' to find something to say, then I just go for it. I used to worry that I'd run out of things to say about quilting, but so far that hasn't happened! It must be true love.

My creative process is almost always about DOING. That is absolutely key for me. I keep a lot of projects going so I don't get bored or stuck on any one phase. Apparently I have a low threshold for both of those particular problems and I discovered a long time ago that I can seriously jump through three (or more) quilt projects in one day lickety split--making up really good excuses for why I can't work on any one of them. Having more than three UFQ's makes it much more likely that I'll cue in to my little avoidance issue and finally settle down with something. It does take actual progress to get to a finish and sometimes that progress is quite tedious ie; easily avoidable.

I make time to get in the quilt room almost daily (even if it's only for 15 minutes). I allow myself permission to play with fabric if that's really all I feel there is to give on that day. I try to remember that there's always something to learn. Always! Why not learn before it's vitally important to the outcome of any one quilt?

Occasionally I make a new list about the things that I LOVE to see in a quilt, whether it be a particular block, color, style or feeling. This helps keep me a little more focused and if I get to feeling like I'm just recycling old stale ideas? I find time to lay out every single quilt top waiting in the drawers. Some times I have to do the same thing with my finished quilts--sort of like shaking off the blues. By viewing one quilt after another I can usually see that my quilts are ever evolving and changing, even if it's a subtle thing. It helps tremendously to see that I'm moving forward, ever progressing toward a more personalized style. {See, now I'm being that clownish penguin I talked about earlier!}

The other important thing about my creative process is that I try very hard to make time to include slow quilting in and amongst all the other quilting I do. I always have a quilt in the hoop. And I always have a hand work bag prepped and ready to go. These two things make sure that no matter what is going on in our busy, crazy life, I can also choose to pick up a needle and thread at a moments notice. I sometimes stitch when I have company, in the car, at the basketball game or even when I'm helping out a sick friend or family member. This 'lost' time then becomes cherished time because the outcome (in quilty terms) doesn't matter any longer and I'm able to keep my hands busy and thus enjoy the moment.

Okay, enough with this endless post about me! In order to keep this Blog Hop moving I chose to tag two other talented ladies who each agreed to write a post next Monday the 22nd. Interestingly enough, I met both of these gals through the Bloggers Quilt Festival!

First off, I'd like you to meet Anne who has a fascinating way of making the kind of quilts that I'd love to own. I am always intrigued by her 'process' and her fearlessness in admitting to changing her quilting/sewing plans. Then there is Diane who is one of the most enthusiastic quilters I know. She is the reason I dared to start my Pickle Dish quilt even though I was so apprehensive about it, that I chewed all my fingernails off for steps 1, 2, 3 and now 4. For some reason she thinks Pickle Dish quilts are EASY and they are NOT. lol  So... please go check out these ladies wonderful blogs now and then, hopefully next Monday too. I know you won't regret it.

A New Distraction

You know how it is with inspiration. It can hit at the oddest times. The pic of this old quilt has been on my wall for a couple years. 

Lovely inspiration on my bulletin board

I'm supposed to be cleaning, packing and getting ready to do some of this for the weekend. {insert whiny face}. Camping is not my most favorite thing to do in the world although I usually enjoy it enough after I've arrived and settled in.

Time to go camping!

Instead... I'm doing something with this. Procrastinate much? Oh no, not me. Never ever in a million years.

Playing with some applique...

And hmmm... Do you think it might ease the pain of having getting to go camping in the boonies? I'm also packing a lot of Pepsi. That generally helps keep my mood up there where I can actually smile while I'm helping my kids forage for the marshmallows.