Connecting to Creativity

Well, that month went by in a screaming hurry! I ended up spending most all of August with my daughter in Oklahoma. Waiting for her to have her baby and then helping out afterward. So thankful to have the time and opportunity to make it all work out.

The sweet new grandbaby

Meet Miss. Gracelyn May! We just love her so very much. She's a little sweetie and definitely kept us all hopping for the first couple weeks. You know how some babies just take a little more time getting adjusted to the real world. Gotta get the mom and dad trained up properly! The picture below is with Ellie, another one of our {four} granddaughters. She was sooo fascinated with her new little cousin. We loved having her help too!

Lots of love from her older cousin!

Finally made it back home to my tired and grumpy husband. It's the longest I've been away for all of our married life, but he was totally on board with what I thought was needed. He actually survived fairly well and the house wasn't too terrible. Our youngest daughter had kept tabs on that. {If I could add heart emojis here, I would!} Still, I had mountains of laundry to do and some things that needed set to rights. Still do actually, but one thing at a time!

Probably won't be using the scrappy circles after all

I didn't get hardly any quilting done during the month of August {tiniest bit of hand quilting}, so you can only imagine my longing to dive right back into quilting. After a quick perusal of the quilting WIP's list, I decided what was needed most was something completely carefree. 

Working on the centerpiece

On impulse, I grabbed a bag of orphan blocks, bits and bobs that I had grouped together a couple months ago. The entire bag was thrown together based on color compatibility and not much else. Basically, I just started throwing things on the wall, moving things around until there was some good energy.

Top and bottom border sewn on, working on the sides

Then I started figuring out how to sew it together! First the middle improv. strips went together. Lots of partial piecing and trimming up in order for it to lay flat. Had to introduce one similar-look light tan fabric and then later, a couple darker prints in the border, but otherwise, this entire quilt top is strictly made out of orphaned parts and pieces!

This is the completed background centerpiece minus a 
thin piece of purple I'm gonna add up on the right corner

After the middle part of the quilt was sewn together, then I made an executive decision to trim it to straight. I waffled about that for all of ten minutes or so and then finally flipped the top over and bit the bullet. Why flip it over? Mostly so I didn't have to worry about what was being cut off! ha! Just couldn't face trying to sew the outside borders onto the quilt if I had to do too much easing and coaxing. 

Adding the applique bits that look interesting

Now I'm in a frenzy {a very slow, methodical frenzy} to add leftover applique bits and pieces to the center of the quilt. The whole process has felt amazing. I can't really adequately explain what this has meant to me! Very free spirited and fun just because of the loose, open ended determination for the outcome. It feels like it has woke up my sleeping creativity in just the right sort of way. Not sure what it's supposed to be or do or even end up looking like, but I'm totally okay with that. How about that? We're all good over here in this corner of the quilt world after all!  Maybe by next week I'll have my head above water enough to finally go check out all the blogs I've been neglecting....

10 Years of Quilty Blogging

Well, it's been 10 years of quilty blogging! Funny how the very first post still holds true. Probably still be trying to talk to myself if it wasn't for all my blogging friends! Here's one of the first quilts that actually made it onto a post. I was super selective back in the early days, terrified of posting too many pics. It's an American Patchwork pattern that seemed pretty intimidating at the time. You know what that means, right? Yep. I was thrilled and feeling proud. Still hangs in my living room today!

2010

I seriously debated whether or not to forge ahead on the anniversary of that first year. There were definitely things that I was struggling with, such as being able to respond easily to comments. {Which thankfully took eons to start rolling in.} They were so wonderfully scary. Hey! Someone commented on my post! People get me!

I've pretty much figured out how to handle that particular dilemma, but others {run on sentences?}, I've completely given up on. Laughing, laughing, laughing.... In fact, it's become a feature, not a bug. How else to write in a conversational tone? After a little bit of trial and error, I think I've finally found my writers voice...

2011

Another thing that I worried about, just a little, was my exuberant quilting process. Transferring all the quilty journal-ling to the blog meant that I had choices to make. Would I continue to simply do an end-of-the-journey wrap up for each quilt?  Or would it be more interesting to write about process all along the way?

2012

Uh huh. I leaned in. Over time, this blog has become even more about the process. Always with the goal of helping me to better understand how to get from A to Z, even if 'Z' isn't really all that clear at the onset. Taking pictures and writing about the creative journey absolutely helps to clarify important details. I tell myself that it helps some of you occasionally too. Maybe that's just justification for endlessly long posts? Whatever. The thing is, for the most part I've gotten way away from using patterns and find great joy in going my own direction. Letting the quilt tell me what it needs/wants, and trying to figure out how to best make that happen.

2013

There has unquestionably been growing pains in the past 10 years. How could there not be? We're literally talking about a decade of quilty blogging adventures! One thing that is very sneaky, but oh-so-real, is the tendency for most of us to want to please others. It can make the most self confident among us want to self edit or try to make everything look good and shiny. 'Here's my amazing masterpiece. Don't you love how it came to be without any hiccups whatsoever?' Or perhaps we start making quilts in the same style that generate the most comments and likes. People are generally very kind, but criticism IS criticism. Bloggers who show the 'warts and all' need to develop a thick skin and learn not second guess every creative decision.

2014

It's a trap, and will only steal our joy. It also leads to paralysis and excruciatingly boring quilts. You know that's the truth! Best to make quilts to please us first, and and then in doing so, we more regularly fill up the well. There starts to be an organic sort of 'flow' from quilt to quilt as we continue in our quest for answers. So much more fun and satisfying in the long term!

2015

And if a few friends come along for the ride? All the better! My very favorite blogs are the ones where the quilters are generous, open and honest about how and where they got to where they were going. Or even more interesting, to where they ended up. Lets hear about the rough starts and missteps along with the cool moments of triumph and victory! Recognizing myself in others 'process' has undoubtedly helped me to become the quilter that I am today. Today's blog posts can be liken to yesteryear's quilting bees where it's easy to help others out just by being real.

2016

Some 'aha' moments were unquestionably monumental in terms of my growth as a serious quilter. So valuable to read about things that didn't make sense in the beginning, but became clear when reading about them through the lens of another quilter. There were things that unnerved me or seemed time wasting. Other things that made me feel inadequate or especially unskilled, even lacking if I didn't share the enthusiasm to 'better' some specific area of my quilting. 

Sharing back and forth with other quilters has enormously helped in clearing up many of those unrealistic expectations and unreasonable 'rules' many of us start out with. Do you know how cheering it was when I realized that there are actually other quilters out there who honestly work better on shhh...., eight or ten open ended projects rather than only one? Huh? This doesn't have to be a guilty little secret?

2017

The virtuous, feel-good crowd {less a problem today than ten years ago} would have you to believe that 'start one, finish one' is the absolute, number one, most rewarding way to do things. Good for you if that is your special zen, but that doesn't work so well for each and every one of us! I get bored almost into a coma and instead of finishing a dozen plus quilts a year, the outcome drops to a pitiful few. 

2018

The funny thing is, many of these ideas have been rendered meaningless simply by admitting to them here on the blog. Or unexpectedly reading a quilter admit that perhaps she doesn't bury her threads. What??? When a few quilters react positively to these confessions, taking the time to say, 'Oh, I do that too', well... then we can shrug off the garbage and get down to the business of making our wonderfully amazing quilts in earnest. 

2018

After a decade of copious {quilty} oversharing here at Quilty Folk, I'm can't say that I'm particularly immune to disagreements and general unhappiness concerning my creative choices. People do tell me once in a blue moon that they personally disagree with a point or two, and oh yeah, that they fear for my sanity. Well, maybe not the sanity part, but you know that is probably implied! 

2019

If I truly want to succeed at making original looking quilts, then I am going to have to take a different path than others once in awhile. It might be hard to understand. It might even make you uncomfortable as to the direction my quilting journey is taking me these days. You might think that what I'm doing is flat out ugly or that I'm wasting my time trying to figure out the color green. That's just the way that it works and I need not take offense. I've stopped following many quilters myself through the years due to diverging interests, and I'm sure others have stopped coming to here for much the same reason. In that same vein, I've started following completely different quilters who maybe didn't resonate with me so much, many years before, but now they do. 

I've learned that the diligent pursuit of individual passions, obsessions and yes, even the rabbit trails of all these various quilting adventures are vital. They are important because they are the very things that lead to finding our true quilting voice. This time I'm speaking to the style, elements, vibe, personality and feel of our quilts. That voice. That almost magical thing that so definitively says, 'This quilt was made by me'. It's truly special and I doubt that I'll ever be able to take it for granted. It's just too hard earned.

2020

It's amazing to look back 10 years and see so much progress. I can't even hardly put it into words! Starting out, it seemed like an almost unfathomable, practically unattainable goal! I'm not 100 percent satisfied, not in the least. Don't think that. There is still lots to learn and explore! I might not be in the 'It' crowd of quilting {some of us sort of float between the most popular genres}, but it has never been my intended destination, that popularity.

Over and over, I have self corrected by reminding myself that a great, robust creative process is absolutely about the DOING. Being present in the quilting room. Pursuing as many ideas that intrigue as possible. Participating in self-made challenges {and also, the occasional community challenge}. Definitely chasing after unique incorporation of many personally beloved quilting elements, whatever they may be. I intend to keep doing exactly that. AND, I want to keep encouraging others to gain confidence in their own creativity and originality. 

Ironically, this moment in time comes with a faint feeling of blogging fatigue. I'm not saying that I want to stop blogging. I think there's just too much crazy in the world for an introvert like me not to get overwhelmed once in awhile. It wears on me. Taking the time for quilty blogging these days feels like a luxury I can ill afford, and yet I thoroughly enjoy reading through other quilters posts every chance that I get. It's like taking a 'time out of time' in terms of current events. Yes, lets do continue to talk quilts and all the things that make us happy. And lets make good quilts. The more the merrier!

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}!

The Journey of Creative Process and A Reminder for Final Quilty 365 Linkup!

Somehow I didn't quite realize that this quilt was started 5 years ago! Absolute craziness. And now it's a true blue finish! Wowsers. So a quick sidetrack for all of you Quilty 365'ers: The last and final linkup is going to be on May 1st. This will be for all completed circle quilt tops! {Not finished quilts although that's fine too.} Please plan to join in. We'd love to see your Quilty 365 journey!

The centerpiece of The Creative Process

Okay, back to 'The Creative Process'. This quilt was an interesting union of trying {for the first time ever} to make a quilt top with scissors only and being completely free spirited. No rulers or patterns allowed! I also put a restriction into place that the only fabrics to be used had to be on hand {in my quilt room} and I could not, under any circumstances, run out and buy anything at all.

1. Preparation, 2. Incubation, 3. Illumination, 4. Implentation

Which probably directly resulted in the two side borders being completely unreadable unless you are holding the quilt in your hands or standing quite close. Pfff...  Like I even care about that. lol  Do you know how much time it takes to applique letters onto a quilt and then not even be able to read them properly from a distance? Take a clue from my very hard earned lesson here and never, ever make that mistake....

The texture makes the quilt

At the time I was diving into this particular challenge of a quilt, I was also learning about the creative process {which later allowed me to recognize helpful habits}. As it pertained to yours personally of course. Years before that I was fairly certain there wasn't a single shred of creativity alive in my entire body! Anyway, it was a particularly intriguing concept to learn--being able to put all my thoughts and actions into a 'process' and find out that yes, I was quite, quite normal. Not some weirdo from outer space with this extreme push/pull thing going on with my hobby!

 Learning about the glorious ambiguity of creativity {and the normal learning curve} was actually very freeing. Wowsers, I just soaked it up like a sponge. Because I just didn't get it before, and was always sort of floundering around in those massive landmines of insecurity all beginning quilters seem to get hijacked with. It helped me so much to realize that yes! leaning into instinctual decision making, stopping that drive to do the 'right thing' all the time according to the quilt police, and simply 'listening' to the quilt do it's thing were all good and positive things!

A little bit lopsided....

But time has a way of dulling all the fascination off of a fun project--how this quilt represented something so very important in the growth of my quilting. Here in 2017, the finishing of this quilt was just an annoying detail on my finish-it-up-list! I was way past the 'putting the pieces' together of the process itself, quite inured to that basic, indelible part of my oh-so brilliant craft. These days I tend to wallow in things like finding my way forward in a boisterous sea of sly and tempting 'what-if's'. There are just so many options! Sometimes it just makes me want to go back to sleep rather than pile up another five quilt tops in the constant drive to make that 'one fabulous quilt'.*wink  But I digress.

The perfect binding for once...

This quilt needed to be finished up, quite properly honored and respected. It was {and is} an important piece of who I am now as a quilter. The delicious irony of the whole procrastination thing is that it looks so much better now, with my current {favorite} method of big stitch quilting, than it ever would have with my previous traditional threadwork. Perle cotton thread and the texture it invariably gives, could have been made for this type of quilt. I couldn't help myself, falling into, if not love, then real like, after each completed hoop of stitching. Especially after I gave in and added that bit of freestyle scalloped stitching around the center. That seemed to pull everything together and get rid of the I'm-only-stitching-this-quilt-because-I-have-to blues. To my quilting friend Kaja--that's exactly the point whereI finally forgave myself for this quilt having such a brash, unapologetic tone even while sporting so many obvious imperfections.*sigh  Quilters can be total whackjobs you know even if we never like to admit it....

The fabric I found for binding made me smile so much, an absolute charming match in my opinion. Even if I was about 10" shy of having enough! Oh who cares, a slight shortage just fits in with the rest of the quilt. So, yes! I'm sure you noticed. This quilt has plenty of chopped off bits, wonky {slightly} curved borders, words that don't shout quite loud enough, and hello? One side is almost 2" longer than the other side. Hands to my face in glee! lol  It really took a lot of restraint not to tidy this quilt up and trim it into {a properly squared} submission! It also has a touch of sentimentality wrapped up in the funky gold/yellow print on the border. That was part of the very last challenge given by my mom back when we were doing our little quilting group. Her fabric & quilt projects burned up, my sister moved away before finishing, one dear friend had a stroke before hers was completed, and on and on. 

In the funny way quilts have of surprising us, my youngest daughter went from not liking this quilt at all {she usually loves everything} to saying 'It looks so much better after being quilted and washed. I actually like it now!"  And my husband asked about the quilt laying across the end of our bed the evening after it was finished up. Could he have it for himself? He rather thought it was one of my better efforts. Hmmmm... My response was sort of a choked off, gurgley laugh I'm sure. Whew! I didn't see that one coming! This has been quite the journey, hasn't it?

It's a Hand Work Kind of Week

I actually had this leafy border all prepped and ready to work on for my Oklahoma trip. But no. It had to wait until I got home before being pulled out of the bag for some quality stitching time.

Just need to go back and add the flowers now...

I've been enjoying working on these springy looking leaves so much! The fabrics are just pure joy. I even had a chance to work on them in the car during a flying trip down to Eugene to see an ailing uncle. So glad the bag was ready to go as it was a very quick decision to make the visit.

Stitching, stitching, stitching....

On the way back home we decided to take another route than our normal and ended up on north I-5. It didn't take much work at all to convince my husband to pop into Longview, Washington to visit one of my favorite quilt stores: Momma Made It. Hmmmm... Such a lovely shop, especially if you've been looking for something similar to the Buggy Barn quilt store that closed down several years ago. I've only been in this store maybe four times, but every time have to wipe the drool off my face before settling down and getting serious about picking out a few pieces of fabric! If reproduction, civil war, Barbara Brackman, Judy Rothermel etc. are what you're looking for, this place is for you. Just leave your credit cards in the car perhaps? hehe

Creative Process in the hoop

Other than that, I'm just plugging along on my hand quilting as usual. Almost got this quilt wrapped up and ready for binding. Which is good. There are some quilts that just annoy me because they insist on being worked on and then don't get done fast enough to suit.*wink  Is there ever a time when it feels justified to just ditch a quilt top completely? 

The Courage to Feel Creative: Habits of Creativity

One of the most fascinating thing to me about the average quilter is the widespread belief that there are those who are ‘creative’ and those that just aren't. There’s a feeling of ‘We weren't blessed with the creative gene and thus all our work is doomed to mediocrity except for the rare great quilt that comes about when all the proper stars align.’ Personally, for the first ten years or so of quilting, I had no idea there was even a creative ‘process’ involved (that applied to quilters) for everyone to learn to tap into and take advantage of. Learning to recognize that process is very important in growing our confidence to the point of ‘feeling’ creative. It's only when we properly recognize the process, that we can begin to develop and take advantage of it.

The Big Broken Dish

When we read about the creative process (no matter the medium applied to), it’s pretty much a universal understanding that there are four distinct steps: Preparation, Incubation, Illumination, and Implementation.

Preparation is basically what we think of as work. Like my daughter in band playing scales, warm-ups, drills and songs. Sometimes it’s enjoyable, but mostly it’s a part of the process that can be tedious and mundane. It's the learning and skills part too. Very important, but still, work.

Preparation

Incubation is a part of the process that is ephemeral. Mostly because we can’t pin it down exactly--it just is. This is where an idea is percolating. You hear of quilts being allowed to marinate or simmer? Nothing physical is happening, but our subconscious is trying to make connections and burning through a million ideas all in the background. If this phase doesn’t get too messed up by all the busyness and immediate concerns of life, then….

Incubation

Illumination can and will happen! We all know of it as the ‘light bulb moment’ and it never seems to happen at a convenient time. Usually, Illumination hits while doing something a bit brainless, like washing dishes, taking a shower, driving a well traveled road, or falling almost to sleep. This is the moment when ideas are literally spilling out all over themselves and we almost can’t keep up.

Illumination

Implementation then would be the phase where the ideas we've been preparing and incubating can finally be put into action. Again, with my daughter in music, it’s where the song finally starts to flow. Implementation is yet another phase that involves work. It takes time and effort to put ideas into place. It also takes trust, which most of us have to cultivate. Not every idea will work out, but we won’t know until we are involved in the actual implementation of the idea.

Implementation

It’s very important for us to take advantage of what we know about the process of creativity and how it applies to us as quilters. For instance, many of us put the brakes on our creativity simply by not making a record of our ideas when they occur to us. When the ideas starting flowing, we need to immediately put pen to paper so we will remember them for later! Other ways we short circuit our creativity is by the assaulting of our senses with too much computer/tv time, having jam packed schedules without proper time carved out to quilt, trying to quilt in a vacuum and not sharing, giving ourselves rigid unnecessary deadlines, or even maybe ignoring our own creative impulses in an effort to make something that we think will be well received by others. There are lots of ways we can sabotage our own creativity.

It's a series of steps that aren't always orderly...

Before I understood that there was a creative process that might apply to me as a quilter, I would get frustrated by my habit of wandering through my quilting room and fondling fabric or laying projects out for inspection but basically doing nothing.  I thought it was wasted time and it really annoyed me. NO! That’s incubation without forcing or rushing a seed of an idea.

I used to get almost paralyzed by the fact that I somehow always ended up with 3 to 4 open ended quilt projects. Often, I would force one to completion before it’s time. Or I would refuse to start a new project until I whittled away at my ufo’s to my satisfaction. It’s tough to work on quilting as much as we’d like to when we only have one project going though. When the time comes that we’re stuck and need to make a decision before continuing, what are we to do?

I personally find that having a slow quilting project (or two) gives me lots of time to let my mind wander where it will while still getting another project ever closer to a finish. Or even chain piecing blocks. Or piling up lovely combinations of fabric for a future project. You get the idea. When I'm feeling restless, I do something with fabric or in the quilting room whether it's work or not--and even if it's only for 15 minutes! Then at least my mind will be focused (without forcing it) on the proper subject matter (without any particulars staring me in the face) and my dilemma is usually resolved all the faster. I have definitely been known to throw my chain piecing or hand quilting aside in my rush to write some ideas down or dig for certain fabrics and blocks! 

See, even my quilt is waving HELLO! Wake up!

Learning about the creative process is where I feel like I crossed through an invisible barrier with my quilting efforts. Being able to recognize my actions and feelings plus being able to take advantage of them and FOCUS helped me tremendously. I have a dedicated quilting space. There is pen and paper in my purse, by the side of my bed, in my kitchen and in my quilting room. I have a bulletin board with ideas in my quilting room. I have a design wall, albeit a small one, where I see some of my process all of the time. I have a blog where I share and open myself up to criticism (and hopefully support too). I include time in my schedule to quilt, sometimes even as a reward. I keep slow quilting projects available for when I visit, travel or wind down in the evening. I'm not afraid to have lots of open-ended projects or take a year to work through a single quilt top. Once in awhile I toss a quilt project aside to cut something out because I just can't wait to work on it. I work, do, make and create. It isn't always pretty. And as you can see, my creative process is sometimes even a rumpled mess.*wink

On another note, I've decided that although I'm returning to this conversation, it would be an injustice to try to do it on a pre-determined schedule. My priorities have to be, as always, my family and their particular concerns.

Winner of the Giveaway and More String Blocks

Well, this was fun!  I decided to draw the winner of the giveaway in the old fashioned way--straight from a bowl.  The winner is Nancy with the comment 'I would have to say if I had to pick one word it would be inspiring. You certainly inspire me with all your creativity .' Wow!  Very sweet.

Drawing the winner of the Giveaway!

Nancy has a lovely blog called Tattered Garden Quilting if you'd like to check it out.  Really, I'm sorry to put everyone on the spot like that, but the comments were simply fascinating!  I have this list of things that I pin up on the wall in my quilting room to help keep me on task with what I'm trying to accomplish.  It changes through the years as my focus shifts slightly and changes directions, but I find it to be a very good reminder of what I want my quilts to reflect.

Quilty focus

What the many comments proved to me is that people are very nice!  Well, that, but more importantly, it proved that I am slowly getting my quilts to have that nebulous quality of individualism and character. Why oh why isn't there a good book out there on how to get personality into quilts?  I suppose if you'd like to translate Greek, you can dive into design and art quilt books.*wink

Still playing with scraps

I am still playing with my string blocks and although it looks like I have plenty of scraps left, I'm starting to get a bit nervous.  I have 17 blocks finished which gives me a good idea of where I'm going now.  So, in order to make the quilt that is starting to come together in my mind, it looks like I will need 13 more blocks!  I'm definitely hitting that spot of thinking that I've overused some pieces of scraps and don't have nearly enough interesting strings left.  We'll see.  I'm still pretty determined to stick to the scrap bin mentality and not dig into the stash unless I get desperate....

Learning Curves and the Creative Process

Easter weekend is always so busy.  Once again I found myself in the grocery store on a late Saturday afternoon trying to find candy for my kids.  Every year I tell myself it'll be different next year, but it never, ever is.  Not to worry, I wasn't the only mom rushing around the candy aisles looking frantic because all the best candy was gone!

Learning Curves Quilt--Drunkards Path

I did a little bit of sewing Friday night and Saturday too, but really, it was hard to settle into work on my Learning Curves quilt especially.  Sometimes, there are other projects calling my name a whole lot louder than that one will probably ever be able to.  You know, because of those dreaded curves and all.

Getting Started on Drunkards Path block

I wouldn't want to admit to anything that could possibly incriminate me in the future, but these blocks are actually getting a lot easier to sew.  I am finally able to sew at a faster pace than a snail!  Smooth and steady, that's me, plugging along one section after another.  The tweezers really help at the end of the block too, keeping everything aligned and straight for me.  I did cut all the blocks just a smidge too big (room for error) so when I get the initial curved sewing done, then I have to trim them down.  Ughh...  Not always what I want to do.

Working on The Big Broken Dish Quilt

At some point this weekend, I jumped back into my Big Broken Dish Quilt.  With the help of Linda from Quilts in the Barn (thank you!), I had previously figured out my light bulb block.  I think it sort of looks like a skull right now, but my daughters assure me that with properly applied stitching it will be just fine in the end.

Ready for the applique words now...

With the slightly curved borders, sewing the corners blocks on was a bit of a nightmare.  I had to lay the border and the blocks out and mark just 'so' and then pin a lot.  I used my seam ripper more than I wanted to and almost peed my pants once when the phone rang while I was deep in concentration mode.  I forgot to trim a 1/4" from my marked seam on one particular border and started sewing before I even realized what I was doing.  And the phone rang and rang and rang.

Then it was all together, laying fairly flat and looking back at me like, 'See? that wasn't so hard after all!'  (Can you slap a quilt?)  It was only after my kids gathered around and asked me to explain once again what this quilt was all about when I noticed (thank you my dear youngest son for pointing it out) that the light bulb block and the palm tree block had somehow switched places.  I think there must be a subliminal message in that particular 'oops', don't you?  And honestly? Right now, I'm leaning very heavily toward leaving it just like it is.