Wednesday, December 15, 2010

The UFO pile


I'm spending some time each day working on the UFO pile. There are just too many ideas for traditional "recipe" quilts!! Will I ever catch up? I want to make them ALL!! I've decided to allocate time each day to both the "backlog" (UFO pile) and the new stuff. It seems my life is spent in a constant state of "something else first" so I'm going to give "new stuff" it's own time allocation to see if that helps me do some of the stuff that's in my brain.

I made the backing for the "green typewriter" top - thought I had a pic but no, so will take one & post later. I also started sewing the blocks for an aqua cheech with wonkified batik mini-panels added. The blocks had been made for quite some time. It's actually quite pretty & soft. I like the contrast of the panel blocks but am already wondering about borders. (I don't tend to buy a "quilt kit" all at once; I tend to pull from my stash & make things work. When I have a bunch of bolts piled up on the counter at the quilt shop, people invariably ask "what are you going to make with that" .... and I always answer "a pile of fabric and it's almost done!") I also worked on small-art blanks last night (chair work!!) I have so many blanks now! When will I do something else?

It's as great as I thought it would be to simply open the cabinet door and pick a project to work on!

I gave away 25 quilts this year. Whew! Many were planned gifts but others were "collection thinning". I don't tend to make quilts for people; I make quilts because I want to make the quilt. The retirement quilts were an exception, but the other 14 were put in my car, driven to a family gathering, and as each person arrived they picked a quilt to take with them. That was such fun!! A quilt doesn't have to have any purpose other than being something you want to make. Eventually it will settle into it's place in the universe.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Working on the backlog!



It was way too cold to take
pictures outside so pardon the wonkiness. I'm spending some time each day working on the UFO pile. Pinky, and a little fast-and-furious Christmas quilt.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Shooting Blanks

I've been doing the hand stitching on small-works blanks today. It's incredibly satisfying! I feel like I'm accomplishing something while sitting on my duff listening to audio books. Of course I AM accomplishing something, because the handwork must get done and I don't always feel like doing it. I also did some sketching of ideas coming into my head as I stitch. Learning to sketch at age 60 is going to be a challenge but I have accepted that there are no mistakes; just learning.

It's very exciting to be retiring in a few days. So many new worlds are opening up to me! I'll be sketching, doing journal quilts, doing a whole series of small works, making a series of jackets, and the thing I'm looking most forward to - working on whatever quilt strikes my fancy on any given day! I'm excited that I'll be able to head downstairs to the studio, open the cabinet doors and see what strikes my fancy that day.

I bought Lyric Kinard's book "Art + Quilt" when I was at the World Quilt Show in West Palm Beach a couple of weeks ago. I've read the book and am so very thankful for Chapter One! The timing is perfect and the words really sank in: I'm not suppose to be perfect - I'm just starting!! Thank you, Lyric!!!! I highly recommend the book for anyone wanting to stretch a bit. No affiliation - just an appreciative reader.