Did You Think I'd Forgotten...

... about the Take It Further challenge for August? I didn't! It's been in the back of my mind all month while I finished up the Studio Journal class and started on the Fungly quilt.

The challenge this month was to consider the issue of balance in our lives. Specifically, Sharon asked, "What is balance to you? Do you maintain a balanced life? How do you balance aspects of your life?"

My life is much less complex than many people's lives are these days. There's less in it to balance than there was even three years ago. Nevertheless I often feel torn or out of balance in my activities. I do not feel that I live a balanced life, and I am easily thrown off balance.

There seemed to be a lot of options for interpreting this topic in textiles. I made notes, even drew a sketch of one idea. Finally, a few days ago, this came out of my morning journal session: Sailing a boat to a destination is rather like the way we navigate through our days and our lives. Not everyone has had the experience of sailing a boat, but it still seems a very apt metaphor to me. You have to focus your energies and attention on different activities at different times, you have to change plans at a moment's notice, and there are times when you are becalmed or just sailing smoothly and you can sit back and enjoy the scenery. Sometimes when you are becalmed it's up to you, the sailor, to make things happen. Balancing the activities and events in our lives is not a static thing. It is not a place we reach and stay at for any amount of time. It is constantly changing, and requiring us to adapt and change as well. Unexpected gusts of wind can throw us off course or threaten to dump us in the drink.

So I rummaged around in my stash and found a print of boats under sail. I was able to cut a 4" x 6" piece which I then hand quilted to a piece of batting. I may be a Quilter but hand quilting is not a process I particularly enjoy. I considered that my fulfillment of the "take it further" aspect of this month's challenge! I doubt that you can see it in the photograph but I tried to indicate the wind blowing with my quilting lines. In the 'water' part of the picture I quilted in horizontal lines.


I probably got more out of this challenge in the thought process than in the production of the postcard quilt. That's okay though. Maybe I'll be a little easier on myself in the future as a result.

Oh, and FYI, I have decided to just finish the Fungly quilt at the size it currently is. Thanks to those of you who contributed your thoughts on the matter :- )

Here's a shot of it on my kitchen floor:

And in keeping with the fun+ugly theme, this is what I've put together for the back:

The Mary Engelbreit print is just big enough to accomodate the width of the top, and the snapdragon print ("Petal Pets" from a long time ago) at either end give it the necessary length. Now all I have to do is get the layers assembled so I can tie it!

Fungly Progress Report

I've got all my blocks sewn together into a top! Too bad it's so wet and gloomy around here; I can't get a decent picture for you. (Once projects get too big for my design wall I'm out of well-lit places indoors to take pictures.) However, I have a minor dilemma for which I'd like your input. My top currently measures about 54" x 72". I'm only 63" tall, so I'm tempted to just stop at this point and make a back for it, but I'm wondering whether it would be smarter to put some kind of border(s) on it to make it a bit bigger. Apparently this is going to be "my quilt" as no-one else in my family seems interested in it and I don't think I want to give it away. Any suggestions or ideas?

New Pillowcases

Some years ago when novelty pillowcases were a brand new thing in this area I made one for each of my children. Then my husband got one. (One of the kids has a wizard print on the cuff of his, DH's features a music print.) At the time I couldn't find a print I liked well enough and that felt personal enough to bother making one for myself. Lately all the prints I've considered were directional, in the wrong direction. Well, I finally found a print I like that isn't directional. The challenge was to find a compatible print for the cuff!

Ta daa:

What's ironic is that the cuff fabric is the same print I used for the body of a pair of pillowcases I made for our bed way back then. I just hope this doesn't crunch too loudly when I lay my head on it! ;- )

While I was at it I made up a pillowcase out of the fairy print DD bought with Miss M in mind. It goes perfectly with the her current favorite book! (DarlinigDaughter loves fabric but doesn't really sew yet.)

And just to prove that cats aren't the only ones who help out when quilters are auditioning blocks for position in a quilt top:

And the Fungliness Continues...

The morning after the grandchildren went home my neck and shoulders were so stiff and sore I could hardly move my head! I was very gentle with myself all day. Things improved enough that I was able to make four more fungly liberated stars yesterday:

I don't know if you can tell, but that upper left star is made out of a coin print that my friend C~ let me have a piece of. I wanted to use a dollar bill print I have for the background but there wasn't enough contrast even for a fungly block :- (

I assembled a few more Hourglass blocks in the process as well.

Remember this Dachshund star?

I made it specifically for C~. She has two miniature Doxies and wants to make a fungly quilt of her own. Figured I'd help her get started!

I now have 36 liberated stars for my fungly quilt. I was surprised to see that I have a grand total 18 Broken Dishes blocks as well. I could keep making liberated stars out of fungly fabric combinations but this project has spawned ideas for some of the other old fabrics in my stash (hurray!). I want to practice the discipline of finishing one quilt before beginning another {gasp!} so I have to figure out how I want to set this batch before I move on. I have made notes in my studio journal though, so hopefully I can come back to those ideas and act on them when I finally do have this quilt completed :- )

Quick Update

My eldest son has flown up from Arizona to spend a week or so with us. The whole family will be gathering here later today and filling up the house for 24 hours or so. Before the mobs descend I wanted to show you the progress I've made in the last few days. There won't be much sewing going on for the next couple of days!

First, the quarter-square triangles, sewn into Hourglass blocks:



And the most recent fungly stars:



As much as I'm looking forward to spending time with the grandbabies and my own children, I sure hope I get to see tonight's episode of Project Runway. Chris March suggested a drag queen challenge last season and they took him up on it! I can hardly wait!! (And you all thought I was such a good little girl!)