Gentle Progress

My hand is healing well. The external wound is disappearing nicely but the internal healing is apparently going to take some time. Things are still tender and overall my hand is weak. I have been able to do some sewing though. In my last post I mentioned that I could make blocks from patches I've habitually cut from scraps. This first batch is mostly from the prints I used in my Crowns quilt:

The units below were made from squares and half-square triangles that finish at three inches for more six inch blocks for my Parts Department. I haven't found a name for this basic four patch but it is found as a component part of many complex blocks.

I also had some batik patches...

 And I found some quarter-square triangles. I used them to work up this twelve inch Ohio Star block.

By this time I'd pretty much used up my pre-cut patches. At least the ones I was willing to put together into a block! It occurred to me then that sewing blocks together into a top wouldn't be much more difficult than building individual blocks. I found these Shoo Fly blocks in my Parts Drawer that I thought would work together for a lap quilt. I was thinking a vertical strippy set as I put them on the design wall.

By this time I was ready to try some rotary cutting again and since I wasn't satisfied with a few of those blocks I cut new patches and sewed up new blocks.

Now the challenge is to find the right print to use to set the blocks!

Forced Hiatus

I cut my left palm pretty badly a few days ago. Not with a rotary cutter, as you might expect, but with a sharp kitchen knife.  I never have been very good in a kitchen. As the saying goes, I only have a kitchen because it came with the house.

Consequently my sewing activities have been curtailed for a while. I'm beginning to get bored now however, and am wondering whether I could at least piece some pre-cut patches together for blocks like this...

Or maybe I could just sew scraps together for crazy made-fabric blocks or liberated log cabins. In any event it will be long strings of chain piecing, Not sure I trust myself to pick up an iron yet. I don't want to get excited and open the wound accidentally!

Of course, there's a bunch of tedious sorting of papers, etc. that I could do...

Surely that wouldn't speed healing the way more fun activities would though, would it? ;- )

Late Summer

I had no intention of being absent so long. What can I say? Life got in the way.

I have been working on finishing up another project but I'm not ready to share it yet.

And the question in the back of my mind is, what's next?

I have a wall full of batik parts but no clue what to do with them yet. No particular inspiration either.

There's more to do for the Sketchbook Project. I could catch up my Bead Journal Project. The challenge project for the La Conner Quilt Museum is still in limbo.

Plenty to choose from... just no motivation... yet.

It will come.

Maybe a little retail therapy will help? ;- )



Done and Done!!

I have TWO new finished quilts!

You may remember this strippy string top that I made earlier in the year:

It is back from my long-arm quilter...

And ready to snuggle under...

With a good book. :- )

I've been calling it Reading Material but it may come to be known as The Library Quilt! It's roughly 52" x 74."

The other finish is my black and white Crowns quilt. I quilted this one myself, at home.

Below you can see the colorful binding and a bit of the back. I couldn't get a good image of the quilting stitches though.

They aren't anything special; I just straight line quilted in diagonal rows such that the black crown shapes are almost completely outlined. This is a square quilt, about 58" in both directions.

I'm looking forward to putting these quilts through the washer and dryer to fluff them up a bit. It will be a treat to wrap up in each of these briefly when they come out of the dryer!

And now that these are done, what will be next?

2013 Sketchbook Project

Quilter's Attention Deficit Disorder has struck again. This time in the form of the Sketchbook Project for 2013. I received the email that the organizers were ready to send out the books for next year's project, and what must I do but respond almost immediately. In spite of my complete failure last year to create a sketchbook much less send one in. In my defense, I think I got spooked by the lined pages in the book I chose last year. When I placed my order I had lots of ideas but they seemed to evaporate once I had the book in my hot little hands.

This year the organizers have given prospective participants the option not to declare a category for their sketchbook when they sign up. They've always said the categories were more a suggestion or jumping off point than something to be strictly adhered to. They were meant as inspiration, not directive. I admit to being intimidated by the category labels in the past. When I ordered my sketchbook this year I went for "Undecided." Perhaps it will fit into a category when it is finished.

I also made the decision not to try to fill my sketchbook with line drawings or other forms of paper art. I am a fiber artist and I want my sketches to demonstrate that. I'm also trying very hard to keep in mind the origins of the sketchbook - or what I believe them to be at any rate. With the advent and popularity of art journaling I think the concept of a sketchbook has become obscured. It is my belief that a sketchbook was meant to capture and work out ideas, not be a formal presentation of polished art work. To that end I'm trying to keep my fabric sketches experimental and loose. This first one is simply rectangles of scraps stitched to the page. I like the juxtaposition of pattern lines in the two prints.

The next one is a bit of piecing I did years ago. I was playing with triangles cut from that same wavy stripe. It didn't turn into anything at the time but it is a perfect example of experimental piecing!

I still have that wavy stripe in my stash so I decided to work in a series, at least for a little while. ;- )

This one started with another tiny triangle, this time of the Hellbucket print. I just happened to find another print, in which I was able to isolate the word 'not.' I decided to introduce a bit of color this time around too.

Yesterday I created this page:

Once again I started with scraps of the Hellbucket print. Then I just worked out of my scrap basket to create my "house on a hill." I want desperately to embellish this with beads but there are restrictions for the Sketchbook Project. You may notice that this hasn't been stitched to the page yet. I'm going to wait a bit to decide whether I want to include it in the book or not. And by waiting I'm giving my subconscious a chance to figure out how to embellish the composition with decorative or free motion stitching on my sewing machine instead of beads!