It Got Bigger?!

Last week my Mom asked me how I was doing with respect to my giant WIP/UFO list. I had to stop and think before I answered her. Rather, not answer her. I couldn't really recall if I'd finished much or at least moved on. Needless to say, I thought I better investigate and give an update. If not for you, Mom, then to keep me on track!

Before I delve into it, I want to go on record to say that I've been teaching and travelling A LOT lately. And my baby boy stopped napping in that special time while the girls are both in school. Honest, those aren't excuses. Just sayin'...

Quilt Tops Ready for Quilting

1. Cosmos Blocks - once I make a back for it I'm giving it to Andrea for quilting.
2. Improv Sampler - uh, nothing new to see here...
3. My version of Checkerboard from Sunday Morning Quilts - again, nothing to see here...
4. Slaveship Quilt - nope, nothing here either...
5. Old Amy Butler quilt top - still sitting there...

6. There is Peace in Pattern - top made, backing fabric purchased, waiting for basting.

Quilts, Basted and Ready for Quilting

7. Gum on Concrete - the quilting is almost done. Definitely my next finish, hopefully this week
8. Anniversary Quilt - It is the next one on the list for quilting.
9. Low Volume Circles - I'm plugging away on the hand quilting, slowly.

Works in Progress


10. Mid Mod Bee - Blocks to be assembled into a top
11. Giant Hexies from the Unscripted Bee - All blocks in, but I think I want to make more to size it up
12. Hand Pieced Diamonds - always ongoing
13. More Cosmic Burst blocks - I have a whole other set of blocks for a baby quilt
14. Voiles - Still cutting and piecing every now and then. And buying more voile...
15. Name quilt for my daughter - still haven't done anything since this post
16. Chandelier quilt - was so close, then discovered a big mistake and have never fixed it
17. Mountain Meadows - still have made no more blocks since
18. Liberty Circles - Almost done making the circles
19. Blue and green Christmas Tree quilt - I cut the pieces,then promptly put them away
20. The alternate pink/black/white blocks I started when working on the girlie quilt are finding a new home in an upcoming project...
21. Respite - a project started in a Bill Kerr design workshop
22. Pieced Stars - a BOM I started years ago when I wanted to do some precision piecing breaks when doing a lot of improv
23. Japanese Curves - Fell in love with a Japanese fabric and a curvy pattern, took a class, never finished it. I think this one has to be passed on to a more willing quilter...
24. The Water Quilt
25. My Denyse Schmidt Improv Workshop blocks - both mine and the extra class blocks
26. A travelling quilts project that just started. I've got the first round waiting for my input.


Class Samples (Pieces I work on while teaching, as examples)


27. A Shoeman's Puzzle/Slab quilt I started with some class samples

28. A values quilt in neutrals
29. Green/Yellow/Orange Improv blocks
30. Loads of circle blocks now that might turn into something...

Intentional Quilts

31. Sympatico and Organic solid stack
32. Lucky Penny Bike Path - I have a plan now and hope to start it next month
33. Some vintage feedsacks intended for Amanda's quilt from Fresh Fabric Treats
34. Turkey reds, blues, and whites for a striped project
35. A collection of screen printed and low-volume favourites that continues to grow
36. My other daughter's special Tiger Quilt has to be started now

And...

37. I know there is a box of 2000 2 1/2'' squares sitting in my garage somewhere. If the mice haven't got to it I'll have to tackle those when they are found.
38. and 39. I have two ongoing scrap/leader and ender projects. They aren't coming together as much yet, but I must admit to them.

Finished!!!!!

Wine Gums
Oh Canada
Girlie Quilt

Plus 1 more I can't share for another week or two and my daughter's quilt we made together (That's it waiting for binding up there.) Boy, and I was excited that I got two quilts finished this past week. Oy.

I think that's it. I think...

Improv and Intentions

One of the workshops at QuiltCon I was lucky to get into was Denyse Schmidt's Improv workshop. It was a hot commodity and I had just the right timing when doing my registration. To be honest, I took it out of curiosity more than anything. I'm quite comfortable with improv work, even teaching it myself! But I wanted to see how Denyse taught it and see how people responded.

Frankly, I really enjoyed the class. It may have been the opportunity of just free sewing/playtime after weeks of prep for my own classes at QuiltCon. But it was also a great environment. The other students ranged from improv virgins to the old hats at the technique like me. Denyse is a good teacher, clear on the approach, and extremely encouraging. For the students who'd never done improv it was a challenge at the beginning but they all seemed to really embrace things at the end.

Denyse's technique involves true randomness. Three bags of fabric bits in different sizes. Close your eyes and reach in! At home I do almost the same thing, but I keep my eyes open. Denyse's goal is to get the students to see the beauty in the randomness; beauty in seemingly clashing bits of fabric and blocks that don't lay flat. And it is most definitely there.

After each exercise we reviewed all the blocks and discussed our responses. I loved this part as too often in classes we don't get see what other people make or hear about what people experienced as they worked. The last part was a big eyeopener as a teacher. Well worth the class for me.

In the morning we worked solely with Denyse's scraps. In the afternoon we got to add our own fabric and a randomly chosen solid (Confession: my solid may have been placed in my hand by my very awesome Aussie volunteer and friend). Having seen reports of this class before I chose my fabric to bring with great intention. The blocks from one of these classes can start to all look the same so I chose my fabric to stand out a bit. Plus, it is one of my all-time favourite fabrics.

I didn't expect to care much for my blocks, I prefer a bit more control in my colour schemes. But I LOVE my blocks. So much so that I've got plans for a lot more and a finished quilt. I think I lucked out  with the fabric I picked out of the bags and the colours that came up.  Or it was just all serendipity... In the end I took a handful of orphan blocks from the morning exercises and I have another plan for them too.

Again, I was totally reminded that we need to remain open to experiences. I went into the class all cocky about my improv ability and thinking I wouldn't learn anything. And I came out with a bit of a gut check, new ideas, and an appreciation for the approach of others. Plus some rather cool quilt blocks.

Cut First

 Look at me! Cutting all in advance of sewing. That is a seriously big deal, folks. The vast majority of work that I do starts with me sewing, not planning. Even my book quilts generally start with a little bit of sewing before I stop and figure out what I'm actually doing. But this time I drew the pattern and cut everything before I sewed a stitch.

This is what is becoming of the necklace inspired fabric pull. It has a destination and pattern that will be available in not too long.  Pretty excited to share it with you. It's a rather cool quilt with a really awesome final destination. Soon.

What about you? Are you a cut everything first quilter? Or would you rather start then sew a little?

Necklace Inspired Fabric Pull

One of the most exciting parts of quilting for me is the fabric play. It is one of the excuses I maintain for having a ridiculously large stash - shopping at home. It really is lovely to be able to just open the closet, rummage through my bins and bins of fabric, and come up with something pretty to play with.

Here I am playing with fabric from the latest inspiration. This quilt is for a deadline, so once I found my inspiration I dove right in! Above is the initial fabric pull.

Below is the final fabric pull. I decided to edit out the fabrics to reflect the inspiration necklace in direct proportion. It remains to be seen which fabrics actually end up in the final quilt, I'm not sure I have enough of each of these for the planned pattern. We'll just have to see!