Mighty Lucky Inspiration

This week turned into an unexpectedly busy week. Nothing bad, just a number of time sucking curve balls. As a result, I still haven’t put bias strips to background for the Mighty Lucky Quilting Club challenge. If I had won the Powerball, then all that busyness could have gone away and I could have immersed myself in sewing. HA!

I can now, at least, make the bias strips since I was able to find the one of the bias tape makers I wanted to play with at Beverly’s. Yes, I did order them from Amazon and I received the 1″, but the 1/4″ tape maker was on back order. I made trips to a couple of quilt stores, knowing I could cancel the online orders, but both Always Quilting and Scruffy Quilts were out of bias tape makers. I guess the MLQC is popular OR making bias tape is popular.

I was out for a walk and stopped in at Beverly’s even though i didn’t have a coupon. They had all the sizes in the Clover brand! Since I had some simple ideas in mind, I bought the 1/4″ tape maker and cancelled the Amazon order.

Aside from the sketches that I made and showed you the other day, I found two pictures that also make me want to make them using bias tape.

I saw the first picture when I was, again, out for a walk (I walk a lot). It is a cool line drawing I saw a on the back of a car. I think I might have mentioned that I love water birds once or twice and this sticker reminded me of an egret. The body is a little fat, but I can adjust that – or not – when I get the bias tape ready.

I could also do an outline of myself, though there is not a lot of detail, because I am bundled up and in shadow. I am not inclined to do that, but the outline is clear enough.

Then, yesterday, I was early for a meeting. I didn’t want to announce myself until closer to the meeting time, so I started to organize the photos on my phone. I have too many and I need to off load them, but organizing always calms my nerves. In the course of that exercise, I found another bird statue that would be a great bias tape drawing.

I remember taking the photo from a magazine wanting to remember the swoops and lines of the beautiful piece of art. Sadly, I don’t remember any details about the artist or the magazine. I did not make this statue!

One bird is one thing, but I am not sure I want to make both. If these challenge pieces are just challenges piece, then I can make as many as I want. If they will be a quilt, which is what I was thinking when I was sketching the confetti lines, then I might need to think about how many I make.

I suppose making ONE is the first step. 😉

Creative Prompt #346: Peace

Post the direct URL (link) where your drawing, doodle, artwork is posted (e.g. your blog, Flickr) in the comments area of this post. I would really like to keep all the artwork together and provide a way for others to see your work and get familiar with your blog or website.

The Creative Prompt Project, also, has a Flickr group, which you can join to post your responses. I created this spot so those of you without blogs and websites would have a place to post your responses.

We are also talking about this on Twitter and Instagram. Use the hashtag #CPP

Peace Corps

Freedom from disturbance

peace sign

symbol of peace

Nobel Peace Prize

pax

Kiss of peace

Peace Review Journal -University of San Francisco – Peace Review is a quarterly, multidisciplinary, transnational journal of research and analysis, focusing on the current issues and controversies that underlie the promotion of a more peaceful world.

Peace Action West – Membership organization fostering broad-based civic activism to create a strong voice for peaceful and pragmatic solutions to global problems.

U.S. Institute of Peace

Peace Revolution strives to bring peace to the world by supporting individuals to find inner peace and sharing that peace with their families, friends and …

Peace out

International Peace Bureau – Federation founded in 1892 supports peace and disarmament initiatives and creates international projects.

Peace By Aristophanes Written 421 B.C.E.

Peace Pilgrim – 1908-1981 – Walking over 25000 miles from 1953 to 1981, Peace Pilgrim spread her message of world, group, and individual inner peace

Peace First – Program uses cooperative games and community service activities to empower elementary school students to be peacemakers.

International Day of Peace

Peace and Justice Studies Association

Seeds of Peace – Non-profit, non-political organization that helps teenagers from regions of conflict learn the skills of making peace

Mighty Lucky Quilting Club

I talked about the Mighty Lucky Quilting Club in a post on Tuesday. I actually wrote those words a few days ago…before I saw the first challenge at BAMQG on Saturday. At that time I wrote “I am interested to see what they do, but don’t want to put another ‘should’ or ‘must’ on my list. I am also not much interested in playing with negative space or more on improvisation, which is to say that it may not be for me…”

I like the name they have chosen. There is something about the words Mighty and Lucky and that make me feel powerful and capable. Silly, probably.

Then I saw the results a few people brought for the first challenge. The first challenge has to do with making and using bias. The idea of the ‘club’ isn’t, at least in the first month, just how to make nine patches and sew set in seams. Now I was interested.

MLQC challenge sketches - January — MLQC challenge sketches – January

I signed up as soon as I got home and started imagining designs. I have wanted to learn to use one of those bias tape makers, but never took the time. As I let the challenge settle into my brain, the ideas started to come. While I was waiting to pick up my nephew from swimming, I did some doodles, not in a sketchbook as is suggested, but just in my journal, which is fine for me. My doodles stemmed from my thoughts of confetti streamers. I don’t think any of my sketches look like what is in my mind, but they are interesting regardless.

Drawing the ideas out in long rectangles made me think of the top of a quilt. The quilt would have blocks of different sizes put together in an interesting way. I was thinking that I would use turquoise as a background, perhaps different turquoises, and then red on top. I know you have seen it a million times, but I am stuck on that combination for the moment.

I received, immediately, a nicely formatted PDF with the information about the challenge.

Yesterday, I got home and went looking for the bias tape makers. I am sure I bought a set and can’t find them anywhere, so, sadly, I bought more. Sadly, because I know I will find them as soon as the new ones arrive. I did not buy a 2″ bias tape maker. For this challenge, I think I will stick to thinner lines.

I hope this is fun and am not adding to the ‘shoulds’ in my life.

BAMQG Sat

You can read all about the meeting from the minutes, which are already up on the Bay Area Modern blog. I am just going to show you photos and include my comments about them.

You saw the One Hour Baskets I made for the Charity Girls. I, mostly, forgot to take photos of the fabulous bags made for the other officers. People did such great jobs on them. Kelly got a Chubby Charmer with a sunshine yellow inside from Amanda. Cheryl received a small handbag (we needed and extra bag for all of her goodies) from Rhonda and Angela got a beautifully structured bag from Gerre, which you can see in the photo (left).

The idea is that everyone brings a small gift for each officer and we will fill up the bag with them. This allows people to manage their own budget or make something, if they are inclined. Not everyone participates, but you can see from the stash above that there was no shortage of fabulous gifties.

After the meeting, people brought handwork. As I suspected, I was too busy socializing to get my (yes the one I am I am making for me!) Sew Together Bag cut out. 🙁 Never fear, I am working on it. Others did work on their projects. Ruth is a master at getting down to business.

Lynette cozied up, too and others (Gerre, Molly, Bonnie and Joelle) stood around chatting. I was there for a bit talking to Lynette about her Bionic Bag, which is similar to my Sew Together Bag, but more evolved. Lynette showed the quilt in the front at Show & Tell. It is a great boy quilt. The pattern is Fireside Chat by Blue Nickel Studios. It might be worth checking out for one of the nephews.

Gerre brought the most fantastic quilt. I don’t know the pattern (and am too lazy to look it up) except that she said she made it in a workshop with Freddy Moran. Take a class from Freddy if you can. You won’t regret it!

The fabrics remind me of Jane Sassaman, but the most interesting part is the Big Stitch quilting, which she is doing with 12wt Aurifil. I love that she is using different colors for the quilting. Gerre is not afraid of color and I love her work. Check out a detail.

Angela worked on basting a donation quilt, which is bright and cheery.

All in all it was a great meeting. I did want to cut out my project, but that got done and it was great to chat with people.

2016 Various & Sundry #1

Inspiration

From ResearchBuzz: Stanford University has created a digital archive of Richard Diebenkorn’s sketchbooks. “The Cantor Arts Center recently launched a new website that gives access to the museum’s collection of 29 sketchbooks by Richard Diebenkorn (1922–1993), a renowned artist celebrated as both a central figure in the Bay Area figurative movement and a key figure in the nationwide development of abstract expressionism and color-field painting.”

Patterns, Tutorials and Projects

For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, winter is upon in varying degrees. Bil Kerr posted a pattern for a log carrier on Craft Nectar. It looks like a very straightforward project if logs and fires are part of your life.

Part 5 and the Reveal, Part 6, of Bonnie Hunter’s Allietare Mystery Quilt have been posted. You need to download the patterns NOW as she will remove them in May or June of 2016. I have seen some very nice versions of this quilt. The ones I like have been in cooler colors. I may actually make this one.

Sewhooked has a Favorite Things BOM. The patterns are available free for the first two days of the month, then cost $2 each or you can buy the set at the end of the year. I downloaded the first block, but it downloaded to Google Drive and not to my account, so I am locked out of it. Be sure, if you download, the patterns, you download them to a place where you can access them again.

Skills and Techniques

Lucky Spool Publishers has started the Mighty Lucky Quilting Club. Many of the BAMQGers have joined for just $5/month. They describe it as “the first monthly subscription club of its kind that focuses on challenging you with design concepts in the quilt making process. It’s like a gym membership for quilters! From playing with improvisation and negative space to finding inspiration and creating your own compositions …and everything in between…you’ll be challenged each month with a new skill to try, with pages of instructions, examples, and inspiration from one of your favorite quilters.” I am interested to see what they do, but don’t want to put another ‘should’ or ‘must’ on my list. I am also not much interested in playing with negative space or more on improvisation, which is to say that it may not be for me, but it could be just right for you. Or you could just look at my quilt class tutorials.

I was watching Season 24 episode 12 of Fons & Porter last night, which was showing the steps to make a project called Cubed. Cubed is a quilt made from 60 degree diamonds with Mary Fons and Jodie Davis hosting. This is a GREAT episode. Mary really does a good job of explaining these diamonds and the tricks to getting perfect patchwork. Additionally, they include a worksheet for adding borders. This is a useful worksheet for every quiltmaker and I suggest that you download it immediately. Watch the episode if you can.

Via Twitter, I saw a post about binding with a decorative stitch, but not the way you are thinking. Check out the Auribuzz blog for the details.

Exhibits and Events

BAMQG pal, Mel Beach, has a quilt selected as one of 12 finalists in the CREA-TV Quilt Challenge. See all the winning/finalists quilts on the Be Creative! Quilt Challenge website.

Supplies and Fabric

Mary, a fellow BAMQGer, shared the WAWAK site with me. She highly recommended it for zippers and other notions. I did look at the site and like their filters for weeding out items. I haven’t ordered from them, but will let you know how it goes when I do.

Articles and Information

Creative people’s brains do work differently. Read the article on the research and the conclusions. I thought that this section was particularly interesting …”it seemed that creative people were more introspective. This led to increased self-awareness, including a greater familiarity with the darker and more uncomfortable parts of themselves. It may be because they engage with the full spectrum of life—both the dark and the light—that writers score high on some of the characteristics that our society tends to associate with mental illness. Conversely, this same propensity can lead them to become more grounded and self-aware. In openly and boldly confronting themselves and the world, creative-minded people seemed to find an unusual synthesis between healthy and “pathological” behaviors.” Another interesting bit: “…creativity is messy”

Housekeeping

I updated the blog theme. After several years of having the same theme, I decided it was time to take advantage of some of the new features and functionality available with the newer themes. The most important of which is that the photos and posts will be more mobile friendly. Supposedly. I am still tweaking the options for this theme so there will be some more changes to come. You don’t have to stay tuned, because you will see them!

Gift Post #7: Scissor Sheaths

One tradition the guild has is to assemble gifts for the officers and put them in bags made by volunteers. I wrote a good description of the reasoning in 2014. I talked about augmenting this yesterday with some One Hour Baskets.

Scissor Sheaths are covers for your scissors. Often they are made from leather and come with scissor brands such as Gingher. I made some out of fabric using a pattern/guidelines on this blog.

I cut the pieces and parts out a long time ago. Those pieces had been sitting on my cutting table waiting for a few more pieces for the lining and me to Just Do It, as the Nike ad says.

Since I needed some gifts for the officers, it was time and I did it. I think they were popular. I meant to figure out how to put a ribbon or something on them so they can be carried on a chatelaine or lanyard, but I didn’t get to it. I have one left in case I need a quick gift for someone.

Gift Post #6: Mode One Hour Baskets

We had the BAMQG meeting yesterday. As is our habit, people made bags and others brought gifts with which to fill them for the officers as a thank you for their hard work. It was a great success.

I, however, could not get the Charity Girls out of my mind. Michelle and Peggy have done such an excellent job of shepherding the Charity project along that I felt some thank you was in order. I tried not to do it, but I ended up making two One Hour Baskets, one for each. They were quick and look nice and I think Peggy liked hers. I still have to give Michelle hers as she couldn’t make it to the meeting, but I may see her next week.

I wrote a lot last year about the awesomeness of the Charity Program. You can also check out the BAMQG blog to see more about the Charity Program.

As before, I put the handles on the sides to make them more useful (IMO). This time I used fusible fleece, (Last time I used Soft & Stable) as the pattern calls for. I think I would put the fusible fleece on both the lining and the exterior, if I used it again. I think Soft & Stable is a better choice for more rigid baskets. Also, I didn’t use ShapeFlex this time and I would go back to using it next time as I like my baskets more stiff.

The pattern for the One Hour Baskets is on Craftsy. It was designed by Hearts and Bees. She blogs at KelbySews. I noticed that the “advertising” photos show the baskets filled with fat quarters.

Gift Post #5: STB #2

Purple Chair Sew Together Bag - closed — Purple Chair Sew Together Bag – closed

I had plans all along to make a second Sew Together Bag and after I finished the first one, I was even more determined. I started it on the Sunday after Christmas (December 27, 2015) and finished the first 4 steps that day. I left the finishing steps to the next day, so that I could try and do my best work.

I had trouble with the sizes of the pieces again, so many of the pieces were too big. Better to big than too small, I suppose, but it is still annoying when the pieces don’t line up.

I am also not that happy with the topstitching, but since the colors matched better than the first one, they aren’t as visible.

Purple Chair Sew Together Bag - open — Purple Chair Sew Together Bag – open

One of the things I like about the Quilt Barn Tutorial is the fabrics that they chose. The fabric for each section is different. I thought having different fabrics in each section would provide a good visual cue for the person using it, e.g. “my EPP papers are in the dot section,” etc. that is why I used, mostly, different fabrics in each section. I wanted this STB to go with the other items I made for Julie last year, so the internal zippered sections do have some of the Lizzy House Pearl Bracelets fabrics on the inside.

I don’t have many light colored purple fabrics except for dots. Julie isn’t as much of a dot fiend as I am, but I think she liked the fabric choices.

Purple Chair Sew Together Bag - zipper tabs — Purple Chair Sew Together Bag – zipper tabs

Finally, I was particularly proud of the zipper tabs at the end. I thought they looked really good.

Julie said she thought it would be useful. I know she doesn’t do a lot of handwork, but it is a large-ish bag and can hold her things for the retreat later this month.

I am pleased when people like the gifts I give them, but I usually make a gift because I want to make it.

I am still on the fence about STB #3 as I am not sure the potential giftee will like it and these bags are a lot of work. I am going to cut out mine at the BAMQG meeting today, so I will be making that one soon. I hope to get it finished so I can use it for my EPP materials during the next NSGW trip in a few weeks.

Creative Prompt #345: Captain

El Capitan

Captain America

Captain Underpants

Definition: “The army rank of captain (from the French capitaine) is a commissioned officer rank historically corresponding to the command of a company of soldiers. The rank is also used by some air forces and marine forces. Today, a captain is typically either the commander or second-in-command of a company or artillery battery (or United States Army cavalry troop or Commonwealth squadron). In the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, a captain may also command a company, or be the second-in-command of a battalion.

In NATO countries, the rank of captain is described by the code OF-2 and is one rank above an OF-1 (lieutenant or first lieutenant) and one below an OF-3 (major or commandant). The rank of captain is generally considered to be the highest rank a soldier can achieve while remaining in the field.

In some militaries, such as United States Army and Air Force and the British Army, captain is the entry-level rank for officer candidates possessing a professional degree, namely medical professionals (doctors, nurses, pharmacists, dentists) and lawyers. (In the United States Army, lawyers who are not already officers at captain rank or above enter as lieutenants during training, and are promoted to the rank of captain after completion of their training if they are in the active component, or after a certain amount of time, usually one year from their date of commission as a lieutenant, for the reserve components.)

The rank of captain should not be confused with the naval rank of captain or with the British-influenced air force rank of group captain, both of which are equivalent to the army rank of colonel.” (Wikipedia)

Captain Vineyards, Contra Costa County

Captain Kirk

The Captain Euro Team are always acting on the side of good to promote global sustainability.

Clad in distinctive armor of salvaged chromium, Captain Phasma commands the First Order’s legions of stormtroopers.

CaptainFTP

Captain Fawcett’s Emporium is home to a simply delectable range of first class gentleman’s grooming requisites.

O Captain! My Captain!

By Walt Whitman

O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done,

The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won,

The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,

While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring;

But O heart! heart! heart!

O the bleeding drops of red,

Where on the deck my Captain lies,

Fallen cold and dead.

O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;

Rise up—for you the flag is flung—for you the bugle trills,

For you bouquets and ribbon’d wreaths—for you the shores a-crowding,

For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;

Here Captain! dear father!

This arm beneath your head!

It is some dream that on the deck,

You’ve fallen cold and dead.

My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still,

My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will,

The ship is anchor’d safe and sound, its voyage closed and done,

From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won;

Exult O shores, and ring O bells!

But I with mournful tread,

Walk the deck my Captain lies,

Fallen cold and dead.

Source: Leaves of Grass (David McKay, 1891)

Captain Morgan rum

The Captain Beefheart Radar Station focuses on the art, poetry and music of Don van Vliet aka Captain Beefheart.

Captain Planet Foundation

CAPTAIN California Autism Professional Training and Information Network.

police captain

Jackpot Captain – California Lottery

Captain Murica

Captain Cuts is Ben Berger, Ryan McMahon, and Ryan Rabin Management

Captain Up offers game mechanics and social tools for maximizing engagement, retention, virality and monetization in your web and mobile apps.

Captain Cook

Captain Hook

We are also talking about this on Twitter and Instagram. Use the hashtag #CPP

Valentine’s Pillowcase

Valentine's College Pillowcase — Valentine’s College Pillowcase

I just had to go with the Valentine’s Day theme for February. I know I made a Pokemon pillowcase*, but I saw the Valentine’s Day fabric at The Granary and couldn’t resist.

I know the fabric is probably a little embarrassing for a boy, but he can give it to one of his girl friends, if he doesn’t like it. I have an idea to buy some of those heart shaped candies and some grammar school cartoon themed Valentine’s as well as a heart shaped box of candy for his February care package. It is kind of fun to create and send off care packages. I wonder how many bags of pretzels has hoarded under his bed?

* Nota bene: From the previous college Pillowcase Tally Post, you will see that I intended the Pokemon pillowcase for January and had Angry Birds fabric in mind for February. In my mind, I switched Pokemon to February. I decided not to send him a care package in January since he would still be home for the beginning of it. I might change my mind.

Color Selection on the Carpenter’s Wheels

The Carpenter’s Wheel blocks were off visiting Kathleen in Reno when I started laying out the 5th version. Yes, I had another idea for a variation and decided to try it out. I was challenged by the center square. I got it in my head to use orange (forgetting that I had already made one with an orange center), thus had some fun trying out different oranges.

Carpenter's Wheel with orange — Carpenter’s Wheel with orange

I really thought that the tone-on-tone orange would be the perfect center for the 5th block. Somehow it didn’t work for me. I think the bold patterning of the other fabrics made the tone-on-tone look flat.

Carpenter's Wheel with batik orange — Carpenter’s Wheel with batik orange

I didn’t want a fabric that screamed because it is such a large piece compared to the other patches, so I tried this great orange batik. I thought it was probably the best of the lot, but there was something about it that didn’t quite work.

Carpenter's Wheel with tone-on-tone orange — Carpenter’s Wheel with salmon-y orange

I picked out a more salmon-y orange, thinking more pink might work better. The pattern was better, but the pattern wasn’t bold enough to compete with all that was going on in the block and didn’t work.

Carpenter's Wheel with stripey pink-orange fabric — Carpenter’s Wheel with stripey pink-orange fabric

I did think more pink was good, though, so I looked through my ‘oranges tending towards pink’ fabric to see if I could find anything. This was better. I almost went with it, but though it was a little light. You can see the block evolving as I move some of the other pieces or change them out as well.

Carpenter's Wheel with pink stitch — Carpenter’s Wheel with pink stitch

I finally decided on a pink stitch design. I think it competes well with the other fabrics, but doesn’t overwhelm them.

I am working on stitching it down. As you might recall, these blocks have a lot of pieces, so it takes time. I also laid out another block and will need to pick out another center. Stay tuned.

CVZ / Paris Journal Cover

Karen issued a challenge to use a piece of Carol Van Zandt fabric a few months ago. She gave out the FQs at a meeting and there were so many that almost everyone got one, even those of us who had no intention of doing the challenge. Fortunately, I received a color that I liked. As the weeks wore on, I decided that the least I could do was make a journal cover. I needed a new one anyway. I wanted to explore the low volume concept some more so I decided to use low volume fabrics with the CVZ fabric to make a journal cover. I did it as part of the sewing frenzy over New Year’s weekend.

I like the journal cover, but am not as happy with it as I am with the Carpenter’s Wheel effort in low volume. Somehow I got derailed and the journal cover looks like I am trying too hard. Or something. I think I should have stayed with black and white rather than straying into grey and colors.

I used some of the leftover strips from the Paris One Hour Baskets, most markedly to fill in the space at the bottom. What do you think of the addition?

Still, I am resolved to make a lot of work and just have a few good pieces come out. This will function quite well.

CVZ / Paris Journal Cover - front cover — CVZ / Paris Journal Cover – front cover

I tried adding in some other purple, but should have stuck to the Carol Van Zandt fabric to highlight it. Fortunately, it is bold enough that it does stand out.

CVZ / Paris Journal Cover - back cover — CVZ / Paris Journal Cover – back cover

I tried to add interest here by turning one of the strips sets sideways.

CVZ / Paris Journal Cover - open — CVZ / Paris Journal Cover – open

You can see the whole cover. The colorful ribbon fabric really doesn’t go and I wish I hadn’t added it. I have some CVZ fabric left and will try again with that.

2016 (January) To Do List

Here is 2016, bold as brass staring at me and daring me to adjust this list. I am tempted to make a list of bag patterns I own and haven’t yet made. Other than that, I am pretty sure I have everything that I want/need to do on this list. Perhaps I’ll get it done and have no more To Do Lists?

Quilt Christmas table runner
Wash fabric AKA The Great Unwashed-I washed a load recently and am working on ironing it
Finish sewing Anna Maria Horner Multi-tasker tote -this was a gift I intended to give during Holiday 2013- sigh. Missed 2014 Holiday deadline as well. The bucket part of the bag is done and I just have to add the straps.
Cut out 3 notepad covers for gifts
Finish cutting out Day in the Park backpack variation
Sew 3rd Petrillo Bag
Sew Bon Appetit apron
~~Sew Art supplies Sew Together Bag~~
Cut out Art supplies pincushion
Sew Art supplies pincushion
~~Cut out Purple Sew Together Bag~~
~~Sew Purple Sew Together Bag~~
Cut out Purple pincushion
Sew purple pincushion
~~Cut out Thanksgiving tablerunner #1~~
~~Cut out Thanksgiving tablerunner #2~~
~~Cut out Thanksgiving tablerunner #3~~
~~Cut out Thanksgiving table mat~~
**Quilt Thanksgiving tablerunner #1
**Quilt Thanksgiving tablerunner #2
**Quilt Thanksgiving tablerunner #3
**Quilt Thanksgiving table mat
**~~ATCs for CQFA December meeting~~

Finished prior to the above list

Cut out Anna Maria Horner Multi-tasker tote
Cut out Art supplies Sew Together Bag
Finish cutting out 3rd Petrillo bag

Thanksgiving Decorations

As I mentioned back in August, I want table runners for Thanksgiving. I don’t have many Thanksgiving decorations and I can’t bring myself to make napkins yet. I want napkins, but I can’t deal with all that brown and years of decorative stitching required right at the moment.

I bought two Thanksgiving fabric panels at Forget Me Knots in Bandon, Oregon. Friday, I put the table runners together.

How it happened was that I was going through the fabric on my ironing board, cutting the pieces I needed for various projects and putting yardage away. My goal was to allow DH a brief window to iron. When I got to the table runner panels, I decided putting them away would be silly and I just did what I needed to do to move those projects along.

The small contemporary table runner was easy. It just required cutting apart from the rest of the piece. I didn’t add any piecing to it. Just basted and it is ready to quilt.

I pieced two sections of the traditional panel together. I think some of the pieces and parts of the panels were supposed to be coasters, but I think these sections (right) are too big to be coasters, but there are too small to be placemats, so I don’t know what their original purpose was. I like the leaves. The green is a little odd.

The traditional panel also had a square leaf wreath, which I will use it as a table mat on the coffee table.

Finally, my favorite is the one to which I added the most piecing. I am not sure that pumpkin orange fabric was exactly right, but it is close enough and doesn’t match. It will add interest.

I plan to quilt these at the CQFA Retreat.

What About 2016?

I was sitting at the dentist the other day thinking about my quiltmaking. I was actually feeling quite depressed about it. For a couple of different reasons I feel like 2015 was filled with quiltmaking anxiety. I know I got a lot done. The 2015 Year in Review post tells me that. None of it felt significant, though. None of it felt important. A lot of it felt like I was marking time in front of my machine.

I had a lot of ‘must dos’ and that was part of it. Also, I felt like no project I did was exceptional* at all. I just felt dissatisfied and somewhat unhappy with my work. The good part is that I kept working and didn’t get discouraged. Any work is better than nothing.

I don’t want 2016 to feel anxious and not worthwhile. Yes, I have projects to finish, but I don’t want 2016 to feel anxiety ridden. For example, I don’t want 2016 to be all about UFOs though I still want to finish some up some things on my list. Finishing things cannot be the whole idea, however. I have to enjoy the process as well. I want my quiltmaking to be joyful. I have to figure out how to do that.

I already started this ‘project’ (or idea) after Christmas. I wanted to make another Sew Together Bag and I needed some downtime after a busy few days of holidays and the prep beforehand. I felt like it was the right time to make it (photos soon!). I put all other projects aside and worked on the second Sew Together Bag. It went a lot more quickly, I guess, since I knew what to expect. Also, I enjoyed the process more because I was doing just want I wanted not what I felt like I had to do.

Yesterday, as a follow-up, I worked through some things on the list and did some cutting of fabric that had been ironed. A couple of the items on the list were the Thanksgiving table runners (look for a post soon) I bought in Oregon. I put them together and prepared them to be quilted. I plan to quilt them myself at the CQFA Retreat in January. I also got back in the groove of working on donation blocks. That feels good and I now have 3 of the 8 (a la Mrs. K) I want to make in order to make a quilt I can finish with the Cutting Corners Ruler. They are nice looking as well. Mostly I am using blues and purples.

I think I need to stay away from making things as gifts in 2016. Not completely, but I mean on the scale of the Christmas Pillowcase project. I think I also need to work on some projects that have been in my head and may take some time. I guess we’ll see how it goes, won’t we?

*I don’t think my projects are generally exceptional and feel that if I come up with an exceptional project it is a gift. I am happy with the work I do and the quality of that work.