Commentary about works in progress, design & creativity
I love this one. It came out really well, I think. I really like the combination of blue and green. I don’t think I have anymore of either, though I have to look in my cool solids box in the Fabric Closet.
In case you want to make one of these, here is the Star Puzzle Pattern.
In EQ7 this block is called Nameless (it’s Barbara Brackman number is 2047). I don’t know if that means that its name is ‘Nameless’ or that it doesn’t have a name. It is possible that the name is just not in EQ, though they are pretty good, so I think that is unlikely. If it doesn’t have a name, that is kind of sad. I think it looks like a prism or a crystal, so that is what I am calling it. I’ll look it up sometime and see.
I am, however, not making as much progress as I wanted. I really wanted to make all 12 blocks over the holiday weekend, so I would be caught up. That isn’t going to happen, though, I have made a dent.
I also have to select the next four blocks to make and I haven’t even begun to think about that.
I have to say that my attempts at choosing fabrics were a bit feeble before I started making blocks. I am using the fabrics from the group I chose early on, but I have been finding that I have to add to them as well. I grabbed that light purple dot for this block and have used it in one other. I also have a batik that I think I will add to the group. I didn’t have enough darks (but I think I knew that), so I have added some darker solids. I don’t want to overwhelm the aquas and light purples, so I am trying to use them judiciously.
This is an excellent exercise in contrasts and in making sure that the stars are crisp.
We are working on on the Oh My Stars quilt-a-long, though it was started awhile ago and everyone else is done!
I have to say that this is not an easy project. I keep cutting and recutting. I have various parts of Sawtooth Stars that didn’t work laying all over my sewing and cutting tables. I don’t know what my problem is. I blame it on the cold.
I was, again, trying to play with the idea of stars within stars. The block in the pattern was not colored this way. The patches around the turquoise star were different than the very largest outside legs. Even though the green print on the largest star is busy, I think it works and I am pleased with the way this one came out.
We are working on on the Oh My Stars quilt-a-long, though it was started awhile ago and everyone else is done!
This block was an unexpected success! I was very pleased with the way it went together (no ripping or recutting) and also with the serendipitous use of fabric. I am out of that blue, which is too bad, because it is a great blue.
3 down 9 to go.
We are working on on the Oh My Stars quilt-a-long, though it was started awhile ago and everyone else is done!
I made this block after finally finishing the Barbershop Quartet. After the drama of that block, this was a breeze and I got on a roll trying to catch up with the blocks.
I was kind of sad about that as as I wanted to work on the back for the FOTY 2012, but it is fine.
I wish I had used a darker print for the smaller Flying Geese, but that will be the reward to the viewer for coming in closer.
We are working on on the Oh My Stars quilt-a-long, though it was started awhile ago and everyone else is done!
I took 7 tops to my quilter on January 21, a few days after the last update. I felt a huge sigh of relief taking them to be quilted. I don’t know why, as I explained, but I did and am still savoring the feeling. Still, just because I took quilts to the quilter does not mean they are done. They are out of my hair and I can work on other things until it is time to finish them when they come back.
Finished 2013 Projects:
I think the next projects on the list will be harder. They are older, in some cases, or VERY unfinished. Let’s see what we can do.
Still WIPs
I still have a few more WIPs than I do finished projects. Again, I have made progress on clearing out old projects and I am pleased.
Ready for Quilting
Not on original listIn the Finishing Process
FOTY 2011: binding half done; needs sleeve
Abandoned
Nothing so far for 2013
Hunting and Gathering
I decided to continue this list into 2013, at least for the time being. It is a useful tool for tracking what is done. I, of course, want to create some kind of disposition for all of the quilts and projects on the list. However, as I mentioned, I wanted to think of a new focus for 2013. I feel that I made progress on the most ancient and difficult projects and I want to honor that. I won’t give up working on the projects on this list, but I also will not allow the list to prevent me from starting new projects.
Last update for the 26 Projects List
*New – Project started after I started working on the 26 Projects list
I had a nice surprise yesterday: FOTY 2011 returned to me ready for binding! I didn’t know Colleen was working on it, but here it is. It was perfect timing, too, since I just finished the binding on the Stepping Stones on Thursday.
I also didn’t think I like this quilt that much, but the quilt really made the quilt. This photo isn’t that great, but the boys weren’t home to hold it and I wanted a photo RIGHT NOW!!, so I just took this one. Do click on the image to make it larger, so you can see the quilting.
I already started working on the binding and I am sure I will be done with it this week. As mentioned, I have a cold, so there is a lot of laying on the couch happening.
The last time I wrote about this project was almost a year ago: 2/21/2012.
This block took me over a week to make. I don’t think it has taken me more than a week to make a block since my first quilt project when I was learning. The first Swoon block, when I was working out the details, may have taken me a week.
I think part of the problem was that I was trying to use the Wing Clipper (some further info about the technique is in the 1/24/2013 blog post) to make the Flying Geese units. That is no problem, except that I didn’t have the finished sizes of the units and had to guess a bit, because I didn’t want to draw out the block to scale and measure. My own fault, definitely. Guessing didn’t work very well for me, so I wasted a lot of fabric and took a lot of time.
I also have a cold and was very tired yesterday, which I am sure didn’t help my thinking very much.
Anyway, the block is done and I like it. I played a bit with the negative space again and think that looks cool. You can see TFQ’s version on Flickr.
This is the second 12″ block I have made for the Star Sampler, which I think really should be called the Sawtooth Star Sampler since we are using all Sawtooth Stars. I think I am now only 10 blocks behind – or maybe 6. I’ll have to see.
The last block I made for this project was Mosaic No.19.
I have been working on getting the fabrics for the Star Sampler together.
I washed a bunch of new fabrics over the weekend and have added some of them to this group. I have a few more to iron, but will probably add them as well.
It occurs to me that the ones with a lot of white won’t work with the background I have chosen. I want the stars to be crisp and I don’t want the colors of the fabric in the stars to bleed into the background. That might mean taking out that nice graphic dot in the top row.
After I started writing this post, I was doing my Qi Gong practice and looking at the FOTY 2012 top, which was in process on my design wall. I saw some other fabrics, which I thought needed to be added.
I do notice that the group is getting very blue heavy, so I need to use a lot of the non-blue fabrics OR find some more of the purples and greens.
It has taken me some time to get the right fabrics and I think I still have more to add and some to take away. This group has more fabric than the group I posted in December.
Now I need to get off my duff and make some blocks. Enough playing with fabrics!
I have been a bit unwell and not up to a lot of contemplation about the meaning of this quilt. I thought that a slideshow of the progress might be just the thing to satisfy you. Enjoy!
I didn’t just take a bunch of quilts to be quilted on Monday a week ago I also got the Stepping Stones quilt back from my quilter. I am sort of diligently working on the binding.
This quilt was so big. The boys insisted that I had to take the photo from the top of the stairs. I don’t know, but I didn’t want to fight with them about a photo. I’ll have to figure out another way to take the photo full on with no banister in the way.
Early last week I posted the final patches I was planning on using for FOTY 2012. The CQFA retreat was this past weekend and I worked on the quilt top all weekend. This is the final layout, or nearly the final layout, of Fabric of the Year 2012. I think of this as a butterfly emerging from a cocoon, in some ways. Perhaps I will call this piece Chrysallis?
In this picture, all the pieces are sewn into groups of 2. By the time I left the retreat center, I had started to sew larger chunks together and the upper right hand corner was nearly all sewn.
As usual, I went through my process of hand wringing and chest beating on Friday followed by sewing and intense rearranging on Saturday.
One of the things I really like about working on this at the retreat (remember last year’s retreat?) is that everyone helps. They don’t help by rearranging, though that goes on a bit, but they come by and give me an opinion, there is always someone around to help with tricky placement and they appreciate my process. By appreciate, I meant they let me engage in my process, which, for this project, involves a fair bit of angst. It was all worth it. I am pleased with the way this is coming out.
I think that I may be over the colorwash technique for these pieces. I like the idea of cutting a piece of fabric from each fabric I use or buy during the year, but I think I have done enough of the colorwash exercise for the time being. I am trying to think of something else for 2013. I have some fragments of ideas, but they haven’t coalesced yet.
The Sparkle Pink top and back are done and at the quilter. I was in a rush and almost didn’t take a photo of this top, but it took 2 minutes, so I am glad that I did. It is a fun top and we decided that an all over design will work fine and not be overshadowed by the bold fabrics. Also, as an added bonus, an all over design will not cost as much.
My quilter is back and it looks like she will be quilting quite a bit during the next 6 months. YAY! I took a BUNCH of quilts to be quilted on Monday. I kept three (Wonky 9 Patch, Infinity quilt and the Calm Jelly Roll Race) back to quilt myself, just so you know I am not a complete prima donna. I have to say that I took them in one of those blue plastic IKEA (great for hauling quilts) and that bag was heavy!
I also have more space now to store additional quilt tops!
Having the back to the Spiderweb done (as well as all of that %#@&^* paper ripped off) and in the queue to be quilted is great. Perhaps I’ll get the quilt back before 2013 ends and it will end up being a 14 year project rather than a 15 year project! It is last on the list to be quilted, so we will have to wait and see.
Now I feel like I crossed some sort of threshold. I feel like my decks really are clear. I still have projects on the 26 Projects list, but it feels manageable now. Putting my nose to the grindstone last year helped, as I have mentioned over and over, but until yesterday, I didn’t feel a sense of relief. That relief was building and I felt a little more of it and a little more of it with each project, but the Spiderweb was a milestone.
I also feel wary. I know the extreme amount of time I have had to sew the last year or so cannot last. I am really glad I spent the time when I had it and I am going to enjoy the time I still have, but I see the time and the quilts that resulted as a gift.
I still want to work on finishing older projects. I want to continue to move older projects forward. As I said in the Creative Desert post, the longer projects languish, the less interest I have in them. I want to use new fabrics and new designs. I want to create using new inspiration and new ideas.
Still, I can’t toss all of these older projects (some of them not so old), if they have some life in them. I feel like I want to work a piece until I finish or until it can’t be worked anymore.
Yes, this list is back for 2013. I want to make progress on languishing projects and finish newer projects that still need to be quilted. I feel I have had a strong a start.
Finished 2013 Projects:
I came across last year’s end of year post and realized that I surpassed my previous goal of 9 quilts finished in one year last year when I finished 10 quilts. If I want to surpass another significant goal, I will have to finish at least 11 quilts this year. There is no hope for me now. Oh well, I did make a lot of progress on projects and that pleases me. I also had fun, which is the goal, right?
Still WIPs
I still have a few more WIPs than I do finished projects. Again, I have made progress on clearing out old projects and I am pleased.
Ready for Quilting
Not on original listAbandoned
Nothing so far
Hunting and Gathering
I decided to continue this list into 2013, at least for the time being. It is a useful tool for tracking what is done. I, of course, want to create some kind of disposition for all of the quilts and projects on the list. However, as I mentioned, I wanted to think of a new focus for 2013. I feel that I made progress on the most ancient and difficult projects and I want to honor that. I won’t give up working on the projects on this list, but I also will not allow the list to prevent me from starting new projects.
Last update on 26 Projects List
*New – Project started after I started working on the 26 Projects list