much ado about nothing

That pretty well describes my studio activities over the past while. Not being able to post pictures robs me of much of my incentive to post.  I think I mentioned taking a Craftsy class in machine quilting with Cindy Needham.  The last month has been spent working on both formal samples from that class, and a couple of my own pieces using some of the techniques.  I also have found the confidence to set up a class in machine quilting of my own. I've often thought that machine quilting is a strength of mine, but every bit of practice and information helps.  But working mono-chromatically gets boring after awhile, even when working on my own hand dyed fabric.  So I added metallic paint to the most recent piece, and fell in love with the result. Now I have another piece in the planning stages, in which I hope to move even further into combining intensive quilting with painting the fabric.  I'm just not sure which technique should come first!

So, while I'm trying to figure that out, I've started a piece from Yuko Saito's most recent book.  I like most of the pieces in there, and, of course, love the muted Japanese colour scheme.  Several of my hand dyes would fit into the scheme but there wouldn't be enough to make the bag, so I've added other fabrics, and the colour is much more North American.  I really didn't want to be buying more fabric, as my goal is to use up what's here.

Much of this effort is in keeping with my vow to make what I want to make, and not to be concerned about producing a marketable product. I still plan to exhibit, however, and I'm please that one of my pieces  actually sold, recently.  So I guess I'm maintaining my quality control, even if I'm finding joy in my muse.