Like running in place

 The EPP piece is now at the long armer.  In the process, I was forced to realize that I had either become very lazy in my machine work, or had forgotten all of the stitching rules I had learned over so very many years of sewing.  I was embarrassed at the problems, but also realized that it was a lesson learned.  Since than, I've been amusing myself with working on charity quilts.  Unfortunately, on one of these quilts, I discovered that I had made the same mistake as I had made in the EPP one.  Time for a long serious talk with myself.

So today, I spent a couple of hours, picking out endless lines of very tiny stitches, as penance for getting lazy.  I've also learned the lesson, that these charity quilts are an excellent method of perfecting the techniques that make for a very good quilter, such as precision piecing.  Hopefully, by the end of the week, I will have also worked on perfecting my FMQ'g.

I'm so glad that I have done just about everything I can to prepare for Christmas, and can indulge myself with time in the studio, even if that means that we're going to have a take out Christmas dinner.  This will be a new experience.

Very slow progress, but a light at the end of the tunnel

 Sorry, no picture yet, nor maybe ever.  Over the past couple of years I've been slowly hand piecing (EPP) a larger top, based on a diamond shape, that I found in the book Susie Teacakes guide to English Paper Piecing.  It was finally finished, and the papers taken out. but most of the basting was left in.  The long-armer asked that any knots be removed, and that was slowly accomplished (v-e-e-r-r-y slowly).  then the narrow 1/4" seam allowance along the multiple edge pieces has to be straightened out and carefully pressed.  Finally a 3" (cut not finished) border sewn on.  As it turned out, the actual shape was an octagon, with very short "squared off" corner areas.  I put the "squared off" in quotes because it was not really square at all.  Then I was to measure and cut the backing and batting.

This process took place over about 3 weeks and it was one of those times when every thing that could go wrong, did go wrong.  I won't go into details but I was almost totally frustrated and disheartened when it came to the backing.  When it came to the borders, they increased the measure size of the piece, and the fabric I had bought, so as to have an extra wide backing and no joins or patch work, increased the width by about 4 inches, and the purchased backing no longer fit.  I was distraught.  So upset, that I realized that my only solution--at the time--was to put the piece aside, and work on something else for awhile.

This is what I've done.

Finally completed

This quilt top has been in progress for over a week, with a bit being done every day.  Slowly my working time has increased, but my body has suffered, and I was more than ready to stop.  This is a design I found on the internet, and sketched out, but lost the reference.  It required a significant amount of precision piecing, really testing my skill level.  The inner heart requires 46 pieces, based on a 1"square, finished.  Overall each 12" square requires 64 pieces.  Finding enough reddish fabric to use was a challenge, especially as much of what I found was smaller scraps. But now I just need to sandwich it and machine quilt it.  It will finish at about 38" square.  It will be donated to charity.

Oh My! It's been awhile.

 There hasn't been much studio time the last few weeks.  Not sure why, but maybe life got in the way.  We've been very busy getting ready for winter, to the extent we can.

The Virginia Creeper piece is finished and has been entered in a gallery show for the month of December.

I did find some time to work on the small quilt made with the Kaffe Fasset Fabric.  I'm very much loving the design, even if I can't take credit for it.   It's now quilted and ready for binding.  I still don't know if I will donate it, or maybe keep it for any potential Great-grandbaby.  Not that I expect any in the near future.  It's about 36" square.

 In terms of future work, I must confess that nothing is lurking at the back of my mind.  I do want to re-make the whitework feather quilt I made earlier this year, as I wasn't happy with the final result. But I have a hunch my brain is going to insist that I re-draft the pattern.  Not that I'm adverse to that, but I know what a demanding, time-consuming process that is.  And, in  a dark, musty corner of my mind, is the knowledge that I have a gallery show next May, the one that has been short circuited twice by Covid.

New work

 In my last post I mentioned that I had donation quilts on my mind again.  I was also itchy to work with the Kaffe Fassett fabric that I bought a couple of years ago.  I had seen a quilt on the internet, but I have no idea where, and it was some time ago, but it had been sketched out, so there was a reference.  The first efforts didn't work well, and there was a lot of ripping out to be done, but yesterday I managed to get the first two 12 1/2" squares put together.  3 more done today, and the pieces cut for the last 4.  So it should be put together in a couple of days.

Last month I took a zoom workshop with Dawn Piastra on using Inktense pencils with fabric.  I took several pictures of  the Virginia Creeper vines, in wonderful autumn colours, in the yard, and drafted a design for using the pencils.  Here is a photo of the work in progress.  The paler leaves in the center have just been coloured, but the brighter ones around them, is the finished colour, after the pencil has been activated.

Here is the full image.  I will have to heat set the ink, and wash the piece before finishing it, probably as a wall hanging, although I'm considering a cushion.  It is about 16" by 24".

Still Navel gazing

Still here, and with very little to show for a week's work. There is one finished piece.  I've posted a picture of this before it was trimmed, embellished and finished, but here it is in its final state.  It is finished at 16" by 24".

Once it was quilted and bound, I added some gold foil, but it didn't quite work out as I had wanted, still I think it adds that last little detail that makes this something that I would consider putting in a gallery exhibition.

I'm finding that routine household activities are taking up most of my energy, and  during any studio time I get, the artistic creativity just isn't showing up.  So my mind shifts to more basic activities such as donation quilts.  I also find my self spending as much time in my garden as I can, reading.  It's the end of September, and any warm day is a gift.  My quandary is the guilt I feel at not doing something productive.

Gotta' get over that!

Navel gazing again

 Time for another "who am I, what am I doing here, and where do I want to go" session.  In my last post I was a little jazzed about selecting items to take into the gallery in Selkirk.  The selected items were delivered and are now on display there.  Following each change-over of goods in the gift shop, artists are paid for items sold during the previous display.  I got the cheque yesterday.  The only items I sold were two that were bought by a friend who was in the gallery during the previous change-over, not a thing had sold during the three months it was all on display.  While I have not displayed art often during Gallery exhibitions over the past few years, nothing has sold from there either. 

Why am I doing this?  I'm devoting a fair bit of both mental and physical energy with no payback.  Time to re-exam the process.  Christmas is coming, and the two months before Christmas present many opportunities to sell, but for selected items.  I have a few such items finished, and ready to go.  However, I have offered the best of them to a totally different Gift shop. I am not fretting over this.  If they are not accepted, I have lost nothing but the time it took to fill in an on-line application.  If the commission I pay is 50% or less, I will have at least covered the cost of supplies. I will not make any further seasonal items.  Nor will I make any further specifically gift shop items.

This leads to the question of "What will I be doing?"  I'm not sure.  I have much less energy than I had even five years ago.  But--I have an instinctual need to create, and the time and supplies to do so.  Let's get started!