Week in Review 2013 - 05/17

"Adoration" after the baby and grandmother's blouse have been quilted.

It is time to reflect on the week that just passed to record what I did and did not accomplish.

1) Adoration (Shooting for a deadline of June 1, 2013)

a) Quilt Adoration. – 50% Done.

I am quite pleased with how the quilting is coming on this piece.  It would go faster if I used monofilament thread, since I wouldn’t need to change threads frequently, nor would I need to bury all those thread ends. I fell that the ability to blend, lighten or darken areas with thread is worth the extra effort.

Detail from "Adoration" showing the echo style quilting
used in the baby's face. Shadows, highlights and details
have been enhanced with stitch.

b) Square up the piece in preparation for facing. – Not done.

2) Express Your Love

"Express Your Love" is nearly done!

a) Finish last week's assignment from Leah Day. – Done!

This detail from "Express Your Love" features motif quilting
in the goddess's body.

Last weeks assignment was to mark and outline stitch a motif. I opted to simplify Leah’s motif and create what I hoped would look tiger markings.

b) Do whatever assignment Leah comes up with next. – Started.

An even closer look to show the Chicken Scratch stitch
used in the goddess's face.

This week was to fill in the motif with Jagged Scribble. This is similar to Cat Hairball (used in the white streaks of the hair) but with straight lines and sharp angles. I have renamed this stitch Chicken Scratch. I used a 30 wt. cotton thread that was a gift from Liz Porter (of Fons and Porter) when she stayed at my house while teaching and lecturing at my guild. I never would have thought to buy this for myself. However, it stitched beautifully and has a wonderful luster despite being cotton.

3) Signature experimentation

a) Design a new signature motif. – I didn’t design a new signature, but I did sign "Adoration" in the lower right corner while quilting that section.

4) Pictorial Painting

a) Watch the lesson that demos how to quilt the Canyon piece. – Not done.

b) Quilt "Canyon." – Not done.

5) Plan the next art piece. – Not done.

Tips, Thoughts and Techniques:

In her comment on my last post Stella Nemeth asked me “is it possible that your goals can't be met?” The simple answer is absolutely. It is even very likely that my goals can’t be met within the week that I assign them to myself. The follow-up question could easily be, “then why set them?” I set goals as a way to think about what projects I would like to tackle and what the next steps for that project will be. It also helps me prioritize my projects. Just because I don’t meet a goal the first time and even second or third time it rolls round, doesn’t mean that it will never be met. In fact, many of my projects have been completed since I started sharing my game plans publicly. The fact that all my goals are rarely met in a given week is like seeing a glass half full or half empty. If I dwelled on what didn’t get done, than my glass would be half empty. Instead I see my glass as half full. I get great satisfaction seeing the progress I make each week and marking off a step as done.

Here is what I plan to tackle in the week ending May 24, 2013:

1) Adoration (Shooting for a deadline of June 1, 2013)

a) Finish quilting “Adoration.”

b) Square up the piece in preparation for facing.

2) Express Your Love

a) Finish last week's assignment from Leah Day.

b) Do whatever assignment Leah comes up with next.

3) Signature experimentation

a) Design a new signature motif.

4) Pictorial Painting

a) Watch the lesson that demos how to quilt the Canyon piece.

b) Quilt "Canyon."

5) Plan the next art piece.