Friday, January 27, 2017

Week in Review 2017 - 1/27





Lola contemplates her domain.
View from my studio this week.
Tips, Thoughts and Techniques:

I'm in a contemplative mood this morning. Perhaps it is because I just finished listening to, Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer by Fredrik Backman. It is a novella told from the perspective of a grandfather as his world shrinks due to dementia. I became a fan of Backman  when I read,  A Man Called Ove. He is a superlative author in capturing the loving heart hidden inside a curmudgeon. Despite the grim topic, his books are uplifting in a way that brings tears to my eyes and requires a few nose clearings into a tissue. 

Sometimes it isn't easy to find the good buried under the frustration and disappointment. As you can see from the weak light from the vantage point of my Bernina, we are still having gray days here in Appleton, WI. I've lost track of the number of predominately gray days, but it has been more than a week now. As you can see, it didn't dampen Lola's (my studio cat's) spirits. She is perched in her favorite spot for chipmunk watching.

Where Have All the Flowers Gone?
is finally finished.
Much as I prefer sunny days, if I am enmeshed in my work, I barely notice the gray. The real frustration came this week when I learned that doing ruler work with my George wasn't feasible. I have been fantasizing teaching myself ruler work this year. For the past several months I have been researching, on a casual basis, what would be required and studying the work others have been doing with rulers. Getting the rulers is a matter of selecting which curves and straight edges to get. Doable. However, my research taught me a new foot would be required. APQS sells the proper foot for the George. So far, so good. However, before ordering the foot, I thought I should check out my machine to make sure I could in fact substitute the foot the machine comes with for the one needed. It turns out the only way to do this is to disassemble a section of the machine and literally saw off the current foot, then attach the new foot and reassemble the machine. Guess I won't be doing ruler work anytime soon, if at all. 

I've turned my attention from solving how to do ruler work, to playing with fabric scraps. When the going gets tough, there is no better therapy for me than slicing, arranging and piecing fabric. I did some of this and some of that, as you can see:

I treated myself to some free motion quilting.
I spotted the vine motif in Pinterest. It is a design
Luanne Kessi uses to warm up before she
starts FMQ for the day.
1) Finishing Where Have All the Flowers Gone? - Done

I still need to attach the sleeve, label and add it to my website. However, I did get it to the point of being able apply to the Call for Entry I have in mind.

2) Pot(s) made this week - Done

I made micro pots this week. I wanted to test what would happen if I combined multiple micros quilting designs in the background of my free motion quilting practice piece. Two of the designs meld well together, the stippling and spirals. The free form "darning" patch, although stitched with the same thread, is denser and therefore stands out versus blending in. It isn't the look I was going after, but it is good to know.

3) Free motion quilting practice - Done

4)  Attach a sleeve to Siren's Song - Not Yet.

I managed to clean up my studio this week and less than hour later have it return to creative chaos as I pulled out all my scraps and sorted them by hue for some intuitive play I have in mind. My focus next week will be to continue to play interspersed with attending to the items on my studio to do list.

1) Finishing Where Have All the Flowers Gone? 

2) Pot(s) made this week

3) Free motion quilting practice

4)  Attach a sleeve to Siren's Song

I am now linking up to two blogs on Fridays. The first is Nina Marie's Off the Wall Fridays and the second is Free Motion Mavericks.

4 comments:

  1. I love the texture in the little bit of the quilt I can see in the picture of Lola, the light is just right to highlight it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. thoughtful, that's you. Lola! That's one of my nicknames! She is watching the chipmunk channel very intently. Good to have a hobby! Liking the quilt, not war.
    LeeAnna

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks for the heads up on a good author. I checked my library from which I download audio books and they have the one you mentioned plus others. I am always on the lookout for new and interesting authors as i like to listen to audio books when i applique. I like Luanne Kressi also and have used some of her doodles as a basis for practicing fmq.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hello Gwyned,

    Same here - plenty of grey days, but with rain and drizzle. Nothing so picturesque as snow. The landscape you see from your window is beautiful.

    I quite agree with you - there is nothing quite like piecing for therapy. I love the undulating chequered background to your wall hanging.

    And as for the quilting... thank you for linking up with Free Motion Mavericks. Your quilting is this week's featured project!

    Love, Muv

    ReplyDelete