Week in Review 2017 - 06/16

Tips, Thoughts and Techniques:

We often see herons
fly over the lake, or
catch glimpses of them
between the cattails,
since they tend to nest
or fish right at the shore's
edge. This week we were
treated to one far enough
from shore, perching on
branch so we could
observe it from our condo.
I'm thinking this has
potential to be the incentive
for Reflection #3.

The National Bike Challenge has begun in earnest for me. I've lost track of how many years my husband and I have been participants. I believe this may be our fifth year. Personally, I find it a great motivator to get out and ride. The challenge began as health challenge for employees of the Kimberly Clark Corporation. If you live in Appleton, WI, as I do, home to Kimberly Clark, it is known as KC and it is one of the largest employers in town. What makes this competition stellar for me, is that it is designed to encourage regularly riding versus weekend warriors. It does this by giving you 20 points for every day you ride and an additional point per mile. Therefore, if you ride as little as 1 mile a day, you automatically get 147 points for the week. If you rode one 50 mile bike ride on Saturday, it is just 70 points. I'm a natural "regular" rider and endurance versus sprinting is my strength. It is as though the National Bike Challenge was designed with me in mind. :)

We have two primary routes we ride depending on the day. When you ride the same route every day it is like making pots. The more times you ride it, the better you get at avoiding that pot hole which is tricky to see, divining the perfect spot to cross the railroad tracks, and even how to ride beside the tractor trailer trucks entering and leaving Great Northern. Once the basics become second nature it leaves the mind open to free association and/or problem solving. When scenery is no longer novel, you begin to notice the slight variations. For example the warmer than normal day when we spotted multiple turtles laying eggs. And oh, the sunrises! They range from subtle to spectacular. 

Picking Up the Pieces #4 went from
most of the blocks were nearly finished,
to settling on a design, seaming the blocks,
preparing the quilt sandwich, and finally
beginning the quilting.

What does participating in the National Bike Challenge have to do with making fiber art? Repetition. The more fiber art you make, the more you note what was difficult when you were first starting out has become second nature now. This leaves room to enjoy the nuances. Enjoy them I did, this week as I have been working on a piece which is technically easy for me, but only because I have 30 years of making quilts and art quilts behind me. 

Here is how the week went:

1) Work on Picking Up the Pieces #4 - Done!

2) Finish Picking Up the Pieces #1 and #3 - Not Yet.

3) Pot(s) made this week - Done!

We biked every single day this week. In fact, we have biked 19 days in a row. 

4) Free motion quilting practice - Done!

When I'm not pedaling down the road, this is my plan on how best to use my studio time next week:

My quilting goal for Picking Up the Pieces #4
is to bring in a lot of texture while not distracting
from the Mondrian-esque piecing.

1) Work on Picking Up the Pieces #4

2) Finish Picking Up the Pieces #1 and #3

3) Pot(s) made this week

4) Free motion quilting practice

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.