Week in Review 2015 - 07/17

Tips, Thoughts and Techniques:

Adoration is a self portrait of me holding
Andrew, our first grandson.

Today is my grandson Andrew's 8th birthday. He is the first of our five grandchildren. He was followed by two brothers. They make up one family of grandchildren. Next came our two granddaughters. I was thinking how much our children and grandchildren are like my idea of working in a series. Taken individually, each is unique and is treated with great excitement upon arrival. Parenting our children and grandchildren I quickly learned that what works for one doesn't necessarily work for the next. I was constantly needing to try new parenting strategies and combining them with what I already know. Then there is the fact that my children are certain they have better parenting skills than I did. Yet I secretly watch what they do and see parallels with my own methods, taking delight that some of the routines or strategies I used are being revised.

Each panel in Deconstructed Sunrise
can be seen as a series. I certainly picked up tips
and became more comfortable as I worked on
each successive one.

Three more panels from Deconstructed Sunrise
have been quilted and joined.

I conjecture, that for me, working in series is just like parenting and grandparenting. I learn from each quilt that I make. Then in subsequent quilts I use what I have learned and build on it. Sometimes the series isn't so obvious. Very few of my quilts look alike or even similar. Yet, I am able to pull together various combinations of my work that demonstrate my progression of my work with this technique, that understanding of color and even a return to trees over and over again. I doubt to the causal observer of my work she would say that I work in a series. If the point of working in a series is to dig deeply into a technique or theme and learn from repetition, then I have been working in multiple series since I first started quilting.

In a way, Deconstructed Sunrise, the quilt I am currently working on, can be seen as a series within a series. It has been fun this week to continue with the quilting, repeating some patterns and working with new ones. Here is how the week played out:

1) Continue quilting Deconstructed Sunrise - Due November 30, 2015) - Done

2) Free motion quilting practice.  - Done

3) Post the number of days I have worked in my studio in 2015 - 53/126

This is the back side of the three panels from
Deconstructed Sunrise that I worked on this week.
I'm having so much fun with the quilting.

4) Perform a random act of kindness - Done

I'm having so much fun quilting Deconstructed Sunrise that I hate to see that phase come to end. However, if my week goes as planned that is precisely what will happen.

1) Finish quilting Deconstructed Sunrise - Due November 30, 2015)

2) Start the finishing work on Deconstructed Sunrise

3) Free motion quilting practice. 

4) Post the number of days I have worked in my studio in 2015

5) Perform a random act of kindness 

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.

It's A Girl!

I've been sitting on a secret that I have been very eager to share for months now. My daughter, Miranda, has three sons, making me the grandmother of three grandsons, Matthew, Benjamin and Andrew. Aren't they adorable?

My daughter-in-law, Kylee is due to deliver my first granddaughter on May 26. What does a quilting grandmother do while she waits? Make a quilt, of course. 

TIP: Click on an image to view it in an enlarged format

When selecting the perfect quilt for the nursery I like to think about the parent's interests and what they will be sharing with their child as she grows up. Both my son and daughter-in-law love to go snorkeling amidst the tropical fish. 

They met on swim team when they were eleven and twelve years old. The mascot of the team was a fish. My son was on the local town team called the Snappers with a logo of a turtle. 

Hence the tropical reef motif featuring a turtle. Imagine my delight, when I learned half way through making this quilt that the theme for the nursery is sand dollars and starfish! Note the starfish nestled in amongst the coral.

Leah Day has heavily influenced the quilting patterns I used. Whenever I am stuck for a filler design I go to Leah's site and browse through her 365 options. I will also just let my imagination guide me, sometimes following hints in the fabric, other times, the shape of the piece or a doodle that makes sense for item being quilted, such as a spiral on the back of a turtle's shell or the sense of a current in the ocean.

Why the big secret? I was waiting to surprise Kylee with the quilt at her baby shower. The shower and the quilt were a huge success!

The pattern, heavily tweaked by me, is called Fantasy Fish and is available from LAM Designs.