Week in Review 2015 - 09/18

Detail from Deconstructed Sunrise #3

Tips, Thoughts and Techniques:

As a teenager we can't wait to reach the magic age of 21, only to quake at the idea of turning 30. Is it so bad to age? Beats the alternative, right? Best of all there is all that experience to draw from. I didn't start quilting until shortly after I turned 30. It was a way to maintain my sanity as a stay at home mother. I quilted during nap time, then during the school day and now that I am an empty nester I manage to quilt for three full days a week most weeks. With 30 years of quilting behind me I have developed quite a tool box of techniques. Elizabeth Barrett Browning cover your ears.  How do I piece thee? Let me count the ways. With Deconstructed Sunrise #3 I have combined two techniques. I began with rotary cut gentle curves and have no moved on to glue basted turned appliqué. 

Deconstructed Sunrise #3

Last week I shared a link to how to handle gentle curves. This week I will share the next phase of my construction using glue basted turned appliqué. Many artists choose to fuse their appliqué without turning the edges under (raw edge appliqué.) I prefer to turn my edges unless a raw edge is called for as part of the design. This method does take some prep work. The time is well worth it, though.

You may recall that I began with the basic design for this quilt drawn out on graph paper. Next I transferred the pattern to freezer paper. The graph paper image allows me to place each piece where it needs to go. The freezer paper is cut up to make templates. If you look at the first image in the blog (Detail from Deconstructed Sunrise #3) you can see the graph paper image on the left, the #58 and unmarked french fuse. On the right are two templates that have been marked with red positioning lines. What you can't see is that each template has a number that matches the numbered templates on the graph paper pattern. There is also a wavy pale orange line. This is my trick for remembering which seam allowance to turn under and which not. 

Surface design play at a SAQA IL/WI gathering
this past weekend. 

The second image in the blog shows my current progress. The blue sky is "hidden" behind the very large template and I have started to position the outer arc of the top sun. This is the first time I have tried using glue basted turned appliqué on my design wall. So far, I'm thrilled. The glue is holding each piece in place. The tricky part will be moving it off the wall and onto my ironing table. What appeals to me about this method is the surprise element. I have learned to trust my intuition when selecting and placing fabric over the years. I know what I choose will work, just not how it will work. 

I am at that intense, on a roll, can't wait to see what happens time in making Deconstructed Sunrise #3. Still, I managed to take time out to keep up my free motion quilting skills. Here is how the week went:

Free motion quilting practice. This is another in Tracy's
series of 100 free motion quilting motifs in 100 days.

1) Continue piecing Deconstructed Sunrise #3 (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 - 74/126

4) Perform a random act of kindness - Done!

5) Unexpected Bonus. - I had some fun playing  with Gelli prints and stamping with other SAQA IL/WI during a local pod meeting.

It is taking all my restraint to work on business today, I'm having so much fun making Deconstructed Sunrise #3. With no conference calls scheduled next week, I am looking forward to another three full days of studio time. Yippee! Here is what I plan to do with it:

1) Continue piecing Deconstructed Sunrise #3 (Due November 30, 2015)

2) Free motion quilting practice. 

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

4) 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.

Week in Review 2015 - 07/03

Do click on the image to get an enlarged version.
This is one of the best ways for me to problem solve.
The photo was taken by Dana Eagles, my husband,
during one of our morning bike rides. That is the full
moon in the sky. The tiny pin prick of light just
below the horizon on the left is the taillight on my bike.
We are about 9 miles west of our home in farm country.
This is where see some of the most outrageously
gorgeous morning skies.

Thoughts, Tips and Techniques:

All the segments of Deconstructed Sunrise have been
pieced and fused using French Fuse. The segment in the
upper left corner is pin basted, ready to be
quilted next week.

Is this wasteful procrastination or wise, purposefully pondering? To paraphrase Cheryl Wheeler, a favorite singer song writer, "Don't really care. Don't want to know that." My typical modus operandi when working on a new piece, especially when I am going out on a limb and trying something very different from my standard way of creating, is to do a lot of dithering. I like to rephrase that as running through the possibilities in my head. I will put a piece up on the design wall, step back, go upstairs, come back down stairs (my studio is in the lowest level of our home with the design wall across the room opposite the stairs) stop, stare and have an internal debate with myself. Is this latest addition close enough? Should I try something different? Forge ahead and hope a "fix" will unveil itself to me? Perhaps do a little cleaning and picking up in the studio? Take a break upstairs and try again with fresh eyes? So long as I am making progress, any progress, even if things aren't coming together the way I hoped, I accept that it is good enough. There is always the hope that the next piece I tackle will be better. Just going through the process with the tough pieces provides me with multiple ideas for future pieces that will resolve the problem areas of the current piece. Hope is what drives me from beginning to end to taking the leap of faith to start the next piece. Procrastination? Pondering? Does it really matter? It works.

I spent most of the week pondering both on and off my bike. My husband and I set a new personal best distance bike riding. We rode just shy of 95 miles on Sunday! Yes, I was a tad sore on Monday, but still managed to head down to the studio. Here is what I achieved:

This is my favorite of all the segments. It also is a
great showcase for the four different color ways I pieced
and then cut up for Deconstructed Sunrise. Loving
the smooth, turned under curves I can get using French Fuse.

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

2) Free motion quilting practice. - No, but all set to go next week.

3) Post the number of days I have worked in my studio in 2015 - 48/126

4) Perform a random act of kindness 

What will it be next week? One thing is for sure we have no more 95 mile rides planned in the future. The energy not drained from such a ride  can be focused on the following projects:

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

2) Free motion quilting practice. 

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

4) 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.

Week in Review - 06/05

I've always loved this palette of harmonious reds,
oranges and yellows coupled with purple.  It is the
color of sunrise. It is warm and cheerful. This is one
of the "fabrics" I made for Deconstructed Sunrise. I am
very tempted to explore this offshoot further. I feel a
series coming on. :)

I have begun work on the blue fabric for
Deconstructed Sunrise. When this block is
finished there will be six stripes woven together
in a block that measures 9" square.  The central
horizontal stripe is from one of the SkyDyes fabrics I
treated myself to. Isn't it lush?

Tips, Thoughts and Techniques:

Bonjour! I'm back from a mini visit with  our children and grandchildren, followed immediately by a maxi visit in France. We began in Paris doing lots of walking and museum visiting. Then it was off to the Loire Valley for biking and chateaux touring. I admit to having reached a time in my life where roughing it has zero appeal. This bike trip, like several other biking and hiking trips we have been on, came with lots of support and lovely accommodations. It isn't easy to take responsibility for my daily activities now that I am back. My in-box is frightening full and the "pings" keep coming no matter how many e-mails I respond to. Really, how is it possible to start with 50 e-mails, answer at least 25 only to end the day back at 50? Something else that has struck me on my return is my biker's tan. It is darkest above my knees to my bike short's line, where it abruptly turns white. The tan is lighter over my knee cap and below my knee, turning white at the sock line. My tan just isn't coming together. There doesn't seem to be an overall plan. That is how I am feeling about Deconstructed Sunrise at the moment. It feels very disjointed and jarring.

I refused to spend 100% of my time answering e-mails on my scheduled studio days. I did, however, compromise and work in the studio during the morning and return to e-mails in the afternoon. Here is what I accomplished in the studio during my half schedule:

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

 2) Free motion quilting practice. - Opted to skip this

3) Post the number of days I have worked in my studio in 2015 - 40/126

4) Perform a random act of kindness - Done

This a only a small portion of what I have pieced so
far on Deconstructed Sunrise. What is working nicely
is the combo of turned under appliqué and French Fuse.
I know I will use this technique again. It is a winner!

5) Do some surface design experiments - Opted to skip this

I will be unable to post next week due to some out of state family business. When I return I plan on working on the following:

1) Deconstructed Sunrise (Due November 30, 2015) - Continue piecing

 2) Free motion quilting practice.

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

4) Perform a random act of kindness

5) Do some surface design experiments

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.