Week in Review 2015 - 10/16

Tips, Thoughts and Techniques:

Some of you reading this post may
recall a past post where I was
debating between several design
schemes for Deconstructed Sunrise #3.
This is the one I selected.

The plan was (wouldn't those three words work well at the start of a mystery?) to update my iMac to El Capitan this weekend. That would give me "free" days to deal with the inevitable fall out. So imagine my surprise when emerging from my studio to find my husband "generously" starting the updating before leaving for work on Thursday morning. The upgrade went very well for the most part. It is that niggling 1% that is the time vampire and precisely why I didn't want to get drawn into it during the business week. I'm like Alice down the rabbit hole trying to figure out how to reset iMail to run under my preferred address and automatically add my preferred signature. Then there is the fact that I am now forced to have my to do list under Reminders vs. part of iCal. I am addicted to printing out my daily to do list in order to stay on top of things. What I really loved about those items being on iCal, was that my scheduled appointments appeared at the top of the page and the to do items followed. Best of all any notes associated with the to do's were printed out, too. Guess I have officially been proven to be part of the senior generation, because I just can't seem to get a picture of my day by peering at a screen. Besides, there is something so rewarding about drawing a line through a to do item, much more satisfying than hitting the delete button on a computer.

Ta da! The big reveal. Well, close.
I've added the clouds to the sky after
this picture was taken. The fabrics used
are predominately commercial, with
just a few of my own hand dyed, hand
painted and stamped or stenciled fabric
thrown in.
Deconstructed Sunrise #3
60" H x 40" W

Why all the preamble about computers? Because it struck me as I made extra work for myself on Deconstructed Sunrise #3 how very similar the constant call/need to venture into something new and just add one more twist to an artwork, is very much like the upgrades we must do to keep our devices speaking nicely to each other. I could have kept things simple. There was no need to play with multiple layers of batting, nor were cloud streaks absolutely necessary (more on that next week.) Could exploration, be it scaling high peaks, pushing the limits of technology or trying out new design ideas be an innate trait of humans?

It was a very brief week in the studio. I had to attend to lots of business, do some traveling and of course cope with a computer upgrade. That's the bad news. The good news, I can finally share an image of what Deconstructed Sunrise #3 looks like after the freezer paper templates were removed. Here is what did get accomplished:

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

a) Finish piecing Deconstructed Sunrise #3 - Done!
b) Prepare quilt for quilting - Not yet. Just couldn't resist adding in another step - the clouds.

2) Free motion quilting practice. - Done!

This is another Whirls 'n Swirls pattern. Tracy
calls this one Feathers on the Half Shell. Feathers
and spirals - what fun!

3) Post the number of days I have worked in my studio in 2015 - 84/126

4) Perform a random act of kindness - Done!

My calendar for next week is looking relatively empty. I am optimistic that I will be able to leap forward on Deconstructed Sunrise #3. At least that is the plan, as you can see below:

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

a) Stay stitch clouds in place
b) Prepare quilt for quilting
c) Start quilting

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.