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.