While I wait for the painting bug to hit, I continue to quilt. I haven’t given up on painting (yet) but it certainly isn’t a passion (yet). I still have my painting corner set up and I still have the dream of being a painter but in the last 2 1/2 months, I don’t think I’ve painted more than 10 days. I like what I’ve done, I just don’t feel driven to paint. I need to work myself up to it. I’m not stressing over it though…it is what it is, right?
Here are a few projects I’ve been working on:
Jelly Roll Rug. 40 x 2 & 1/2″ strips. 2 & 1/2″ batting strips (I bought it in a roll). I didn’t actually use a pattern. I watched a couple YouTube videos and read a few blog posts plus popped in to a workshop that our local quilt group hosted. It is a bit of a long, boring process but I do like the results. Didn’t think I’d ever make another one – but I have the supplies if I change my mind. (Go figure, right?!)
Next? The Clam Shell quilt – called JUST FLOAT. I used 4″ templates from Eppiflex. Each row took about an hour for the stitching alone. YLI 100 silk thread – which I love for applique. About 100 fabrics – mostly from my sister K2’s extensive (!) stash.
I wanted to add an improv KRIS touch to the quilt so I went with hand applique words JUST FLOAT. I landed on those words from K2. For at least 20 or more years I have associated those words with her. I’m not sure if she would say it was her mantra…but she has said it enough for it to stick.
I thought about doing various words on all 4 borders but after looking through Kathy Doughty’s latest book Organic Applique, I decided to give her technique a whirl so I used her technique, flower shapes and design for the remaining 3 borders.
Next up…hand big stitch quilt with Aurifil 12 wt. Once basted, it might wait until Autumn for cooler weather.
Quilted Village is my current piecing project. This is a BOM pattern by Janet Miller. My friend purchased the pattern and kit a few years back. It was that far down on her UFO list that when I was asking (begging?) UFO projects from people, she gave it to me.
I’ve always admired the pattern so it was a win win. I have the center finished and now will start on the house blocks. Since someone else has done all the work and all I have to do is follow directions, it will be a perfect project for those days when my muse has disappeared.
This next one I’m calling “My Favorite Word”. My friend from Chicago sent me this grey starburst chunk of fabric and said she couldn’t wait to see what I did with it. Oh, the pressure! I think she was expecting me to do some FMQing but I went with hand embroidery. It got shoved aside for the last year or so but it has surfaced again and I’m ready to put more work into it. I have a plan for more embroidered words, motifs and vines and then improv pieced borders (stars? circles? triangles?).
If you have a favorite word, let me know in the comments….I just might include it!
And finally, this is a color palette I’m working on. I don’t exactly know what I’m going to do with it – I have several ideas percolating. Raspberry, Charcoal and Caramel with some warm-ish backgrounds thrown in. As I sometimes do, I’ve clipped a bit of each fabric and put it on card stock for reference when shopping.