Abendrot - Early Decisions Made

Quite a while ago, I picked up this backing yardage.  I originally thought about making a pink and yellow quilt but eventually decided to go with a "yellow-gold" approach.

Here is the name I've chosen for this project.

These were the first half of the 2.5" strips needed for my sixteen-patch plan.

But as you can guess from the right-hand edge of the photo, there were more strips to be cut.

This was the stack pulled for the second half of the strips . . . 

It was challenging to get a "true color" photo of these lovely yellows.  None of these images show how pretty the colors are in real life.

I need to get these strips cut so the yardage can be re-shelved before Little Man arrives (tomorrow!) for his extended stay.

Once time permits (most likely after the first of the year), I'll get busy and piece the top for Abendrot.

Quiltdivajulie

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"Mother Nature has the best box of crayons."

Nature Hills Nursery

Holiday Planning

It was time to deal with it . . .

I sorted through the Christmas stash

to clear off the shelf it has occupied

for the past couple of years.

Some of the pieces have already found new homes

while others have been designated as backings.

And then there is the rest . . .

STEP ONE

Feliz Navidad has spent a year

waiting to be sewn together.

I have been stalled because I didn't like

the scrappy conglomeration I had pulled

to use for the back of the quilt.

THAT has now changed.

The still-scrappy back will involve some piecing

but it will not be as scrappy as before.

Goal:  To complete this for use in December.

STEP TWO

Merry and Bright has been planned for over a year.

Intended to be a  table topper for our kitchen,

the design has changed so many times it is ridiculous.

Final decision?

M and B will be a sixteen block zig zag

measuring 64" x 64" - 

the sets of strips are cut and ready to pair,

sew, assemble, and finish

in time to use in December.

STEP THREE

Sleigh Bells will be a simple-to-sew-top 

based on  pairs of Moda Bella red and scrappy greens.

Rectangles were cut at 4.5" x 6.5"

Backing fabrics are chosen and waiting.

Target finish - 2020

STEP FOUR

Jingle Bells will feature die cut 6" HSTs.

The neutrals are ready to run through the die cutter.

The scrappy reds and greens need a good pressing

and then they, too, can be die cut.

Backing is chosen and waiting.

Target finish - 2020

STEP FIVE

And then there is Deck the Halls.

This was going to be a log cabin 

made with 2.5" strips.

But I changed my mind.

Instead it will feature 

scrappy red snowballs

and scrappy green nine patches

with a multitude of light neutrals.

Backing is chosen and waiting.

Target finish - 2020 

These are the five project boxes

and the five file folders with design notes, etc.

It feels good to have these sorted out.

And with the pieces counted and cut, 

I'll be far less tempted to waste any more time

changing my mind about possible designs.

AND that shelf is nearly empty now.

* * *

This week has been take-in and set up for this year's

Davies Manor Quilt and Fiber Art Show.

The show runs Friday - Saturday - Sunday from 10A to 4P.

If you are in the Memphis metro area,

come see us!

Quiltdivajulie

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“It is a happiness to wonder; it is a happiness to dream.”

Edgar Allen Poe

SO Many Ideas

Everywhere I look, I see inspiration.

That leads to a LOT of good ideas for future quilt projects.

The problem is - I have too many good ideas.

To help calm the chaos in my head

I spent the better part of one day

writing down each and every one of the projects

that are simmering in my mind, 

have fabrics pulled ready to begin,

are partially cut out,

are cut out and ready to sew,

have blocks completed ready to assemble,

have tops made with backs to be sewn,

or

have tops and backs ready for quilting.

EGADS!

No wonder my head has felt like it might explode.

Within minutes of completing that list, I axed five projects 

because there were so many others that I wanted to make more.

After that, here is what I did:

Step One - made sure each project had a unique name

Step Two - listed all those project names in an Excel spreadsheet

Step Three - identified each project's stage on the spreadsheet

Step Four - determined which year I want to finish each project

Step Five - reviewed once again how much 

I really want to make each project

(another four were eliminated at this point)

Step Six - moved all projects not targeted for 2019 finishes

to another spreadsheet in the same workbook.

Ahh - that's better.

Now I can see what I want to complete yet this year

knowing the other ideas are safe on the second sheet.

So how many are on the Finish in 2019 list?

Twenty-Five

Five have blocks made and are ready to turn into tops.

Nine are waiting to be quilted and finished.

The remaining eleven are partially started

and just need to be dealt with one at a time.

So here is my game plan

to deal with the Finish in 2019 list:

Stay current with my 100 Day Project (Optic Strings).

Move forward with Optic Geese - the redesign.

Share my presentation with a local guild

at the end of August.

(rescheduled from February when I was ill)

Teach at The Folk School September 8-14.

Focus on projects that are closest to completion

with a balance between quilting/finishing

and the piecing side of things.

And I especially want to be sure that some

 of the tops waiting to be quilted are finished

in time for the October 29-30 take-in days 

for this year's 23rd annual Davies Quilt Show.

I'll deal with the other 20-plus projects 

listed as Finish in 2020 and Beyond

after the winter holidays.

* * *

And I must beg for comment amnesty once again.

It has been a hectic few days and I am

about 100 comments behind in responding.

I really appreciate the thoughtful/insightful

and often funny things you've shared!!

Quiltdivajulie

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“If plan A doesn’t work, the alphabet has 25 more letters – or 204 if you’re in Japan.”
Claire Cook

Thinking Things Through

backing fabrics on the left, star colors on the right, inspiration scarf in the center

One of the things that happens

when you spend long hours not feeling well

is to think about all the things you could be doing instead.

After seeing loads of photos on IG and the web,

and just before I ended up in the hospital

I put together this fabric pull 

for Melanie at Southern Charm Quilts 

Bad Girl quilt along.

Something about those Andromeda Star blocks

called loudly to me . . . 

Star fabrics on the left, the inspiration scarf, and a mix of low volumes on the right

My color inspiration came from

the glorious hand painted silk scarf

made for me a few years ago

by Lynne's mother.

But the more I thought about it,

the less I wanted to do all that cutting and piecing.

I even re-designed the quilt to suit myself

with 20 stars and no dresden alternate blocks,

but I still didn't want to go any further than this fabric pull.

And so this particular squirrel-ish project 

is not going to happen.

* * *

I've also decided that three other smaller projects 

with fabric pulls are headed back into the stash.

I just don't want to make them either.

* * *

Sometimes I think we need to stop

and let things rest for a week or so 

before diving in head first.

(hopefully without needing to be hospitalized)

* * *

As my energy begins to return,

the primary emphasis will be to take apart

these pulled fabric groups and get the yardage 

back on the open shelves with the rest of the stash.

The next step will be to re-assess all other planned projects

and change them up as needed to keep my interest level in place.

By then, I hope to be stitching again!

Quiltdivajulie

Realizations

I know that a lot of you groan/laugh/cringe/sigh

when I share photos after I do a major clean up.

I get it - really, I do.

But there is something about that process

that helps me clarify what I want to be working on

and where I want to put my energies.

And many of you groan/laugh/cringe/sigh

when I share a photo like this one 

of all the different projects I have in project boxes.

Many of these are still in the gestation phase

meaning they may or may not ever happen

but some sort of fabric pull took place in anticipation.

Others are cut out and ready to sew.

Still others are waiting to be cut out.

It's all okay with me - my brain works that way.

I like things neat and easy to find when the urge strikes.

As you can tell, one of those clean-ups happened

over the past few days and I have to say it feels

pretty darned awesome to walk into the studio now.

So why did I title this post Realizations?

For a number of reasons - including these:

1.  Despite a boat load of good intentions,

I am not going to make pincushions - 

so I've given my stash of crushed walnut shells 

to a couple of the women in the Wednesday group.

2.  The project box I had started for another Scrap Vortex quilt

has been dismantled with the contents sorted into several 

small batches of related scraps so I can make several

liberated mini quilts or other small projects.

3.  The t-shirts younger son had stashed for a someday quilt

have been sorted through with his input.

There were only two that survived the process

and they will become pillows for his apartment.

4.  I downsized a while back in terms of the size of quilt tops

I prefer to make -- typically 48" x 60" range.

Now I'm thinking I might want to drop the size 

on some of the gestating projects to wall quilt range.

That way I can play with more different combinations.

5.  I have filled a large box with books 

and patterns that will be donated 

to the book sale during this year's Davies Quilt Show.

(I'm not going to make any of the projects and 

I don't need/want the stress of seeing them on my shelves)

6.  And as much as I enjoy teaching classes,

after the end of this year I'm seriously thinking about

ending that process so there is more time for making and

other things that have been set aside for too long.

(I love sharing what I do here on the blog and I have

ZERO plans to change that part of my process)

* * *

With all that said and shared,

I'll be back next Monday with another post.

For now I need to sit and sew / quilt . . . 

Quiltdivajulie

THAT Feels Better

It may not look like much but it is.

Over the past two weeks,

I've been culling and editing project boxes.

At one point I mentioned there were EIGHT quilts

in the Unexpected and Unconventional book

that I wanted to use for inspiration.

As of now FIVE of those are still in the works.

Two were scuttled completely due to

there not being enough hours in the day/week/year.

The third was re-imagined using a 

different non-UandU vintage quilt as inspiration.

The chaos in my head involving ideas for

Sujata's UandUqal and the AHIQ Red challenge

has been somewhat calmed, at least for the time being.

* * *

Elsewhere on the shelves,

fabrics pulled from the stash

for a class shop sample have been die cut 

for an entirely different project of my own

since that class may not ever happen.

(or if it does, it will be at least a year from now)

* * *

I've settled on which fabrics to use

for the class shop sample that I'll be teaching

later this year involving Gwen's liberated baskets.

* * *

And those large empty boxes on the lower shelf?

Those projects were scuttled with the fabrics 

separated and sorted back into the stash.

I love pulling fabrics into groups

and imaging ways to use them.

But when I get too many groups pulled at once

my brain shifts into overload mode

and I can't concentrate on anything in the studio.

Reducing the number of potential projects

is always helpful - especially since

the fabrics are still in the stash where I can 

pull them again when another bright idea strikes.

* * *

This week I need to begin pulling quilts

for two presentations and an all-day workshop

scheduled for the last week of this month.

In between I'll be stitching as time permits

but there may not be any new posts for a few days

since leader-enders and such aren't very photogenic.

Quiltdivajulie

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"Clutter forces the brain to consume energy. Create uncluttered environments instead."
Carmine Gallo

Wordless Wednesday

Indecision

Over the weekend, I pulled out the layer cake

and took it apart so I could see what was inside.

I also pulled some companionable yardage from my stash.

After walking around the group multiple times

(seeing the colors from different perspectives),

thumbing through several of the books on my shelf,

and considering enough options to give myself a huge headache,

I stacked it all back together and set it aside.

There was no "eureka" moment.

If there is one thing I've learned about my process,

it's that I need to sit back and wait for that spark.

This one needs to gestate a bit longer.

Quiltdivajulie