Friday Quilt Night and stuff

I enjoy the monthly quilting nights that our group has down at a local school. The lighting is good, the room is well set up and equipped and most of all the company is great.

I took a small wallhanging with me to quilt but forgot to take the thread holder with me - well that is my excuse, it doesn't help that I couldn't decide what colour thread to use - or should I use different colours. I did a Ricky Timms Convergence with fruit fabrics, red, orange, lemon and green. I thought of doing nice swirly lines to break up the criss cross of the pattern. Anyhow that wasn't done and I did a small bag instead with some of my Japanese fabrics. I hadn't really thought out what I was doing much and should have selected a plain fabric to bring with me for lining. And then I really should have used some pellon to give it a bit more body but I was being a tad lazy which really didn't serve me well in the end. There wasn't quite enough fabric of the ones I selected to cut out in a single piece and so had to do some piecing which in the end you don't notice. It turned out well after all the mistakes and reverse stitching that was made. After discovering the blot Tote-along I am keen to make myself some more bags and try to have a variety of styles as well as colours - it is fun to have a different bag for every occasion and event.

I saw a quilt pattern that I liked in a Keepsake Quilting catalogue - actually it was a cushion pattern that I liked. Of course it met my favourite criteria - super simple. It was made in batiks in the picture and that would be a good option or in dyed fabrics. The decision would be whether to have the same fabric for sashing throughout or different fabrics for the sashing - it would work with different fabrics. And then of course I could use my commercial fabrics for it instead - they really do need to be used. That is where I really need to find some good patterns - I enjoy scrap quilts.

On the inspiration front I joined a new group called Abstract-Challenge and they have a monthly challenge on a pre determined subject - it is to be an 8 x 8 quilt and the subject is to be interpreted in abstract. They encourage lots of talking about inspiration, design, colours and then of course to submit a photo for everyone to see. I am hoping that this will help me get away from all the traditional patterns (not that there is anything wrong with them) but I want to do more art quilts.

43 Things

I have just been over at 43 things trying to keep up to date and make some entries - more like plans about how I am going to achieve them or my progress on tackling them. I think I will need to make some paper lists to help me with them but I find such things so personal that writing them where someone (that I know) might read them is hard. I find it difficult to share my feelings and emotions. Writing lists does help me keep my mind clear about what I am doing but those generally are different types of lists. My 43 things list is almost like a list of quasi resolutions and I suppose that I don't want the feeling of failure when things go wrong and I don't achieve what I would like to. I know that nothing can change dramatically overnight (or can they). I think I procrastinate too much to voluntarily make major changes and even knowing this doesn't help me. It is not too late to change but perhaps if I make small changes every day, a little goes a long way and a little every day soon adds up. Now I need to make a list of those small changes that I can make every day to remind myself that things can be better organised and I can achieve more.

Where did it go?

I know I had a wonderful inspiration for a new project.

I went through all my dyed fabrics yesterday and sort of sorted them into groups of colour and multicoloured to see if anything called to me - it didn't but last night when I was asleep...............

I am sure that it was a wonderful idea - darn I should have woken up and dived down to the lounge to draw on some paper - none of this notebook by the bedside for me - for a start there isn't a lamp there and I don't think the rest of the family would appreciate a light going on and disturbing their sleep (husband and three cats that is). I am sure there were circles somewhere - it is Shirley's fault that I am thinking in circles. But what was I doing with the circles.?

Oh well then it might come back to me later - want to do some overdyeing and dye printing next week and that might bring on some inspiration.

It is difficult dyeing multicoloured fabrics - not so much the act of dyeing but I look at the fabrics and don't want to cut them up and I am seriously not up to par doing a whole cloth quilt or anything remotely arty with my quilting, just meanderings of a giddy spider.

I bought an art magazine recently that was wonderful to look at - quite different to looking at quilt magazines yet so many of the art works could translate very easily into fabric - there were one or two that I rather liked the look of and thought were quite inspiring. Let's see where that might take me then.

Indecision

I want to be getting on and starting a new project, I know there are a lot that need to be finished but I want the excitement of starting something new. But what? I look at all my fabrics - I love them dearly but nothing calls to me. I wonder should I do some printing - I want to do some printing but again no strong direction comes to me. Should I do some silk paper - well yes that would be fun but to what end am I making the paper? If I have no goal, no inspiration then there is no creative spirit coming forward.

I do want to do some overdyeing on some pieces and have bought some more navy dye to add to my stash - I want to do some deep dark blues, reds and purples for the overdyes, then do some discharging and then some overdyeing again in pale washes. Hmmm, I might just get the fabric out, plan the ones to be used for overdyeing and decide on the colours for them. That will be a project for another weekend I think when I can dedicate some time.

I did notice on a couple of blogs that some dyers who put their dye on with a brush then let the fabric dry (flat). I am not sure of the benefits of that but it could be an interesting way of putting the dark overdye colours on which could be quite rough with the brushing and leaving streaks of light colours as well as a small amount of scrunching to cause some texture as well.

But I still need to get on and find some inspiration to start a new project.

Time Flies

It is hard to believe that it is nearly 9 weeks since Ken left for his trip. I was thinking that I had not done much in the way of quilting compared to what I was hoping to do but when I wrote down all the things that I had done it was a big list. My last job are two 9 patches for a swap and finish sewing the binding down on Tony's quilt so that I can take it to Christchurch with me. And of course I have four tops that have been sandwiched and are just waiting for me to find time to start quilting them.

Ken will be coming back to lots, broadband (without the dramas), the water tank saga (I think the tank needs a good clean out), the broken tree limb (or what is left of it) and whatever else can be found.

I am trying to find my next big sewing project and so far nothing has called to me particularly strongly. I really need to get in and start to use more of my stash. Now that I have decided that it is okay to send quilts away to be quilted I can sew larger tops quite happily. Mind you I will hold the three back that I want to send away until after I come back from the US - I want to save my money for the trip first. Of course if I want to commit fabric to larger quilt tops then I want to be more sure of what I am doing with an even larger amount of fabric at stake. I know that my love of the scrap quilts will dominate my decisions.

There are the fabric collections to take into account as well - the cats, horses, ethnic, japanese, greys, bali batiks, and some other smaller sets of co-ordinating fabrics. I need to start thinking about some of these and how to use them.