Slow but Steady

I am slowly finishing Bonnie Hunter's Unity Quilt. In the last few weeks I have finished part 5 - 

and part 6 and am now working on part 7. I am a little over half way through this part and only have one more to go!

Snow Day Sewing

We have had a fair amount of snow since the beginning of the year and it has been relatively cold as well. This means outside projects are not much fun at the moment and other than taking care of all the critters (alpacas, donkeys, chickens and goats) I am working inside as much as possible.  I manage to squeak about an hour or two a day to work on my quilt projects. 

I have been working on Bonnie Hunter's Unity quilt that she did as a mystery at the beginning of the lockdowns. Way back in March! I have finally finished part 4.

Because I have to stop and start working on projects to do other work and I like to multi-task projects - it can take me a time to finish piecing a quilt. I am also working on a quilt that I think I started in either 2013 or 2014 as a block of the month from Cobblestone Quilters Guild in Charleston, SC. I have 12 blocks but have divided it into two lap size quilts and I have started sashing the blocks of the first quilt. Of course I have a studio full of fabric - but do I have white on white (not a fabric I use a great deal)  to finish the half and quarter blocks on the edges. That would be a no. A good excuse to buy more fabric?

I cleaned up the studio and listed out all the UFOs, both large and small. This is the list of larger quilt projects that I have started and not completed. If they are not moving forward at the end of this year - I think they will need to be given to someone else who might get them done.

I am linking into Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday and guess what this is post number two of the year - as many as I managed last year - so one more and 2021 is ahead of the game.

A River Runs Through On Display

I finished my quilt, A River Runs Through a few weeks ago - in time for it to be in the "Anything Goes" show at the Ashe County Arts Council gallery. It will be up until March 22, 2019.

Viewing Summer

A hint of Fall 

Both Seasons 

Viewing Fall

I am pretty please with how it worked. One quilt - several different views. I will make on another dimensional quilt in the future as - there are still some construction issues I am not completely satisfied with.

The last few weeks since the quilt was finished have been taken up with being sick (terrible cold), traveling to visit family, and working on farm related projects. The weather is starting to warm up here in the mountains so working in the studio is getting easier. I don't have any major projects planned at the moment - so I think the next few weeks will be used to finish up a lot of long standing UFO's and getting my garden ready for Spring.

I am linking up to Nina-Marie's blog. I would love to take her Open Access challenge - but for now I think I need to focus on finishing things before starting something new.

Good Fortune for 2019

First of all I would like to wish all a Happy New Year and Good Fortune for 2019!

This is the earliest I have finished (at least worked on) a Good Fortune clue this year. I only did two sheets worth - but until the reveal and I decide how to use the pieces I have made - I did not want to make a lot of strips.  Although I think they could be used in other quilts.

I have enjoyed the past month of working in my studio and restarting my blog. Having to write something every day has forced me to make time to work in the studio on quilting (for the most part) and not let the farm continue to take over my life.

2019 - Balance.

Not only work but play.
Not only fiber but fabric.
Not only stress but peace.

Day 24 of the of the 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge - the last I will link to. In 2019 my goal is to write between 2 and 3 times a week. I will be curious to look back in December next year and see how I did.

Pieced!

A very productive day in the studio - the pillow shams are finally pieced and ready to be quilted!

I plan on quilting them on New Year's Day, for what every you do on New Year's Day is what the year will bring. And I would like the 2019 to be a year of much quilting.  I have new rulers that I purchase as part of a grant I was awarded from our local arts council and have not yet been able to work with them.  I acquired a ruler foot for my Bernina in January and it has seen very little use, so hopefully this small project will get me going.  

Day 23 of the of the 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge - again I missed a few days but December is a hard month the try a daily challenge. That being said, I am enjoying documenting my progress in my studio and hope to continue - if not daily, several times a week next year.

Pillow Shams for Seasons of the Mountains

With the end of the year rapidly approaching and our January guild meeting not to far in the distant future, I decided I needed to get back on the pillow shams needed for the raffle quilt that should have been drawn for in December but was delayed do to our epic snow storm. (Thank goodness, as the shams where not even close to being done at the beginning of this month.)

The raffle quilt is constructed with 8" finished log cabin blocks with an occasional applique block and starts at the bottom with fall colors then moves through summer, spring and winter until at the very top of the quilt is the sky.

I decided to continue the sky in the pillow shams and have the central portion just about constructed. I scaled down the blocks to be only 6" finished as they are better fit for size required.

I need to add the corner setting triangles but plan to applique snowflakes on the upper, larger ones.

To make it the correct size, I will probably add some type of simple border.

Then to quilt it and sew on the back.

I have plenty of time - right?

Day 22 of the of the 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge.

Anything Goes

I am starting to work on an three dimensional art quilt* for the Anything Goes exhibit at the Ashe County Arts Council gallery in February. I have made three-dimensional quilts before but have never been completely satisfied with the end results. The last one I made was an epic fail - but made for a good laugh. I was restricted by the hanging requirements of a traditional quilt show and the weight of the piece on the front pulled the piece out of balance.

This time I hope by making a piece for a gallery, I can play with the hanging method as well as the actual piece itself. 

I started making a paper model yesterday and did some rough watercolor pencil work on it today. I am trying to have two different views of the mountains - one in spring and one in the fall. Depending upon where the viewer is standing will dictate the season they see.

Spring

Fall

Front View

I still need to do a full sketch of the mountains and I plan to do a small mock up in fabric to test out the hanging method. I hope by starting now I will have time to do some playing and not just rush to finish a piece for a deadline.

Day 20 of the of the 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge. I missed yesterday - but as I have now written more posts this month than in the previous five years - I think the challenge is working. A habit is being developed!

*This project is funded as a cooperative venture of Alleghany Arts Council, Ashe County Arts Council, Watauga Arts Council, and Wilkes Art Gallery with support from a Regional Artist Project Grant of the North Carolina Arts Council, a Division of the Department of Natural and Cultural Resource.

Just a Few Half-Square Triangles

I managed to get to Bonnie Hunter's Good Fortune Mystery today - for about 45 minutes.  I am planning to just do a little of each clue and hope that I can at least construct one or two blocks by the end. They might just end up being some orphan blocks or put into something else.  It is at least getting me to the sewing machine!

This is day #5 of the 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge.