I can't believe its been 11 days since I last wrote! But I've been so busy! I spent most of the 29th sewing the Classic blocks or picking the fabrics for them. And I went to a quilt show over the weekend, hoping to get inspired for the "Big Disappointment Quilt" I've put aside.
I've got 6 out of 8 blocks done for my Splendid Sampler sew-along Skills Sampler and 6 out of 8 for my Classic Sampler--that's 8 more finished & one in the works. And inspiration finally hit for the quilt top that I put aside. I'm so excited!
I decided not to make the embroidered #7 for the Skills because I've been embroidering since childhood--skills are fine in that area.
I've got 6 out of 8 blocks done for my Splendid Sampler sew-along Skills Sampler and 6 out of 8 for my Classic Sampler--that's 8 more finished & one in the works. And inspiration finally hit for the quilt top that I put aside. I'm so excited!
I decided not to make the embroidered #7 for the Skills because I've been embroidering since childhood--skills are fine in that area.
And I'm still working on the needle-turn applique for block #4 in the Classic Sampler. Block 8 came out Thursday & I hope to have that made for both projects before Sunday's block is released.Here are the blocks for the Classic Sampler so far:
So many of the quilters posting on Pat Sloan's Splendid Sampler FB page are using fabric collections for this project and every one of their blocks matches all the others. I'm a bit jealous ('cause the fabrics are gorgeous!), but I remind myself why I started this project in the first place--to use up all those fabrics I have never used--and try to remember that there will be 100 different blocks when we're done. That will mean more than enough matching blocks for several small quilts, or a raucous big quilt of many many fabrics!
This past weekend I went to the 25th annual Quilt Show at Farmpark for inspiration for my "Big Disappointment Quilt." I call it that because it was going to be so serene and calming and zen when I designed it in my mind. But after I finished the quilt top and laid it out to see it all together, it was just boring. And embarrassingly so. The right third was just as I expected, but the rest was just not good (I see now the value of a design wall. That will be my next project!).
The Quilt Show was wonderful! I was hoping to find quilting patterns and styles that would work on my quilt. I looked at most of the quilts just for the stitching. In fact, I didn't really look at the "Best in Show" quilt, except for the quilting stitches, until we were leaving.
But I did look very closely at featured-artist Pat Pauly's works--stitches and piecing. I was fascinated by her painted images, her use of color, the way she pieced her images and the wild quilting stitches and designs. I was 6 inches from her quilts studying the details. And then I was standing 10 feet back, soaking in the whole quilts. I was completely inspired! Pat knows how to follow the rules, and how to break them in such a fascinating way.
What I came away with from the Show wasn't to do my quilt like Pat's, but to break some rules that just weren't working for this quilt. I'm cutting the quilt into pieces and re-working the parts that fall fare boring. I'm adding some more color to areas that disappoint me and am sketching out my quilting to be in sections instead of an over-all pattern.
Some of the new parts are done and I'm feeling much better about the quilt. I've got more work to do, and I'm looking forward to getting to it!
This past weekend I went to the 25th annual Quilt Show at Farmpark for inspiration for my "Big Disappointment Quilt." I call it that because it was going to be so serene and calming and zen when I designed it in my mind. But after I finished the quilt top and laid it out to see it all together, it was just boring. And embarrassingly so. The right third was just as I expected, but the rest was just not good (I see now the value of a design wall. That will be my next project!).
The Quilt Show was wonderful! I was hoping to find quilting patterns and styles that would work on my quilt. I looked at most of the quilts just for the stitching. In fact, I didn't really look at the "Best in Show" quilt, except for the quilting stitches, until we were leaving.
But I did look very closely at featured-artist Pat Pauly's works--stitches and piecing. I was fascinated by her painted images, her use of color, the way she pieced her images and the wild quilting stitches and designs. I was 6 inches from her quilts studying the details. And then I was standing 10 feet back, soaking in the whole quilts. I was completely inspired! Pat knows how to follow the rules, and how to break them in such a fascinating way.
What I came away with from the Show wasn't to do my quilt like Pat's, but to break some rules that just weren't working for this quilt. I'm cutting the quilt into pieces and re-working the parts that fall fare boring. I'm adding some more color to areas that disappoint me and am sketching out my quilting to be in sections instead of an over-all pattern.
Some of the new parts are done and I'm feeling much better about the quilt. I've got more work to do, and I'm looking forward to getting to it!