100 day project

I saw our local Art Council has a meeting for a group of people doing the 100 day project. I was curious and read more about this. I am pretty busy so I didn’t jump in on the local meeting but I found that there is a virtual community that is doing 100 day projects also.

I thought you had to be a fine artist painting on oil or draw to participate. I see online that they are encouraging all artists. I thought my idea of a whole cloth quilt would fall into this project. It is something I have wanted to do but never tried. It is time consuming and needs lots of testing and background work. It is also something that is all about the process not the result. Even if all you can devote to the project is 10 minutes a day.

Wait…. that is exactly how I make things. It isn’t for the speed and number of end results anymore. I am slowing down and enjoying the process. One stitch and one block at a time. Think, breathe, create. Sometimes in very small time increments.

http://the100dayproject.com/2016-100dayproject/

Here is a link to read more about the project. I have joined the Facebook page too. I am really working on the project even if what I show is drawing Zentangles or ironing fabrics. It is thinking and processing time.

You have time to join in online. You would have to call Gaylord Area Council for the Arts if you want to join in with the local artists.

This is my start to exploring what tangles would work in a whole cloth quilt.

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A pretty queen and a crown

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Here is the latest queen sized quilt that I have long armed for the daughter of one of my 90 year old customers. I free motioned an all over feather design. I used my favorite Sew Fine thread and a Hobbs 80/20 batting. I really like the block pattern and setting. It is something I have never seen before and the fabrics are just wonderful!!

Winter arrived. Here are a few pictures to let you know even though it is an El Nino year and snow arrived in late December life is the same. I am happy that the roads are clear, the daylight is getting longer and it is not so cold!

This week I had to suck it up and get a crown on my 6 year old molar. I fractured it when I was a teen on a jaw breaker, had multiple fillings and then recently it had fractures starting up. I have avoided a crown for 10 years because I thought I had to have a root canal. Nope, I had to get 2 shots to completely numb it but the dentist was able to do all the work in one sitting, crown and all. I whined about it for years and it went just fine. I don’t know where my fear of the dentist came from. This tooth has bothered me with sensitivity and such for years.

So there you have it, my royal week of queens and crowns.

Vicki

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Working on the home

We bought this table last summer at IKEA. I knew with our schedule it would be after the holidays before we could get it together and move furniture. We have a little electric “fireplace” that we brought into the living room next to it. I have a few ideas to hide the wires and I am pleased with the dark wood and clean lines. My house is old and filled with old furniture that I am slowly replacing. The modernization is a slow process of a really old house yet I want to preserve some of the old features that are cool like the doors and metal register covers. My husband had to put this together so what did I do until I was needed to move things?

I long armed feathers on this lovely customer quilt. I really like this top, it is a pattern I have never seen before. It is on point and it is laying pretty flat, nicely done!!!

It is really cold and we are making up for the lack of snow in November and December. See snow mountain at the property line, it is a parking lot for the school next to our house. I am glad I have so many quilts!!!

I joined a yarn club where you get a box a month for a year. It is  worsted weight yarn. I think I am going to knit a simple cowl to highlight the gorgeousness of the yarn.

So I have lots to keep me busy ! Overall, winter is a time of being home and domestic. I have some deep cleaning planned and a bit of organizing. I have things to get rid of and projects to do. Overall, the amount of snow  wont stop me from doing that kind of stuff!

Vicki

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Live and learn

 

Here is a quilt that was a group project of my quilt group before I started to attend. It is really pretty cool and it is destined to  get finished soon. I believe it will be a fundraiser. I love the top– it is the first picture and the back is the second picture. I am going to take some time to practice making some little improve blocks like this and put them together like what is on the back.

Here are two views of the final version of the improve challenge the group did a couple of months ago. It is also supposed to be a fundraiser for our community skate park.  It was a challenge that we started with one block, had a set group of fabrics to pick from and we each took a turn making something to add to the quilt. This was all one on a Sunday and took all day to get this far.

I was next to last, had a few fabrics to pick from and I had a strippy mess made. See below. The last person took the pieces home and spent hours doing her connecting pieces and cut my mess up and reset it, I am not going to say that it is cheating but it definitely has it advantage!!! It is beautiful. See below to see where this beautiful quilt top came from.

The last person had a challenge but I think that I would have done better if I had more than a hour to do my  part, strippy mess is upper right. I was a little shaken in my confidence after this and really felt bad that what I had made was so terrible. I am glad something pretty could be salvaged. This was right before I was rejected from QuiltCon and that stung a little too. I thought I “got” modern quilting and improv. I don’t think that I do after these two experiences.

When you need to get back on track you make a quilt that has everything planned out. I made this commissioned quilt from a kit for a co worker who is expecting a grandbaby. I completed the quilt and quilted it before the baby came. It is called Giggles by Jaybird quilts using her side kick ruler. LOVE it and feel back on track with quilting.

 And I just bought this cool ruler ( quick curve ruler by Sew Kind of Wonderful)  and pattern. I have some really cool fabrics that I recently purchase…. maybe Tula Pink fabric, may be something else…. I will have to think about it.

Here is a Queen sized quilt on the frame currently and I am making hook feathers all over on it. It is a pretty quilt for a customer.

Long weekend, MLK on Monday… what can I get done?

Vicki

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This week snapshot

 

 

I have been doing tons of research on the internet this week. This picture is a rare photo of the inside of Eilean Donan Castle and I thought it represented all this research. I got my ancestry DNA testing back and it showed a very high ancestry dna of Ireland, Scotland and England.  The Scandinavian part comes from the Vikings settling in the region(one of my ancestors hailed from the Isle of Mann). I have found ancestors from all areas. I also found most of the verbal family history to be accurate and TRUE! My mothers paternal people are Dutch and Scots/Irish. My Fathers people are English and Irish. I have found pictures of my ancestors, family crests, land ownerships, traveled the migration , some lived and died in poorhouses and others were honored War veterans.  I have lots of questions still but the subscription has been so worth it this winter!!!

Here is the first customer quilt finished this year! I tried to free motion quilt a googly eyed stitch on it. I love Whirls N’ Swirls videos for ideas on the long arm and this was one of her inspirations. I think it really is cute. Nice job Sue, this Halloween quilt is really fantastic!

Here is a quilt block I am testing for Quiltmaker, I see a Halloween theme this week!

Making me a bookshelf quilt, I may add selvege edges to it. Easy an almost an improve style!

 

Then the rest of the week I was drawing ideas out for a whole cloth quilt. I think I will try to do a small one. I am liking my obsession with coloring and it helps me wind down in the evening

Not such a good week for diet and exercise. I have been sick with a bronchial thing so breathing is messed up. I hope to get back on the exercise routine next week. I was eating so much better and then I ate out all day yesterday. I will get that going to . I have to get more healthy and lose weight because I am feeling it.

Off to a good start overall for 2016.

Vicki

Hello 2016

Been thinking about what should be done this year. Oh the usual things are keep the house clean, organize closets this winter, highland games in the summer…. but I do usually pick a word to represent this year. This word represents my goals.

I have to say it is Consistency. I need to lose weight. I need to get to the end of my UFO bin which is very close. I need to get my commissioned and long arm quilts done. All of this is done by working on things every day, consistently. I truly believe that it is what you do every day vs what you do once a week in a marathon that helps me meet my goals. One step at a time.

Here is the list of goals for the year.

1. I must lose weight. I am exactly the same weight as  I have been for years. I exercise 2-3 times a week. I need to manage my diet more.
2. I have organizing that needs to happen.
3. I want to have no tops waiting to be quilted of my own. There are only a couple waiting.
4. I want to finish my batik UFO project that was a BOM.
5. I have planned to make a bookshelf quilt, 100 modern city sampler, a Night sky quilt and continue to test blocks for quiltmaker.
6. Continue to work on adding to my fairy garden this summer.

I have to say that the list is very doable. The constant one is losing weight and that I have had limited success but I need to do more. Consistency is what will see me through!

Off to a good start!

Vicki

Holiday

I stayed home today on this News Years Eve and did a bunch of sewing. I am doing Pat Sloan’s 2016 mystery quilt. It’s free and on her website patsloan.com I am using up fabrics that I have on hand. I have never done a mystery quilt before. This will be a pretty sweet garden themed quilt with 16 inch blocks. I love it! Feel free to join in it is a monthly block.

 

After Christmas, we (my husband, son and I) went to see my family. We have the week off so we had some fun planned. After seeing the family,  we went to an IMAX theater and saw Star Wars. I wasn’t disappointed. No spoilers here but I loved it so much that I want to see this movie again!

On Monday, we went to the Detroit Institute of Art before the Quick Lane bowl at Ford Field. It was a great game with Central Michigan University vs Minnesota’s Golden Gophers. Awesome football in a great stadium. I have to say that it was a fun day even though the weather turned bad with ice. We did some shopping and took our son to a dream guitar store. Unfortunately, we came home to lots of snow and about 4 ft piled up at the end of the drive. Took the guys a really long time to get it opened up.

Here are some family pics from my parents home.

I think tonight it may be warm enough to walk downtown here in Gaylord to see the second annual ball drop. It was so cold last year I couldn’t bear the cold. Gonna ring in the New Year with football and a ball drop!

I am going to make some resolutions but I haven’t fully decided what they are gonna be. Mostly about health and getting a couple of things done. More about that tomorrow.

Vicki