WEEKLY UPDATE

This has been a very busy week.  We have had a day or two of snow and that always creates a great deal of excitement since snowfall is not routine for us in southeast Tennessee.  Well, at least a lot of snow isn't.  We had about 8 inches this time.

I become more energetic in the sewing room when it snows.  It is like a "free hall pass" to do all the sewing I can possibly cram in.

I made three more of my low volume improv blocks.  They are pieced but not quilted yet.  This makes six of the nine needed for my guest room bed.  I wanted to complete four of these blocks according to my Proposal blog.  I still have a week and a half to go.

This week I will concentrate on getting them quilted.

 

This is  a new improv piece using batiks.  This is part of my Tree Series  quilts.  It is not an optical illusion, the blocks are off center of each other!  On purpose!!

This is the third piece of quilting that I worked on.  This is my kaleidoscope and it is quilted and part of the binding is finished.  This is a completion from my Proposal Blog post.

The Pineapple Block workshop has been postponed due to bad weather.  May not get it in during February.

One other thing I worked on this week was my scarf using the Cascade Pluscious yarn from my friend, Laura Valdez.  I am loving it.  This is about one-fourth the finished length. 

And, of course, no post is complete without LilBit.  She nagged Papa all morning to hold her up so she could see out the window to watch the children sledding on the hill behind our house.

I already have two new designs sketched in my notebook and I must get started on a T-shirt quilt for my grandson!!  Lots to do.


                                                  -sandi

 

 

WEEKLY UPDATE

My weekly update for projects includes finishing two Improv blocks and getting them quilted together for my QAYG project.  There are seven more to go.

 

I pieced the top for this quilt in 2012 and have just had it quilted by Gayle Grier at A Quilter's Playhouse.  I love that it has no borders.

 

The red fabric I used for the back of the Friendship Star was so interesting to me.  I just loved it!!  I used leftovers to do my back and to write my label.

This was not one of the projects on the  Proposals post, but it just surfaced and I was able to finish it.

I also started working on a scarf with the wonderful Cascade yarn that my friend, Laura, sent to me.

Okay, that is one week's worth of work.  Hope this next week brings me more time to work on my projects.

                                   -sandi

 

 

PORCH CHATTER: JUST MUSING TODAY

An artist is someone who creates!  Artists take leaps of faith all the time.  I am an artist!!  I choose to try new things in my fiber art studio all the time.  I am amazed at the degree of confidence this has given me that carries over into my daily living.  I am aware of being a risk taker; a pioneer; an innovator; my own person.

I follow my intuition and I answer to my soul more often than I shy away.  It has brought a level of independence and freedom to my life.  I embrace those activities that bring me joy regardless of whether my friends do or not.  I am not a loner; but I don't skip things because no one else wants to do them with me.

I am willing to be a leader, a pioneer, if you will, if I think it will bring true authenticity, joy and meaning to my life.  Psychologist Susan Jeffers suggests we "take a risk a day -- one small or bold stroke that makes you feel great once you have done it." 
 
Often I choose paths I have not followed before and relish in the new found beauty.  Maybe it is tangible -- like in a garden -- or maybe intangible -- as in a new thought or idea I chase down and grab.

Just as I have Works-In-Progress in my studio; my entire life is a work-in-progress.  I can enjoy it as it is or I can choose to do something "improv" with it and change or tweak it until it is bringing me the greatest joy and contentment possible.

 

 

Art is never stagnant and neither is my life.  The greatest art I can experience is creating an authentic life for my family and myself.




Yes, there is always room for dreaming the "big" things in life!

                                                   -sandi

PROPOSALS

I am going to write a post unlike any I have written before.  I have shown some of my WIPs and UFOs in the past, but the twist here is that I am going to get specific about completions.

This month I want to finish at least 4 more of my QAYG Improv blocks for my grey/yellow/black guest bedroom decor.  I also want to get at least one pair of pillowslips finished for this room.

I have two wall hangings that are ready to quilt.  The first block that I show is from a class I took with Bonnie Hunter in 2012.  I have several of these blocks finished and I have decided to use them in a small piece as a wall hanging instead of trying to make more blocks to have a bed quilt.

This is my Kaleidoscope and I have decided to finish it at the size it is now instead of adding borders to it.

Another workshop that I will be attending will be on making pineapple blocks.  I plan to make enough of these to have a wall hanging.  I want to take this project to completion this month.

These are the only things I am committing to do this month.  If I find I have extra time then I will do some others.

My completions for January included getting my husband's quilt quilted and bound; and completing two of my QAYG Improv blocks.

                                          -sandi